Saturday, November 9, 2013

Gabrielle-TIFF



After hearing about Gabrielle being the latest Oscar nomination for best foreign-language film, written and directed by Canadian film maker Louise Archambault; her film certainly sparked my curiosity and interest, because of a subject that is close to my heart, examining the so called "handicap".

 Most Canadians don't have a clue about Canadian film. We can't think of many by name, and have misconceptions about what a Canadian film is like, and often can't imagine why on earth we would be even interested.

Searching to find out more about this film, it lead me to a link of a trailer from Maple Flavour Films (2008) giving a great overview, that points out poignantly and succinctly some of the problems surrounding this lack of knowledge and interest in Canadian film.

I have long had the opinion Quebec supports the arts much more so than the rest of Canada. I suppose there are numerous reasons for this, and it is a somewhat painful and shameful reality for artists in the rest of the country I believe. Not the shame of the artists, but of the powers that be including, social, economic and political climate in our Canadian culture.
Quebec's rich and versatile arts culture is reflected in the world taking notice of such artists as Louise Archambault and Robert Charlebois .

In spite of this, I do remain hopeful. I look to places such as Quebec where artists like Louise Archambault are a wonderful example of how artists can be powerful forces for hope, for changes in misconception, in attitude, and in this troubled world.

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