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B. P. Paquette | |
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 Paquette in 2015 | |
| Born | Benjamin Patrick Paquette March 17, 1975 London, Ontario, Canada |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Filmmaker |
| Years active | 2004–present |
Benjamin Patrick Paquette, commonly known as B. P. Paquette, is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, film producer and academic.
Born in London, Ontario, Paquette spent his childhood and adolescence in Greater Sudbury. Shooting his first film at age 10 [1] and making over a dozen student shorts (including the award-winning An Uneven Scroll [2] ), Paquette produced, wrote and directed two features while still a high school student, Maxwell's Silver Hammer (1993) and A Descent Into Darkness (1994), and a third as a university student, Raining Angels (1997). [3] [4] Paquette then established his Montreal-based film production and distribution company, Ourson Films in 1998. [5] [2]
Paquette graduated from Concordia University's Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema in Montreal, Quebec with B.F.A. and M.F.A. degrees, respectively, in Film Production [6] [7] In 2007, Paquette was accepted into the inaugural class of the Ph.D. program in Film Theory at the Université de Montréal, the first program of its kind in Canada. [4]
Since 2009, Paquette has been the director of, and a professor in, the Motion Picture Arts curriculum within the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree program at Thorneloe University, a federated partner of Laurentian University. [8] Paquette was recruited to lead the establishment of an eventual film, TV and digital media production program. In 2011, Laurentian University began offering an Academic minor in Motion Picture Arts, while in 2013 it began offering an Academic major, the only one of its kind in Northern Ontario. [4] [9] [10]
Paquette started his academic career in the Film & Television Production Program at Trebas Institute, a private, post-secondary college based in Montreal. From 2001 to 2009, he gave practical courses, including those regarding screenwriting and production. From 2001-2005, he also served as program director. In his capacity as such, Paquette lead the creation, development, and implementation of its current, competency-based, four-session program, which received accreditation from the Quebec Ministry of Education in 2005. Before relocating back to Greater Sudbury, Paquette taught filmmaking at the University of Montreal during the 2009-2010 academic year.
With his film Perspective , Paquette began to directly integrate his film-making pursuits with his academic interests. In effect, the film served as a teaching tool for Paquette's film production students at Laurentian University. [11] [12] [13]
In his capacity as both a filmmaker and educator, Paquette has been a juror at international film festivals, [14] a guest filmmaking instructor at various professional skills development institutions, including acclaimed Cree filmmaker Shirley Cheechoo's Weengushk Film Institute, and Music and Film in Motion. Furthermore, he has been a special guest speaker at various public events, such as the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra's An Intimate Evening of Film & Music hosted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, [15] and he gave acting-on-screen workshops for the Sudbury Theatre Centre, [16] [17] the material of which led to his feature-length docufiction Your Name Here . [17] Like Perspective , Your Name Here directly integrates Paquette's cinema experiments with his interests in education. [18]
In 2011, Paquette co-founded the Greater Sudbury-based not-for-profit company Northern Ontario Motion Picture Culture and Industry Development Corporation (NOMPCIDC, pronounced "Nomp-see-dik"), whose mandate is to develop and promote the film and television industry in Northern Ontario. [19] In 2012, NOMPCIDC launched Xanadu Studios, an equipment rental depot and post-production facility that services professional film and TV projects in Northern Ontario. Sound stages, for professional and training purposes, are currently in development. [20] [21] [22]
Since 2012, NOMPCIDC has partnered with Thorneloe University to offer film and TV production workshops for students. In 2016, the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund corporation (NOHFC) announced that it had partnered with NOMPCIDC and Thorneloe to offer these workshops. Students enrolled in the Motion Picture Arts (MPArts) curriculum within Thorneloe's Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree program can register for the workshops, which are a comprehensive, practice-based educational supplement. "It's to encourage students that they don't need millions of dollars, big movie stars and huge crews to make films", said Paquette.[ citation needed ] The general outcome of the production workshops is that students experience working under the guidance of professional filmmakers in a professional context, which will allow students to further develop and gain more confidence in their practical work skills, receive credit for their work that they can add to their resume, network with professional filmmakers, and receive a reference letters from a professional filmmakers under whom they shadowed and/or assisted. [23]
Paquette creates films for himself rather than a target audience. "You can't make a film for anyone but yourself," said Paquette. [24] [25]
In 2008, Paquette co-founded the Greater Sudbury-based production and distribution company Nortario Films. [26] [27] In addition to producing films written and directed by Paquette, Nortario Films also produces films by other filmmakers, including Nadia Litz's dramatic thriller The People Garden , and Darwin (2015 film) , a science fiction family film. [28] [29]
Acclaimed Bulgaria-born Canadian cinematographer Ivan Gekoff has collaborated with Paquette on all five of his feature films, three as cinematographer and two as visual consultant.
