Tales from the Winnipeg Film Group
Curated by writer, literary director and counterculture enthusiast Ralph Elawani, with the support of Leslie Supnet, filmmaker and executive director of the Winnipeg Film Group, this program aims to celebrate a local film scene of national importance. Around the Winnipeg Film Group, a cinematic way of life has crystallized, not only illustrated by the achievements of a certain Guy Maddin, but also by an exceptional Dave Barber who has long been the soul of the WPG. We will pay tribute to him at the program’s opening, before inviting you to discover films rarely screened together, works that are wild, radical, playful, wacky, absurd, surreal, sometimes extraordinary, and often extravagant. Between animation, experimental film, documentary, and artisanal fiction, this heritage program is also radically oriented towards the future of cinema. It is a question to the viewer, like a plea from out of nowhere, or rather from Winnipeg.
Preceded by short film Will The Real Dave Barber Please Stand Up?
Screening followed by a Q&A
In April of 2013, long time Winnipeg Cinematheque programmer Dave Barber was invited to receive the Queen's Diamond Jubilee medal. It was a remarkable occasion. The awards ceremony was in a packed hall at the Legislative Building. Everything was going fine until...
Tales from The Winnipeg Film Group is the explosive story of how a stubborn band of independent filmmakers started a film co-operative that became the most highly respected film centre in Canada. Packed with rare archival footage, dynamic film excerpts, and hilarious interviews this documentary traces the history of the legendary Winnipeg Film Group. Often mired in controversy the Winnipeg Film Group is acclaimed at film festivals around the world for subversive, original filmmaking.
Winnipeg Film Group
The Winnipeg Film Group (WFG) is an artist-run film education, production, distribution, and exhibition centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, committed to promoting the art of Canadian cinema, especially independent cinema. While specializing in short films, WFG's collection ranges from works one-second shorts to full-length features, with films spanning various genres including narrative drama and comedy, animation, documentary and experimental, as well as hybrids of genres. The organization has been noted for spearheading and playing a key role in the development of a distinctly Winnipeg-based style of filmmaking, which often draws on unconventional, experimental and avant-garde styles of filmmaking — such as Guy Maddin's frequent use of the visual language of old silent films — to tell surreal and anti-authoritarian stories.
Presented in collaboration with
