Tag Archives: VIFF

‘Gabriel and the Mountain’ (‘Gabriel e a montanha’) winner of two 2017 Cannes Critics’ Week Awards premieres in North America at the Vancouver International Film Festival

Brazilian director Fellipe GamaranoBarbosa is thrilled to announce the North American premiere of his film Gabriel and the Mountain (‘Gabriel e a montanha’) at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Gabriel and the Mountain had its World Premiere at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. The film won the prestigious France 4 Visionary Award (Prix Révélation France 4), Gan Foundation Support for Distribution Award (Prix Fondation Gan a la Diffusion) and was nominated for the Critics’ Week Grand Prize (Semaine de la Critique). The Vancouver screenings are October 2^nd at 8:30 PM and October 3^rd at 2:00 PM. (www.viff.org)
With rave film reviews by Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Deadline Gabriel and the Mountain is based on a true story of Barbosa’s school friend, Gabriel Buchmann, who traveled to Africa and died on the slopes of Malawi’s Mount Mulanje in 2009. Barbosa recreates his friend’s journey in this warm-hearted feature with the help of men and women who met Gabriel along the way. This movie is a tribute – a gift, really – to his dear friend. “Because death is not only sad, tragic, and painful – it’s also the greatest mystery of life. It makes us stronger to look at it,” says Barbosa.

Thanks to the performance by actor João Pedro Zappa (Auto Exposure, Eden, Ressaca), who deserves a great deal of credit for making Gabriel so vibrant. He gives Gabriel an authentic charm and depth. Opposite Zappa, Caroline Abras (Something Like That, If Nothing Else Works Out) plays Cristina, Gabriel’s girlfriend at the time. Cristina travelled through Tanzania and Zambia with Gabriel during his African journey. Barbosa and his actors do a beautiful job of investing audience emotions in Gabriel’s joy for a sense of brotherhood, his hunger for new experiences and his love for Cristina.

Determined to research poverty experientially far away from his comfortable Rio de Janeiro upbringing, Gabriel lived cheaply, explored widely and attempted to give away 80% of his daily budget to those in need. The most immediately striking element of Gabriel’s personality is his sense of urgency, as his outsize appetite matches his impatience to achieve his goals. His eagerness often drifts from well meaning but naïve to arrogant but passionate, serving as a shrewd light comic skewering of traveler stereotypes.

Barbosa took to astounding lengths to make this film happen. Retracing the steps of his friend’s journey was no easy feat: from finding the people who interacted with Gabriel from eight years earlier, working partially with a non-professional cast and to tackling what was clearly a complex production, shooting in various countries in Africa and in locations that aren’t always easily accessible.

Fellipe Gamarano Barbosa was born in Rio de Janeiro, he directed the short films La Muerte es pequeña and Salt Kiss, selected at NYFF, Clermont-Ferrand, Guadalajara and Sundance. In 2008, he developed the screenplay of Casa Grande at the Sundance labs; the film premiered at Rotterdam’s competition in 2014. Gabriel e a montanha (Gabriel and the Mountain) is his second fiction feature.

Fellipe Barbosa will be in Vancouver from October 1st to October 3rd and available for interviews. The screening on October 2nd is at 8:30pm at the Vancity Theatre and at the Cineplex Odeon International Village cinemas on October 3rd is at 2pm. Gabriel and the Mountain will open in theatres in Vancouver and Toronto on November 10^th, 2017.

For all media requests, information, interviews and photos please contact:

Lesley Diana | lesley@thepromotionpeople.ca | 604-726-5575

For Canadian Distribution opportunities please contact

Maison 4:3 – Claire Guidicelli | Director of Distribution | Claire@maison4tiers.com | phone: 438-387-1547

Gabriel and the Mountain – Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdA1c1ujTs8

Links

http://www.semainedelacritique.com/en/edition/2017/movie/gabriel-e-a-montanha

Film Reviews

Variety

http://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/gabriel-and-the-mountain-review-1202439773/

Hollywood Reporter

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/gabriel-mountain-gabriel-e-a-montanha-review-1003951

Screen Daily

https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/gabriel-and-the-mountain-cannes-review/5118171.article

Film-Forward

http://film-forward.com/documentary/three-gems-cannes-2017

Deadline

http://deadline.com/2017/05/critics-week-prizes-2017-makala-gabriel-and-the-mountain-cannes-1202102964/

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Award Winning Actor Gabrielle Rose plays Aunt Ida in the critically acclaimed feature film MAUDIE starring Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke that opens in New York on June 6th

Gabrielle just completed four roles in Jessie nominated Angels in America Part One- Millennium Approaches

One of Canada’s most respected actors with over 160 film and television credits, Gabrielle Rose is very proud of her role in the feature film Maudie. Gabrielle has been invited to attend Maudie when it opens at AMC Lowes Theater in Lincoln Square on June 6th. The film has received overwhelming success in film festivals world-wide and in theatres across Canada. In Maudie Gabrielle plays Maud’s Aunt Ida. The film stars Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky, Blue Jasmine) and Ethan Hawke (Before Midnight, Training Day, Boyhood). Gabrielle had to age twenty-five plus years for the second half of her role in the film. It is a female driven production, with Irish Director Aisling Walsh, written by Sherry White and produced by Mary Young Leckie, Mary Sexton, Heather Haldane and Robert M Cooper. Maudie is an iconic Canadian story about a female folk artist.

