If you missed it on the homepage, we’re excited to screen at the Vancouver International Film Festival and have our French-language (subtitles) premiere of the film at Montreal’s Festival du Nouveau Cinema.
Here are the relevant dates:
Vancouver International Film Festival
Thu, Oct 15th 11:00am - Vancity Theatre
Fri, Oct 16th 7:00pm - Vancity Theatre
Festival du Nouveau Cinéma (Montreal)
Fri, Oct 16th 7:15pm - Cinéma du Parc
Sat, Oct 17th 3pm - Salle Parallèle (Ex-Centris)
Excerpt from news release:
Austrian-based Autlook Filmsales has announced its first deal at the Toronto International Film Festival for “Petropolis: Aerial Perspectives on the Alberta Tar Sands,” directed by Peter Mettler.
The deal was made between Dogwoof’s CEO Andy Whitaker, Greenpeace producer Spencer Tripp and Autlook’s CEO Peter Jager.
“Dogwoof is proud to bring this important and visceral experience to the UK,” said Whitaker. “In late fall 2009 we are planning a theatrical, multi-city screen event showing Petropolis followed by a discussion about the world’s largest industrial energy project.”
Thanks to all who supported the film at its premiere, especially our panelists Mike Mercredi from the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and Gordon Pitts from the Globe and Mail (pictured alongside Peter).
We had a packed audience, and both the second and third screenings (on Wednesday and Saturday) have only “rush” tickets available.
The buzz continues to grow at TIFF with some strong word-of-mouth and excellent reviews in NOW Magazine, the Toronto Star and the Toronto Sun.
More to come!
North American premiere:
2:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 13th at the AMC 2
2nd screening:
10:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 16th at Jackman Hall - AGO
3rd screening:
6:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 19th at Varsity 7
Great news! Petropolis will make its North American premiere at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival this September.
The announcement was made today as part of the Canadian lineup for the festival. Our film will screen in the Real to Reel programme (co-presented by Short Cuts Canada) and compete in the Short Documentary category.
Peter and I were both on hand, along with our publicist Stephen Lan, for the announcement. The film is the only tar sands documentary at the festival.
A much-needed update: we’ve concluded a sales agreement with Autlook Films in Vienna and couldn’t be happier! Autlook has been very supportive of the film and I’m confident it will be a productive relationship. We’re finalizing a festival strategy now and anticipating an exciting fall. With any luck, I’ll be sharing news about upcoming screenings in the near future.
To contact Autlook for festival requests, please write Andrea Hock at festival@autlookfilms.com. For any other requests, please write welcome@autlookfilms.com.
A quick note of thanks to the amazing Steve Guise:
Steve is the director and editor of the fantastic “Interview Webisodes” on the Petropolis website, as well the media B-Roll. In addition to his talent, Steve boasts one of the best personalities I’ve had the pleasure of working with. He’s generous, easy-going and genuinely passionate about his craft.
The Interview Webisodes will soon be available on Greenpeace Canada’s YouTube channel and I hope you’ll join me in congratulating him on his work by adding a comment to the site.
Thanks for everything Steve!
UPDATE! The Interview webisodes look amazing in HD! Check them out here.
Canadian diplomats are to be trained to help sell Canada’s “clean energy.”
The Toronto Star reported that “courses starting this summer will teach Foreign Affairs officials the ABCs of bitumen, nuclear, hydro and renewable energy.”
Ignoring the fact that large-scale hydro, nuclear and bitumen are hardly clean, it’s a great idea. Of course, the embarrassing reality is that Canada is a dirty energy superpower.
Tar sands (bitumen) extraction is three times more greenhouse gas intensive than conventional oil, nuclear produces waste dangerous for thousands of years, and large-scale hydro can have devastating impacts on local ecosystems.
With investments in the billions for all three energy sources, Canada is clearly a leader in producing dirty energy. And with George W. Bush out of the picture, it’s apparently up to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to carry on the work of deceiving the domestic and international public.
Petropolis has won the “Prix du jury du jeune public de la Société des Hôteliers de la Côte” at Visions du Réel!
The award was received by Peter at the festival in Nyon, and all of us connected to the production couldn’t be happier!
Thanks to the jurors, the viewing public and all the wonderful staff at the festival. We had an amazing time and loved the experience.
Our first reviewer, Swissinfo.ch, had this to say about the film in yesterday’s edition:
“Petropolis: Aerial Perspectives on the Alberta Tar Sands is an aesthetic shock. Against the backdrop of a heavy stretch of music, we see paintings of iridescent brown, grey and yellow alongside roads where voracious excavators crawl and monstrous trucks come to feed.
The effectiveness gains with each visual blow. Swarms of mechanical insects, liquid vomiting, chimneys exhaling fumes and undefined sulfur complexes, these visions that Mettler filmed in less than four hours are unforgettable. They are images that prick the emotions and associate ideas more than reason can.”
It’s a rough translation, but you get the idea. For the original, please visit this page.
And last but not least, S. Holck sent in this great comment:
“I had the fortune to be at the film’s premiere showing in Nyon yesterday. I was affected in a very deep way, and want to congratulate all those who worked to make this brilliant, stunning, shocking film possible. I am not in the film industry or a particularly active environmentalist; I am a public health doctor at the World Health Organization. This film has provoked me to find ways to become more of an activist on environmental protection issues, as well as to be more responsible in my personal actions. I am sharing the website with all my friends, and I thank you deeply.”
Thank you so much!
