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CINEMA CAN A D A The CBC is offering a 34 month contract with Subsequently, CRARR has asked the NFBt o and th ere were public disagreements between CBC and CUPE present job security in place and no move ment devo te an equivalent amoun t of production screenwriter Ted Alla n and star Donald in the area of jurisdiction. "It is the sa me offer," funding or resources to a progra m th at would Sutherland. reach tentative said Curzon, "that other unions have accepted, show posti ve aspec ts of immigra tion and Clermont is understand ably anxious to see th e such as NABET (who recently settled with the multiculturalismin Quebec. final fi lm on the scree n. "I hope and believe it agreement CBC after the federal government appointed a CRARR has also asked Comminication will surprise many people. Th ere have been so Commissioner to resolve the dispute). They Minister Marcel Masse to remind both many negative th ings said about it tha t, at times, TORONTO - Negotiators for the CBC and 2,600 have 10 recognize the kind of budgetary crisis the institutions of" their legal and social respon­ people have lost the scope of th e film itself. " striking workers reached a tentative settlement CBCi s in. " sibilities and to make certain that the boards of Betlili lle is the first ever Canadian-Chinese­ AprilS that is expected to bring an end to the Production came to a halt on Kids In the Hall, both institutions reflect the cultural and racial French co-production . Filmline is producing three week-old labour dispute. If the agreement Mosqll ito Lake, Codco, Crazy People, and Love all d diversity of Canada . with the China Film Coproduction Corpora tion, is ratified, the announcers, production staff, Hate, the Colin Thatcher story being shot in "Dispa raftle should not be the last word on Telefilm Ca nada, the August First Film Studios clerical workers, makeup artists and other Saskatchewan. This could mean a delay in the these issues," says Richard Daignault, member of Beijingand Eiflel Productions of Pa ri s, ~ra nce . members of the Canadian Union of Public implementation of the CBC's fall schedule. of the CRARR board. Employees will be back on the job by April 10th. "Those who do not share the views expressed No precise details are available yet, but should be able to share their views as well, " he sources close to the negotiations say that the says . CBC didn't give in to the union's demanads for Daignault says the program reflects Masse to move greater job security and jurisdiction over CRARRtakes inappropriate hiring practices at the CBCa nd coproductions with independent producers. NFB, where ethnic minorities are concerned, ahead with film The stalled negotiations picked up after a action on and that the employment equi ty act should be meeting between union officials and CBC rigorously applied. importation bill president Pierre juneau. The CBC is reported to Disparaitre "We want these matters to be discussed at the be happy with the terms of the settlement. legislative level, " says Fo Niemi, executive OTTAWA -Marcel Masse, the recently CUPE, the largest of the CBC's unions, voted MONTREAL - The Centre for Research Action director of CRARR, "but we ha ve to wait for the reappointed Minister of Communications, will to walk out on negotiations with the corporation on Race Relations (CRARR) continues to push House to resume. " be " movingfor ward " with the Film Importation 12 days before a March 29 strike deadline. Some for a redressing of multicultural issues in Quebec Neither does Niemi expect that the NFB will BiU , according to john Watt, film policy officer programs were cancelled completely, drama after the airing of the controversial Dis para ftreby respond until a full-time film commissioner is with the Department of Communications. The productions were halted and management Societe Radio-Canada on Feb. 12 hired. bill, which did not pass first reading in the personal substituted for news announcers on CRARR called a press conference in Montreal House of Commons prior to last year's election, radio and television. The strike did not affect on March 1st after an initial outburst of criticism will be reintroduced when Parliament is recalled Radio-Canada operations in Quebec and in the English-language press that this two-hour this month. Watt would not confirm if it will be Moncton. documentary was unbalanced and intentionally reintroduced in its present form or will be Both sides agreed at the time that the main propagandistic. Bethune to open modifed bv the new minister. issues at stake this time were job security and Produced by Raymond Gauthier, directed by The fed ~ra l fi lm legislation which died on the jurisdiction. Ken Hopper, chief negotiator for jean-Fran~ois Mercier and narrated by former 1989 Montreal order paper