With unforgettable performances by Academy Award® nominees Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke, this Irish-Canadian co-production is based on a true story, of an unlikely romance in which the reclusive Everett Lewis (Ethan Hawke) hires a fragile yet determined folk artist Maud Lewis (Sally Hawkins) to be his housekeeper. Maudie, bright-eyed but hunched with crippled hands, yearns to be independent to live away from her protective family (Aunt Ida) and she also yearns, passionately, to create art. Unexpectedly, Everett finds himself falling in love. Maudie charts Everett’s efforts to protect himself from being hurt, Maudie’s deep and abiding love for this difficult man and her surprising rise to fame as a folk painter.

Gabrielle is nominated for best supporting actress/Large theatre for the upcoming Jessie Awards honoring the best in Vancouver’s vibrant theatre scene for her four roles of two men – The Rabbi and Dr. Henry and two women – Hannah and Ethel Rosenberg in Angels in America/Part One- Millennium Approaches which has 9 nominations including Best Production. The Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards Ceremony will be held at the Commodore Ballroom, on Monday, June 26, 2017. Part Two – Perestroika opens in September.

With a number of stage credits to her name, Gabrielle has already won three Jessie Awards. Her acclaimed roles include Martha in Edward Albee‘s production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Elizabeth Rex, The Memory of Water, The Blue Light, The Glass Menagerie, and Doubt, Robin Baitz’, Other Desert Cities and more recently “The Rivals”.

She most recently received the Sam Payne Lifetime Achievement Award for her accumulative outstanding body of work in the performing arts. Gabrielle has worked repeatedly with some of Canada’s most notable directors including Atom Egoyan (The Adjuster, The Sweet Hereafter), Bruce Sweeney (Excited, The Dick Knost Show, Crimes of Mike Recket) and Carl Bessai (Sisters & Brothers, Mothers & Daughters).

She is a multiple Gemini and Genie Award nominee for both her film and television roles. Gabrielle’s critically acclaimed work includes an impressive list of film credits to include The Sweet Hereafter, which received the National Board of Reviews Best Ensemble Cast Award and the Artistic Achievement Award at the Vancouver Film Festival. The Rhino Brothers earned her a Leo Award. Other films include The Adjuster, The Five Senses, Speaking Parts in which she was again nominated for Genie, Family Viewing in which she was nominated for a Genie and The Adjuster. In the feature film Excited directed by Bruce Sweeney she nabbed both a Leo Award and Vancouver Critics Award. Other recent feature films include Two4One directed by Maureen Bradley, the award winning feature The Birdwatcher and a role in Connor Gaston’s Leo Award winning The Devout. Other works include The Rhino Brothers, which earned her a Leo Award, Carl Bessais’ Mothers and Daughters, Gabrielle secured both a jury prize at the Calgary International Film Festival and a Genie nomination.

More recently, in Amblin Entertainment’s A Dog’s Purpose directed by Academy Award® Nominee Lasse Hallstrom (Cider House Rules, Chocolat), Gabrielle plays Grandma Fran alongside Peggy Lipton, Britt Robertson, Dennis Quaid. The film has earned more than 192 million worldwide according to Box Office Mojo.

Gabrielle had a lead role in Bruce Sweeney’s The Dick Knost Show, which received the Spotlight Award for best BC film at VIFF in 2013, and marked her first foray into executive producing. Gabrielle won the UBCP/ ACTRA award for her performance in Sweeney’s Crimes of Mike Recket, and received her fifth Leo for her performance in The Corpse and the Courier. Gabrielle was honored to get the chance to play Gran in If I Stay, alongside Stacey Keach and directed by RJ Cutler. She can also be seen in a cameo role as the French proprietress in Hector and the Search for Happiness.

On television, her credits include series recurring roles in A Man in a High Castle, Proof, Once Upon A Time, Robson Arms, Three Moons Over Milford, and Exes and Ohs and has starred in Taken, Battlestar Galactica, Sanctuary, Tom Stone, Win Again, Milgaard, The Sleep Room, The X-Files, Shattered and many more. Gabrielle received a Leo Award for Best Guest Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series for her role in Sanctuary and reprised her role as Samantha on the hit series Continuum.

She is the recipient of the 2007 Woman of the Year award at the Vancouver Women in Film and Television Spotlight Awards. She is passionately committed to Canadian film, television and theatre. In January 2016, the Vancouver Film Critic Circle awarded the Ian Caddell Award to Gabrielle. The Whistler International Film Festival presented Gabrielle with the Maven Award in 2016. WFF acknowledges Gabrielle for her dedication to BC’s film industry and support of filmmakers, and in particular for helping to unite strong women in film. She is a recipient of the UBCP/ACTRA Lorena Gale Woman of Distinction award and the Sam Payne Lifetime Achievement award.

Gabrielle’s awards include a UBCP/ACTRA Award for Best Actress, five Leo Awards, two Atlantic Film Festival Awards, a National Board of Review (NY) Award. She has been nominated five times for a Gemini and four times for a Genie. She has received a Fright award and a Maverick award.

Gabrielle is available for interviews upon request.

