Toronto, May 2, 2001 -- Finalists for the 2001
M. Joan Chalmers Documentarian Award for Film and Video were announced today by the Ontario Arts Council.
Eligible documentaries must have received their first Canadian broadcast, theatrical release or festival screening between January 1 and December 31 of the previous calendar year. The jury, members of Canada’s documentary film community, made a preliminary selection of 15 documentaries.
From this list they have selected the following six finalists:
Life Without Death (83 minutes)
Directed by Frank Cole, produced by Francis Miquet and Frank Cole with Necessary Illusions Productions Inc./Frank Cole Films, Montreal, Quebec
Life Without Death is an intense personal account of filmmaker Frank Cole’s Guinness Record crossing by camel of the Sahara Desert from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea. In the course of his journey, as he overcomes thirst, loneliness and getting lost, Cole is also forced to confront his own mortality.
Moving Pictures (47 minutes)
Directed by Colin Low, produced by Mark Zannis with the National Film Board of Canada
The horrors of war, the art of producing pictures, the autobiography of a master Canadian filmmaker, and the parallels between the mass production of weapons and violent media images – all come together in this film which features the copper etchings of the 17th-century French artist Jacques Callot, the world’s first war correspondent.
Searching for Louis Archambault/À la recherché de Louis Archambault (50 minutes)
Directed By Werner Volkmer, produced by Werner Volkmer with Cinéma libre, Montreal, Quebec
In 1991, film director Werner Volkmer met Louis Archambault, a pioneer in contemporary sculpture in Canada, once famous but now alone and forgotten. In the process, the filmmaker discovered a remarkable body of works, which, over the course of forty years, moved from physical sensuality to geometric austerity.
The Holier It Gets (54 minutes)
Directed by Jennifer Baichwal, produced by Jennifer Baichwal and Nick de Pencier with Requisite Productions, Toronto, Ontario
This is a film about family, dueling cultures, death and a river. It tells the story of a journey from Canada made by four siblings that takes an unexpected turn. The purpose of the pilgrimage to the Indian Himalayas is to strew the ashes of their deceased father at the source of the Ganges River.
Time and Away/À l’abri du temps (79 minutes)
Directed by Stephan Drolet, produced by Nicole Lamothe with the National Film Board of Canada
What is time? Though it can be measured, it is a concept that, defies definition. The obsession of three researchers from the National Research Council of Canada with ultra precise time-keeping is equaled only by the passion and artistry of a talented Quebec watchmaker by the name of Marc Ferland.
Vinyl (110 minutes)
Directed by Alan Zweig, produced by Greg Klymkiw and Alan Zweig with Vinyl Productions, Toronto, Ontario
A personal look at the mid-life crisis of Alan Zweig, a guy who has memorized the playlist of every K-Tel record, a guy who is trying to collect every record ever made, a guy with half a million records crowded into a 2-bedroom apartment.
Winners of the 2001 Chalmers Awards in dance, theatre, music, visual arts, crafts, and documentary/film video will be announced in Toronto on May 14, 2001.
The Chalmers Awards and a related program of training grants are funded through the Chalmers Family Fund. The Ontario Arts Council manages the awards selection process. Award recipients from across Canada are chosen through nomination and peer assessment.
OAC Media Contact: Kirsten Gunter, Manager of Communications
Tel: (416) 969-7403. Toll-free outside of Toronto: 1-800-387-0058, ext. 7403.
E-mail: kgunter@arts.on.ca