Reel Canada - Turning young people on to Canadian films

After reading George Stroumboulopoulos' recent posting of the "45 English Canadian movies you should see" on the George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight website, it got me thinking of a great non-profit organization called Reel Canada, a company for whom I have work as a videographer for the past three years while I went back to university to get my degree in Communications Studies.  

Because of the ubiquitous machine that is the American film industry, many Canadians - especially young Canadians and those new to this country - are not aware of the myriad of fantastic films that have been made by their fellow Canucks. That's where Reel Canada comes in. In their own words, Reel Canada's mandate is to "introduce students to the power and diversity of Canadian film and engage them in a conversation about what it means to be Canadian." To achieve this, the Reel Canada staff put on one-day film festivals aimed at high school students and ESL students of all ages.

Over the past seven years, Reel Canada Executive Director Jack Blum and Artistic Director Sharon Corder have assembled a who's who of Canadian filmmakers and creative minds, such as Atom Agoyan, Gordon Pinsent, Sarah Polley, Colm Feore, Paul Gross, Norman Jewison, Bruce McDonald, Don McKellar, Deepa Mehta and David Cronenberg as board members or advisers to make the festivals a reality.Many of these advisers - along with a number of other actors, directors, producers, commentators, and writers - have volunteered their time to be guest speakers at the festival events across the country, making the events memorable experiences for the students and the educators.

I have seen first hand how the Q&A's and other interactions with the guests have had on the students. I shot much of the footage in this clip, which talks about Reel Canada's Welcome to Canada program for new Canadians and ESL students at TIFF Bell Lightbox.

Read all about Reel Canada here and click here to donate to Reel Canada