Please contact: Lesley Diana | Lesley@thepromotionpeople.ca | 604-647-0201

Social Media Handles

Twitter: @GabrielleRose79
Vimeo: vimeo.com/147236460
IMDb: Gabrielle Rose, Maudie (2016), Release Info

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HANNAH: BUDDHISM’S UNTOLD JOURNEY SCREENS AT VIFF ON SEPTEMBER 24th and 26th

AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY AT  17TH ANNUAL ARPA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Hannah: Buddhism’s Untold Journey—the award-winning documentary by co-director/producers Marta György Kessler and Adam Penny which chronicles Hannah Nydahl’s story of bringing Tibetan Buddhism to the West—makes its Vancouver debut at VIFF (Vancouver International Film Festival) on September 24^th and 26^th. The film was edited by Sundance Grand Jury Prize and Emmy award-winner Simon Barker. Hannah recently made its New York City debut at The Rubin Museum of Art.

Watch the official trailer via Vimeo HERE. Tickets are available at www.viff.org

Filmed in India, Nepal, the Far East and Europe, Hannah is the untold true-story of a young Danish woman’s life, searching for greater levels of perception in the 1960s until as an adult, she becomes a pillar of living Buddhism with her husband Ole Nydahl. In 1968, the two were the first Western students of His Holiness the 16th Karmapa in Nepal. After a period of study, they were sent back to Europe where they made his teachings of Tibetan Buddhism relevant for Western minds. Over the following 3 decades they travelled throughout the world bringing the teachings to all walks of life. “Hannah is not just a story about an exceptional and brave woman,” says co director/producer Marta György Kessler, who spent 15 years traveling with Nydahl and some of the most renowned Buddhist Lamas. “It’s an adventure of historical significance with such a profound, rich narrative, it was important that we not just tell the story—but also really touch people with it.”

In 2006 Hannah was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. She and Ole returned to Copenhagen to live out her last days together in the center they founded in 1974. Almost exactly three months after the diagnosis, Hannah passed away whilst in meditation with her husband and a few friends around her. On June 13, 2015 Hannah and Lama Ole Nydahl received the award for dialogue, coexistence and peace of the UNESCO Association for Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue. As another award winner, the Association honored Pope Francis I.
lama-ole-nydahl.org/blog/unesco-award-ceremony

“Hannah” recently screened in New York and has been accepted into the Festival Internacional de Cine Documental de la Ciudad de Mexico this October 15 – 24, 2015.

HANNAH: BUDDHISM’S UNTOLD JOURNEY VIFF SCREENINGS
September 24, 6:30 pm SFU Woodwards Vancouver, BC
September 26, 11:00 am SFU Woodwards Vancouver, BC

What are they saying about “Hannah”?
HUFFINGTON POST “The excellently crafted film led the spellbound audience from fascination to tears.”
VILLAGE VOICE “The film is a pleasure – lush jewel tones on tapestries, temples, and statues”
MOVIEFIED “Cinematic as the best of today’s documentaries”
JB SPINS “Highly recommended”

Co-director/producers Marta György Kessler and Adam Penny will be in attendance for both screenings and available for interviews before or during VIFF upon request.

Please contact: Lesley Diana | Lesley@thepromotionpeople.ca | 604-726-5575

About Adam Penny
Adam Penny has worked in media for 12 years, producing documentaries, commercials and brand campaigns. In 2002 he produced his first feature documentary Movimento, about street children and the favelas of Rio for Channel 4. Other documentary credits include The Urban Chef for BBC2, World’s Youngest Daredevils for Sky and The Four Year Plan, a feature documentary following debt ridden football club QPR being taken over by billionaires. As Creative and Managing Director of Connected Pictures Adam has also worked on a vast array of campaigns for brands including Microsoft, SABMiller, British Airways, HSBC, Nissan and for agencies such as TBWA, Saatchi&Saatchi, CHI&Partners and Adam&EveDDB.

About Marta György Kessler
Marta was an actress in Hungary when she met Lama Ole and Hannah in 1990 and started to practice Buddhism. Since then she has lived and worked in different Buddhist communities around Europe. In 2002 she began to give lectures on Buddhism and has continued to do so in many different countries. Marta also travelled with Hannah and Lama Ole for more than 15 years all over the world. During this time she saw firsthand their activity and developed a very close connection to Hannah. In 2009 she came up with the idea to write Hannah’s life story, an inspiration that developed into this film. This is Marta’s first feature documentary.

About Simon Barker
Simon has been an editor for over 20 years. In that time he has worked on countless award-winning feature documentaries including Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer (Special Jury Prize award-winner 2013), Google and the World Brain (Sundance award-nominee for Grand Jury Prize 2013), Reagan (Emmy award-winner Outstanding Historical Documentary 2012) and 9/11 Heroes of the 88th Floor (Emmy award-nominated Outstanding Informational Programme 2012).

About Connected Pictures  
Connected Pictures is a London-based production company, specialising in documentary and branded video content. Documentaries include The Urban Chef for BBC, World’s Youngest Daredevils with Mylene Klass for Sky as well as co-productions on Turing for Channel 4 and most recently The Four-Year Plan.

They have been involved in campaigns for the re-launched British Airways, behind the scenes documentaries at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as work for SABMiller, Levis, Moet & Chandon, Footlocker, JD Sport, John Lewis, Nissan and many others.

Social Media Handles

Website: hannahthefilm.com, viff.org, docsdf.com, connectedpictures.com
Twitter: @HannahtheFilm
Facebook: Hannah: Buddhism’s Untold Journey
Vimeo: Hannah: Buddhism’s Untold Journey – Official Trailer

Contact The Promotion People

Lesley Diana – Founder, President and Publicist
lesley@thepromotionpeople.ca
604.726.5575

Website: thepromotionpeople.ca
Twitter: @PromotionPeople
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Instagram: @thepromotionpeople

Read Sonja Bennett’s journey to writing her first screenplay for the now popular feature film Preggoland now playing in theatres in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal in Canada and opens in the US on May 8th to a limited release in 10 cities.

