® ® REEL CANADA Uniting our nation through film WHO WE ARE REEL CANADA is a charitable organization whose mission is to introduce students to the power and diversity of Canadian film and engage them in a conversation about what it means to be Canadian. Our travelling film festival has held nearly 1,100 screenings and reached more than 400,000 students over the past 10 years, and it just keeps growing. WHAT WE DO WHY WE DO IT Now entering our 11th season, we offer three core We believe — and our audiences confirm — that programs: Canadians really do enjoy watching Canadian films, even though they are often difficult to find in Our Films in Our Schools: We help teachers the commercial marketplace. We bring Canadian and students across Canada organize festivals films directly to students of all ages. of Canadian film in their schools and integrate Canadian film into the classroom. “I think the film unites people as Canadian. We had same feeling while we were watching Welcome to Canada: We introduce new Canadians the movie though we all come from different to Canadian film and culture through festival countries.” events designed specifically for English-language – Adult English-language learner from Korea, learners of all ages. living in Vancouver National Canadian Film Day: We organize an We agree. Canadian stories truly do have the power annual, nationwide initiative for all Canadians to unite us as a nation. Watching Canadian movies to celebrate Canada through film. Join us in the is a great way to celebrate our country. celebration and watch a great Canadian movie on April 20, 2016. HOW WE DO IT From a single class to an entire school, we can help you put on a festival of Canadian film of any size or scope. The catalogue you hold in your hands is your key to the wealth of Canadian films we offer. Check it out, then email us at [email protected] We also offer lesson plans, games, quizzes and other resources to help teachers bring this important part of our culture to their students. Lesson plans for grades 9 to 12 in a variety of subject areas, as well as for ESL/ELL students, are available. Just visit www.reelcanada.ca/teachers or contact us for more information. Canadian Films are dah bomb! “ — Grade 11 student, Centennial RHS, Montreal " A celebration of Canadian film is such I am a part of REEL CANADA an important part of who we are as because I believe it has the Canadians. power to change the future. — Deepa Mehta, filmmaker — Colm Feore, actor Canadian youth should know of Canadian film and J'ai adoré la journée! Bonne expérience. Bravo! culture, and be inspired by how awesome it is! — Élève de 10e année, Collège catholique Franco-Ouest, — Grade 10 student, Abbotsford Senior SS, Abbotsford, BC Ottawa Wow! Just wow. Experiencing REEL CANADA made me wish Kids are exposed to This is all I can say. that Canadian films were played in theatres. Canadian films and Canada. AWESOME! *clap clap clap* — Grade 10 student, Bernice McNaughton HS, — Grade 9 student, Garden City — Grade 11 ESL student, Moncton, NB Greenwood SS, Toronto Collegiate, Winnipeg They are excited in seeing films that relate to Being able to talk to Jennifer Podemski them, so it’s really important that we get out was an amazing experience that I will here and do this. The level of excitement is always remember. extraordinary. — Grade 12 student, W.F. Herman Secondary — Paul Gross, filmmaker School, Windsor, ON REEL CANADA showed me that Canada REEL CANADA is one of the most actually makes really, really amazing movies, promising initiatives I've ever and that they tell great Canadian stories. witnessed. — Grade 9 student, Evan Hardy CI, Saskatoon — Gordon Pinsent, actor REEL CANADA is a lot like guerilla warfare, taking back our culture one village at a time — except the villages are actually high schools. It’s almost too good to be true. — Atom Egoyan, filmmaker INTRODUCTION TO REEL CANADA Welcome to our 11th season. We've just celebrated our 10th anniversary — a huge milestone — and having now brought great Canadian movies to almost 250,000 students of all ages across the country, it’s a great opportunity to reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re headed. From a modest pilot project in six high schools in Toronto in 2005 to about 100 different events in nine provinces last season, the program has grown enormously over the past 10 years. Very often, Canadian films are not available in the local mall or multiplex. They are available through REEL CANADA, and given the chance to see them, Canadians really do love Canadian movies. We bring our travelling festival to high schools, where students meet and talk with Canadian filmmakers Jack Blum, Executive Director whose work they have just seen. Whether or not it is their first exposure to a Canadian movie (often it is), they Sharon Corder, Artistic Director see themselves and their lives reflected on screen in a way that Hollywood just doesn’t