Cinema Canada (Dec 1974-Jan 1975)

Snow. The evening was sponsored by the Public Affairs Department of Toronto Arts Productions and the Toronto Filmmakers’ Co-op. (See Co-op page.... ed.) A Film Festival/Seminar will be held at the Banff Centre School of Fine Arts from January 23 to 26. Topic is contemporary Canadian cinematography, and co-chairmen are Richard Leiterman and John Katz. Goals are “To provide a professional calibre learning workshop/ seminar to apprentice and journeyman cinematographers and production personnel within the Western Canadian Film community. To foster interaction and dialogue between various elements in the western film community. Also to initiate relationships between western and eastern filmmakers. To increase awareness of technical and equipment resources available in the market. To raise the profile of Canadian feature films to Alberta movie-attending audiences.” Twenty-four to forty participants will examine, through showings of full and excerpted features, documentaries, journalism, and so on. Possibly attending will be Marc Champion, Doug McKay and Eddie Hunter. ... St. Lawrence College in Cornwall, Ontario has run two Canadian filmmakers series from September to December as part of its evening program. One is a ‘Canada: Film Pack,’ consisting of historical and new features, and the other is ‘Canada: Culture Pack,’ which includes the National Gallery/Canadian Filmmakers series. Filmpeople/Random notes Carol Laure won a court injunction against Québec release of Sweet Movie. She wanted a scene cut wherein she holds a penis. .. . Donald Lautrec reached an agreement with director Claude Fournier over a scene from La Pomme, la Queue, et les Pepins, wherein Lautrec objected to use of a double’s penis and substituted a stick under a blanket. ... So much for sex, now dollars: Paperback Hero will open in New York January 19 and in the rest of the U.S. January 31. ... Duddy Kravitz was listed at No.5 position in Variety’s Top Grossers for October 16th week. Take to that date was $1.5 million. Sales to Britain have arranged a January opening, and four other countries are negotiating. Producer John Kemény plans an American co-production, The Captors, a kidnap story with an international cast. ... Crawley’s feature, Janis, distributed by Universal in the U.S. grossed $16,000 in its first two weeks at San Francisco’s 342 seat Vogue theatre. ... 10 Cinema Canada Sylvia Spring David Acomba The August Films-Vision IV production Black Christmas, might be the first English Canadian film to have the American distribs come begging. In a short Toronto run, the pic has made $350,000. Breakeven is expected to be reached in Canada.... Director Sylvia Spring has been handling Ontario ETV’s Nightmusic program. Robert Charlebois is appearing in French filmmaker Gerard Piers’ Black Vacation with Jean-Louis Trintignant. Director David Acomba, due to response to a screening of his CBC Charlebois special, was asked to make the film of George Harrison’s North American tour; Acomba will also pro Gordon Sparling, Roy Tash, and Canada’s Loveliest Child (1923) duce several shows for Ontario ETV.... Odeon Theatres has had some executive changes. Chairman and president Chris Salmon retains his chairman’s seat, but former Vice president H. Blumson now gets the big job. Will that make any difference to the Canadian film industry? ... York University Film Program founder James Beveridge is On sabbatical, but he’s busy. Completing a book on John Grierson, he’s shot half of a documentary on master Japanese craftsmen and is preparing a series on the social history of India. ... Gordon Sparling, 74, was presented with the 1974 Canadian Film Institute Award for “‘continuing and creative con