By Sonja Bennett

The almost rise, kinda fall, and sorta resurrection of a Canadian actress

In 2001 I was in theatre school getting the dregs of the acting roles. In the last production, I played eight parts – two of which were barnyard animals. My career goal at that point was to be a Bard on the Beach regular and maybe not have to live with three roommates. But my prospects weren’t looking great.

Then something happened. My father, Guy Bennett, was about to direct his first feature, Punch, about a father-daughter relationship. The story goes that the producer said offhandedly, “Too bad your daughter isn’t an actress, that’d be a good hook.” Um, does a proficiency in the back half of a horse costume count? I was “cast” in the movie and my career in film was put in motion.

Headhunters from Fox television were at our TIFF premiere and put me on a contract old-school style like I was Shirley Temple or something. Me and a little unknown comic named Zach Galifianakis. Ever heard of him?

Suddenly I was being groomed as “the next Calista Flockhart.” But my body rebelled against this idea. Somewhere I had read that cashew nuts were a healthy snack and I was eating them by the Dan-D-Pak. I gained 20 pounds, had a stress rash all over my face and had developed an audition-selective stutter. I was completely unprepared for 12-page last minute auditions in LA where I had no support network except my loyal agent, Dylan Collingwood, who came down and tried to help jam lines in my head and figure out the LA highway system.

Needless to say, I didn’t get my Ally McBeal, nothing came of my Fox contract and I slinked back to Vancouver with my tail between my legs. My ego was bruised pretty bad and I took to embarrassing behaviour like hitting gold-level tanning beds to give the town the impression I was “just up from LA for the weekend.”

Six months after my Fox contract had ended, I booked the new lead character on the seventh season of the Canadian series Cold Squad, and despite my whole management team’s disappointment, I was very happy. From that point on I worked steadily for almost a decade. I did comedy, I did drama, I got to work with Atom Egoyan and I won awards and stuff. Life was pretty sweet. I’d once again redefined what my dreams were and could say I was now living it.

And then the recession happened.

Movie stars were turning to shitty TV for work, and the roles I realistically had a shot at were getting smaller and sillier and less lucrative. I had also turned 30 and was apparently no longer the “right kind” of pretty for Smallville. So I did what most actresses do when the work dries up. I decided it’s time to have a baby!

I’m kidding – sort of. Motherhood gave a context to my career. I tried being pickier with roles, but all the good ones went to Oscar winners.

My body was starting to rebel against the slog of being a Vancouver actress in her 30s; to the high probability that the project I was auditioning for had the word “Fatal” or “Tornado” in the title.

I was getting bitter-actress-itis.

I remember my kid saying, “Mama sad, mama have dish-in.” I guess I was sad about my “dish-in” and more importantly I wasn’t a good enough actor to hide it from my son.

So I stopped acting. For almost three years. It was hard. But it was the right decision. I detoxed from the crack that is the highs and lows of the entertainment industry, I had a second child without consulting the UBCP/ACTRA “what’s shooting” list, and I went back to university to seek out another career path cause god knows if I’m not pretty enough for Smallville I’m definitely not getting a job at Cactus Club.

But I still found myself drawn to my husband’s (actor Stephen Lobo) callsheets and scripts. I missed being creative and telling stories and making movies. I wanted back in but knew it had to be different this time round.

I decided to write myself the juicy lead role that no one was going to give me otherwise. The plan was to write a starring vehicle to resuscitate my nearly dead career. I had stories from my motherhood experiences and I came up with the concept for a movie called Preggoland.

And then I wrote. Before my kids woke up, during their naptimes, in the middle of the night if I couldn’t sleep. I channeled all that creative energy into a story. My dear friend Kevin Eastwood agreed to produce. Ironically, by far the most difficult thing about getting the film made was convincing the decision makers to have me star in it. But the producers and the director, Jacob Tierney, supported me entirely – which meant a much smaller budget and a bigger pain in the ass for all involved. They did it anyway and never made me feel guilty.

Now, of course, I would never be so cavalier as to suggest the answer to all out-of-work actresses is to just “go out and make a feature.” It was the simple act of being creative on my own terms and taking control of my own destiny that empowered me. My bitter actress-itis was cured long before Preggoland went into production.

And did all my dreams come true with this film? Has Hollywood come knocking?

I guess the answer is, I don’t know yet. I’m not thinking about it all that much because I’m too busy with my family and the new ideas in my head. In my quest to write a vehicle to launch a “comeback,” I fell in love with writing along the way. And so the parameters of my dream life have shifted once again.

I won’t pretend that it doesn’t twinge my heart a little when I see Zach Galifianakis hosting Saturday Night Live and wonder what could have been if I’d laid off the cashews. But then I move on fast because I’m too busy writing my next feature.

