Toronto Quarterly: Filming Life in Music and Paul Quarrington
November 23, 2010
Darryl Salach interviews Judith Keenan on the making of Paul Quarrington Life in Music, for The Toronto Quarterly blog.
Judith Keenan – discusses filming Life in Music and Paul Quarrington
(excerpt)
Filming the documentary was equally as intense on Keenan. “We synthesized a renaissance artist into 46 minutes at a point in his life when he is living his creative life literally to his death. We’ve managed to distill some of Paul’s dichotomies that are universal to all artists, to any person who is reaching out to express themselves by whatever creative means they have at hand. We laughed, we cried, we shook a fist, and we talked for hours in the pub afterwards.”
This fall, Keenan toured the film to numerous Canadian cities, several of which were full-on tributes to Paul’s work – Kingston, Banff, and Vancouver being stand-outs. During the screenings, Kennan admits to not being able to watch the film all the way through until the Vancouver event. “The gospel scene at the end still tends to choke me up, probably because we (Paul Q., Bert, Bill Laurin, and I) were so jazzed to shoot it, and when we did, PQ was not there.” Her refuge has been the incredible audience support she has received, many having stopped by to talk with her after the events, speaking of their own remembrances of Paul, and if they didn’t know of Paul, many were now inspired to pick up some of his books, CD’s, or films. There are two goals Keenan hopes to achieve by getting this film seen, the first, to establish a foundation for the appreciation of Paul’s work now and in the future, and secondly, to be true to Paul’s mission of inspiring everyone to live the most creative life possible.
Keenan reconfirmed that what sustained her throughout the project will continue to be her salvation. “Paul brought together a group of people that have found great comfort together, and have also made great art together. It got us through, and hopefully resulted in a piece of art that will offer inspiration to the audience that views it, squeezing the most creative juice out of their own lives.”
Here’s the link to the full article >> http://thetorontoquarterly.blogspot.com/2010/11/judith-keenan-discusses-filming-life-in.html
Porkbelly Futures fete Quarrington at Kingston WritersFest
November 22, 2010
www.movingstories.tv — Porkbelly Futures perform CRAZY RAIN, a song composed by Martin Worthy in memory of his writing partner and life-long friend Paul Quarrington. This performance was one part of a stellar evening presented by Merilyn Simonds, Artistic Director for Kingston WritersFest called “PQ’s People Mix It Up”, a tribute to Quarrington that included theatrical stagings of his plays and novels, readings from a roster of authors, with musical headliners Porkbelly Futures.
Produced by BookShorts Literacy Program for MovingStories.TV with the collaboration of Kingston WritersFest. For more news and music inspired by the written word, visit www.MovingStories.TV
IN THE ROCK HALL by Dave Bidini w/ Porkbelly Futures
November 22, 2010
www.movingstories.tv — Dave Bidini performs IN THE ROCK HALL with the Porkbelly Futures, a song he composed based on Paul Quarrington’s poem of the same name. This performance was just part of a high-energy event presented by Kingston Writers Festival called “PQ’s People Mix It Up”, a fitting tribute to Quarrington that included theatrical stagings of his plays and novels, readings from a roster of fellow authors, with musical headliners Porkbelly Futures.
Produced by BookShorts Literacy Program for MovingStories.TV with the collaboration of Kingston Writers Festival; Merilyn Simonds, Artistic Director. For more news and music inspired by the written word, visit MovingStories.TV