would have required that Canadian the union, told Cinema Canada that, "about 50 PQ Minister Lise Payette, Disparaftre conjectures rights to independent film s (films that are not per cent of our bargaining unit has no job that without strict language and immigration World Film wholly owned or fi nanced by the American security and no way of getting job security under policies Quebec will loose the French-language majors) be acquired separately from American the existing collective agreement. " by the turn of the century. Festival rights. Currentl y, the American majors buy An official CBC press release claimed that, "if The program is produced by the National Film blanke t North American rights to the films they CUPE jurisdiction were imposed on all Board in association with Societe Radio-Canada MONTREAL - Bethlille. TIle Makillg ala Hero, the di stribute, making it near impossible for co-productions, the CBC would be unable to and it is to both these public institutions that long-a waited movie about Cana dian surgeo n Ca nadia n distributors to compete for those attract co-producers and their money. " CBC CRARR has directed its criticism. Dr. Norman Bethune, will have its gala world fi lms. spokesperson Tom Curzon said that, "its been In a press release issued at the March 1st premiere August 24, opening at the 1989 The Departmell t of Communica tions is on the record for a long time that the CBC's goal conferences, CRARR lists its objections: Montreal World Film Fes tival. Co-producer presently stud ying the proposed mega- merge is to move towards 50 per cent production with " ... CRARR believes that it is totally Nicolas Clermont of Filmli ne to ld CillemaC mUlda between U. S. media giants Time Inc. and independent producers, either co-productions unacceptable that these institutions, both that, "it is very important for us that this film le Warner Communications Inc. to see what it or straight independents. If we concede to the financed by taxpayers money, should use their first presented in CanadJ because the roots of mIgh t mea n for their respective Canadian union on this point we would start to lose resources to convey highly questionable this film are so deeply in this country. " operations. Warner Brothers Ca nada and co-productions, and we just can't afford to do opinions on important national issues such as It had been previously been announced that Warn er Home Video Canada Ltd . employs that. "The CBC also claims that for an employer the declining birth rate and immigration. th e film would be read yfo r Cannes this year, but about 35 people and are headquartered in employing 500 employees or more, the CBC is - CRARR is particularly disturbed that no Clermont no wsa ys the fi nal print \,~ ll not be Toronto. The Department is also studving an the only broadcaster that offers any job security place was given to viewpoints differing from ready until mid-july. "What I would very much earlier ta keo\'€[ of Orio n Pictures Distribution at all. those expressed in the program and that certain like to happen," sa id Clermont, "is fo r this film (Canada) Inc. bv Metromedia Co. of New In some parts of the country, induding 5t. means were implicitly used to undermine and to be in both festivals, Montreal and Toronto. It jersey, which has acqui re d 70 percent co ntrol of john's, Windsor, Ottawa and Vancouver, cast aside such differing viewpoints. is as importa nt for us to be in Toronto as Orion's U. S. operations. technicians and journalists refused to cross CRARR does not question the right of the Montrea l. " "Investment Canada will be looking at it (the At times, it looked as if the movie would never picket lines and programming during the first filmmakers or the agencies to freely express Time-Warne r merger), " said Wa tt. "They will be completed. Production was halted for almost few days of the strike was chaotic. The Genies themsel ves on any subject matter However, it be reviewed under the existing poli CY which has a year as Clermont an d his producing partner, been in place since last May. " He said th at the went ahead, but the show was stripped down to does object to reinforcement techniques used in rie ter Kroonenburg, scrambled to ma intain pl.lic)' states that no new distribution business the bare essentials and picketed by CUPE and order to present, under the guise of consensus, conh'ol of th e picture and find additional will be allowed to be established in Canada, sympathetic filmmakers. The CBC went to the unbalanced and unobjective views on such financing. The four-month 1987 shoot in China exce pt where the company will be only Canadian Labour Relations Board to prevent important and emotionally-charged issues as proved more arduous and costly than planned c1istributing their own product.

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