The World’s Largest Annual Film Festival Celebrates 100 Years of Canadian Cinema
Today is National Canadian Film Day (“NCFD”) with more than 1,000 screening events taking place in 600 Canadian communities and 25 countries, from the northern tip of Baffin Island to St. John’s, NL, to Tofino, BC, and from Paris to Kathmandu.
Presented by REEL CANADA with support by the Government of Canada, NCFD is a coast-to-coast-to-coast celebration of Canadian film.
This year’s theme — celebrating 100 years of Canadian cinema — was prompted by the centennial of Canada’s first genuine blockbuster, and oldest surviving feature film: Nell Shipman’s BACK TO GOD’S COUNTRY, a sassy, snowy adventure story that remains Canada’s most successful silent film. REEL CANADA’s executive team and staff came together to curate the “Spotlight 100”, offering a selection of films that are equally chock-full of snow and sass!
Many screenings will feature discussions with special guests such as Colm Feore, Atom Egoyan, Alanis Obomsawin, Denys Arcand, Johanne Marie Tremblay, Don Shebib, Liane Balaban, Lisa Langlois, Deborah Grover and Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs. Other notable participants include: Deborah Ellis, Peter Keleghan, Mary Young Leckie, Charles Officer, Mina Shum, Veronica Tennant and Bobby Shore, among many others. Community partners have invited their mayors, historians, musicians, Indigenous elders, and even professional wrestlers.
Watch
In Vancouver, the Vancouver International Film Festival (“VIFF”), in partnership with Netflix, presents a 45th anniversary screening of THE APPRENTICESHIP OF DUDDY KRAVITZ, and Indigenous film pioneer Alanis Obomsawin will be in attendance for a day-long spotlight on several of her films, including her 2013 documentary HI-HO MISTAHEY!
There will be broadcast offerings on major outlets (on tv and streaming) including Hollywood Suite, CBC, APTN, Bell Media, Blue Ant Media, CORUS, DHX Media, OUTtv, Superchannel, Super Ecran and Cine Pop. Online streaming partners including Encore+ CBC, Bell Media and NFB will also have films to stream/screen.
Shop the edited selection of locally designed and made clothing, ceramics, food, jewelry, dry goods, vintage, and more from 100 local artists, makers and small shops at Refresh Market in Squamish April 26 & 27, 2019.
Photo by Tara O’Grady
Refresh Market in Squamish
Where: West Coast Railway Heritage Park (39645 Government Road, Squamish)
When: Friday, April 26, 2019 4:00pm to 9:00pm Saturday, April 27, 2019 10:00am to 5:00pm
Tickets: Early bird is $3 unlimited two-day admission (ends April 25). General Admission is $5 (2-day admission, online); $5 (single-day admission, at the door). Admission is free for kids under 12.
Shoppers will also enjoy food trucks, tin type portraits, music and more in a creative community environment. Be one of the first 50 on both days to receive a Refresh Market swag bag!
Photo by Tara O’Grady
Win 50 Refresh Market Dollars
I have 50 Refresh Market dollars to give away to a lucky Miss604 reader so they can shop from the awesome vendors! Here’s how you can enter to win:
Here’s how you can enter to win:
Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
Click below to post an entry on Twitter
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The winner also gets admission for two, so they can bring a friend to shop. I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Tuesday, April 23, 2019.
It started as a piece of art, followed by another piece of art, then it turned into a cultural phenomenon.
In 2012, artist Viktor Briestensky’s replaced Guelph Park’s signage with an official-looking prank sign that read “Dude Chilling Park” which was a reference to Michael Dennis’s 1999 sculptural installation, “Reclining Figure” [Source: Scout Magazine].
Since that time, the natural cedar sculpture which inspired Dude Chilling Park (Guelph Park) has suffered extensive deterioration. In 2017 it was transported to Denman Island for much needed repairs and to be cast in bronze.
By May 7, 2019, the Society would like to raise $20,000, the funds necessary to help cover the expense of the restoration of “The Dude”, bringing it back for a long-term installation. The hope is to have “The Dude” bronzed and chilling in the sun by late summer of this year, which will be celebrated with a community picnic.
