Cinema Canada (Apr-May 1974)

A. Ibranyi-Kiss There has been a fantastic amount of coverage devoted to the famous Winnipeg Manifesto which reads: We the undersigned filmmakers and filmworkers wish to voice our belief that the present system of film production/distribution/exhibition works to the extreme disadvantage of the Canadian filmmaker and film audience. We wish to state unequivocally that film is an expression and affirmation of the cultural reality of this country first, and a business second. We believe the present crisis in the feature film industry presents us with an extraordinary opportunity. The _ halfhearted measures taken to date have failed. It is now clear that slavishly following foreign examples does not work. We need public alternatives at every level in the film industry. We must create our own system to allow filmmakers the option of working in the creative milieu of their choice. We insist that the various governments of Canada implement the necessary policies to provide an alternative and a complement to the private production capacity in the Canadian feature film industry by providing a public mechanism and the resources to fully finance Canadian features. Therefore, we call on the federal government in cooperation with the provincial governments: 1. To create a public production capacity that will allow full financing of Canadian feature films. 2. To create a public distribution organization with broad responsibilities for promotion and dissemination of Canadian films here and abroad. 3. To create a quota for Canadian films in theatres across the country. David Acomba director, Slipstream Denys Arcand __ director, Réjeanne Padovani Linda Beath New Cinema Enterprises Milad Bessada director, A Quiet Day In Belfast Kirwan Cox assoc. producer, Montreal Main Jack Darcus director, Wolf Pen Principle Martin Defalco SGCT, NFB director Sandra Gathercole Toronto Filmmakers Co-op Jack Grey ACTRA, writer A Quiet Day In Belfast Agi Ibranyi-Kiss Cinema Canada Len Klady Symposium organizer Winnipeg Film Co-op Colin Low National Film Board Peter Pearson DGC, director, Paperback Hero Tom Shandel director, Another Smith for Paradise director, Between Friends Cinéma Québec director, Montreal Main Vancouver Sun director, The Visitor Don Shebib Jean-Pierre Tadros Frank Vitale Les Wedman John Wright 14 Cinema Canada The Program The program at the Symposium consisted of several panel discussions each day with film showings at night. The feature films shown were: Réjeanne Padovani, La Mort d’un Bicheron, Between Friends, The Visitor, Coming Home, Slipstream, La Maudite Galette; with Wolf Pen Principle, Montreal Main and A Quiet Day in Belfast having their world premieres. The panel discussions and the people involved were: Canadian Content (David Acomba, Peter Pearson, Don Shebib, Milad Bessada, Jack Gray and Sandra Gathercole), Survival (Martin Defalco, Denys Arcand, John Wright, Jack Darcus, David Tompkins, Don Shebib and David Acomba), Film Financing (Guy Bergeron, Chalmers Adams, Penni Jacques, Michael Spencer, Peter Pearson, John Wright and Milad Bessada), Distribution and Exhibition (Michael Spencer, Linda Beath, Kirwan Cox, Tom Shandel, Guy Bergeron and Paul Morton), Publicity and Promotion (Marcia Couélle, Colin Low, David Acomba, Sandra Gathercole and Linda Beath), and the Future of the Industry (Denys Arcand, Don Shebib, Peter Pearson, Chalmers Adams, Tom Shandel and Kirwan Cox). Pretty impressive lists. ... The panel discussions revealed very little that hasn’t been discussed, proposed, argued, and chewed over for years. As for the famous Manifesto — it is selfexplanatory. Everyone is _ frustrated. Money is tight. Government has been of little help in relieving the serious problems Canadian films and filmmakers are facing. If all this is true — then what value did the Symposium have, if any? Quite a bit. For one thing, there was a unity amongst filmmakers Canadawide that has never happened before. Obviously, we will all have to pull together to effect the changes so drastically necessary. But beyond all that, the Winnipeg Film Symposium was a great place to become aware of the moods and directions our film community is taking. One of the most heartwarming spectacles was the discussion on distribution and exhibition. There was only one panelist devoutly against quotas — Paul Morton of Odeon-Morton theatres, president of the Canada-wide exhibitors association. No wonder! Mr. Morton represented the only group (however small) which might have something to lose — foreign-owned theatre chains. We can’t expect him to be joyous over the possibility of legislated protection for Canadian films, can we? Another interesting sideshow was the Winnipeg Symposium : The Turning Point attentive presence of Micheline Morrisette of the Secretary of State’s Film Office and Carole Langlois from the CFDC. Both women sat through four days of discussions while panel after panel heaped scorn and criticism on their departments. Not an easy task, and certainly deserving of an award for Gracious Diplomacy Under Enemy Attack. Two other awards of Remarkable Performances should go to Len Klady, who surprised everyone by actually getting the event off the ground and running smoothly; and Chalmers Adams, who maintained his integrity even when outnumbered 30 to 1 and viciously attacked for his capitalist theories by yours truly. The Location The whole week’s merry-go-round (running from 10 in the morning to early the next) took place in a rather Felliniesque environment. The entire film contingent was luxuriously accommodated at the Ramada Inn — modeled in 1950’s California Gothic Mafia Baroque style, and equipped with a sauna, an indoor pool, as well as a whirlpool bath which became the location for much serious discussion concerning Canada’s Film Policies. Whatever could not be adequately debated in the pool was later carefully analysed at the late night parties. But the Ramada’s highlights were its coffeeshop placemats depicting a US map with little green dots indicating where all the other Ramadas were, and a few stray ones which dropped on the wrong side of the States’ northern border. These placemats prompted a spontaneous (if slightly inebriated) rendering of the Star Strangled (oops) Banner on the part of the Canadian Film Contingent. Result: next day, four waitresses called in sick and we all waited up to an hour for breakfast. Who says Justice is blind? The Lesson On a more serious level, the most important wind of change among Canada’s filmmakers is REGIONALISATION. Think about it. Make peace with it (maybe even learn to love it) because that’s where films are headed. By the second day of the conference, certain patterns were emerging: A. Quebec has already separated, at least as far as film is concerned. Nobody at Winnipeg talked about Quebec as being part of this country anymore — whenever the name ‘‘Canada” was used, it always meant English Canada. B. Vancouver is starting to exalt its