Some Canadian classics are getting new life on digital thanks to a restoration initiative from Telefilm Canada. 23 Canadian titles will receive a proper digitization/restoration through Canadian Cinema – Reignited, which preserves Canadian films of “cultural relevance,” “importance in film history,” and “potential for commercial exploitation.”
“Digitization and restoration help preserve our film history as well as create new opportunities to celebrate Canada’s filmmaking legacy, while paving the way for continued creativity, innovation, and international success,” said Francesca Accinelli, Vice President of Promotion, Communications and International Relations, in a statement from Telefilm Canada. “Since 2021, the Canadian Cinema – Reignited initiative restored nine seminal Canadian films with the support of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, the Festival du Nouveau Cinema, Hot Docs and the Toronto International Film Festival.”
On the documentary front, the list includes Brigitte Berman’s 1985 film Artie Shaw: Time is All You’ve Got. The portrait of the beloved musician won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature—and is one of only three Canadian feature films to hold that honour. The documentary was largely unavailable for years due to a lawsuit by Shaw even though he was one of the doc’s biggest fans.
Also receiving restorations/digitizations are the docudrama study of occupational health and safety La maladie, c’est les compagnies (1979) directed by Richard Boutet, the arts doc Les six saisons Attikameks (1983) by Pierre Dinel and Pierre Hivon, and Determinations (1988), director Oliver Hockenhull’s experimental study of the Vancouver Five. The list also includes dramas such as David Secter’s queer Canuck classic Winter Kept Us Warm (1965), which David Cronenberg cites as the film that taught him that Canadians could, in fact, make movies, and John Kaczender’s In Praise of Older Women (1978), which sparked enough controversy when it opened Toronto’s Festival of Festivals that it over-sold and reportedly sparked a near-riot. The list includes contemporary works such as Poor Boy’s Game (2007), directed by Clement Virgo, and Oscar nominees Incendies (2010) and Monsieur Lazhar (2011), directed by Denis Villeneuve and Philippe Falardeau, respectively.
The projects restored through Canadian Cinema – Reignited include:
Winter Kept Us Warm (1965)
Director, screenwriter and producer: David Secter
Digitization partner: Canadian International Pictures
Tiki Tiki (1971)
Director: Gerald Potterton
Screenwriter: Jerome Chodorov, Donald Brittain and John Morgan
Producers: Gerald Potterton and Murray Shostak
Digitization partner: Canadian International Pictures
In Praise of Older Women (1978)
Director: George Kaczender
Screenwriter: Paul Gottlieb
Producers: Robert Lantos, Claude Heroux, Harold Greenberg and Stephen J. Roth
Digitization partner: Serendipity Point Films
La maladie, c’est les compagnies (1979)
Director and producer: Richard Boutet
Screenwriter: Danyèle Patenaude
Digitization partner: Cinema Politica
Au clair de la lune (1983)
Director: André Forcier
Screenwriters: André Forcier, Jacques Marcotte, Guy L’Écuyer, Michel Côté, Michel Pratt and Bernard Lalonde
Producers: Bernard Lalonde and Louis Laverdière
Digitization partner: Québecor Média inc./Éléphant : mémoire du cinéma québécois
Les six saisons Attikameks (1983)
Directors and screenwriters: Pierre Dinel and Pierre Hivon
Producer: Pierre Dinel
Digitization partner: Cinémathèque québécoise
Artie Shaw: Time is All You’ve Got (1985)
Director, writer and producer: Brigitte Berman
Digitization partner: Toronto International Film Festival
Joshua Then and Now (1985)
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Screenwriter: Mordecai Richler
Producers: Robert Lantos and Stephen J. Roth
Digitization partner: Serendipity Point Films
Determinations (1988)
Director, screenwriter and producer: Oliver Hockenhull
Digitization partner: Moksha Media Incorporated
Archangel (1990)
Director: Guy Maddin
Screenwriters: Guy Maddin and George Toles
Producer: Greg Klymkiw
Digitization partner: Sphinx Productions
White Room (1990)
Director and screenwriter: Patricia Rozema
Producer: Alexandra Raffé
Digitization partner: Vos Productions and Film Associates International
Masala (1991)
Director and screenwriter: Srinivas Krishna
Producers: Camelia Frieberg and Srinivas Krishna
Digitization partner: Toronto International Film Festival
Deux actrices (1993)
Director, screenwriter and producer: Micheline Lanctôt
Digitization partner: Québecor Média inc./Éléphant : mémoire du cinéma québécois
Eldorado (1995)
Director and screenwriter: Charles Binamé
Producer: Lorraine Richard
Digitization partner: Québecor Média inc./Éléphant : mémoire du cinéma québécois
Cube (1997)
Director: Vincenzo Natali
Screenwriters: Vincenzo Natali, André Bijelic and Graeme Manson
Producers: Mehra Meh and Betty Orr
Digitization partner: Canadian Film Centre
The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
Director and screenwriter: Atom Egoyan
Producers: Atom Egoyan and Camilia Frieberg
Digitization partner: Sphinx Productions
Hey, Happy! (2001)
Director and screenwriter: Noam Gonick
Producer: Laura Michalchyshyn
Digitization partner: Big Daddy Beer Guts, Inc.
Honour Before Glory (2001)
Director, screenwriter and producer: Anthony Sherwood
Digitization partner: Anthony Sherwood Films Inc.
Khaled (2001)
Director and screenwriter: Asghar Massombagi
Producer: Paul Scherzer
Digitization partner: Canadian Film Centre
Saved by the Belles (2003)
Director and producer: Ziad Touma
Screenwriters: Ziad Touma and Brian C. Warren
Digitization partner: Couzin Films
Poor Boy’s Game (2007)
Director: Clement Virgo
Screenwriters: Clement Virgo and Chaz Thorne
Producers: Damon D’Oliveira, Chaz Thorne and Clement Virgo
Digitization partner: Conquering Lion Pictures
Incendies (2010)
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Screenwriter and Dialogue: Denis Villeneuve in collaboration with Valérie Beaugrand-Champagne
Producers: Luc Déry and Kim McCraw
Digitization partner: Microscope Inc.
Monsieur Lazhar (2011)
Director and screenwriter: Philippe Falardeau
Producers: Luc Déry and Kim McCraw
Digitization partner: Microscope Inc.