The majority of the funds raised will be used to cover the cost of the bronze casting, transporting and installing the sculpture. Including artist fees and long term maintenance for the sculpture that will be paid directly to the Mount Pleasant Community Centre Association who is managing the installation.
Fundraiser Film Screening
What:Screening of The Big Lebowski Where: Rio Theatre (1660 East Broadway, Vancouver) When: Thursday, April 18, 2019 at 6:00pm Tickets: Available online in advance or at the door. 20% of proceeds will be donated to the cause. Must be 19+.
On April 19th, 1956 construction began on the main branch of the Vancouver Public Library. Today there’s a heritage marker on the building, that sits at the northeast corner of Robson and Burrard, next to the window displays full of lingerie and the latest PINK products at Victoria’s Secret.
Vancouver Public Library Main Branch at 750 Burrard Street, designed by architect Doug Simpson of Semmens & Simpson. Photo ran April 2, 1955. Vancouver Sun [PNG Merlin Archive]
Vancouver Public Library Main Branch
1945: VPL board chair, G. Stanley Miller, requested $1.5 million from the city, which would include a $1 million main library “in keeping with Vancouver’s civic dignity.” The remaining $500,000 would be spent on branches throughout the city. Miller noted that when the Carnegie Library at Hastings and Main was built in 1903, the population was only 40,000. The population in 1945 was 320,000. [Source: Vancouver Sun]
Robson and Hornby (Robson Square), Pender and Homer, and Pender and Cambie were all proposed sites for the Main Branch in the 1940s. Read more and see some renderings for buildings, that included civic theatres, in the Vancouver Sun article here »
A Vancouver Sun editorial called the city’s continued “stalling” on the library site “ridiculous.” In September 1954, the city decided to give up on the idea of a new Downtown hotel and to proceed with the library on the Robson and Burrard site.
1981 – Robson at Burrard. Vancouver Archives #CVA 779-W07.01
1952: The City of Vancouver purchased the property at 750 Burrard. April 1956: Construction began. November 1957: The Main Branch opened. Chuck Davis writes: “The location was criticized by some at the time because “there isn’t enough foot traffic.” The sleek, modernist structure was Vancouver’s first glass curtain building, designed by architects H.N. Semmens and D.C. Simpson. It was awarded the Massey Medal, Canada’s highest architectural honour.”
Top Left: 1974 – Vancouver Archives #CVA 778-315. Top Right: (No Date) VPL #85972 Photographer Harold Kalman. Bottom Left & Right: Google Maps.
August 1988: A water main broke and flooded a wide area of the branch. It forced a one-day closure, badly damaged many books (some rare), and ruined a big collection of newspapers.
“There was never any serious question that a new central library was in order for Canada’s most literate city,” Sandra McKenzie wrote. “The old facility, built in 1957 at Robson and Burrard, was designed to accommodate 750,000 volumes, with seating for 300 patrons. In the intervening years the VPL’s collection, which numbers over 1.4 million items, and public demand for the library’s services, swelled well past this capacity. Despite seconding the auditorium, several meeting rooms and much of the seating space to shelf space, nearly a third of the collection was stored in the basement, while more than 5,000 patrons a day scrambled for scarce chairs.”
Sandra McKenzie wrote in The Greater Vancouver Book via Chuck Davis’ History of Metropolitan Vancouver
November 1990: Vancouver voters endorsed capital funds for a new central library. The City then bought the site at 350 West Georgia Street from the federal government. The provincial government agreed to a twenty-year lease of two floors in the proposed new building, with the expectation that the library would then acquire the space. [Source: VPL]
1995: The Main Branch moved to the Vancouver Public Library’s Central Branch we have today at 350 West Georgia Street. 1996: A multi-level Virgin Megastore moved in and Planet Hollywood restaurant was upstairs from 1997 to 1999. 2005: HMV took over the Virgin Megastore space until 2012. 2013: Victoria’s Secret opened in May of 2013. A Shoppers Drug Mart is also currently at street level.
