Tri-City residents can pull up a seat, snack on popcorn and join thousands of other movie lovers across the country next Wednesday for National Canadian Film Day 150.
More than 1,700 public and private events are planned in theatres, libraries, schools and seniors centres for the cinematic celebration in honour of Canada’s sesquicentennial.
And in Coquitlam and Port Moody, a dozen different flicks will be screened to mark the special occasion — and many of them with free entry.
Among the award-winning films to be shown will be Scott Renyard’s The Pristine Coast, which will roll at the Port Moody Arts Centre (2425 St. Johns St.) at 7 p.m.
Renyard’s project — in the spring of 2010 — followed whale biologist Alexandra Morton as she walked from her home on the north end of Vancouver Island to Victoria. In the provincial capital, Morton and thousands of other activists lobbied in support of the coastal marine ecosystem.
Another critically acclaimed movie is Sarah Polley’s Away from Her, based on the short story The Bear Came Over the Mountain by Alice Munro. In it, Julie Christie’s character, Fiona, faces Alzheimer’s disease and her husband, Grant, played by Gordon Pinsent, struggles with the loss of her memory.
Organized by Reel Canada, NCFD 150 is being billed as the world’s largest one-day film festival with more than 250 communities taking part. The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is also involved through its national screening outreach program, Film Circuit, and its own Canada 150 project called Canada on Screen.
Last month, to highlight aboriginal contributions to Canadian cinema, REEL Canada hosted a special Indigenous Film Summit in Abbotsford that included 3,000 students.
“The 150th anniversary of Confederation is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the wealth of our unique cultural heritage, which is a reflection of our diversity,” said Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly, in a press release. “
Visit canadianfilmday.ca for more details.
@jcleughTC
PUBLIC FILMS
APRIL 18
• Away from Her (Glen Pine Pavilion, 1 p.m.)
APRIL 19
• Still Mine (Dogwood Pavilion, 1 p.m.)
• Corner Gas: The Movie (Parkwood Manor, 2:30 p.m.)
• La guerra des tuques or Snowtime! (Pinetree community centre, 4 p.m.)
• Iron Road (Evergreen Cultural Centre, 7 p.m.)
• My Winnipeg (Inlet Theatre, 7 p.m.)
• The Grand Seduction (Parkwood Manor, 7 p.m.)
• The Pristine Coast (Port Moody Arts Centre, 7 p.m.)
• Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (Inlet Theatre, 8:30 p.m.)
