Between September 25th and 27th the Whitehorse arts and cultural community will present a diverse array of activities to celebrate Culture Days. Launched in 2009, Culture Days is an annual call out to arts and culture organizations across Canada to open their doors, curate an exhibition, develop workshops, or otherwise showcase their contributions to Canadian culture. Culture Days aims to heighten the awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement of Canadians and the arts and culture communities that surround them.
This year the Yukon Film Society will be showcasing three films for free to celebrate Culture Days in Whitehorse. These screenings will take place on Friday, September 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Shipyard’s Park, with the films being projected outside against the city maintenance building once the sun begins to dip.
The evening begins with Waterwalker (Bill Mason, 1984), a full-length documentary about famed naturalist and visual artist Bill Mason. Featuring music by Canadian troubadour Bruce Cockburn, Waterwalker follows Mason as he travels through the Ontario wilderness by canoe, starting on Lake Superior, then explores winding and rough river waters to the meadowlands of the river’s source. Along the way, Mason paints scenes that capture his attention and muses about his love of the canoe, his artwork and his own sense of the land. Waterwalker is suitable for the whole family, so bring the kids and dress warm.
The subject of our second screening is the rarely visited Fogo Island in Newfoundland and Labrador. Hey Rosetta! – Fogo Sessions (Mark Bennet, 2015) follows Canadian indie-rock band Hey Rosetta! as they record songs at various locations on the island, interspersed with footage from Colin Low’s 1967 films Introduction to Fogo Island and The Children of Fogo Island. The film is both a visceral account of the band’s recording process and an intimate look at the island of Fogo.
For the final screening of the evening we delve into the cult movie genre with a late night of bizarre visuals from Guy Maddin’s 1988 feature film debut Tales from the Gimli Hospital. The film tells the tale of a lonely fisherman who contracts smallpox and is admitted to the Gimil Hospital where he begins to compete with other male patients for the affections of the young female nurses. With Icelandic folklore, black-faced minstrels and badly-acted puppet shows as a form of anesthesia, Maddin’s masterpiece is a cult classic. Half-way between an Ed Wood pulp horror and a surrealist David Lynch psychological thriller, Tales from the Gimli Hospital features mystifying visuals and absurdist humour.
For more information about this night of outdoor film, and other Yukon Film Society Culture Days events, go to www.YukonFilmSociety.com
For more information aboutl Culture Days events happening Sept. 25-27 go to http://yt.CultureDays.ca/en