Vancouver Television (VTV) also occupied several floors from 1997 to 2001 before CTV Globemedia took over the space.
Floors 4-6 are currently occupied by Bell Media (CTV Vancouver and radio stations QMFM, TSN Radio, BNN Bloomberg, and Virgin Radio Vancouver), above Victoria’s Secret. The radio stations moved in with the company’s television station in 2013.
The 9th annual Verses Festival of Words (April 25 to May 4, 2019) celebrates the transformative power of words – written, spoken or sung. As Canada’s largest alternative literary festival, Verses is one of the most diverse and exciting literary events of the season.
Verses Festival of Words
When: April 25 to May 4, 2019
Where: Various venues, East Vancouver (C-Lab, Café Deux Soleils, WISE Hall, Havana Theatre, Rio Theatre, Storm Crow, Vancouver Public Library Central Branch, WISE Hall, York Theatre)
Tickets: Verses Festival Passes are available online now for $75 and include access to 30+ Verses Festival of Words spoken word events. Passes can be picked up at any festival event. Individual event tickets are available at the door.
This year’s line-up is filled with ground-breaking artists who encapsulate the vibrant future of Canadian culture. Featured events include the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam championship (“CIPS”) and Hullaballoo: BC’s Youth Spoken Word Festival.
Featured Events
Cultivate: A Showcase of 2 Spirit, Queer and Trans Artists April 28, 2019 from 3:00pm to 5:00pm (WISE Hall)
“Cultivate: Artist Support Circles for Indigi- and other Queers” springs from Shane Sable’s attempt to disrupt art-in-isolation mythologies. The talking circles meet monthly at the Queer Art Festival’s SUM Gallery to connect, collaborate, and offer support to queer artists across disciplines. This showcase spotlights Cultivate artists Shane Sable, Tawahum, Raven John & Laura Fukumoto.
Sounds Like Fire: Vivek Shraya’s Death Threat Book Launch April 28, 2019 from 8:00pm to 10:00pm
Artists: Vivek Shraya, Christie Lee Charles, Tawahum & Youth All Stars A showcase of resistance, resilience and empowerment – and the Vancouver launch of Vivek Shraya and Ness Lee’s new book! Death Threat perfectly expresses the feeling of being exposed to the hurtful and threatening presumptions of strangers, transforming a hideous and constrictive mindset into beauty and love. Features performances from Vancouver Poet Laureate Christie Lee Charles and local favorite Tawahum, as well as highlighting the emerging power of local youth artists.
Van Slam and Youth Slam Showcase April 29, 2019 from 4:00pm to 6:00pm (WISE Hall)
A display of some of the best local veteran and emerging slam poets! Members of the newly minted 2019 Vancouver Poetry Slam and Youth Slam teams showcase the work that pushed them to the top.
Word Circus April 30, 2019 from 4:00pm to 6:00pm (WISE Hall)
A whirlwind of words occurs as Emily Crocker, Brandon Wint, Chelsea D.E. Johnson & a mystery guest perform acrobatic feats of wordsmithery and music. A round robin format allows the artists to respond to one another in a spontaneous way. See artists performing in a relaxed, informal, yet electric atmosphere where anything can happen.
Canadian Individual Poetry Slam Championship Round 1 May 1, 2019 from 8:00pm to 10:00pm (Cafe Deux Soleils) Canadian Individual Poetry Slam Championship Round 2 May 3, 2019 from 8:00pm to 10:00pm (Havana Theatre) Canadian Individual Poetry Slam Championship FINALS May 4, 2019 from 8:00pm to 10:00pm (York Theatre)
Canada’s best slam poets show us their strongest 4- and 1-minute poems in a competition destined to crown 2019’s national slam champion.
Guided by two qualified facilitators, this community dialogue asks artists, organizers and audiences to participate in anti-oppression dialogue around the topic of “Decolonizing the Arts.” Come prepared with questions, thoughts and a respectful voice.
