In the Wake of the Flood July 3, 2010 / / Films
On the eve of her 70th birthday, Canadian writer Margaret Atwood set out on an international tour criss-crossing the British Isles and North America to celebrate the publication of her new dystopian novel, The Year of the Flood. Rather than mount a traditional tour to promote a book’s publication, Atwood conceived and executed something far more ambitious and revelatory —a theatrical version of her novel. Along the way she reinvented what a book tour could (and maybe should) be. But Atwood wasn’t selling books as much as advocating an idea: how humanity must respond to the consequences of an environmentally compromised planet before her work of speculative fiction transforms into prophesy.
Atwood’s odyssey is now captured in Ron Mann’s new film, In The Wake of the Flood. Rendered as a fly-on-the-wall cinéma vérité, In The Wake of the Flood mixes new footage, archival materials and evocative CGI in featuring Atwood on the road and at home as an aging but buoyant literary rock star spreading a message of warning and hope as she staged and participated in the novel production.
From Edinburgh and London to New York City, Toronto and Vancouver, In The Wake of the Flood chronicles Atwood’s journey, displays a healthy taste of the tour’s performances, takes a peek at her rugged and adventurous childhood in the backwoods of northern Quebec, and features conversations with some of the like-minded fellow travelers she encountered along the way. These include a community gardener, an eccentric bird watcher and, most notably, Bill McKibbon, the environmental activist whose work on climate change puts humanity squarely in the crosshairs of impending cataclysm.
produced and directed by
RON MANN
written by
SOLOMON VESTA
editor
ROBERT KENNEDY
director of photography
JOHN M. TRAN
sound designer
JOHN LAING
music supervisor
MIKE ROSNICK
animation
MIKE ROBERTS
co-producers
BILL IMPERIAL
JUDITH KEENAN
Theatrical Premier August 2010
To be broadcast in Canada CBC Bold
More information at sphinxproductions.com/films/flood