Paquette made his professional filmmaking debut with the international award-winning and critically polarizing A Year in the Death of Jack Richards , the first part of his trilogy on "the psychology of romantic love." This was followed with The Woman of Ahhs: A Self-Portrait by Victoria Fleming , and concludes with The Anonymous Rudy S.
In 2012, Paquette unveiled the first of the nine chapters that comprise Perspective , his most innovative and experimental film to date. [11] [12] [13] All nine chapters, titled, respectively, Chapter 1: Salt & Soda (2012), Chapter 2: Chris and Other Beards (2013), Chapter 3: Hush, hsuH (2014), Chapter 4: Reflecting (2015), Chapter 5: Triangulation (2016), Chapter 6: The Saddest Lines (2017), Chapter 7: Me, Myself, and I (2018), Chapter 8: Marital Accumulation (2019), and The Shed of Theseus (2020) were completed by 2020. [30] [31] [32] [33]
Set in a movie theatre as a workshop for amateur actors, Your Name Here is Paquette's feature-length docufiction that examines the art and craft of movie acting, and the desire for movie stardom. Your Name Here features various aspiring actors who reveal their true selves while simultaneously reenacting the Oscar-winning Hollywood classic A Star is Born (1937 film). [18]
Beautiful Accidents is a 2019 Canadian feature-length comedy metafilm adapted and directed by Paquette from an original screenplay by Amanda M. Darling. Blurring fact and fiction, the film follows an indie film crew shooting a cheesy romantic comedy. [34]
| Title | Year | Director | Writer | Producer | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Year in the Death of Jack Richards | 2004 | Yes | Yes | Yes | feature fiction |
| The Woman of Ahhs: A Self-Portrait by Victoria Fleming | 2008 | Yes | Yes | Yes | feature fiction |
| Perspective | 2012-2020 | Yes | Yes | Yes | feature fiction |
| Your Name Here | 2019 | Yes | Yes | Yes | feature docufiction |
| The Anonymous Rudy S. | 2019 | Yes | Yes | Yes | feature fiction |
| Beautiful Accidents | 2019 | Yes | Yes | Yes | feature |
Sudbury, officially the City of Greater Sudbury, is the largest city in Northern Ontario by population, with a population of 166,004 at the 2021 Canadian Census. By land area, it is the largest in Ontario and the fifth largest in Canada. It is administratively a single-tier municipality and thus is not part of any district, county, or regional municipality. The City of Greater Sudbury is separate from, but entirely surrounded by the Sudbury District. The city is also referred to as "Ville du Grand Sudbury" among Francophones.
Laurentian University, officially Laurentian University of Sudbury, is a mid-sized bilingual public university in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, incorporated on March 28, 1960. Laurentian offers a variety of undergraduate, graduate-level, and doctorate degrees. Laurentian is the largest bilingual provider of distance education in Canada. The college was formerly federated with Thornloe University, Huntington University, and the University of Sudbury. Laurentian severed the federation during 2021 insolvency proceedings, ending 60-year relationships, and triggering lawsuits.
Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, also known as Cinéfest and Cinéfest Sudbury is an annual film festival in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, held over nine days each September. It is one of the largest film festivals in Canada.
Huntington University is an independent university located in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Formerly a federated college of Laurentian University, the institution announced plans in 2021 to continue as an independent institution following the termination of its federation agreement with Laurentian in 2021.
Thorneloe University, also known as Thorneloe University at Laurentian, is an Anglican affiliated university formerly federated with, and still inset on the campus of, the larger Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June 2020. In addition to the annual festival, Hot Docs owns and operates the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, administers multiple production funds, and runs year-round screening programs including Doc Soup and Hot Docs Showcase.
