I used to spend a lot of time doing behind-the-scenes documentaries on feature films.  Since I was working mostly for low-budget independents, the BTS stuff often dropped off the priority list – no one actually used the footage after I handed them the tapes.

But there’s a notable exception: Barry Levy’s The 40,000, which is a full-length documentary produced with footage I shot for his feature film Spook.  It’s about the 40,000 Canadians who served in Vietnam, either by being drafted for their dual citizenship (!) or by volunteering.  Spook is the dramatized version, and The 40,000 is the doc which illuminates the film.

I was fascinated while shooting, and now I’m transported back to that time by seeing the doc.  The real vietnam vet who narrates much of the doc has had his identity obscured to protect him.

VANCOUVER, BC: Theatre Terrific is pleased to present its new work, The Glass Box, a voyeuristic glimpse into the secret lives of people and their passions. Fresh from its debut in Victoria, The Glass Box opens in Vancouver Feb 18 – 28.

The Glass Box follows a 54-year-old wife and mother, a 23-year-old woman living with quadriplegia and a 32-year-old man with Down Syndrome who find themselves trapped in off-beat talk show. They are given the chance to be the iconic figure of their fantasies. The icons answer dangerous questions with hilarious abandon, as Cleopatra unrolls from her carpet, Sophia Loren sways through her famous striptease and Brad Pit lands the big fish.

It’s just wild ramblings trying to vaguely connect the Liberal party leadership handover to a criminal influence-peddling scheme.

Never mind the addled writing style. It’s just plain smear, no real substance, just an excuse to wander through sentences that connect Dion, Ignatieff, Rae, and the Liberals to this new crime by a governor in another country.

It is the Conservative party that has the whiff of election hijinx about them; they were the ones who got raided by the Election feds – like Governor Dead Meat.

But even that would be a vague connection at best. Please don’t write stuff if you have nothing to say.

-Flick Harrison

I thought it was high time we all remembered the crazy old days when Stephen Harper was baiting the public service, muzzling his subordinates and generally NOT wearing warm fuzzy sweaters. The new ad in which he talks about cracking down on crime in a soft, throaty voice reminded me of the Godfather, but that’s another cartoon entirely.

CLICK HERE to see the cartoon…

And make your comments below.

After I made this video for them to promote House of Seikilos, a show that combines the story of Agamemnon with Arthur Miller’s little-known, abandoned, mentally-handicapped son, I was singing the song for weeks. It happens to be the oldest fully-documented piece of music in history.

From the Theatre Terrific site:

The House of Seikilos is a contemporary twisted family voyage that bridges a Greek tragedy with a true modern tale of fateful decision. In Aeschylus’ The Orestaia, Agememnon the king had to choose to sacrifice or save his daughter in order for his army to sail into war. In the modern world, famous playwright Arthur Miller was gaced with a choice ti deny ot accept the disabled son at his birth. Based on these leaders’ dilemmas, The House of Seikilos explores the choice between embracing public honour or choosing the private honour of family.

Here are excerpts of a work-in-progress presentation, May 2, 2008 at the Vancouver Japanese United Church. The House of Seikilos cast are: Nigel Vonas (father), Tallulah Winkelman (mother), Nathan McNamee (child), Marylin Blandford (elder), Greg Labine (son), Cindy Angel (daughter). Auditions will be held in the Fall for the chorus.

The House of Seikilos premieres April 21 – 26 at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre.

Promo video by Flick Harrison

Bill C-10, an amendment to the income tax act which runs hundreds of pages long, has 13 words in it that give the government the right to cancel tax credits for film productions unless

“(b) public financial support of the production would not be contrary to public policy.”

In a Conservative majority situation, this could cut out films that depict violence, homosexuality, underage drinking, etc. Are the Conservatives really more interested in protecting Canadian morality than Canadian jobs?

The phrase itself recalls Hays-code puritanism; i.e. if a gay character gets married – fictionally! – that might be “contrary to public policy.” If a teenage drinker doesn’t die or go to jail before the end credits roll, perhaps this is contrary to public policy. Maybe even a bank heist would be “contrary to public policy?” (Here’s the parliamentary web page for the bill, with status updates and full text).

The man taking credit for the new rule is a Christian evangelical who also led a charge against gay marriage when that issue was on the table. Is this the guy writing legislation for Harper? Is this the kind of news Harper needs to secure his coveted majority?

You’ll notice the bill received ZERO (!) days of debate in the house of commons. Talk about sneaking one past us! What are the opposition parties for, again?

