For decades, Canadian films have been making us laugh, cry, learn, and come together as a nation united by our differences. Now, it’s time to revisit some of the films that have shaped our cultural identity. Welcome to Cinema Reignited, a new podcast by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, powered by Telefilm Canada. In each episode, host Samah Ali explores a different Canadian film that’s been digitized as part of the Canadian Cinema – Reignited initiative. By taking you on a journey through the time period during which each film was made, the historical and social context at the time, and how the film relates to broader themes in society, Cinema Reignited will help us look at the history of Canadian cinema through a modern-day lens. 

Episodes

EPISODE 5: “One for the Archives – Caring for Canada’s Film Heritage”

The images contained in decaying film stock tell incredible Canadian stories and they’re at risk of extinction. Teams of dedicated preservationists and archivists at organizations like the Toronto International Film Festival and the Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre are bringing new life to endangered films. In this episode of Cinema Reignited, we will be speaking with Natania Sherman, Collections and Services Manager, Film Reference Library at the Toronto International Film Festival and Jesse Brossoit, Distribution & Collections Manager, Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre to discuss the current state of our endangered cinematic heritage. We’ll learn about the preservation process, how films are being digitized for new audiences and why it is so important to preserve films of all types from Canada’s past.

Visit Telefilm Canada’s website to learn about more films being digitized as part of the Canadian Cinema – Reignited initiative. 

Cinema Reignited is a podcast by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, powered by Telefilm Canada.

If you found this episode interesting, please share it with your network and tag @TheCdnAcademy and @sistersamah. Rate and review the podcast to help us connect with other Canadian film lovers. 

This podcast episode was produced by Quill

EPISODE 4: It Must be Surreal – 34 Years Later with Guy Maddin’s Tales From the Gimli Hospital

First released in 1988, Guy Maddin’s Tales From the Gimli Hospital has now been restored in 4K. The new release premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2022.

Set in the idyllic town of Gimli on the shores of Lake Winnipeg in the late 19th century, it’s a tale of jealousy, revenge, and peculiar erotic fixations. Shot in black and white on 16mm film and paying homage to both old Hollywood and surrealism, the feature draws on Maddin’s family heritage and the Icelandic immigrants that settled in the small Manitoba fishing town. Now labeled a cult classic, it marked the beginning of Maddin’s critically acclaimed, 30 year career in film. In this episode of Cinema Reignited, we go one-on-one with filmmaker Guy Maddin about the making of Tales From the Gimli Hospital, how he became a filmmaker, and the changes he made to the film during the 4K digitization.

Tales From the Gimli Hospital is currently playing at select theatres. 

Cinema Reignited is a podcast by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, powered by Telefilm Canada.

If you found this episode interesting, please share it with your network and tag @TheCdnAcademy and @sistersamah. Rate and review the podcast to help us connect with other Canadian film lovers. 

This podcast episode was produced by Quill

EPISODE 3: A Teenage Piece of the Planet in À l’ouest de Pluton (West of Pluto)

The coming-of-age story is one that is often explored in film, television, and other art forms, and one that captures a specific and unique time. For filmmakers Henry Bernadet and Myriam Verreault, making a film about teenage life in suburban Quebec City was about more than just capturing the drama of daily high school life. In their 2008 film À l’ouest de Pluton, they present teenage characters in an impressively uncensored and hyper realistic way, often leaving the audience wondering if they’re watching a documentary instead of a fictional drama. In this episode of Cinema Reignited, we hear from filmmaker Henry Bernadet about the making of À l’ouest de Pluton and actor David Bouchard about his experience as a teen actor in the film. 

Cinema Reignited is a podcast by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, powered by Telefilm Canada.

If you found this episode interesting, please share it with your network and tag @TheCdnAcademy and @sistersamah. Rate and review the podcast to help us connect with other Canadian film lovers. 

This podcast episode was produced by Quill

EPISODE 2: Where We Are. What’s Happened to Us. Zacharias Kunuk on From Inuk Point of View

In 1966, at nine years old, Zacharias Kunuk was no longer able to live on the land with his family—the only way of life he’d known. Like many other Inuit and indigenous children, he and his siblings were required to go to school in larger communities like Igloolik in the territory of Nunavut. The community was a place of transition, where the old ways of Inuit life were being replaced by the culture and traditions introduced by christian religion and government policy. Zacharias Kunuk’s 1985 documentary From Inuk Point of View tells the story of Igloolik, its people and the changing ways of Inuit life. The film broke the race barrier by becoming the first ever Inuit or indigenous film to receive a Canada Council for the Arts grant. In this episode of Cinema Reignited, host Samah Ali speaks with Zacharias Kunuk about the creation of From Inuk Point of View and Blandina Makkik from the Inuit Art Foundation.

From Inuk Point of View is currently available to stream online on Hot Docs at Home until December 29, 2022. Visit https://hotdocs.ca/whats-on/films/from-inuk .

Isuma was co-founded by Zacharias Kunuk, Paul Apak, Pauloosie Qulitalik and Norman Cohn. To learn more about Isuma visit http://www.isuma.tv/isuma

To learn more about the Inuit Art Foundation visit https://www.inuitartfoundation.org/

Cinema Reignited is a podcast by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, powered by Telefilm Canada.

If you found this episode interesting, please share it with your network and tag @TheCdnAcademy and @sistersamah. Rate and review the podcast to help us connect with other Canadian film lovers. 

This podcast episode was produced by Quill

EPISODE 1: Sex Work, Now and Then: Revisiting the 1984 Film, Hookers on Davie

In 1984, filmmakers Janis Cole and Holly Dale turned their lens towards a marginalized group that had been the focus of a short film they had made as students at Sheridan College. The groundbreaking documentary film, Hookers on Davie, follows the lives of sex workers in Vancouver’s downtown West End during 1983 and the complex challenges they face including violence, prejudice, and poverty. The film was groundbreaking and controversial when it premiered in 1984 and it highlights a conversation surrounding sex work law reform that echoes to this day. In this episode, host Samah Ali sits down with filmmaker Janis Cole to discuss the creation of Hookers on Davie, and Susan Davis, a Director at the BC Coalition of Experiential Communities, to discuss the film’s historical and cultural relevance to sex work in Canada.

Hookers on Davie was selected by Hot Docs for the Canadian Cinema – Reignited project, and will be available to watch in Canada on Rogers VOD on October 1 and Apple TV and Vimeo on October 18.

Cinema Reignited is a podcast by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, powered by Telefilm Canada.

If you found this episode interesting, please share it with your network and tag @TheCDNAcademy and @sistersamah. Rate and review the podcast to help us connect with other Canadian film lovers.

This podcast episode was produced by Quill

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