Holiday TINARS Moving Stories Event a Glam Success

With a big bevvy of star artists per square foot at the Gladstone Hotel Nov 26, the Pages Books “This is Not A Reading Series” presentation of Moving Stories Films counts as one of our glammiest events in the 6-city tour.  Of course it helps that the event did double-duty as the BookShorts annual holiday fete, this year Co-Hosted by our long-time colleague and favourite designer Karen Marren as well as the MFS series Host and Curator Paul Quarrington. 

We were thrilled to have these artists and spirited guests in the house…

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

  

  

 

Cross-Country Moving Stories tour plays to enthusiastic audiences

With a big shout out to our committed presenters coast to coast, 600 audience members enjoyed the inaugural screening program Moving Stories Films Our Special Guests on stage included Randall Maggs, Andrew Davidson, Gary Thomas, Rachel Peters, Irene Duma, and Ivan E. Coyote. Filmmakers Ken Tsui and Brittany Junek were specially commissioned to produce a BookShorts film based on David Chariandy’s novel “Soucouyant,’ which premiered during the Vancouver presentation.  Thanks to our presenters THIN AIR 2008: Winnipeg International Writers Festival; St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival; Ottawa International Writers Festival Fall Edition; WordFest: Banff-Calgary International Writers Festival and Vancouver International Writers Festival.

For a complete listing of all the books and films in the program, and the terrific press coverage along the way, check out http://movingstoriesfilmfest.com/festival-info/about-the-festival.

UPCOMING TORONTO DATE:  NOVEMBER 26, 2008 – GLADSTONE HOTEL Pressented by THIS IS NOT A READING SERIES, Pages Books & Music.  Reserve in advance by email, judith@bookshorts.com

 

 

Into the ravine with Mr. do it all

by Drew Anderson … Quarrington brings his expansive skills to WordFest … Just to drive the point home that he can do everything, Quarrington is premiering a short film, Pavane, based on The Ravine at WordFest. Perhaps reflecting the schizophrenic writing style of the book, Quarrington worked on both projects at the same time. “In writing The Ravine, I wrote about half the book and then left off to write a screenplay, or a different take. It’s not actually a version of the novel, it’s kind of another approach. So I guess I wanted to explore other storylines and slightly different characters. And then went back to the novel,” he says.

The short film mixes animation and live action, separating the lives of the adult characters from the animated youth and the terrors of the ravine. It is set largely in Birds of a Feather, a piano bar that makes appearances in the novel as the place where Phil’s younger brother Jay tickles the ivories. “In going back and forth, I thought, well, it might be effective to tell the children’s story in animation, because it sort of, I don’t know, lends a patina of innocence that either makes the creepy stuff all the more creepier or maybe makes the creepy stuff a little easier to take,” explains Quarrington. He also did it to spare audiences the suspension of disbelief that is often required to match a child actor with his adult counterpart.

It’s a long way from his initial foray into filmmaking. “When I was in Grade 13… I got accepted to this film sort of camp in the summer, where they gave us all sorts of equipment and encouraged us to make films. But my friend and I took the camera to a party and filmed ourselves drinking beer, and then goodly sent in the stuff to get developed. So I got thrown out of that and my career as a filmmaker was in jeopardy for many years.”

If a novel and a movie isn’t enough to impress, Quarrington will also be playing with his band, Porkbelly Futures, at The Banff Centre. Show off.

Published October 16, 2008  

Read it in the original at FFWD Magazine

Moving Stories in the News

Splashed across papers and on the air waves, news of Moving Stories is making its way across the country! Check out the article in SWERVE, Calgary Herald’s Friday magazine featuring the upcoming Moving Stories program at WordFest October 15; and the program screens again in Banff on October 19.

More print coming up:  The Telegram, St. John’s (Oct 14); FFWD Magazine, Calgary (Oct 16) ; Ottawa Citizen (Oct 17) .

 

CBC Radio Newfoundland and Labrador, Weekend Arts Magazine Saturday October 11 @ 8:10am Eastern time.

ME SEXY at THIN AIR 2008

Paul Quarrington talks to Drew Hayden Taylor, award-winning author, playwright and comedian. At the risk of dating himself, Taylor reveals that his first writing credit was for the Beachcombers! Who knew? At THIN AIR, Hayden reads from Me Sexy (the sequel to Me Funny), a collection of stories written by some of Canada’s most esteemed First Nations writers. First funny, then sexy…we can’t wait to see what’s next for Taylor.

Moving Stories reports from Winnipeg

Moving Stories has landed in Winnipeg for the first leg of its cross country tour. The film screening takes place on Sunday September 28, but we couldn’t wait till then to get into the action. We attended ME SEXY, an event featuring some of Canada’s most esteemed First Nations writers. With so many fabulous authors around, we dove right in with our camera to cover some readings and do a few interviews …including  Joseph Boyden and Drew Hayden Taylor.

We also caught up with walker and writer Charles Wilkens. Stay tuned for clips and updates as we continue our tour!

For now we’ll leave you with our very own Paul Quarrington sharing a moment with the THIN AIR festival folks, including Charlene Diehl (left).

BookShorts’ Original Short Film Program

We continue to produce high production value short films in the style of projects like Pavane, A Life’s Passion, JPod, ICE, The Fighter and What Casanova Told Me.

Films such as these in the BookShorts catalogue form the basis of our programming for television series on national broadcast channels.  Through our sister com[any, BookShorts Literacy Program, we offer screenign adn event compilations to film festivals, literary festivals, booksellers, libraries and community groups in Canada and the United States.  Call us at 416.519.0806 if you are interested in presenting an event.

For more information, to submit a manuscript for development, or to work with us as a director or screenwriter, please contact Executive Director Judith Keenan at 416.519.0806.

Moving Stories Screening At Festivals Near You

2008 Confirmed Event Dates

Sep 28
Winnipeg, MB
THIN AIR 2008: Winnipeg International Writers Festival
http://www.winnipegwords.com

Oct 17-18
St. John’s, NL
St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival
http://www.womensfilmfestival.com

Oct 22
Ottawa, ON
Ottawa International Writers Festival Fall Edition
http://www.writersfestival.org

Oct 14
Banff 5nd Calgary, AB
WordFest: Banff-Calgary International Writers Festival
http://www.wordfest.com

Oct 25
Vancouver, BC
Vancouver International Writers Festival
http://www.writersfest.bc.ca

November 26
Toronto, ON
Pages Books & Music “This IS Not A Reading Series”
http://pagesbooks.ca/events.php?type=event&id=250

More Canadian and US host venues to be announced. Contact judith@bookshorts.com to request preview DVD and to enquire about hosting an event in your area, your library or bookstore!