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

Five questions for Quarrington with Calgary Herald

Q: At this year’s Wordfest you’re curating the Moving Stories film program which, looks at short films from around the world. Do you have a background in film? A: When I was in high school I really wanted to be a filmmaker. I even got into a prestigious program at one point . . . but my filming partner and I took the cameras to a party and shot everyone drinking beer. We got thrown out of the program for that, so that sort of felled my filming ambitions for a while. But I did actually go to the Canadian Film Centre here about 15 years ago for the director’s residence and I did make four short films. (My new one) Pavane is based on The Ravine. It’s about the brother relationship and it hints at an occurrence in The Ravine. I use animation to do the childhood stuff, which i think is kind of effective. I’m not if it makes it more creepy or less creepy, but I know it effects the creepiness level. Q: What inspired you to write your latest novel The Ravine? A: I taught creative writing for a long time and at one point I was a writer-in-residence at the Orillia Public Library here in Ontario. . . . Some women came (to the class) and it became clear to me they were in abusive relationships, but I noticed their stories either led up to the abuse and stopped or they began after the abuse had finished and (the stories) proceeded from there. I realized it was my job to get them to write about that middle part that made them uncomfortable. I later realized that about four or five years ago in my own life there was a certain amount of turmoil and I wasn’t following my own advice, so I chose to confront some issues I had. It was things based on an incident which happened to me and my brother and another boy when we were young. So the inspiration for The Ravine was writing about things that made me feel uncomfortable. Spotlight … Paul Quarrington appears at Wordfest events on Oct. 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19. wordfest.com Published: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 Read the whole interview at the Calgary Herald website

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!