-Sonja Bennett

Social Media Handles

Website: sonjabennett.ca, mongrelmedia.com/film/preggoland.aspx, indiegogo.com/projects/preggoland-help-us-finish-the-movie
Twitter: @sonjabennett123, @Preggoland
Facebook: facebook.com/Preggoland
IMDb: imdb.com/name/nm1060641/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Contact The Promotion People

Lesley Diana – Founder, President and Publicist
lesley@thepromotionpeople.ca
604.726.5575

Website: thepromotionpeople.ca
Twitter: @PromotionPeople
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STAR AND SCREENWRITER SONJA BENNETT’S FEATURE FILM “PREGGOLAND” OPENS MAY 1ST IN CANADA AND MAY 8TH IN THE USA THE FILM SHOWCASES HER MANY TALENTS WITH CO-STARS OSCAR NOMINEE JAMES CAAN AND DANNY TREJO

Taking two years off to make Preggoland Sonja books her first role back on ABC’s “Mistresses”

Star and Screenwriter Sonja Bennett’s Feature Film Preggoland will be released Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal in Canada on May 1st and in the US on May 8^th to a limited release in 10 cities.

Preggoland is very much Sonja Bennett’s baby (pun intended!). The movie marks her foray into screenwriting; in addition to starring in the Canadian indie, the award-winning actress penned the script. Sonja realized there weren’t as many roles for women over 30, so she decided to be proactive about her career by writing herself the juicy lead she’d been craving. “I was interested in exploring of how motherhood changes female friendships, the artifice of this giant clique of motherhood and the pregnancy pedestal,” Sonja shares. Inspiration came from Bennett’s  own experience of becoming pregnant with her now five-year-old son.

Montreal’s Jacob Tierney (The Trotsky) directs Preggoland, a laugh-out-loud comedy about a 35-year old woman Ruth (Sonja Bennett) whose high school friends have moved onto motherhood, while she’s still partying in the parking lot. But when Ruth is mistakenly thought to be “with child,”  her life changes – old pals embrace her, strangers give up their seats and her father (James Caan) approves of her for the first time. How can she keep up the ruse? Also starring are Lisa Durupt (Ruth’s baby-wanting sister), Paul Campbell (the  boss Ruth bonds with over a song), Jared Keeso (the doctor she surprises) and  Danny Trejo (the co-worker who surprises her).

Photo by Ed Araquel
BCBGMAXAZRIA

The film opened to a much-hyped premiere as a Special Presentation at TIFF and in Sonja’s hometown at the Vancouver International Film Festival where it won the Most Popular Canadian Feature Film Award and was nominated for best BC film by the VFCC. Preggoland won the Best screenplay award at the Fargo film festival and most recently, on March 15^th, the film won the audience choice award for best feature film at the Omaha Film Fest and screened at Miami 2015. Upcoming festivals include Sonoma International Festival on March 27^th, the Gasparilla Film Festival in Tampa Bay Florida where Preggoland will be the closing night film and the film has also been accepted into the Bejing Film Festival.

Dorkshelf says “Preggoland has a stellar script and a star making performance from writer and lead Sonja Bennett.” Scene Creek billed the film “smart and savvy” while NOW Magazine said “Bennett’s written a sharp comedy that explores the societal pressure on women without children and gives a knockout performance as bad girl Ruth.”

After taking two years off to make Preggoland Sonja books her first role back as a ballerina with a blood disorder in the third season of ABC’s drama/thriller Mistresses. She and her husband (Ed Quinn) get tangled up in the lives of one of the Mistresses in an interesting way. Sonja will join the series stars Jes Macallan, Rochelle Aytes, Yunjin Kim, and Jennifer Esposito.

Acting for more than 10 years, Sonja Bennett has appeared in critically acclaimed films such as Atom Egoyan’s Where the Truth Lies, Elegy starring Ben Kingsley and Penélope Cruz, and TIFF opening night film Young People Fucking – for which she earned a Vancouver Film Critics Circle award. The Vancouver native has kept an equally busy profile on the small screen with recurring roles in Eureka, Battlestar Galatica, Blade: The Series. Her performances in Random Acts of Romance, In No Particular Order, Cole and the TV series Godivas and Cold Squad garnered her Leo Gemini, and Genie nominations.

Shot in Vancouver, the film is produced by Kevin Eastwood (Fido) and Dylan Collingwood, Fake-a-baby Productions, Titlecard Pictures Inc. and Optic

Nerve Films Inc. with the support of Telefilm. Preggoland is being released in Canada by Mongrel Media.

Social Media Handles

Contact The Promotion People

Lesley Diana – Founder, President and Publicist
lesley@thepromotionpeople.ca
604.726.5575

Website: thepromotionpeople.ca
Twitter: @PromotionPeople
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Congratulations Gabrielle Miller and Alexander Cendese on their engagement!

Gabrielle Miller and Alexander Cendese are happy to announce their engagement. Gabrielle and Alexander met in New York City in 2012 performing together in an Off Broadway play at the prestigious Cherry Lane Theatre in the West Village. Gabrielle is a Gemini award winning actor most known for her work in the hit TV series Corner Gas as well as the recent films Down River and Moving Day. Alexander Cendese is an American/Canadian New York based theatre, film and television actor, as well as a writer and producer, and an Alumni of the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. Together they run Loud Cowboy Productions and split their time between New York and Toronto. Alexander had Gabrielle’s ring designed and cast by Charles Freshman at Freshman’s Inc., a renowned jeweler in Salt Lake City, Utah, est. 1895. Their wedding will take place in August of 2015 at Whispering Oaks Ranch near Moab, Utah.

