Cinema as Sacred Site
Panel Discussion
Panelists: Colin Browne (moderator), Stan Fox, Peg Campbell, Neil Kelly
Three panellists and a moderator, each at least a film aficionado, film scholar, anthropologist, film theatre owner/exhibitor, movie palace lover, phenomenologist, philosopher, or bullslinger play with this theme for our enjoyment.
Every year, Heritage Canada selects a theme for Heritage Day (the third Monday in February). This year's theme is "A Heritage of Faith: Spiritual and Sacred Sites". Without too much of a leap, we can see the movie theatre as a temple-like place where people congregate to have a special inner experience. As cinephiles, we could be seen to be worshipping at the altar of the screen, that celluloid shrine, with its larger-than-life gods and goddesses before us. Like a church, temple, synagogue, mosque, etc., a cinema can be an architectural landmark in its community, and, like more traditional places of worship, movie theatres can reflect ideas and aspirations. For these and other reasons that our panellists will elucidate, and because we chose Heritage Day weekend for our Heritage Film Fest (in our Heritage Playhouse, itself a sacred site!), we made this leap of faith and deemed the cinema a sacred site!
Colin Browne
Moderator
Colin Browne will be giving the keynote address at the festival, Preserving Canada's Film Heritage. ( more about Colin Browne )
Panellists
Peg Campbell lives on Bowen Island where she is on the board of the Bowen Island Film Society. She has been teaching advanced film production and script writing at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design for 16 years and has taught numerous film workshops across Canada. She was a founding member of the Cineworks Independent Filmmakers Society, the Independent Film and Video Alliance, and Vancouver Women in Film and Video. She has also served on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund and the Canadian Independent Film Caucus, now known as DOC, and is currently on the board of Moving Images Distribution. In February 2002, she represented Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design on a panel on film education at Frames 2002, in Mumbai, India.
Stan Fox has spent his long career in the realms of film and television. He has been a film editor, cameraman, director, producer, executive producer, film teacher, script reader, television network program director, network program buyer, and film festival programmer. He is President of The Movie Monday Film Society; President of the West Coast Media Society; a Member of Medianet, a video producers’ support group; and a member of The Vancouver Island Producers Association.
Stan Fox was Director and Producer in the Film Department at CBC Vancouver, Director of the Vancouver Film Festival, Associate Professor and Chairman of the Department of Film at York University, Toronto, and Director of Adult Programmes at TV Ontario. He has served on numerous film and television festival juries. He is presently an independent media producer in Victoria, B.C.
Neil Kelly lives in Victoria, B.C., where he manages Victoria’s longtime indie theatre, the Roxy, a.k.a. the Cinegog. He has often collaborated with Roxy founder and Victoria personality, Howie Siegel, on writing Howie’s radio and TV segments. Neil teaches film history at the Victoria Film Academy. He and his wife Rosella are avid collectors of music, film and pop culture. Neil is a life-long cineaste and engaging raconteur.
Neil manages the Victoria’s longtime indie theatre, the Roxy Cinegog.
He has often collaborated with Roxy founder and Victoria personality, Howie
Siegel, on writing and producing Howie’s radio show and TV segments.
Neil teaches film history at the Canadian College of Film. He and his wife
Rosella are avid collectors of music, film and pop culture. Neil is a life-long
cineaste and engaging raconteur.
Graham Peat will be introducing the moderator and panel.
Graham has been close to the world of film and its various elements for more than 30 years. After working in the fledgling Vancouver film industry, he became a freelance publicist and advertising writer, then cable TV producer and editor.
He co-founded Videomatica, the largest independent home video outlet in the West, 22 years ago. Graham is also a co-founder of P3 Media Partners, a venture dedicated to the development of resources for Canadian film industry enthusiasts. Their first project was the creation of Show It in Public!, a guide to public performance of film in Canada.
He assists, programs, promotes and hosts many film events and festivals in B.C.
CHFF Event
Saturday, February 19, 7:30pm
Screenings at this event
Film double bill:
Total screening time: 2hrs, with a 15min intermisssion.