Laurentian Media Group was a Canadian newspaper and magazine publishing company. Founded in 1973 by Michael Atkins, Laurentian published several titles in the Greater Sudbury, Ontario area, including the twice-weekly community newspaper Northern Life, the magazines Northern Ontario Business and Sudbury Living, and the trade publication Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal, as well as several national and international digital publications, including SCOREGolf and IT World Canada.
The Sudbury Arts Council is a non-profit organization based in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. It was created in 1974 as the Sudbury Arts Festival Association, and changed its name in June 1988.
The Woman of Ahhs: A Self-Portrait by Victoria Fleming – also known as The Woman of Ahhs – is a 2008 Canadian dramatic comedy film directed by B. P. Paquette and starring Darryl Hunter, Holly O'Brien, and Stephanie Dixon. Set predominantly in Montreal, the film is a parody of The Wizard of Oz, and contains performances of original songs, including "Not Bad " by legendary bluesman Mel Brown (guitarist), wherein the lyrics comment upon and propel the narrative, as do a triad of contemporary dance performances by celebrated Cirque du Soleil choreographer Debra Brown. The Woman of Ahhs is the second panel in Paquette's triptych on "the psychology of romantic love," preceded by A Year in the Death of Jack Richards (2004), and followed by The Anonymous Rudy S. (2019).
A Year in the Death of Jack Richards is a 2004 Canadian psychological drama film featuring Vlasta Vrána as the title character, a professor of theology, who may or may not have made himself the target of a supposed cult, whose members then worship him for a year so that they may kill him as an atonement for their sins. An English-language feature film shot and set in Montreal, it is the debut feature film from Canadian director B. P. Paquette, and also features in supporting roles Micheline Lanctôt, Harry Hill, and Darryl Hunter.
Perspective is an episodic drama film from Canada written and directed by B. P. Paquette and starring Stéphane Paquette, Patricia Tedford, and Pandora Topp in a love triangle. The film is divided into nine chapters, shot over nine years, that span nine years in the lives of three characters named “Alex”. The nine chapters, titled, respectively, Chapter 1: Salt & Soda (2012), Chapter 2: Chris and Other Beards (2013), Chapter 3: Hush, hsuH (2014), Chapter 4: Reflecting (2015), Chapter 5: Triangulation (2016), Chapter 6: The Saddest Lines (2017), Chapter 7: Me, Myself, and I (2018), Chapter 8: Marital Accumulation (2019), and Chapter 9: The Shed of Theseus (2020) have been completed and presented exclusively at Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival as of 2020.
High Chicago is a 2011 drama film. Director Alfons Adetuyi and his brother, screenwriter Robert Adetuyi, used locations in their home town of Sudbury, Ontario when making the film.
Your Name Here is a 2015 feature-length docufiction from Canada written and directed by B. P. Paquette and featuring dozens of amateur actors. The film examines the art and craft of movie acting, and the desire for movie stardom.
Events Transpiring Before, During and After a High School Basketball Game is a Canadian comedy film, directed by Ted Stenson and released in 2020. Set at the fictional Middleview High School in Calgary, Alberta, in 1999, the film depicts various goings-on centered around the school's largely unsuccessful basketball team, including the referee being forced to babysit his wife's dog, point guard Joel's attempts to indoctrinate his teammates in the philosophy of The Matrix, and the school's theatre students planning a protest after being denied permission to stage a "post-colonial" production of King Lear.
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The 2021-22 Laurentian University Crisis is a controversial and unprecedented financial crisis at Laurentian University in northern Ontario, Canada. After experiencing financial difficulties over a period of years, the university filed for creditor protection on February 1, 2021. The university subsequently closed 69 undergraduate and graduate programs and terminated 195 faculty and staff with little notice or severance. The federated universities of Laurentian eliminated 143 positions. Approximately 932 students were affected. It also marked the first time in Canadian history that a public university sought to restructure under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA).
Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and released in 2021. The film centres on the opioid crisis, and its effects on Tailfeathers' home Kainai Nation community in Alberta.
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