Social Media Handles

Twitter: @MillerGabrielle, @alexcendese
Instagram: @gmiller1

Contact The Promotion People

Lesley Diana – Founder, President and Publicist
lesley@thepromotionpeople.ca
604.726.5575

Website: thepromotionpeople.ca
Twitter: @PromotionPeople
Facebook: The Promotion People

Musician/Actor Tara Beier stars in the role of Buffy Sainte-Marie in the film “COVERED” to screen at the Whistler Film Festival on Friday December 5th at 1:30pm

The Promotion People - Tara Beier

Musician/Actor Tara Beier stars in the role of Buffy Sainte-Marie in the film “COVERED” to screen at the Whistler Film Festival on Friday December 5th at 1:30pm

Multitalented Musician/Actor/Filmmaker Tara Beier stars in “COVERED”. This docudrama short film is an interpretation of an interview and performance of Buffy Sainte-Marie that originally aired on CBC TV’s program TBA with host John O’Leary in 1966. “COVERED will screen at the Whistler International Film Festival on Friday, December 5^th at 1:30 pm. www.whistlerfilmfestival.com

Tara Beier (aka, Browne) is the actor, filmmaker and musician starring in the role of Buffy Sainte-Marie in the short film “COVERED”. Most recently Tara won “BEST EXPERIMENTAL” for the film at the Imagine Native Film Festival in Toronto, which premiered at the TIFF Lightbox.

Press and peers praised Tara for her directing debut for the documentary “I Met A Man From Burma” on the life and country of Ler Wah Lo Bo-a Burmese refugee and former revolutionary fighter for the Karen National Liberation Army turned activist. The documentary premiered at The Vancouver International Film Centre/Reel Causes program then Female Eye Film Festival, The Berlinale Film Cloud and Hot Docs program.

Tara has always remained true to her voice as a creator. Since the age of 6, she trained in classical conservatory piano for over 10 years. While in preparation for over a year to play the legendary folk singer Buffy Sainte-Marie, Tara’s writing and acting naturally spawned her to create her own music with a message.

Now, with the unexpected success of her music, Tara has garnered a huge online following on Facebook and Twitter and a climbing presence on Youtube with thousands of hits for her songs: Freedom Island, This Innocence, Guns Road, Mayan Sun, In The Desert and more. Tara and her band will be recording their first album of eight original songs this January at Rose Room Recording Studios in Toronto.

Ottawa’s music critic Zachery Houle reviewed Tara on “PopMatters” deeming her “one of a kind in Canadian indie rock and worth to listen to” comparing her voice and style to Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.” http://www.popmatters.com/review/184836-tara-beier-purple-trees-ep/

Tara is currently on tour with her band The SilverThorns”. The band includes renowned classical guitarist Michael Savona, Juno-nominated drummer Tony-Nestbitt Larking and bassist, George Chenery. They recently shot a high quality music video for “Guns Road” in Toronto with Motorcyle Stunt Riders produced by Commercial Film Production Company Familystyle.tv.

You can check “Tara Beier & The SilverThorns” out on YouTube for their live performances at The 3030 Bar in The Junction, Toronto. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqsmv1b5aIKc1jZfEuPOzpA

Tara, a native of Vancouver, is now living in Toronto.

Social Media Handles

Website: www.whistlerfilmfestival.com
Blog: tarabeier.blogspot.ca
Twitter: @tarabeier
Facebook: Tara Beier Music

Samples of music/live performances:
Freedom Island: http://youtu.be/2sS6pDXSQig
Mayan Sun: http://youtu.be/ZeCiyfO8bo8
Guns Road: http://youtu.be/-ZiolyHsGRk
Hate Street Dialogue: http://youtu.be/vmfH7aoTKoE

Contact The Promotion People

Lesley Diana – Founder, President and Publicist
lesley@thepromotionpeople.ca
604.726.5575

Website: thepromotionpeople.ca
Twitter: @PromotionPeople
Facebook: The Promotion People

Yelloween Veuve Clicquot Champagne Presents The Annual JetSet Halloween Party

The JetSet Crew organizes and hosts the most exclusive independent parties at some of Vancouver’s most prestigious venues. Their Halloween party is a sell out every year and the most sought after Halloween ticket in town.

Ten months in the making, this party promises to wake the dead. This first class Hotel will be completely transformed by our film production team into a haunted hide-away complete with visual effects, spooky lighting, haunted décor and props, VIP loungers, and plenty of bars. DJ Timka resident DJ at Buddha Bar New York City and Frederick’s .Sir Charles will keep party-goers hopping in the Grande Ballroom and Champagne Room. This event has been sold out every year for the last nine seasons and is famed as Vancouver’s best sexy adult Halloween celebration.

Join us at the exclusive Sutton Place Hotel in the heart of downtown for Vancouver’s scariest Halloween party. Friday Oct 31st will mark the first time the Sutton has hosted a Halloween party in its history!

Sutton Place Hotel
855 Burrard St.
Downtown, Vancouver
Friday, October 31
8:00pm to 1:00am

Dress: Come in your favorite Halloween costume.
Prizes for best costumes for girl, guy, couple, and group.

