Official Tkaronto website up and running Well, you can say it's about time, but the official Tkaronto website is now up and running complete with writings, background info on the film, and much more. Please check the website www.tkaronto.net out for more details.
BLOG # 3 By Shane Belcourt
Tkaronto writer/director/dp November 1st, 2007 I want to say that the premiere screening was the most fun I've ever had in my life, that afterward me and crew partied until dawn and woke up in small boarder town the other side of Mexico. It was however, agonizing, painful, and though an insane success, almost impossible to bare. more here >>>
BLOG #2 by Shane Belcourt
Tkaronto
writer/director/dp
July 23rd, 2007 Well, things are just flying by now. Last I wrote I was telling you how exciting it was to even start the film production. Here we are a couple months later and the film has been shot, edited, and now we're moving onto the finer details of post-production. Jordan is doing some sound things, I gotta do some image tweaks, and we got Amanda Strong doing some posters and all of that promo kind of thing. It, we, are trucking along.more here >>>
BLOG #1 by Shane Belcourt
Tkaronto
writer/director/dp
April 26th, 2007
When you look at me what do you see? A white guy, maybe? Blue eyes and wavy brown hair, maybe French or maybe just a hodge-podge of whatever white Canadian blah. I can’t stop you from seeing what you see, just like you can’t stop me from feeling what I feel, or what I see, or what I’ve always known. I’m Aboriginal. My Dad is Metis, and no that doesn’t mean he is half of anything, he is a full-on Metis. And oh yeah, my Mom is white, I mean real white, like blond hair blue eyes kind of white. But I never thought of myself as white, I always thought of myself as me. And for me, that means Metis. And this my dear friends is what my debut film Tkaronto is all about (but I’m telling you I’m starting to feel more and more everyday that this isn’t “my” film at all, but for a lot of us, it’s “ours”). more here >>>
PRESS RELEASE Shane Belcourt’s Debut Canadian Feature a Huge Hit At Toronto Film Festival
TORONTO (October 22, 2007)- Tkaronto, Shane Belcourt’s debut feature, held a sold-out world premiere last night at the 2007 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts festival. The film’s title is the original Mohawk word for Toronto.
Selected as the Closing Night film, Tkaronto screened for 450 rapt audience members (including national and international delegates alongside members of the general public) on a rainy Sunday night at Toronto's famed Royal Cinema. More than 100 people standing in a rush ticket line outside the theatre were turned away.
Kerry Swanson, the Executive Director of the imagineNATIVE Film Festival called it "the most successful closing night screening in the festival's eight-year history." Swanson says, "We were very excited to program Tkaronto on closing night because it touches on themes that so many mixed aboriginal people deal with, but in a unique and passionate way.” She adds: “But we never thought that we'd need to call security to help with the crowd pushing through the door!"
The success of the film caught first-time feature filmmaker, Canadian writer-director Shane Belcourt, off guard. “It was a dream come true for me”, declared Belcourt, “and for everyone involved in making this film. A line up around the corner, line up at the concession stand, a sold-out crowd trying to find seating. It was like being at a 'real' movie, only it was my own!”
More reflectively, Belcourt says: "Maybe it was destiny - my father did name me after the first movie he saw, Shane. Which is a life of torment considering he's Métis and Alan Ladd's character is on the other side of the ‘cowboy and Indian’ equation."
Prior to the screening, Rachel Fulford, Director of Original Production from Showcase, spoke highly of the film: "Tonight marks the emergence of a major artist. Tkaronto is a rare and precious piece of filmmaking. This may be closing night of imagineNATIVE 2007, but it is opening night for Shane Belcourt."
Amidst the urban landscape of contemporary Toronto, Ray and Jolene – two strangers – discover an unexpected connection. As they both search for meaning and identity, their lives become increasingly entwined and Ray is forced to face his anxiety about impending fatherhood with a pregnant wife back home. As the bond between them intensifies, doubt and uncertainty grows as both of them grapple with their mutual attraction. Featuring a star turn by Lorne Cardinal (“Corner Gas”), Tkaronto is an unforgettable cinematic experience for anyone who has wondered who they really are and where in the world they belong.
The film was shot on a tight budget of over 17 days with a crew of six people. Belcourt not only wrote and directed the film; he also served as Cinematographer, a Producer and wrote and performed the haunting and beautiful closing title original song.
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For information please contact:
Bridgette Murphy, The Breath Films
(647) 893-0353 bridgette@thebreath.com
THE BREATH FILMS PRESENTS IN ASSOCIATION WITH BRAINCLOUD FILMS A BREATH FILMS PRODUCTION “TKARONTO” STARRING MELANIE McLAREN DUANE MURRAY LORNE CARDINAL CHERI MARACLE CASTING DIRECTOR DUANE MURRAY SOUND DESIGN AND ORIGINAL MUSIC BY JORDAN O’CONNOR EDITED BY JORDAN O’CONNOR PRODUCTION DESIGNER DAVID HANNAN DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY SHANE BELCOURT EXECUTIVE PRODUCER MICHAEL CORBIÈRE PRODUCED BY SHANE BELCOURT DUANE MURRAY JORDAN O’CONNOR WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY SHANE BELCOURT
