Scarborough | |
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Directed by | |
Screenplay by | Catherine Hernandez |
Based on | Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez |
Produced by | Shasha Nakhai |
Starring |
|
Cinematography | Rich Williamson |
Edited by | Rich Williamson |
Music by | Robbie Teehan |
Production company | Compy Films |
Distributed by | LevelFILM |
Release date |
|
Running time | 136 minutes |
Country | Canada |
Language | English |
Scarborough is a 2021 Canadian drama film, directed by Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson. [1] An adaptation of Catherine Hernandez's 2017 novel Scarborough , the film centres on the coming of age of Bing (Liam Diaz), Sylvie (Mekiya Essence Fox) and Laura (Anna Claire Beitel), three young children in a low-income neighbourhood in the Scarborough district of Toronto, as they learn the value of community, passion and resilience over the course of a school year through an after-school program led by childhood educator Ms. Hina (Aliya Kanani). [2]
The cast also includes Ellie Posadas as Bing's mother Edna, who has recently left her abusive husband but is doing her best to give Bing a stable and loving home environment; Cherish Violet Blood as Marie, Sylvie's mother whose husband's disability has reduced their family to living in a motel, and who is struggling to get the medical system to diagnose her son Johnny (Felix Jedi Ingram Isaac) when he begins to show signs of autism; and Kristen MacCulloch and Conor Casey as Laura's parents Jessica and Cory, a drug addict and a former skinhead who are both ill-equipped to care for a young child and regularly ship her back and forth between their homes with little regard for her own needs. [3]
The film was shot primarily in the Galloway Road neighbourhood of Scarborough. [4]
Hernandez indicated that she had received numerous offers from filmmakers to adapt her novel, but felt that many of the proposals were too slick and polished and not in keeping with the character of the community, so instead she approached Nakhai and Williamson due to their background as documentary filmmakers. [5]
In advance of the film's premiere, a cast reading of the screenplay was staged as part of the 2020 Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. [6] The film premiered on September 10, 2021 at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. [7]
Radheyan Simonpillai of Now wrote that "The film can be hard to watch at times, but its focus is largely on the small joys and a thriving sense of community despite the circumstances. The most memorable moments are the helping hands, the little wins or the kids at play, whether in a Dollarama or a nail salon. That pretty much encapsulates the Scarborough spirit." [4]
For the National Post , Chris Knight wrote that "You’re going to need a store of sympathy before sitting down to Scarborough’s two and a quarter hours. Sure, it’s easy to feel for the kids. But the parents are just as deserving of our understanding...Not that Scarborough is a sad film, though it does have moments of tragedy and even heartbreak. But the overwhelming mood is one of resilience – the ways people find to make ends meet and even have a little fun on the side, with whatever is at hand. (There’s a schmaltzy ending that the film totally earns.)" [8]
Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote that "each child goes through tremendously traumatic episodes – including one third-act incident that nearly shattered my spirit – but it is all in the service of telling stories that will awaken you to the lives of others outside your own socioeconomic bubble. This isn’t poverty porn or fly-by-night exploitation – absolutely everything onscreen feels earned, honest, lived-in. And, somehow, crowd-pleasing, too. For a movie centring on abuse, discrimination and societal isolation, Scarborough will leave you with the urge to rise up and applaud. Crucial to this cinematic alchemy is the work of the film’s young cast: Diaz, Fox and Beitel never feel less than real children caught in untenable situations. Charming and compelling, each performer arrives like a star already past the point of “up-and-coming.” As much as anything else in Scarborough, the three actors are proof that the future – of the neighbourhood, of Canadian film – is bright as you can imagine." [9]
Emma Badame of That Shelf had special praise for the performances of the trio of young children at the centre of the story, writing that "Beitel communicates so much with just a look, breaking your heart with her fragility over and over. Fox captures Sylvie’s openness to the world around her with ease. It’s not hard to understand how this one little girl has befriended so many different members of her neighbourhood, regardless of their background or age. Then there’s Diaz, who channels Bing’s intelligence and insecurity so well that his Canadian Screen Awards Best Actor nomination seemed almost a foregone conclusion. The film closes on a moment of personal triumph for Bing that requires the young actor to sing and dance and not only does he nail it, but he lands the layered emotions of the moment too. An impressive act to pull off for any veteran of the screen, never mind one new to the profession." [10]
The film was named to TIFF's annual year-end Canada's Top Ten list for 2021. [11]
Catherine Hernandez is a Canadian writer, whose debut novel Scarborough was a shortlisted finalist for the 2017 Toronto Book Awards and the 2018 Edmund White Award.
Canada's Top Ten is an annual honour, compiled by the Toronto International Film Festival and announced in December each year to identify and promote the year's best Canadian films. The list was first introduced in 2001 as an initiative to help publicize Canadian films.
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Inconvenient Indian is a 2020 Canadian documentary film, directed by Michelle Latimer. It is an adaptation of Thomas King's non-fiction book The Inconvenient Indian, focusing on narratives of indigenous peoples of Canada. King stars as the documentary's narrator, with Gail Maurice and other indigenous artists appearing.
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Danis Goulet is a First Nations (Cree-Métis) film director and screenwriter from Canada, whose debut feature film Night Raiders premiered in 2021.
Shasha Nakhai is a Filipino-Iranian Canadian film director, most noted as co-director with Rich Williamson of the 2021 film Scarborough. The film won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Picture, and Nakhai and Williamson won the award for Best Director, at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022.
Rich Williamson is a Canadian film director, cinematographer and editor, most noted as codirector with Shasha Nakhai of the 2021 film Scarborough. The film won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Picture, and Nakhai and Williamson won the award for Best Director, at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022.
Yasmine Mathurin is a Haitian Canadian filmmaker, most noted for her 2021 film One of Ours. The film was a Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Feature Length Documentary, and Mathurin was nominated for Best Direction in a Documentary Program and Best Writing in a Documentary Program, at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022.
Scarborough is the debut novel by Canadian writer Catherine Hernandez, published in 2017. Set in the Toronto district of Scarborough, the novel centres on the coming-of-age of three young children living in the low-income Galloway Road neighbourhood — Bing, a boy struggling with his sexual identity; Laura, a girl who longs for stability as she is continually being shuffled back and forth between her mother's and her father's separate homes; and Sylvie, a girl whose family is living in a homeless shelter — as well as Hina, a community literacy worker dedicated to serving as a supportive oasis of guidance for underprivileged children in her community.
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