provide. We screen Canadian movies for audiences of new Canadians who are working hard to learn our language and our culture. The movies show them what this incredible country looks like, how Canadian life is different from what they know and how at its heart it is exactly the same. Finally, on National Canadian Film Day, we invite all Canadians to celebrate Canada by watching a great Canadian movie. Once again, our core belief that our films have the power to unite us as a nation has been borne out: Enthusiasm for the day has been infectious. Thousands of people, in every province and territory, have participated in our annual film party and had a lot of fun doing so. REEL CANADA just continues to grow, thanks to the wonderful support of our sponsors, public and private, to the enthusiasm of the actors and filmmakers whose participation makes the events exciting and meaningful, and to you, our audiences who keep telling us in so many ways that you really enjoy the stories we tell ourselves and the rest of the world. Thank you for taking part. We hope you have a wonderful REEL CANADA experience. Best wishes, Jack Blum, Executive Director Sharon Corder, Artistic Director Executive Director: Jack Blum Communications Director: British Columbia Office: Brie Koniczek Cara McCutcheon Artistic Director: Sharon Corder Manitoba Office: Terri Cherniack Communications Co-director and Festivals Manager: Jenna Hijazi Quebec Office: National Canadian Film Valerie McLeod Administrative Director: Deanna Wong Day Manager: Kasia Gladki Wendy Singer Office & Programming Manager: National Canadian Film Day Associate: Programming Consultants: Alison Zemell Elizabeth Mudenyo Marc Glassman, programmer emeritus Development Consultant: Graphics Associate: Chantal Speirs Andrew Butko, associate Dianne Schwalm Educational Resources Coordinator: Publishing Consultant: BlueAppleWorks Technical Director: Mark Meeks Joshua Bertram Creative, Graphic Design & Website: Creative Consultant: Katarina Gligorijevic Educational Resources Coordinator Agency 71 Inc. Emeritus: Richard Park Video Editor: Jack Feore Production Coordinators: Lauren Bell Cultural Consultant: Duke Redbird National Honourary Patron: Right Melissa O’Neil Atlantic Office: Honourable Adrienne Clarkson Anthony Swan Janet MacDougall-Turner Founding Patron: David Miller, 63rd Mayor Stephanie Turenko Jonathan McKay of Toronto REGISTERED CHARITABLE # 8508 92 36 5 RR0001 www.reelcanada.ca • 720 Bathurst Street, Suite 504, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2R4 • 416-642-5796 • 1-855-733-5709 • Fax: 647-557-2111 4 MESSAGE FROM THE RIGHT HONOURABLE, ADRIENNE CLARKSON, P.C., C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D. Greetings and best wishes to the students, teachers and f ilmmakers who will be participating in the 11th season of REEL CANADA this year. REEL CANADA’s program of presenting Canadian f ilms to high school students in an exciting f ilm festival format is an innovative way to expose Canadian youth to the history, diversity and wealth of Canadian culture and creative talent. I am delighted to know that REEL CANADA is now active in 10 provinces and territories across Canada and I look forward to the day when the program is accessible to students in all regions of our great country. We are a nation of immigrants. With the exception of the people of the First Nations, all of us came from somewhere else at one time or another. This means that we all must meet the challenge of belonging, of discovering what it is to make this country our own. In today’s globally connected, media-f illed world, this is Adrienne Clarkson as true for those of us whose great-great-grandparents f irst arrived and settled here as it is for the newcomers National Patron who stream into our country every year. In 2005, I founded the Institute for Canadian Citizenship to foster discussion about the signif icance of citizenship and to create awareness among all Canadians of the need to participate actively in the integration of new citizens into our society. The Institute also strives to enable new Canadians to be more informed about Canada — its history, culture and way of life — and thus more engaged and connected to Canada and the communities in which they live. Thus I am particularly pleased to know that REEL CANADA now screens its films to adult newcomers enrolled in ESL training programs. This aspect of REEL CANADA’s work represents to me nation-building at its most creative, innovative, visionary and effective. I also applaud REEL CANADA’s initiative in establishing National Canadian Film Day, an opportunity for all Canadians to experience and celebrate our outstanding and unique Canadian cinema. The enthusiastic response of students, teachers, adult newcomers, and indeed all Canadians who experience REEL CANADA indicates clearly that it is an entertaining and stimulating way to be introduced to the great work of Canadian f ilmmakers.