Cultural Survival
in the Age of Hollywood
Panelists announced for free public symposium
Featured speakers at the Cultural Survival in the Age of Hollywood symposium (Friday, October 3, 2003, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm, UBC Robson Square Campus Theatre, Vancouver) include:
Robert Pilon - Canada
Robert Pilon is both an economist and sociologist. He worked with the ADISQ (Association
de l'industrie due disque et du spectacle du Quebec) from 1987 to 1999, first
as a consultant and then as Vice-President. Public Affairs. In November 1999,
he was appointed to the position of Executive Vice-President of the Coalition
for Cultural Diversity, an umbrella organization of thirty different professional
organizations representing creative artists, producers, distributors, broadcasters
and publishers in the book, film, television, music, performing arts and visual
arts fields in both English and French-speaking markets in Canada.
Colin Browne - Canada
Colin Browne is a film-maker and poet. He is also the author of Fugitive Events:
A History of filmmaking in British Columbia 1899-1970 and he is currently working
on a book about the documentary impulse in English-Canadian culture. His poetry
collection, Ground Water, was nominated for the Governor General's Award for Poetry
in 2002. His documentary films include "Father and Son" and "White
Lake," which was nominated for a Canadian Film Award for Best Feature Documentary.
His latest film, "Linton Garner: I Never Said Goodbye," is being premiered
at this year's VIFF.
Coline Serreau - France
French screen writer and director Coline Serreau has worked in theatre, television,
and feature films. Coline Serreau's very successful 1984 film, "Trois hommes
et un couffin," was adapted by Hollywood in 1987 as "Three Men and a
Baby." A Hollywood sequel, "Three Men and a Little Lady," was subsequently
released in 1990. Coline Serreau's own follow-up to her 1984 film, "Dix-huit
ans après," (2001), is featured in this year's VIFF.
Parminder Vir - United Kingdom
Parminder Vir is a film producer (Algeria, Women at War, 1992 ; Babymother, 1998),
television producer and Cultural Diversity advisor at Carlton Television (UK).
She also serves as board director of the Film Council, charged with developing
a strategy for the British Film Industry. Parminder Vir is currently developing
"Dr. Bannerjee's Daughters," an adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and
Prejudice, transposed to a modern class-ridden Indian community in Britain.
Jon Festinger - Canada
Jon Festinger works in the Media, Entertainment & Communications Law Group
at the Vancouver firm of Davis & Company. Prior to that appointment, he was
Senior Vice-President, B.C. for CTV Television and was instrumental in the launching
of Vancouver Television (VTV) in September 1997. From 1994 to 1995, he was a member
of "The Working Group on Canadian Programming and Private Television"
convened by the Minister of Canadian Heritage. This group authored "The Future
of Canadian Programming and the Role of Private Television and Keeping Canada
on the Information Highway". Mr. Festinger also authored "Mapping the
Electronic Highway: A Survey of Domestic and Internal Law Issues" (1995 Volume
29, University of British Columbia Law Review).
Mort Ransen - Canada
Experience as a writer, actor and a director gives Mort Ransen a special feel
for film making. For example, the Genie Award-winning "Margaret's Museum"
was written, directed and produced by this self- proclaimed "aging hippy"
who now lives on trendy Saltspring Island in British Columbia. He directed 19
films for the National Film Board before quitting in 1984 to write and direct
his first feature, "Bayo."His latest film, "Bastards," is
currently featured in the Vancouver International Film Festival.
Rod Stoneman - Ireland
Rod Stoneman, Director of the newly established Huston School of Film and Digital
Media at the University of Galway, was Chief Executive of the Irish Film Board
from 1993 until August 2003. Previously he served as commissioning editor of independent
film and video at Channel Four and made independent programmes for television
(including "Between Object and Image," "Ireland: The Silent Voices,"
and "Italy: The Image Business"). He has written for Screen, Sight and
Sound, Framework, Afterimage and Kinema.
Rae Hull - Canada
Rae Hull is a senior executive with CBC Television with a background in production
and program development. As Senior Director of Network Programming and Regional
Director in British Columbia, she has fostered significant growth in network programming
from BC and championed innovation at CBC Television. She developed the initial
concept for Gemini-nominated ZeD and brought new talent to CBC to produce one
of the largest cross-platform projects undertaken by a broadcaster. Hull is CBC
Television's first Senior Director to be based outside of Ontario, and as Regional
Director in BC, heads the corporation's second largest English network production
facility in Canada. Previously, as a producer, director and production executive
in the independent community, and with CBC Television, Hull has been involved
in many award-winning projects - one of which was nominated for an Academy Award.
Antonio Tibaldi - Italy
Antonio Tibaldi is an Italian screenwriter and director, born in Australia, and
now based in New York. His many films include "On My Own" with Judy
Davis (nominated for six AFI awards in Australia,) "Running Against"(Correre
Contro) which won the 1997 "Prix Italia," "Little Boy Blue,"
a film-noir starring Ryan Phillippe, Nastassja Kinski, John Savage and Shirley
Knight and "Claudine's Return" (aka "Kiss of Fire"). Tibaldi
has been a member of the Writers Guild of America since 1987. His writing assignments
include a screen adaptation of Gay Talese's bestseller "Unto The Sons,"
for writer-producer Nicholas Pileggi (Wiseguys, Goodfellas.
Quintín -Argentina
Eduard Antin ("Quintín" is his pseudonym) was born in Buenos
Aires in 1951. He worked as a mathematician, soccer referee, and computer programmer,
among other wierd jobs, before becoming a film critic (another weird job). In
1991 he founded the important Latin American film monthly El Amante/Cine and is
still one of the editors. In 2000 he became the director of the Buenos Aires Independent
Film Festival, the main showcase for Asian cinema in Latin America.
Niv Fichman - Canada
Niv Fichman is a founding partner of Rhombus Media, renowned as one of the world's
most important producers of films on the performing arts. He has produced most
of Rhombus' output that now amounts to almost a hundred films over the past 22
years. He is responsible for several highly renowned feature films such as: the
Academy Award-winning "The Red Violin," " Last Night," "Long
Day's Journey Into Night," Thirty-two Short Films About Glenn Gould"
and "September Songs." Mr. Fichman recently produced a number of feature
films including Guy Maddin's "The Saddest Music in the World" and Don
McKellar's "Childstar." Away from Rhombus, Mr. Fichman serves on the
boards of the Toronto International Film Festival and the IMZ (International Musiczentrum)
a Vienna-based international organization whose membership consists of the world's
most prominent producers of films on the performing arts. He was recently named
co-chair of the Feature Film Advisory Committee with responsibility to advise
the Minister of Canadian Heritage on feature film policy.
Michèle Smolkin - Canada
Michèle Smolkin is director of French language programming for CBC television
(Radio-Canada) in British Columbia. She was one of the co-producers of "24
Hours in Vancouver" which was featured worldwide on TV5 Monde. She has also
produced cultural documentaries for SRC and ARTV including "Portrait d'Emily
Carr" and "Portrait d'Arthur Erickson."
... and many others!
The organizers of the symposium gratefully acknowledge the generous support
of Heritage Canada, the French Consulate General in Vancouver, the British Council,
the Italian Cultural Institute of Vancouver, and the German Academic Exchange
Programme.
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