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Canadian Film Celebration! 15th Anniversary
by James Reckseidler, CSIF quarterly publication answer print
Sitting at his usual spot on a wintry Saturday morning, a table looking out the window of the McNally Robinson cafe, is where I find Edmund Oliverio, producer and co-founder of Agora Films International. He is currently meeting an energetic fellow who is hoping to break into the business. I’m asked to join them, so I sit down in the midst of their conversation. Edmund is imparting some advice.
“I think it is important to give back to the community,” he says to me as the young man leaves, and we begin to talk over a cup of coffee. It’s a well-placed comment, as I’m there to interview him about another time 15 years ago, where he, along with two other notable associates, Flemming Nielson and then Calgary Film Commissioner David Parker, attempted to draw the film community for a celebration of all things Canadian Film.
“The idea cames as we were having breakfast one morning, as we usually did at Razzberries in Kensington...we got talking about how we could raise awareness of Calgary and of Canadian film, and this idea just came out.”
A year and a half later, the idea was realized in the form of the Canadian Film Celebration, a massive week-long event that took place from March 12 to 17, 1991. It was an opportunity to raise awareness of the Canadian film industry, showcasing the films and talent that this country generates, offering their films to a public that normally wouldn’t see them, and to bring together the various organizations in the film industry to meet and make new connections.
Over the course of the week, roughly 400 Canadian films ranging from features, to shorts, to documentaries, to student films were selected to be screened at over 30 venues around the city, complete with premiere galas for several features released that year, an industry7 trade show, award luncheons, various dinners, and high profile attendees such as Hon. Flora MacDonald, Denys Arcand, Anne Wheeler, Leslie Neilson, Susan Clark, Norman Jewison. Certainly among the highlights was the screening of a newly restored 35mm print of Back to God’s Country (1919), the first film to be shot in Alberta, prepared by the National Archives for the event.
Moreover, the Canadian Film Celebration was a unique experience where the public was invited to participate in many of the planned activities, having a chance to interact with many of the actors and talent that had come to partake in the celebration. A high school curriculum was prepared and sent to high schools around the city in preparation for the week, and workshops were offered so people could learn about the various roles on a film set.
“It wasn’t just a festival,” says Oliverio, “we didn’t want just a festival. It was much more.” So much more that the event was capped off by the shutting down of 9th Avenue for the day for a film shoot, where the public could participate in or watch from monitors the staging and filming of a scene. “It was great as it was the first time we had all the unions really come together and people really got behind it. The spin off was that everyone had a great time and got to meet new people.”
It’s now 15 years later, and a reunion celebration is being held on March 13th from 6 to 10 pm at Ceili’s Irish Pub on 8th Avenue S.W. It will be an opportunity for those who were involved in the first Celebration to reunite and reminisce about the event, but more importantly, it is an chance for everyone involved in film and video in the city to get acquainted, to meet and mingle, and to network, so all are invited to head down, to “give back to the community.”
Tickets and information can be found at www.agorafilms.ca, of by calling 228-9388. Hope to see you there!
NOTE: Over 250 people attended the reunion. For more info on the Celebration, click on Canadian Film Celebration.
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