 Singkil - Nabs a lucky seven Dora nominations!
Just six months ago, audience members sang the praises of fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company’s production of Catherine Hernandez’s Singkil, which performed to sold out houses at the Factory Studio Theatre. Now, the theatre community has spoken by nominating the show for a whopping seven categories in the Independent division. And fu-GEN can’t be more grateful for the recognition.
- Outstanding New Play (Catherine Hernandez)
- Outstanding Production (fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company)
- Outstanding Direction (Nina Lee Aquino)
- Outstanding Performance by a Female (Rose Cortez)
- Outstanding Performance by a Male (Leon Aureus)
- Outstanding Set Design (Camellia Koo)
- Outstanding Sound Design/Composition (Romeo Candido)
There was nothing but pride and joy amongst all of fu-GEN’s creative team at today’s Dora Award press conference –because Singkil garnered the most nominations in the Independent division, not to mention the five-year-old company’s production was delighted to be recognized alongside the other esteemed nominees.
“These nominations clearly signify the growth, strength and maturity of Asian-Canadian artists,” says Singkil director Nina Lee Aquino. “I hope that this serves as an inspiration for the community to continue to do outstanding work.”
The winners will be announced on June 25th 2007.
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Singkil – A World Premiere!
fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company in association with Factory Theatre proudly presents Catherine Hernandez’s Singkil. The production, directed by Nina Lee Aquino, features actors Nadine Villasin, Karen Ancheta, Leon Aureus, Rose Cortez and David Yee. The show previews from Jan 6 2007, opens Thursday, Jan. 11 and runs until Jan. 28 2006.
Catherine Hernandez is a Toronto-based writer and theatre practitioner. Based on her work with her mother, Cecille Hernandez, who is a pioneer of Filipino folk dance education in Canada, Singkil was first featured at the 2005 CrossCurrents Festival and is part of Hernandez’s "Scarborough Stories" anthology. Its second installment, Saint Candice, is a short story that will be featured in this year’s Diaspora Dialogues Festival. The third installment, Kilt Pins, a play about teens in a Scarborough Catholic high school, is currently in development. Happy to wear the hat of playwright, Hernandez also heads Factory Theatre’s education/outreach program.
At the helm of this stellar production is Nina Lee Aquino, who engineered last year’s hit, Banana Boys and produced the record-breaking 2006 CrossCurrents Festival. “This play represents the next stage of fu-GEN’s development as a company. As a follow up to Banana Boys, it is a bold new direction. Singkil uses traditional storytelling. It’s linear. It’s gentle, in many ways. It’s quiet, but at the same time, it possesses the same sort of magic and theatricality that we saw in Banana Boys. It offers us a chance to push ourselves as artists and, in turn, invites our audience to grow and explore the Asian-Canadian Diaspora with us.”
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FORscene Trailblazer Award worth $5000 goes to Hungry Eyes!
Innoversity Summit, (Toronto) October 24, 2006 – Two of Canada’s hottest filmmakers, David ‘Sudz’ Sutherland and Jennifer Holness received the $5,000 FORscene Trailblazer Award at the closing ceremonies of the Innoversity Summit today at the Toronto Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre.
Sutherland and Holness, partners in Hungry Eyes Film and Television won for their project, Through Our Eyes which introduced filmmaking to over 28 youth in grades 6, 7 and 8, some of whom were in the “at risk” category. They worked with the youth over a four month period to produce seven mobisode films.
“We are both excited and pleased to be considered trailblazers in this area. Mobisodes have taken us into new territories and it’s wonderful that Through Our Eyes allowed us to venture here. Working with the wonderful kids from Jane and Finch made this project a joy. We plan to continue this filmmaking initiative showing how kids from all walks of life and neighbourhoods can become voices of the future,” said Holness on accepting the award.
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Cinematheque Ontario presents:
KHALO MATABANE IN PERSON!
Khalo Matabane's first feature, CONVERSATIONS ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON, has established him as an important voice in South African cinema with its canny combination of fictional and documentary elements. CONVERSATIONS begins with a series of encounters in a city park between Keniloe (Tony Kgoroge) and Fatima (Fatima Hersi), a Somalian refugee. One day Fatima tells him her story - of the terrible losses visited on her by war, forcing her to leave her homeland. Inspired by their meeting, he sets out to find her again, interviewing many intriguing characters along the way. CONVERSATIONS offers a fascinating glimpse into a South Africa that, for all its struggles in the post-Apartheid era, has become a refuge for exiles fleeing more horrific struggles in places as disparat e as Uganda, the former Yugoslavia, and Palestinian refugee camps. "The African new wave is gathering force, and Khalo Matabane is the latest to join the surge
Wednesday, November 15, 2006 at 6:30 p.m. - FREE screening!
