Volume 8, Issue 12 / December 2004

Canadian Cinema, eh

For the issue that represents the last of the 2004 calender year Offscreen presents a mixed bag of articles, with an ever so slight focus on Canadian cinema. Donato Totaro compares two recent Canadian films, Twist (2003) and The Bay of Love and Sorrows (2002), which continue the Canadian tradition of “hero-less” films. Offscreen’s French language online sister magazine Horschamp continues its double duty of film programming by uncovering another set of fascinating films. This time around they have unearthed a trio of forgotten documentary classics from the National Film Board, Nahanni (1962), Flash William (1978) and The Sword of the Lord (1976). Nicolas Renaud provides an introduction to this not to be missed night of screenings. Patrick Ellis returns with another insightful review of a book which charts a cultural history of art house cinema; and frequent contributor Daniel Garrett presents somewhat of an end of the year summary of recent films seen, and in a second piece discusses the film criticism of James Baldwin by way of Rodney Evans’s film Brother to Brother.