Preludes (film series)

Last updated

Preludes is a Canadian short film series, which premiered in 2000. [1] Commissioned by the Toronto International Film Festival to mark the event's 25th anniversary in 2000, the series consisted of ten short films by Canadian directors which were inspired in some way by the festival, [2] and each film screened as a prelude to a feature film in the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival program.

The most successful film in the series was Guy Maddin's The Heart of the World , which won numerous awards including the Genie Award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 22nd Genie Awards. [3] David Cronenberg's entry, Camera , was also a Genie nominee in the same category. [4]

The full Preludes program was subsequently screened on the web, on a platform funded by Bell Canada. [5]

Films

FilmDirectorSynopsis
24fps Jeremy Podeswa An essay film about Podeswa's father and his love of Marcel Carné's classic French film Children of Paradise . [2]
Camera David Cronenberg An actor (Leslie Carlson) discusses the current state of film while a group of young children sneak in with production equipment to film him. [2]
Congratulations Mike Jones Mike Jones and his siblings Andy and Cathy travel by helicopter from rural Newfoundland to a gala to make speeches congratulating TIFF on its anniversary. [2]
Legs Apart Anne Wheeler A pregnant woman's difficult labour is a metaphor for the challenges of making films in Canada. [2]
The Line Atom Egoyan Over a tracking shot of filmgoers lining up to attend a screening, Egoyan narrates his memories of attending TIFF in its early years. [2]
The Heart of the World Guy Maddin Two brothers (Caelum Vatnsdal and Shaun Balbar) compete for the love of the same woman. [2]
Prelude Michael Snow An experimental film in which the sound is played backward in relation to its narrative. [2]
See You in Toronto Jean Pierre Lefebvre Samuel de Champlain (Marcel Sabourin) delivers a monologue on how history might have changed if the Battle of the Plains of Abraham had been filmed. [2]
This Might Be Good Patricia Rozema After a woman (Sarah Polley) attending a TIFF gala realizes that the other woman her boyfriend has shown up with is actually his wife, she meets a potential new love interest in a festival projectionist (Don McKellar). [2]
A Word from the Management Don McKellar McKellar recounts his own experiences of having been a festival volunteer and employee. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner</i> 2001 film by Zacharias Kunuk

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner is a 2001 Canadian epic film directed by Inuit filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk and produced by his company Isuma Igloolik Productions. It was the first feature film ever to be written, directed and acted entirely in the Inuktitut language.

<i>The Heart of the World</i> 2000 Canadian film

The Heart of the World is a short film written and directed by Guy Maddin, produced for the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival. Maddin was one of a number of directors commissioned to make four-minute short films that would screen prior to the various feature films at the 2000 festival as part of the special Preludes program. After hearing rumours that other directors were planning films with a small number of shots, Maddin decided that his film would instead contain over 100 shots per minute, and enough plot for a feature-length film. Maddin then wrote and shot The Heart of the World in the style of Russian constructivism, taking the commission at its literal face value, as a call to produce a propaganda film. Even in its expanded, 6-minute version, The Heart of the World runs at a breakneck speed, averaging roughly two shots per second, a pace intensified by the background music, Time, Forward! by Georgy Sviridov.

Camera is a 2000 Canadian short film written and directed by David Cronenberg. The six-minute short was one of several made for the special Preludes program in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Toronto International Film Festival. These films, all by Canadian directors, were commissioned as preludes for the festival in 2000.

The 22nd Genie Awards were held in 2002 to honour films released in 2001. The ceremony was hosted by Brian Linehan.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Motion Picture to the best Canadian film of the year.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role to the best performance by a lead actor in a Canadian film. The award was first presented in 1968 by the Canadian Film Awards, and was presented annually until 1978 with the exception of 1969, when no eligible feature films were submitted for award consideration, and 1974 due to the cancellation of the awards that year.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television presents an annual award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role to the best performance by a lead actress in a Canadian film. The award was first presented in 1968 by the Canadian Film Awards, and was presented annually until 1978 with the exception of 1969, when no eligible feature films were submitted for award consideration, and 1974 due to the cancellation of the awards that year.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role to the best performance by a supporting actor in a Canadian film. The award was first presented in 1970 by the Canadian Film Awards, and was presented annually until 1978 with the exception of 1974 due to the cancellation of the awards that year.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role to the best performance by a supporting actress in a Canadian film. The award was first presented in 1970 by the Canadian Film Awards, and was presented annually until 1978 with the exception of 1974 due to the cancellation of the awards that year.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Achievement in Direction to the best work by a director of a Canadian film.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Achievement in Cinematography, to honour the best Canadian film cinematography.

The Canadian Screen Award for Best Achievement in Sound Mixing is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best work by a sound designer in a Canadian film. Formerly known as Best Overall Sound, it was renamed to Best Sound Mixing at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards in 2021.

The Canadian Screen Award for Best Achievement in Sound Editing is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best sound editor on a Canadian film. The award was first presented in 1970 as part of the Canadian Film Awards, before being transitioned to the new Genie Awards in 1980; since 2013 it has been presented as part of the Canadian Screen Awards.

The Canadian Screen Award for Best Animated Short is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian animated short film. Formerly part of the Genie Awards, since 2012 it has been presented as part of the Canadian Screen Awards.

The Canadian Screen Award for Best Live Action Short Drama is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian live action short film. Formerly part of the Genie Awards, since 2012 it has been presented as part of the Canadian Screen Awards.

The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is the world's largest Indigenous film and media arts festival, held annually in Toronto. The festival focuses on the film, video, radio, and new media work of Indigenous, Aboriginal and First Peoples from around the world. The festival includes screenings, parties, panel discussions, and cultural events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Screen Awards</span> Canadian media awards

The Canadian Screen Awards are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media productions. Given annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, the awards recognize excellence in cinematic achievements, as assessed by the Academy's voting membership.

Steven "Steve" Hoban is a Canadian film producer. He has been nominated for three Genie Awards and won another. He has collaborated with Vincenzo Natali, David Hewlett, and Chris Landreth on multiple films. He is perhaps best known for Splice and the Ginger Snaps trilogy.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Feature Length Documentary. First presented in 1968 as part of the Canadian Film Awards, it became part of the Genie Awards in 1980 and the contemporary Canadian Screen Awards in 2013.

Pedro Pires is a Canadian film director. His short film Danse Macabre won the award for Best Canadian Short Film at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival and the Genie Award for Best Live Action Short Drama at the 30th Genie Awards, his short film Hope was a Genie Award nominee for Best Live Action Short Drama at the 32nd Genie Awards in 2012, and he was a Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Director at the 2nd Canadian Screen Awards in 2014 for Triptych, which he co-directed with Robert Lepage.

References

  1. ↑ Peter Howell, "Country's top directors show fans their shorts; Five-minute films commissioned to celebrate 25th anniversary". Toronto Star , November 15, 2000.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Marc Glassman, "Preludes". Take One , Vol. 30 (Winter 2001). pp. 43-44.
  3. ↑ "Inuit film Atanarjuat wins five Genie Awards". Sudbury Star , February 8, 2002.
  4. ↑ Michael Posner, "Atanarjuat, War Bride lead Genie list". The Globe and Mail , December 13, 2001.
  5. ↑ Peter Howell, "Downstreaming without a paddle ; Fest shorts on the Web ain't nothing like the real thing". Toronto Star , November 15, 2000.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.