Chasing down Canadian TV and film outside Canada can be an exhausting challenge. Thanks to Encore Plus Media, the chase for some Canadian content will get a lot easier.
A new YouTube channel is now live with a considerable library of older Canadian TV and film titles.
The TV list is rather long, including well-known titles such as:
- Da Vinci’s Inquest
- Degrassi High
- Due South
- Slings and Arrows
- Mr. Dressup
- Little Mosque on the Prairie
Film titles of note include:
- I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing
- New Waterford Girl
- Stardom
- Waydowntown
- Better Than Chocolate
- Last Night
The press release notes that "Every week, dozens of titles will be added as part of an ongoing editorial calendar, including a number of Canadian feature films premiering on Encore+ in newly re-mastered versions." So the list will increase with more titles.
The YouTube channel is accessible outside Canada. For more information, check out this coverage from our friends at tv-eh.com on the original press release.
CanadianCrossing.com film coverage
CanadianCrossing.com TV coverage
TIFF brought a collection of Canadian films to Beijing for a festival that ran November 3-12. A number of the Canadian producers, filmmakers, and talent were in Beijing to introduce their films.
Incendies (2010) from Denis Villeneuve was the Opening night film.
The other films on the list were
- Gabrielle (2013) Louise Archambault
- Into the Forest (2015) Patricia Rozema
- Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993) Alanis Obomsawin
- Maps to the Stars (2014) David Cronenberg
- Mommy (2014) Xavier Dolan
- Monsieur Lazhar (2011) Philippe Falardeau
- My Winnipeg (2007) Guy Maddin
- Rebelle (2012) Kim Nguyen
- Stories We Tell (2012) Sarah Polley
I've seen all but 2 of them: Maps to the Stars and Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance, which was about the 1990 Oka Crisis. These titles appear to have been selected with the world in mind.
TIFF brought these classic Canadian films in a partnership with the China Film Archive. If these films can play in Beijing, there are many U.S. cities that would welcome this type of film festival.
Christopher Plummer (finally) wins his first Oscar
All the Money in the World from Ridley Scott wasn't even on my radar until the whole Kevin Spacey fallout. Though the film was complete, Scott and the producers decided to recast the role of the late U.S. oil tycoon, Jean Paul Getty, with Canadian legend Christopher Plummer replacing Spacey.
Getty was a much older person and Spacey had to wear extensive makeup to pull off the role.
Yes, Plummer is Canadian, but the reasons this is worth mentioning is that Scott wanted Plummer in the role in the beginning. Scott was pressured to cast a bigger name. Plummer is huge on so many levels, but Spacey offered up more potential buzz, especially among a younger audience.
These decisions come often in the American film industry. The story we recently told of Ashes and the casting of Kristian Bruun shows the Canadian way of getting someone. You ask politely and they might answer "yes." No suits to force unwise casting choices. In Canadian films, you get the director's vision, good or bad. For once, in an American major film, we'll get the director's first pick, even if a sex scandal was the impetus for the change.
video credit: YouTube/Encore Plus Media
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