BookShorts Newsletter September 2008 Special Edition

Moving Stories Heads East

After our first gig in Winnipeg and the Gala in Calgary, Moving Stories Films will be continuing its cross-Canada tour at the St. John's International Women's Film Festival in Newfoundland. The screening takes place Friday October 17, 5pm at the Masonic Temple (6 Cathedral Street), followed by a reception.

Irene Duma, special on-stage guest & director of This Hour Has Seven Decades says "I fell in love with Newfoundland when I followed my film here the first time, now I'm living in St. John's and the film is following me!" Duma is a BookShorts films veteran, with more than four projects to her screenwriter/director credits.

Newfoundland's own Justin Simms, winner of this year's Best Atlantic Feature for "Down to the Dirt," is the director of Moving Stories short film Night Work: A Sawchuk Poem also in the MSF program this year; it is making it's home-town premiere.

We first met director Kate Jessop (Manchester, England) and her work last year at the St. John's Film Fest; When the Telescope Came is included in the program this year as a direct result of the St. John's curatorial board making consistently excellent programming choices.

Rachel Peters is another talented "find" from St. John's '07 - her work animating the Festival's opening intro, her pitch at the Face to Face session, and a charming stage show that includes fire-eating (yup, eating actual fire) put her on our radar and lead to a fruitful collaboration on Nagasaki Circus. Not only is it in the MSF program, we helped to secure funding through Bravo!FACT, where the film will be broadcast after its festival circuit.

Visit Moving Stories online for up to the minute news!

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Soucouyant In The Can

Shooting just wrapped on the short film adaptation of BC author David Chariandy's novel Soucouyant. The film is directed by Ken Tsui and written with Brittany Junek, winners of the Moving Stories "Make a Film on our Dime" competition. The film will make its debut as part of the Moving Stories program at the Vancouver International Writers Festival on October 25.

Visit Moving Stories Film guest blog to read Ken's notes from the set.

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The Ravine Longlisted for Giller

The news is all over the wire -- Moving Stories Films Curator / Author / Filmmaker Paul Quarrington has been longlisted for the 2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize for his novel The Ravine.

"The selections this year are especially formidable. Many of the other nominees are personal friends," says Quarrington, "which might cause some difficulty when I begin the hexing incantations and whammies, but hey, I hope they understand. I'm proud to be on such a fine list."

The Ravine is the inspiration for Quarrington's short film Pavane. The film will premiere to audiences attending Moving Stories Films in each city on our tour, before national broadcasts on both Bravo!FACT Presents and CBC Reflections.

For more information about Pavane contact Judith Keenan at judith@bookshorts.com or 416.519.0806.

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A Life's Passion National Broadcast November 2

CBC Reflections will broadcast director Gary Thomas' short A Life's Passion on November 2, 2008. The film is a beautifully-shot and animated hybrid that conveys the authenticity of author James McCreath's dramatic life, and his fictionalized telling of real-world historical events in Argentina from its first years of industrialization to the terrorism and politics underscoring the country's host role in the 1970's World Cup.

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Vote for A Life's Passion

A Life’s Passion has been invited to take part in the online competition of the First Glance Film Festival, Philadelphia! Directed by Gary Thomas, the film is a short docu-drama adaptation of James McCreath’s epic novel Renaldo. The competition goes live September 16th on the First Glance Film Festival website.

To vote for A Life’s Passion, until October 16, visit First Glance Film Fest Online