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Factory Announces its 2006/2007 season!
Hot on the heels of last year’s critically acclaimed season, Factory announces its 2006/2007 lineup of Canadian plays – including startling new works from the national scene, a continuing commitment to re-examining the George F. Walker canon and thrilling collaborations with some of Toronto’s most innovative independent theatre companies.
Artistic Director Ken Gass states, “The season builds on our past many successes with the dark and hilarious world of George F. Walker, while also featuring writers from the East Coast and the West who are completely new to Toronto stages. As well, we look forward to renewing our past highly successful creative partnerships with three extraordinary independent Toronto companies.”
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I AM NOT A DINNER MINT
Trey Anthony Productions in collaboration with Redfoot Productions present
“I AM NOT A DINNER MINT…the crap women swallow to stay in a relationship”
July 21-30th, 2006 at the Harbourfront Centre Theatre
trey anthony writer of the hit play ‘da Kink in my hair, that wowed Toronto audiences and packed houses, is at it again, this time she is director and co-writer with Redfoot Production’s Rachael-Lea Rickards, on a new play, “I am not a Dinner Mint…the crap women swallow to stay in a relationship!”
The playwrights define a ‘dinner mint’ as the small refreshing “after thought” one enjoys after a really good meal, the little candies wrapped in layers of tissue at the bottom of granny’s purse.
The writers declare many women become dinner mints in their relationships. This analogy provides the perfect backdrop for a diverse cast of 5 women as they take an intimate, honest and sometimes hilarious look at the various relationships in their lives. From best friend make-ups, to searching for Mr. Right, to lesbian break ups, “I am not a Dinner Mint” guarantees to have its audiences laughing, crying, and yelling ‘enough is enough’ to bad relationships and ‘wish I held on’ to the good ones they let slip away.
It’s a journey of 5 Women, 5 hearts but ultimately one story…
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 U CARMEN
Carmen in Khayelitsha is a feature film based on Bizet’s nineteenth century opera but filmed on location in a modern South African setting. The energy, compassion and heat of township life in all its elements will create a constantly visually interesting and dynamic background for the unfolding of the story.
A Dimpho Di Kopane Film, U-Carmen eKhayelitsha is the winner of the Golden Bear for Best Film at the 2005 Berlin International Film Festival and was in official selection in the Cannes Film Festival Tous les Cinemas du Monde.
U-Carmen Khayelitsha is a feature film sung and spoken in Xhosa, one of South Africa’s eleven official languages. Based on Bizet’s opera Carmen, U-Carmen eKhayelitsha was shot in April/May 2004 in the township of Khayelitsha, near Cape Town, home to half a million people.
It is being released as a feature film by Mongrel Media in Toronto!
Could you write a great Canadian TV series?
Winnipeg – The National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI) wants to hear from talented Canadian writer and producer teams who have an idea for a great television series. Through the NSI Totally Television training program, NSI is offering qualifying teams the chance to fine-tune their idea and work towards landing a broadcast development deal.
Since the inception of the NSI Totally Television program in 2002, seven out of eight NSI Totally Television graduating teams have landed development deals with broadcasters and so far, two have been produced and broadcast nationally.
Apply for the program by May 15, 2006, 4:30 p.m., Central Time.
Guidelines and an application form are available on the NSI website
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DVD To Raise Funds For Grenada Hurricane Relief
GRENADA: THE MAROON SPIRIT, a new documentary film by Pumpkinhead
Production Company to donate portion of sales to Grenada Maroon Fund
What happens when a small Caribbean island is hit by a massive
hurricane? How does a country cope when 90% of their homes are
destroyed or damaged? What happens when your agricultural sector is
wrecked and your major export crop will take years to recover? What
are the hopes of the people for the future under such conditions?
These are some of the questions that GRENADA: THE MAROON SPIRIT hopes
to answer for people. This new production by the Pumpkinhead
Production Company was filmed on the island of Grenada in the Eastern
Caribbean in November of 2004, two months after Hurricane Ivan
devastated the island nation on September 7.
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NSI Drama Prize 2006-2007 teams announced
Winnipeg - Today at NSI FilmExchange Canadian Film Festival, filmmakers from Quebec, Nova Scotia, Ontario and British Columbia were named as the next participants for NSI Drama Prize, presented by CBC Television – a professional training program coordinated by the National Screen Institute – Canada (NSI), which culminates in the production of a 10-minute short film.
From the 74 submissions, 16 were short listed for jury consideration. The following five teams were chosen for the 2006-2007 NSI Drama Prize training program.
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