Patriotic Pictures and Art Endeavours
The show must go on! Despite the bad weather, the Arts Council pushed through the oncoming snowstorm on Monday night to produce an exciting event for all Canadian film fanatics.
HT’s first ever Reel Canada film festival was intimate, but successful. The night featured the Canadian-made film, “Breakaway”, starring Toronto native, Russell Peters.
The movie was a unique take on a classic theme. The members of an underdog hockey team, all Sikh-American men, struggle to find balance between religious and family life, and the sport of their passion. Though the film featured many well-delivered jokes and quips, the most comical parts for the Canadian audience seemed to be the many references to pop-culture here, north of the border. References to the CN Tower, Hockey Night in Canada, and Drake amused viewers throughout.
Reel Canada (formed in 2005) is a non-profit organization that seeks to endorse Canadian Talent both on and behind the scenes, by, “increasing audiences for our films, encouraging dialogue, and providing an opportunity to enjoy our great nation through wonderful stories we tell”. (To quote their official website.)
“There’s something textually different between Canadian culture, and American culture,” says RC spokesperson, Marvin. “There are certain stories that you can only share with people who have had the same experiences, I think [Canada] needs that... You’ve got to fight to maintain a culture!”
Reel Canada’s largest initiative, which is quickly spreading across the country, is National Canadian Film Day. NCFD is a day where it is totally acceptable to watch a movie during the school day! RC’s ultimate dream is that every Canadian will watch a locally-produced film on April 20th to celebrate our country’s immense acting and technical talent.
With over 150 screenings and online broadcast options nationwide, that dream may soon be realized.
This year, every high school will have access to a copy or a streamlined version of “Bon Cop, Bad Cop”, which is an award winning film about an English and a French detective working together. It comedically highlights the strife between English and French Canada. Check out the trailer below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxMuCyzXgC4
Additionally, on April 20th, the stars of the film, Patrick Huard and Colm Feore, will be doing a live stream to all interested high schools to answer questions and talk about film.
While this event is less of a fundraiser and more to create awareness, the Arts Council did charge for tickets and concessions to the Film Festival as a way to continue putting on events that enrich the art scene at Holy Trinity.
Club head, Mrs. Borsellino, addresses students that may be interested: “We meet every Tuesday, after school [in the theatre or room 111]. [We are] 45 students strong!”
Though a new club, the Arts Council is working hard to inaugurate itself into our community as much as the Student Council and SAC is. Though we love our championship sports teams, it is agreed upon that there should be a louder voice for those who are also more artistically inclined.
“When the school was first established, the love for sports got larger and larger, and our teams got so successful, I feel like arts kind of got pushed to the side.” Says council member, Carina Marcogliese. “We're hoping that arts can kind of re announce itself.”
Arts in our school has already made leaps and bounds in “re announcing itself” since the Arts Council was first enacted in December 2015. So far, they’ve performed a flash-mob in the atrium, put on a stellar play, and have now introduced Reel Canada to Holy Trinity.
So between sport championships, academic competitions, and the major advances that the arts scene is making in our school, there is no doubt that HT is wonderfully well rounded and includes a variety of talent.
As Matt McWilliams once said, “The earth without art is just ‘eh.’” So keep your ear out for all of the Arts Council’s upcoming events in the next few months!
