Cinema Canada (Oct 1976)

Turkee Filim? We have been referred to your firm by the Canadian Radio-Television Commission in Ottawa, and it is our understanding that yours’ would be the most knowledgeable source from which we may ascertain information regarding Turkish films being shown in Canada, at present. The data which we are interested in are: the titles of the Turkish movies, and in which Canadian cities are they being shown. We would be most grateful for your cooperation in providing us with the aforementioned at your earliest convenience, and in anticipation of your reply, Iam Very truly yours, Ozger Akad Commercial Counsellor Turkish Embassy Please send any information pertaining to Turkish films in Canada to Cinema Canada, Box 398, Montreal, Thanks. Ed. New. Different, Significant I was intrigued and a little saddened by the reports you included in No. 29 on the Grierson Seminar. While Natalie Edwards spoke of the absolute necessity of investigating “... the novel and the new, and if possible introduce attitudes and methods that are almost revolutionary,” and Gary Evans entitled his article ‘No Significant Attempt to Explore” before proceeding to review some of the more outstanding films that he perceived at the seminar, no one made even the slightest mention of a film that certainly met both the criteria aspired to above, and which also caused a certain amount of controversy, anger and incomprehension when it was shown. I am, of course, referring to Tom Braidwood’s Limited Engagement, made on the west coast, a film so different in conception, perception and in the questions that it raised, that there was little significant discussion of the film at the seminar. It is a film that has stayed with me, long after many of the others have receded into dim memory. I find it really unfortunate, and perhaps typical, that we are unable or unwilling to devote the time to the novel and the new, while consigning them to an obscurity that we continually criticize. Yours sincerely, Piers Handling 4/ cinema canada A Blue Ribbon We were disappointed to see that Ben Achtenberg’s_ report, ‘More Important than Cannes?’’, No. 29, on the American Film Festival, omitted to mention the success of our film Secretariat, Big Red’s Last Race which, we are happy to say, won a Blue Ribbon in the Leisure Activities category. ' ead Taking this opportunity to blow our own trumpet, we have over the last three years entered six films in this film festival, and have a score of two blues and two reds. This festival has certainly been good for us in terms of print sales in the United States, and we strongly recommend other independent Canadian filmmakers to enter their films in competition for these awards. Martin Harbury Insight Productions A Red Ribbon I read with great interest, in the June/ July edition of Cinema Canada, the article entitled ““More Important Than Cannes?”’, by Ben Achtenberg. I, however, was disappointed to note a glaring omission. My film entitled It’s Not the Going Up That Hurts; It’s the Coming Down won a Red Ribbon Award in the Health and Guidance/ Addiction category in the ’76 festival. There was no mention, at all, of me and my film. This error should be corrected, don’t you agree? I am also enclosing a brief resume, and I wonder ifs Natalie Edwards (with whom I have spoken) might do a “Capsules” review of my recent film I’m the Same as Everyone Else. I feel that my industry profile is too low and I’d like to correct it. May I say, in closing, that you do generally publish an excellent magazine, even though the content is a little dated by the time I read it. Tony Douglas Tony Douglas Associates A Tribute A tribute to David Cronenberg, Ivan Reitman and John Kemeny, Canadian heros, because they dared to make a profit. You may think I’m kidding about the hero bit but I’m not. This letter has been brewing for a long time and was finally triggered by Martin Knelman’s article in The Montreal Star’s Weekend Magazine about how Daryl Duke was fired from the film The Shadow of the Eagle (sic). It was another story about how poor Canada is being raped by the bad guys from south of the border, and this time it tried to indict John Kemeny, one of Canada’s top producers, as a turncoat. It’s too bad Martin Knelman didn’t grasp that this negative crying about: Canadian feature films getting rotten deals is old hat — that people are actually figuring out ways to make movies that people will pay to see (not just pay to make), and ways to get these movies to the people who want to see them, and ways to get the money that people paid back to the people who made them so they can buy a hamburger and make more films. It’s a vicious circle that everyone in this business with half a brain would like to be on. Knelman put down Kemeny for firing Daryl Duke and trying to protect the $2,000,000 that he was entrusted to spend... for trying to make a commercial film... for trying to come in on budget. That’s a shame because Kemeny should be applauded for making good, profitable films and for trying to bring big budget to Canada. We’re a primitive child in the feature film business, struggling for survival. Let’s admit it and recognize good moves when they occur. Let’s praise our heros and can this paranoia-inducing journalism that’s doing its best to keep us in diapers. RE: David Cronenberg, Ivan Reitman and ‘‘B’’ movies David Cronenberg and Ivan Reitman made Shivers (previously called Parasite Murders), a very profitable film which was blasted by Marshall Delaney and other critics who thought that this film was so far beneath the dignity of Canadians that it should not have been made on our soil. That’s it! Canadians were soiled by Shivers, and millions of people in Canada and all over the world are paying their dirty money so that they can soil and corrupt themselves... and that money is going back into the hands of David Cronenberg and Ivan Reitman so that they can create more dirt. Stop it! We don’t do that in Canada. We make films that clean people see. There aren’t