Featured Entertainment:
DJ Timka live from New York
Sir Charles
GoGo dancers

Limited Group Packages available: BUY FIVE GET ONE FREE

$60 VIP Ticket Includes:
Complimentary Cocktail until 10pm
Complimentary Trick or Treat Candy Buffet
Complimentary Coat Check
VIP Hostesses & Servers
VIP Table Seating Available

– Click here for hotel reservation info: jetsetcrew.com
– Sutton Place Hotel: Veuve Clicquot “Yelloween” Event
– To book a paid VIP table including custom seating click here
– Get directions to the Sutton Place Hotel

Social Media Handles

Website: jetsetcrew.com
Twitter: @JetSetArrivals
Facebook: Yelloween Veuve Clicquot: The Annual Halloween Party

Contact The Promotion People

Lesley Diana – Founder, President and Publicist
lesley@thepromotionpeople.ca
604.726.5575

Website: thepromotionpeople.ca
Twitter: @PromotionPeople
Facebook: The Promotion People

Star and Screenwriter Sonja Bennett’s feature film “Preggoland” showcase her many talents at TIFF and VIFF with co-star Oscar nominee James Caan

Early reviews are in. Critics love Sonja’s edgy comedy-drama

Preggoland is very much Sonja Bennett’s baby (pun intended!). The movie marks her foray into screenwriting; in addition to starring in the Canadian indie, the award-winning actress penned the script. Opening to a much-hyped premiere at TIFF Canadian feature Preggoland will screen in Sonja’s hometown at the Vancouver International Film Festival.

Sonja realized there weren’t as many roles for women over 30, so she decided to be proactive about her career by writing herself the juicy lead she’d been craving. “I was interested in exploring of how motherhood changes female friendships, the artifice of this giant clique of motherhood and the pregnancy pedestal,” Sonja shares.

The early reviews are in and critics love the edgy comedy-drama written co-starring Oscar-nominee James Caan and veteran actor Danny Trejo. Dorkshelf says “Preggoland has a stellar script and a star making performance from writer and lead Sonja Bennett.” Scene Creek billed the film “smart and savvy” while NOW Toronto said “Bennett’s written a sharp comedy that explores the societal pressure on women without children and gives a knockout performance as bad girl Ruth.”

Filmed in Vancouver, Preggoland centers on a boozing 35-year-old woman (Bennett) whose life turns upside down when is mistakenly thought to be pregnant. All of a sudden Ruth (whose life was more in tune with a teenager than a 30-something grown woman) earns her father’s approval, nabs the attention of her friends, and saves her job. Ultimately she finds the glorious perks of pregnancy to seductive to ignore.

Laura Harris (24, Defying Gravity), Paul Campbell (Spun Out, Battlestar Galatica), Jared Keeso (Godzilla, Elysium, 19-2), and Lisa Durupt (Shall We Dance, Less Than Kind) round out the talented cast. The Trotsky’s Jacob Tierney directs with Kevin Eastwood and Dylan Collingwood as producers.

Preggoland premiered at TIFF as part of the prestigious Special Presentations programme. The buzzed-about film will have its hometown debut during VIFF.

Acting for more than 10 years, Sonja Bennett has appeared in critically acclaimed films such as Atom Egoyan’s Where the Truth Lies, Elegy starring Ben Kingsley and Penélope Cruz, and TIFF opening night film Young People Fucking – for which she earned a Vancouver Film Critics Circle award. The Vancouver native has kept an equally busy profile on the small screen with recurring roles in Eureka, Battlestar Galatica, Blade: The Series. Her performances in Random Acts of Romance, In No Particular Order, Cole and the TV series Godivas and Cold Squad garnered her Leo Gemini, and Genie nominations.

Preggoland is produced by Fake-a-baby Productions, Titlecard Pictures Inc. and Optic Nerve Films Inc. and with the support of Telefilm.

Social Media Handles

Website: sonjabennett.ca, mongrelmedia.com/film/preggoland.aspx
Twitter: @sonjabennett123, @Preggoland
Facebook: facebook.com/Preggoland
IMDb: imdb.com/name/nm1060641/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Contact The Promotion People

Lesley Diana – Founder, President and Publicist
lesley@thepromotionpeople.ca
604.726.5575

Website: thepromotionpeople.ca
Twitter: @PromotionPeople
Facebook: The Promotion People

Award Winning Local Film ‘Lawrence & Holloman’ Opens in Theatres in Vancouver July 18th presented with The First Weekend Club

“The laughs just kept coming in this must see dark comedy. Perfectly cast … so well written .. audiences are going to love it. Put it on your calendars and get ready for those belly laughs!”
– The Cinequest Film Review, San Jose

“A kind of comic apocalypse … the unlikeliest best buds in the history of buddy comedy.”
– Edmonton Journal

The feel-bad comedy of the year …

LAWRENCE & HOLLOMAN

Directed by Matthew Kowalchuk based on the play by Morris Panych
Starring Ben Cotton, Daniel Arnold, Katharine Isabelle, Amy Matysio

Having swept North America with “must-see” reviews and 11 awards in 11 festivals, this darkly twisted buddy comedy – currently nominated for 4 Canadian Comedy Awards — is now making its theatrical premiere …

Synopsis:
Lawrence is an ever-optimistic suit salesman for whom everything always goes right. That is until he meets Holloman, a cynical and suicidal credit collector, and everything starts to go wrong. Very wrong. Is happiness determined by our outlook on life? Or can our destiny be changed … by another.