In the Senate, Conservative senator Marjorie Lebreton somewhat deviously announced the bill in the following ho-hum manner: “This bill proposes measures regarding the taxation of non-resident trusts and foreign investment entities. It also implements certain amendments to the Income Tax Act that are technical in nature and, for the most part, serve to accomplish a number of housekeeping objectives. Rather than getting into the technical details of Bill C-10, I would like to make a few general remarks about tax fairness…”

Insert Conservative rhetoric here.

The censorship of bill C-10 happens after the film has finished shooting – in other words, after the money has been spent, the producers could find themselves millions of dollars in debt, based on a political reading of their films by a closed-door panel of bureaucratic, Conservative appointees. Obviously, no investor would fund a film under such uncertain conditions. Producers’ only alternative would be to vet scripts politically at each stage of production – before shooting, during the edit, and then before release.

Let me squash the first argument that conservatives will throw up: “Your freedom of speech does NOT extend to the right to receive a cheque from the government.” This is wrong-headed for many reasons. First of all, if the government is handing out cheques, they CANNOT discriminate as to WHO gets money based on the prohibited categories in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I.e. religion, gender, race, ethnicity etc. So, if “promoting homosexuality” is a criteria to refuse tax credits, then of course, that WOULD be a Charter issue, and the government would get their arse handed to them in court.

Think of it this way: imagine if a documentary producer was counting on Tax Credits to repay their production loan! Then, when the film is finished, some conservative flunky decides he doesn’t like their final product. Let’s say Nettie Wilde’s documentary Fix: The Story of an Addicted City, which promoted the debate about a safe-injection site, was considered “contrary to public policy.” What a great tool for the Conservatives to quash hot topics! And this isn’t a free-speech issue? Give me a break.

And to be absolutely clear – the rules apply ONLY, it seems, so Canadian productions. Foreign productions can be as immoral and debaucherous as they want – their tax credits will still flow like sweet wine.

Secondly, this is an industrial issue, as much as a censorship issue. Having some wonky priests declaring certain films immoral behind closed doors is not exactly a solid economic policy. Tax credits are rebates on Canadian labour used in the making of the film. It results in a net gain for the Canadian economy. Get it? It’s NOT a free cheque from the government. It’s a tax credit that stimulates local jobs.

So Conservatives want to RAISE taxes on film production? I thought they hated taxes! Especially corporate taxes!

If you want to pull the rug from under Canadian production companies, then by all means support this legislation.

Moreover, the proposed rules seem MUCH stricter than ratings board criteria; the reason is that ratings boards rate content scene by scene, whereas the new rules seem to be more theme-based, i.e. the film as a whole is judged and so slight edits after rating might not be enough to alter the outcome. For example, Atom Egoyan’s new film Where The Truth Lies has a threesome scene which earned him a killer nc-17 rating. If he wished, he could have removed the scene to lose the rating. But a film like Exotica might be unsalvagable, because the main character is a stripper dressed like a schoolgirl. Certainly schoolgirl strippers are “contrary to public policy!”

The little provision in C-10 was only discovered by the public on 2nd reading in the senate (and we wonder why Harper insists on ramming bills, like the Violent Crime Bill, through the senate without deliberation or committee work).

Hidden Harper agenda?

There’s a facebook group opposing the bill which got 12,000 members in the first weekend.

Man’s lack of co-operation necessitated force

I wrote him this email in response:

Mr MacPherson,

Your definition of resisting arrest is novel. Walking away = violent.

Once in a while, people behave irrationally. Should we all carry tasers so that we can zap anyone who makes a false move?

That old lady who shoves into you on the crowded bus, then refuses to back off, because she doesn’t understand your english? Taser her! Immediately! She might have a pocket full of hep-C aids needles! Shoving is violent – at least, more violent than walking away.

The Taser is meant to be an alternative to deadly force. NOT an alternative to NON-DEADLY force, i.e. dealing with a cranky but otherwise innocent person. It wasn’t a bank holdup or hostage situation. It was an angry guy at the airport. Your suggestion that he might have had a weapon borders on immoral fantasy. A weapon! In the secure international arrivals area after clearing customs!

Four police officers with guns and tasers are a very formidable force. This so-called violent person showed some rationality by NOT confronting them. The pro-police argument, constantly used, that police feel endangered and threatened by harmless individuals is really quite sickening.

Sure they felt threatened. And teeny little George Bush couldn’t sleep because he was so scared of big bad Saddam Hussein.

