 Hi, art lovers! | | |  | (Joseph Sinclair) | | | This Friday, Mae Martin will host the Canadian Screen Awards Gala from the CBC Broadcast Centre in Toronto, and the hour-long special will be airing on CBC and CBC Gem that night at 8 p.m. (9 p.m. AT, 9:30 p.m. NT). But if you’re in the industry, you’ll probably activate party mode way earlier than that. Canadian Screen Week officially starts today, and between now and Friday’s broadcast, there’s a marathon of awards receptions — events that recognize talent in more than 150 categories across TV, film and digital media.
So much content — Canadian content! And if you want to play catch-up on the year’s best programs, there’s an impressive amount of CSA-nominated fare available to stream right now.
CBC Gem has built a playlist featuring the honourees, and there you’ll find some of the top contenders, including Sort Of, which leads the comedy field with 18 nods, as well as dozens of other titles, such as Swan Song, Best in Miniature and CBC Arts’ interview series, Here & Queer. You can also stream BlackBerry, the must-watch story of the world’s first smartphone, which is both a CBC limited series and the most-nominated feature in CSA history.
But if you’re the kind of person who prefers to do a bit of research before committing to your next major binge, CBC Arts has covered a bunch of the nominees — including Sort Of and BlackBerry. (Bonus link: the film’s director, Matt Johnson, was on Q.)
Among the highlights, we learned how the comedy Who’s Yer Father? became a bona fide hit in P.E.I. The stars of Shoresy revealed how they’re making Sudbury, Ont., proud — and we got behind-the-scenes stories from the creators of Plan B and I Hate People, People Hate Me. The latter is up against Vivek Shraya’s How to Fail as a Popstar in the fictional web series category, and Vivek stopped by Here & Queer for an interview — as did Sort Of’s Amanda Cordner and Solo’s Félix Maritaud and Théodore Pellerin. Solo is in the running for best motion picture, but if there were an award for the year’s most bonkers film title, that would have to go to Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person. Back in August, we named its director, Ariane Louis-Seize, a CBC Arts Rising Star. Much more recently (like, a month ago) we interviewed Alexandra Billings about her CSA-nominated turn in Queet Tut. And remember The Man Who Stole Einstein’s Brain? He hid it for years and even smuggled it to Canada — but the guy had his reasons. | | | | | And because we promised you eye candy ... | | | | |  | Maya Beaudry | | Trellis by Maya Beaudry. Maya has a solo exhibition (Tree Museum) at Towards Gallery in Toronto through June 22. The changing landscape of Vancouver, specifically the churn of demolition and construction, influenced the work appearing in the show. | | | | |  | Abbas Akhavan | | When I make a trip to Allan Gardens, it’s usually to say hi to the turtles. But for the next couple weeks, there’s art there too. The Toronto conservatory is hosting an exhibition through June 8 (As We Move Away From the Sun). The show makes links between human and plant migration and includes an installation by Abbas Akhavan, You Used to Call It Blue Sometimes. (Pictured: a view of that piece in a previous location, which may or may not be home to a turtle pond, Mount Stuart house in Scotland.) | | | | |  | Maurice Benayoun | | | | | But what do you know about The Tunnel Under the Atlantic? This groundbreaking artwork connected Montreal and Paris back in 1995. | | | | |  | Getty Images | | | | | Their film, Rumours, just premiered at Cannes, and it’s about world leaders who gather for a bizarre summit in the woods. | | | | |  | CBC | | | | | | | Ever wanted to walk a mile in somebody else’s shoes? Eighty Thousand Steps is an interactive CBC podcast that’s powered by your movement. Created by writer and journalist Crystal Chan, the story dives into a family mystery and is inspired by her grandmother’s experience as a child refugee. | | | Share this newsletter | | or subscribe if this was
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I’m Leah Collins, senior writer at CBC Arts. Until next time! | | | | | |