PREMIERE: FRIDAY JULY 18
VIFF VANCITY THEATRE
1181 Seymour Street
Reception at 6:45 | Screening at 7:45.
Presented with First Weekend Club
Reception with live musical performance by Jessica Harvey and Daniel Doerksen

Film followed by Q&A with filmmakers and after-party at Subeez
THEN:
July 19 @ 6:30 | July 21 @ 6:30 | July 22 @ 8:30 | July 23 @ 6:30
Tickets & Info: viff.org/theatre/films/fc8165-lawrence-holloman | 604 683 3456
Join the FB event at: facebook.com/events/851610758257396

CONTINUED RUN @
THE RIO THEATRE
1660 E Broadway @ Commercial
Thursday July 24 @ 9:30pm
Friday July 25 @ 7pm
Tickets & Info: www.riotheatre.ca | 604 878 3456

“A must-see! … the sleeper hit of the entire festival.” – The Gazette, EIFF
“Dark, twisted, and really very funny … a multi-dimensional screamer. One of the events top flicks.” – The Province
“Debuted to waves of laughter… a darkly funny, sometimes insane buddy comedy.” – YVR Shoots
“The writing is witty … the actors’ comedic timing is fantastic.” – The Examiner, Washington DC
“Clever, witty, and playful … This film is just dark enough that I feel a bit guilty about having enjoyed it as much as I did!” – AlienatedinVancouver
“Enjoyable to anyone … this film will please. It could also inspire you to choose to be optimistic and happy!” – Reellife
“Morbidly hilarious! … and that is sickly awesome.” – JasonWatchesMovies
“BEST BC FILMS AT VIFF” List – Vancouver Magazine
“TOP CANADIAN FILMS TO SEE AT VIFF” – The Huffington Post
“Rich humor … appealing performances … and something remarkable happens: the story starts to resonate in your heart — and when the dust settles this richly dark film may very well force you to re-examine your perspective.” – GayVancouver.net

Awards
Best Feature Comedy – RxSM
Best Canadian Feature – EIFF
Rising Star: Filmmaker – EIFF
Rising Star: Actor (Ben Cotton) – EIFF
Best Emerging Director – VIFF
Best Director of a Comedy – VTXIFF
Best Actor in a Comedy (Daniel Arnold) – VTXIFF
Best Canadian Film – BNFF
Best Comedic Acting (Ben Cotton) – BNFF
Excellence Award – Rincon, Puerto Rico
Best Casting – Leo Award

8 more Leo Award nominations (BC Film Awards):
Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay
Best Lead Actor (Daniel Arnold), Best Lead Actor (Ben Cotton), Best Supporting Actress (Katharine Isabelle)
Best Editing, Best Sound Editing

4 Canadian Comedy Award nominations:
Best Feature, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Screenplay

Cast & Creatives
This debut feature from director Matthew Kowalchuk is based on the highly successful stage play by two-time Governor General’s Award winner Morris Panych. Adapted for the screen by Daniel Arnold & Matthew Kowalchuk, the script received story editing from Kyle Hunter & Ariel Shaffir (Seth Rogen’s co-writer/producers on 50/50, This is the End), and story consultation from Daniel Petrie Jr (Academy Award nominated writer of Beverly Hills Cop and The Big Easy).

Starring: Ben Cotton, Daniel Arnold, Katharine Isabelle, Amy Matysio
The film stars four-time Leo Award-nominated BEN COTTON (Battlestar Galactica, Stargate, The Killing) who for this role has won Rising Star Actor (EIFF) and Best Comedic Acting (BNFF); Gemini and Leo Award-winning KATHARINE ISABELLE (American Mary, Ginger Snaps) who was also nominated for a Leo Award for this role; 7-time Canadian Comedy Awards nominee AMY MATYSIO (Single White Spenny, inSAYSHAble); and introduces the internationally acclaimed theatre actor DANIEL ARNOLD in his debut starring role in a feature film, for which he has been nominated for “Best Actor” (Leo Awards) and won “Best Actor in a Comedy” (VTXIFF).

Executive Producers Mary Anne Waterhouse & Andrew Currie of Quadrant Motion Pictures have produced numerous features including Donovan’s Echo starring Danny Glover, The Thaw starring Val Kilmer, and FIDO starring Carrie Ann Moss, while producer Paul Armstrong of Ameland Films, Crazy8s Film Event and the Celluloid Social Club has produced the multi award-winning features See Grace Fly, Ill Fated, and Moving Malcolm starring Elizabeth Berkley, and co-producer Robyn Wiener has co-produced or line produced numerous films including Amazon Falls, The Wingman, and American Mary. Don Thompson of Finale Editworks is the Associate Producer.

The film was funded by Telefilm Canada, Super Channel and OUTtv and developed with the participation of Creative BC, Astral the Harold Greenberg Fund and Movie Central. Support also from Finale Editworks, Bridge Studios and William F White.

Distributor John Bain of Search Engine Films is the former Senior VP of Distribution at Lions Gate Films and Maple Pictures, and has overseen the Canadian release of movies such as Drive, Our Idiot Brother, Winter’s Bone, Hurt Locker, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Hunger, and Biutiful.

Search Engine will be releasing Lawrence & Holloman theatrically in at least 3 Canadian cities, starting in the film’s hometown of Vancouver.

We encourage you to get your tickets, and invite your friends! If you saw it at VIFF, try seeing it again for the very first time …

Social Media Handles

Website: lawrenceandholloman.com, firstweekendclub.ca, searchenginefilms.com
Twitter: @LHthemovie
Facebook: facebook.com/lawrenceandholloman

Contact The Promotion People

Lesley Diana – Founder, President and Publicist
lesley@thepromotionpeople.ca
604.726.5575

Website: thepromotionpeople.ca
Twitter: @PromotionPeople
Facebook: The Promotion People