The Papal Chase | |
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Directed by | Kenny Hotz |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography |
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Edited by | Marco Porsia |
Music by | Brendan Michie |
Production company | Massey Films |
Distributed by | Films Transit International |
Release date |
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Running time | 53 minutes |
Country | Canada |
Language | English |
Budget | $800 |
The Papal Chase is a 2004 Canadian micro-budget feature-length guerrilla-style mockumentary directed by Kenny Hotz of Kenny vs. Spenny fame, and written by Hotz and Paul Johnson. The film features cameo appearances by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood, as well as footage of Toronto mayoral candidate Kevin Clarke. It is also the only comedy feature that has an appearance by Pope John Paul II. Among its awards, the film won the Phillip Borsos Award for Best Canadian Feature Film at the 2004 Whistler Film Festival, [1] and won 'Best Documentary' at the 2005 Canadian Filmmakers' Festival. [2]
When Pope John Paul II is visiting Canada in 2002, Kenny Hotz's friend Paul bets him $1000 that Kenny (who is Jewish) can't meet him. Over the course of six days, Kenny wears various disguises and makes multiple efforts to meet the pope in order to win the bet. Kenny's attempts include becoming a "Pope-arazzi", fighting his way through millions of pilgrims and onlookers, thousands of cops, security guards, Vatican Special Forces, and precision snipers. Along the way, Kenny crosses paths with various members of The Rolling Stones.
The film debuted on December 2, 2004, at the Whistler Film Festival and had its US premiere at the Brooklyn International Film Festival in June 2005.
Kenneth Joel Hotz is a Canadian comedy writer, filmmaker, entertainer and television personality. He is best known as the star of the reality comedy show Kenny vs. Spenny alongside Spencer Rice. Hotz is the creator of the FX series Testees, and Kenny Hotz's Triumph of the Will. Between 2004 and 2006, he served as a staff writer for South Park. Hotz has directed a number of films including Pitch, It Don't Cost Nothin' to Say Good Morning and Subscribe. He also co-directed the music video for the song "Monophobia" by Deadmau5. Hotz is a regular contributor for Vice Media and began his career as a war correspondent and photo-journalist during the Gulf War.
Sebastian Cluer is a Canadian film director, producer, developer and writer.
Phillip Borsos was an Australian-born Canadian film director, producer, and screenwriter. A four-time Canadian Film Award and Genie Award winner and an Academy Award nominee, he was one of the major figures of Canadian and British Columbian filmmaking during the 1980s, earning critical acclaim and accolades at a time when Canadian filmmakers were still struggling to gain attention outside of North America.
Spencer Nolan "Spenny" Rice is a Canadian screenwriter, filmmaker and television personality. He was the co-star of the reality comedy series Kenny vs. Spenny along with Kenny Hotz.
As one of the best known and well-travelled people of the 20th century, there are many cultural references to Pope John Paul II, who was the 264th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 16 October 1978 until his death in April 2005. He was the second-longest reigning pontiff, having served for 27 years, short of Pius IX's 31 years. In addition to his own extensive writings, many films, television programs, books, and journal articles have been written about John Paul II.
The Whistler Film Festival (WFF) is an annual film festival held in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 2001, the festival is held the first weekend of December and includes juried competitive sections, the Borsos Awards, and the Pandora Audience Award. A conference for the Canadian film industry, known as the Whistler Summit, is organised in connection with the film festival.
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The Borsos Competition is the main awards program for Canadian feature films screening at the annual Whistler Film Festival. Introduced for the first time in 2004, the juried competition presents six awards annually to honour films, actors, screenplays, directors, cinematographers and editors in Canadian cinema. Initially, only films that were having their world premieres at Whistler were eligible for the competition, although this requirement was soon dropped as the festival had difficulty attracting entrants who were willing to forego the major film festivals such as TIFF or the FNC, and thereafter films selected for competition only had to be a regional premiere within the Western Canada region.
The Audience Award is an annual award given by the Whistler Film Festival to the film voted most popular with audiences.
The Whistler Film Festival Documentary Award is an annual juried award, given by the Whistler Film Festival to the film selected as the year's best documentary film in the festival program.
The ShortWork Awards are annual film awards, presented by the Whistler Film Festival to honour the best short films screened at the festival.
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