Wait for Rain in the TIFF Film Circuit

Last autumn when Kyle and Josh attended the Vancouver International Film Festival, one of their absolute favourite films was the Montréal feature-length comedy, Starbuck.  Since then, Starbuck has gone on to win multiple awards and has garnered praise from audiences everywhere.  Currently, Starbuck is touring across Canada with the Film Circuit, a division of the Toronto International Film Festival.

So it was a great surprise when the TIFF Film Circuit contacted Josh and Kyle requesting to screen Wait for Rain with Starbuck!  In the Lower Mainland, you will have the opportunity to watch these two films back-to-back on Monday, February 27 at 7:30 pm at the ACT.

Starbuck – Official Trailer [HD]

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Spokane International Film Festival

Returning to the West Coast, Hop the Twig recently played at the Spokane International Film Festival in Washington.  SpIFF offers a selection of the newest world-class independent features, documentaries, and shorts.

Hop the Twig played from January 26 – February 5 in the Whirled Shorts program along side other notable shorts from Spain, Netherlands, USA, Czech Republic, and Germany.

Globetrotting at the Clermont-Ferrand International Film Festival

We are only a couple months into 2012 and it has already been a busy year!

In January Josh received a grant from BC Film to promote Wait for Rain at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Market in France.  The Market has over 3,000 delegates representing all branches of short film production.

The halls of the Festival Marketplace

Josh had the opportunity to meet with distribution companies, buyers for television, producers and directors from around the world, and representatives from other international film festivals including Aspen, Oberhausen, Cork and many more.

Dinner with the Canadians: (L-R) Joy Loewen, Karen Harnisch, Felicia Litovitz, Eileen Arandiga, Eileen's cousin, Sydney Neter, Josh Epstein, Andrew Cividino and Andrew Lounsbury

Clermont-Ferrand also hosts the largest international short film festival featuring some of the most outstanding and eclectic shorts from around the globe.

Here is a list of Josh’s favourite films. (Keep in mind he didn’t see nearly enough!):

Animated

and my favourite…

Live Action

and my top picks…

**Motion 58 has more exciting news to come so check back very soon!!**

Encounters in Bristol

As Hop the Twig’s festival run continues, we now send it overseas to Bristol, England where it will be making its European premiere at the Bristol Encounters International Film Festival.  Well known as the longest running short film festival in the UK, Encounters is a qualifier for prestigious awards such as the Academy Awards, BAFTAs, and European Film Awards.  The festival runs this November 16-20.

Talking with Haig Sutherland and Lara Gilchrist

We thought we’d do a catch up with the talented Haig Sutherland and Lara Gilchrist, both of whom are in Wait for Rain and Hamlet at VIFF.

Haig has become one of Canada’s favourite actors, winning the hearts of theatre goers and screen addicts.  He’s seen regularly on stages across Canada, including many seasons at Vancouver’s Bard on the Beach, as well as in award winning TV and film roles such as SGU Stargate Universe and Robson Arms.

Lara Gilchrist is a shining star.  With a successful career in full swing, she already has many film, TV, and theatre credits under her belt.  She was most recently in Touchstone Theatre’s True Love Lies and just finished filming Jason Priestley’s  Goodnight for Justice, playing opposite Luke Perry.

M58: You will be starring in two films at VIFF this year, Wait for Rain and Hamlet. What was it like being in the short vs. the full-length film?
LG: Well, Hamlet, (the feature) was shot in 3 days, and Wait for Rain (the short) was shot in 5, so it was kind of the same…only on wait for rain, I got to sit down a bit more.
HS: Both shoots were fast-paced and time-constrained, both were very exciting to be a part of. In terms of content and perspective, “…Rain” is a true original, and to have an opportunity to work with an up-and-coming writer/director like Kyle Rideout whose vision is unique, is truly special.

M58: How do you plan on taking in the festival with two films playing there?
LG: Seeing as much as I can….telling lots of people about my films…..
HS: I’m attending each premiere on consecutive nights, which should be fun, and the rest of the time I am totally going to wing it.

M58: What was it like for you, Lara, working with former Studio 58 classmates, Kyle and Josh, on the set of Wait for Rain?
LG: Great!  Super fun.  I’ve always admired both Kyle and Josh as artists and people and have huge respect for their talents.  To have the opportunity to work with people I know and trust so well, and for them to trust me was exciting and freeing and very fullfilling.

M58: You have appeared in many roles both in TV and on film, not to mention theatre.  What drew you to Wait for Rain? 
HS: I loved the character of James and the concept of the movie as a whole. The script, to me anyways, read like a wild and fucked-up poem; like a bizarre dream that feels completely real and terrible at the time, but then you find yourself laughing hysterically when you tell it to your wife the next morning.

M58: How was it acting with (and wearing!) the plants?
HS: Wearing the plants was a bit of an ordeal, to be honest. But I kinda knew it would be, going into it, so it was fine. I remember acting a scene while some dude stood on a chair, just out of frame, with the top of my sunflower on the end of a fishing line, and thinking to myself, “Ah! The magic of CINEMA!”
LG: Every time I leaned over to talk to someone, they’d get a face full of flowers, and when my head turned slightly either way, so would I.

M58: Lara, you’ve played the role of Ophelia both on stage and now on screen.  How was your process different with each performance?
LG: The first time I had to start at the beginning, to figure her out and disect her and the language, and this time I came in with that understanding, and focused on who this older version of her is, and why she makes the choices she does even though she is wiser and more mature.  It was such a gift to be able to play her again, she’s one of my favourites.  Fun fact- the last time I played Ophelia was at Studio 58, where Kyle played Hamlet, and Josh played Claudius!

M58: Haig, you often play comedic characters that make people laugh.  Do you ever make yourself laugh on set?
HS: Who told you to ask that? Was it Kyle? Don’t listen to him.

M58: Does your wife (actress Jennifer Lines) think you’re funny?
HS: Sometimes, not all the time. But we have a 5-month old baby boy, and he thinks I’m a laugh-riot.

M58: If you didn’t pursue acting, what would you be doing?
LG: Astronaut.  Hands down.  Or a cowboy…hands down, an astronaut or a cowboy.
HS: Oh, probably pushing a shopping cart down back alleys, collecting recyclables and cigarette butts.

M58: What’s up next for you?
LG: I’m currently filming a lead role in a new feature called Klapstock Syndrome, written and directed by Mark Sawers, and am the voice of ‘Emma Frost’ and ‘Danger’ in Marvel’s new cartoon series- Joss Whedon’s, The Astonishing X-men, airing in 2012.
HS: Next up is All The Way Home with Electric Company Theatre; Tad Mosel’s 1961 Pulitzer Prize-winning play directed by Kim Collier at the Queen Elizabeth (www.electriccompanytheatre.com for tickets).
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