Moving Stories TV: Film, Video and Trailers inspired by the written word » Films

Human Happiness

admin — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:08:46 +0000

From Author Brian Fawcett … “We’re all going over the cliff, sooner or later. But isn’t it ironic, since we’re living in an era where everyone can know everything, that most of us don’t actually know a damn thing about the two people who put us here in the first place. Do you know your mom’s favourite vegetable? Do you know your dad’s lucky number? Have you ever asked them if they believe God exists or, ulp, what they think about sex? What they failed at that they should have achieved? Do they think life is worth the toil and trouble? Well, I did, and I was totally surprised by the answers. It was worth it, in all kinds of ways I wouldn’t have imagined. Human Happiness was the result.”

More about the book here … facebook.com/humanhappiness

More about the writings of Brian Fawcett here …. dooneyscafe.com

BookShorts Film: This Hour Has Seven Decades

admin — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 19:03:30 +0000

“This Hour Has Seven Decades” gives viewers a delightful tongue-in-cheek taste of Patrick Watson’s biography of the same name, as the renowned broadcast journalist suffers through some serious storytelling sins. The short comedy film was directed by Irene Duma; the book is published by McArthur & Company.

This Hour Has Seven Decades premiered at The Canadian Film Centre’s World Wide Short Film Festival, and had its Alantic Premiere at St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival.

For more about Irene’s work, visit www.ireneduma.com

Paul Quarrington Life in Music

admin — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 01:04:09 +0000

Paul Quarrington is an award winning, well respected and much loved author, filmmaker, musician and teacher. Though a very public figure in the field of Canadian arts, and an artist who made himself easily accessible to fans, he was also a complex person. So much so that few in his public or private sphere say they really knew him. With the sudden diagnosis of terminal illness, he is compelled to address this in the best way he knows how – he chooses to make art – to squeeze the juice from life and pour his passion into making this film, into re-writing his about-to-be-published memoir to include his “new thematic material,” and into writing songs, lots of songs, all made more poignant for the absolute deadline at hand.

Through this film, Paul gives us a rare and insightful glimpse into the inner workings of an artist in the act of creating. As he writes, records and performs, you see the heart and soul of a man able to express in music deeply personal issues. We witness the artist, and the man, reach for a resolution to the question that we will all face when our time comes, “what would you do?”

On screen conversations with some of the most important people in Quarrington’s life amplify the inspiring message, including longtime friend and bandmate Martin Worthy, Roddy Doyle, Dave Bidini, Wayson Choy, brothers Joel Quarrington and Tony Quarrington, daughters Carson and Flannery and their mother Dorothy Bennie. Comments by Nick Jennings and Martin Levin provide context and threaded throughout are live performances by Paul, his band Porkbelly Futures, Dan Hill, Joe Hall, Roberto Occhipinti and many more musical guests.

PAUL QUARRINGTON: LIFE IN MUSIC
A Feature Documentary Film
Produced by Judith Keenan, BookShorts Inc.
Director Bert Kish
Narrated by Colin Linden

BRAVO! TV First Broadcast Dates
Saturday, May 29 at 7pm EDT and Sunday, May 30 at 6pm EDT

DVD Available July 2010

National Screening Tour September – July to November 2010

GLACE Beaute Danger Histoire

admin — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 02:32:23 +0000

This BookShort animated film, narrated in French by author Pauline Couture, is based on the non-fiction book of the same name. It has been adapted by auteur Daniel Borins with animator Oli Goldsmith. It is a wide-ranging adventure of the mind, exploring the subject from the heavy to the light, from the curious to the significant, from the quirky to the sublime. It mines the power of multi-layered collage, provocative narration and hauntingly evocative music score to address the breadth, scale and scope of Couture’s seminal book.

BookShorts Film: A Life’s Passion

admin — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 17:45:38 +0000

In this short film, director Gary Thomas interweaves author James McCreath`s on-camera testimony with dramatic animated sequences and an original score true to the novel’s historical fiction, and in just over six minutes of cinema, poignantly captures McCreath’s personal credo that without faith, hope and passion, life is a tragedy.

