Moving Stories in Winnipeg!

Moving Stories has landed in Winnipeg for the first leg of its cross country tour. The film screening takes place on Sunday September 28th, 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.

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Paul Quarrington on Adaptation - Part 2

Thoughts on the process of adapting books to screen
By Paul Quarrington

Movies are not as big as books.

The general public, I think, has a vague and imaginary scale that measures narrative weight, and they seem to equate a book with a feature length film. But the movie is much, much smaller. My novel “Whale Music” is a small book—two hundred and some odd pages—but even it was way too big for a feature film.

As various directors worked on it, as I re-wrote according to discussions, disparate aspects would come to the fore. I wrote the first draft myself, and concentrated on the humorous aspects of the story. (I included characters like the dog and Babboo Nash Fazoo, for example.) Then Atom Egoyan and I worked together. Being Atom Egoyan, he was most interested in the familial stuff (and Desmond’s parents were on-screen characters.) Then Richard Lewis took over the helm, and the parents were deep-sixed to make more room for the love story between Claire and Desmond.

So perhaps the most important aspect of adaptation is for the filmmaker to identify which specific aspects of the printed material speak to him/her. By selecting those to which he or she connects emotionally and primally, the filmmaker is ensuring that the final product will by at least in part a personal expression. Sometimes the filmmaker is forced to highlight aspects where there is no personal connection, sometimes the filmmaker bends things to make them fit, tries to force a square peg into a round hole. The filmmaker must possess a very intimate and profound knowledge of the source material. There must be a very immediate and visceral connection, Otherwise, I assert, the project is doomed to failure.

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Canadian Premiere of Pavane!

The Pavane Premiere is here!

In just a few short days Pavane will be publicly screened for the first time ever with Moving Stories Films at THIN AIR: Winnipeg International Writers Festival. The entire program, which includes 14 other short films based on works of literature, will be featured at the CanWest Global Performing Arts Centre (MTYP) on Sunday September 28 at 10am.

Quarrington will also be conducting a workshop using Pavane to illustrate the process of adaption from book to screen. He will be joined by BookShorts Executive Director Judith Keenan and author Susin Nielsen. The workshop takes place on Saturday September 27.

 

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Paul Quarrington on Adaptation - Part 1

Paul Quarrington soon hits the road to host the inaugural Moving Stories Films program at various literary and film festivals across the country with stops in Winnipeg, Banff-Calgary, St. John’s, Ottawa, Vancouver and Toronto. In addition to premiering his short film Pavane (based on his book The Ravine), Quarrington will also be conducting workshops for filmmakers, writers and anyone who is interested in the process of adaptation.

Join us for an online exclusive series: “Paul Quarrington on Adaptation”.  Over the next few weeks, Paul will be sharing his thoughts on the creative process of adapting books to screen. Come on out to one of the workshops in a city near you where you can meet Paul and assorted special guests, and be sure to follow along online.

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The Ravine Makes Giller Long List!

This just in! The Ravine has been longlisted for the 2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize. Quarrington is no stranger to the Giller, having been shortlisted in 2004 for Galveston.

“The selections this year are especially formidable. Many of the other nominees are personal friends,” says Quarrington,  “which might cause some difficulty when I begin the hexing incantations and whammies, but hey, I hope they understand. I’m proud to be on such a fine list.”

Is it any wonder that Quarrington won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour? In addition to pulling in the Leacock, his novel King Leary also kept him “on the island,” emerging as sole survivor (read: winner) of the 2008 CBC Canada Reads competition.

The recognition doesn’t end with his books, however. Quarrington is the writer for Moose TV, which won the 2008 Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) Indie Award for Best Comedy Series. He’s also been groovin’ to sell-out crowds across the country with his band Porkbelly Futures. The band has released their eponymous album earlier this year.

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“The World in Six Songs” Book Review by Paul Quarrington

All you need is love - and joy, and …
Review By PAUL QUARRINGTON

Excerpt … his examination of the role played by music in our evolution is fascinating and enlightening.

Globe & Mail Books Section
September 13, 2008

THE WORLD IN SIX SONGS
How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature
By Daniel J. Levitin
Viking Canada, 354 pages, $32

“Why do some songs move us so and others leave us cold?” This puzzle and others led Levitin back to university, studying the way the human brain processes music (he currently runs the Laboratory for Music Perception, Cognition and Expertise at McGill).

That specific puzzle also lies at the heart of his new book, The World in Six Songs. To be more precise, the book is about why some songs move us so, Levitin being too gracious to spend a lot of time belabouring why other songs don’t. And if, like me, your first thought is, “What are the six songs?” let me explain that he has identified six disparate types of songs. His thesis is that these six song types serve different functions; moreover, that each song type has influenced human evolution, and explains much about the way we are. 

For the entire article, visit The Globe and Mail Online

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Live Report from Darryl’s Hard Liquor & Porn Film Festival

In a serious effort to scout talent for a new line of sexy funny films, BookShorts sponsored the first ever Hot Type Award at Darryl’s Hard Liquor and Porn Film Festival.  The Hot Type Award was bestowed upon the filmmaker who most cleverly integrated a book or its written word into their film. Each eligible film was made during the 69 Hour Film Challenge. Congrats to the winner, Darryl Gold who wins $500 towards his next screenplay for a BookShorts film.

To the BookShorts filmmaking team in a new line of sexy films, visit http://www.bookshorts.com/author.htm .

Watch Paul’s Live Report Here!

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