As a filmmaker, I’ve worked with footage of the VPD harrassing people, publicly strip-searching women – yes, publicly strip-searching women on busy street corners, and you guessed it, these were drug-addicted street prostitutes with no way to defend their bodies or their rights – and personally witnessed cops beating a handcuffed man’s head against the hood of their car. Not all police officers are corrupt brutes, but unlike you I don’t defy rational interpretation of clear events because of some automatic trust in police motives and behaviour.

Co-operating with police, by the way, is difficult if you have no idea what they’re saying.

Flick Harrison.
Vancouver

It’s a theatre collage piece based on the writings and manifestos of the Italian futurists.

FUTURISTI!

OCTOBER 11, 12, 13, 2007
BellaLuna with Theatre At UBC present a theatrical celebration of the ITALIAN FUTURIST MOVEMENT of the early 1900’s at UBC’s Frederic Wood Theatre (Vancouver, BC).

BOLD MANIFESTATIONS.
ABSURDIST COMEDY.
AVANT GARDE EXPRESSION.
PROVOCATIVE REALISM.

- TWENTY THEATRE SINTESI in English and Italian from Futurists including F.T. Marinetti, Sculptor Umberto Boccioni, Painter Giacomo Balla and original creations by BELLALUNA.

- “Jazz Cinema” MEDIA PERFORMANCE WITH LIVE MUSIC by Aleksandra Dulic and Kenneth Newby.

-SPOKEN WORD, DANCE, MANIFESTOS, ART ON EXHIBITION, AND MORE

This Pre-Beckett Theatre was a call to embrace the social transformation unleashed by the burst of technology in the early 20th Century.

The Futurists laid the foundation for the modernist movement, influencing every aspect of art: ARCHITECTURE, FILM, MUSIC, FASHION, DANCE, THEATRE and even Futurist Cookbooks. In theatre, the use of the SINTESI [small, explosive playlets] enlightened by stimulating the spirit and imagination without the intervention of reason.

The Futurists created new elements of astonishments, heightening the theatrical experience while exposing the truth and farce of humanity.

DIRECTION: Gerald Vanderwoude – Susan Bertoia – Danielle Marleau (Assistance)

PERFORMANCE: Beverly Bardal – Susan Bertoia – Louis Chirillo – Aleksandra Dulic – Stefano Giulianetti – Kenneth Newby – Joe Procyk – Marco Soriano Kris Tung – Astrid Varnes

DESIGN: Ali Sorabzedeh – Carmen Alatorre

Made Possible by The Italian Cultural Institute in Vancouver as part of Italian language Week.

That’s all, I haven’t blogged in a while ‘cos I’m too busy.

I’m calling it: The Bloc pulls the ripcord (rejects the budget) within 24 hours either way of the Quebec Election. I.e. before the vote to throw the race and take a free news-cycle on No-campaiging-allowed final day, OR, after the race to destabilize the Quebec Parliament and keep the PQ in permanent war mode – provincial vote, federal vote, second provincial vote, referendum.

Here’s some pics from the premiere of Monkey Warfare at Empire cinemas in Vancouver, handed over by Ifny but shot by David Repa. This is Ifny of Pedal Revolutionaries (who has just posted her podcast of the MONKEY WARFARE INTERVIEW), Alan MacInnes of Discorder’s Cinema Aspirant, Reg Harkema, the director, and me, Flick Harrison.

We ended up being ballyhooed (?) by the MC3 chopper gang who tootled around outside the cinema on their amazing custom-chopped bikes.

The screening was marred by an ad for a car (the bike folks jeered) and a rock-video-like ad for the Canadian Armed Forces. Yeesh! Talk about bad product placement.

The MOLOTOV COCKTAIL SCENE seems to have gotten nixed from cinemas, though the Globe and Mail and Vancouver Sun both report having seen it. Go figure. It might have something to do with screening tapes or press viewings at the film festivals, which those folks usually see far in advance, but Katherine Monk in the sun seems to believe it’s actually in the theatres somewhere. Go figure.

Then again, it might have to do with projectionists who aren’t keeping their eyes out for post-credit scenes, and putting the auto-marker tape on the print the moment they see the last credit fade out, instead of reeling ahead to make sure it’s ACTUALLY OVER. Is it really THAT crazy to have a post-credits sequence?

The show was great, and Reg wasn’t on Mushrooms like he was at his Toronto screening (at least as far as I can tell; he is a pretty freaky dude and this pic seems to be mushroom-inspiring, if not inspired).