For more about James, or to purchase his book RENALDO upon which this film is based, visit www.jamesmccreath.com

BookShorts Film: Pavane

admin — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 21:02:24 +0000

Cutting between live action performed by an award-winning cast and ingenuous animation whose simplicity belies the impact of the incident it reveals, Pavane portrays both the loss of innocence and a subtle hint at the boys’ fragile potential for a new beginning.

Produced by BookShorts Inc. in association with Fizzy Dreams Inc., Crush Inc., CTV’s Bravo!FACT Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), ACTRA Toronto Performers TIP Programme.

WRITER & DIRECTOR, Paul Quarrington
PRODUCER, Judith Keenan

STARRING
Geraint Wyn-Davies
Ted Dykstra
Jennifer Podemski
Michelle Latimer

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY, D. Gregor Hagey
ANIMATION, Chris Minos
EDITOR, Ross Turnbull

BASED ON THE NOVEL “THE RAVINE“ BY PAUL QUARRINGTON (RANDOM HOUSE)

In the Wake of the Flood

admin — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 01:19:06 +0000

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

BookShorts Film: Night Work, A Sawchuk Poem

admin — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 02:38:28 +0000

Night Work: A Sawchuk Poem Starring Des Walsh, Phil Churchill, Lois Brown. Shot on location in Beachy Cove, Newfoundland. Based on the prose poems of Randall Maggs.

A poignant reflection of hockey legend Terry Sawchuk, this dramatic short underscores his lasting impression on a young man in a small Newfoundland town, to whom he is both hero and human.

Director Justin Simms on making the BookShorts Film based on Randall Maggs epic prose poem: “For ten years, Randy immersed himself in the cult and culture of hockey in the early days of the sport, before they wore much equipment, before a goalie wore a mask. What kind of man puts himself in the path of a rubber missile travelling straight to his head at the velocity of a Bobby Hull shot? That’s what we explore in the film.”

Premiered at Atlantic Film Fest, Moving Stories Film Fest, St. John’s Women’s Film Fest, and now available for screenings.
(c) BookShorts Literacy Program. Produced by BookShorts & Newfound Films with the assistance of Brick Books, Canadian Heritage, Newfoundland Labrador Film Development Corp.
For more book videos, book trailers and author biographies, visit movingstories.tv

BookShorts Film: i-ROBOT Poetry

admin — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:11:48 +0000

Book Video:In a short film work that is simultaneously humorous and deeply thought-provoking, i-ROBOT Poetry adapted from the prose poems of Jason Christie, is an animated BookShort drawn with amazing empathy by multi-talented artist Lisa Mann. Her original characterizations afford a layered insight into the lives of the robots in Christie’s collection of prose poems, woven into a storyline that speaks to Jason’s delight in holding a mirror to our human habits through his inspired robot-world.

From the humorous to the heartfelt, Christie and Mann together deliver a unique social commentary through the eyes of robots around us. You may never look at your blow-dryer, toaster or our automated world in the same way again.

PRODUCED BY ©BookShorts Literary Program IN ASSOCIATION WITH
Canadian Heritage; EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing. For more book news, book videos, and video book trailers, visit MovingStories.TV

JPod Based on Douglas Coupland’s Novel; BookShorts FILM

admin — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:28:30 +0000

Screenplay Bruce Pirrie; Produced by BookShorts Inc.
With Random House of Canada
Based on the novel JPod by Douglas Coupland, Published by Vintage Canada

The JPod BookShort centres on Ethan Jarlewski’s stunted but sincere efforts to win the amorous attentions of the new girl Kaitin Boyce, an unwilling recruit to the cult of video game programmers thrown together in surreal work pods by virtue of bureaucratic last-name alphabetized efficiency. Consummated with a kiss that is the epitome of modern love, Ethan indoctrinates Kaitlin into the amoral morass that is the JPod.

Watch this BookShort and more on the national televisions series MOVING STORIES broadcast on CLT, BookTelevision and Rogers Television.