Each year, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, in cooperation with Telefilm Canada, organizes a showcase of new Canadian films called Canadian Front; this year’s installment kicks off at MOMA tomorrow (March 17) and runs thru Monday (March 22). Hometown filmmakers showing at Canadian Front 2010 include Ingrid Veninger and Simon Reynolds, above, Peter Mettler (Petropolis: Aerial Perspective on the Alberta Tar Sands) and Rob Stefaniuk (Suck).
Veninger and Reynolds’s tiny film Only was shot for just $5,000 and has gone on to festivals here (TIFF 2008) and around the world (Rome, Sydney, Los Angeles, among others). “It really is the little film that could,” says Veninger. “It’s gone around the globe and now it’s back, landing in New York at MOMA, it’s like the pinnacle.”
Only is a coming of age story about two 12-year olds, Daniel (Veninger’s son, Jacob Switzer) and Vera (Elena Hudgins Lyle), who meet at a nearly-deserted Parry Sound motel in the winter off-season. The movie has been especially praised for the ring of truth that reverberates in the voices of the young stars.
“We did some group rehearsals with 12- and 13-years old where we discussed their fears and wishes and dreams,” reports Veninger, “and some of that ended up in the script. It was really useful because we didn’t want to project ideas onto the kids, we wanted them to speak in their own way about these sorts of issues. I’m very happy when people say that the film feels very naturalistic and it speaks to how well Jacob and Elena did their jobs acting these roles. They were really great little actors.”
A guiding principal in many creative endeavours is “write what you know” and Veninger certainly knows the terrain being covered in Only. From the age of eight to 12 she lived in the motel where the movie was shot. “My father managed the business and I cleaned the rooms for several years,” she reports. “They were pretty lonely years, I have to say. I saw so many families come through the motel and swim in the pool and hike around the area. I always hoped one of them would become a best friend for a day but it never happened.”
“And when my son turned 12 I really thought about that time. Simon and I took a drive to the motel and it was completely intact, nothing had changed. Now, it’s going through renovations with new owners so we sort of got it at its last moment. We had permission to shoot there and all around the neighboring Parry Island and the reservation; so many people in the community became a part of the film, it was like time traveling for me.”
Veninger admits that even she’s surprised that so small a film can “manage to catch a bit of fire” in this era of 3D mega extravaganzas. “The film was an experiment to see how small a budget we could get away with and still make a film that could have a life and be exhibited and receive some festival exposure and ultimately make our money back. It’s a throwback to very spare, simple story-telling. I’m just happy that there’s still room for a film like this in the world; there’s always going to be an appetite for the big blockbusters but Only has shown me that there’s still a market for small films like this.”
Photos by Only director of photography, Ian Anderson
Social bookmarks
Scroll to the Form to leave a comment.
Currently there are no comments related to article "Toronto Filmmakers Showcase at MOMA".