The Canadian Art Foundation Presents A Brilliant Line Up

Yes, Chiara Clemente is the daughter of renowned painter Francesco Clemente. But that's not why the girl is famous. She's a cultural "bright young thing"with her own social compass and, more importantly, aesthetic agenda. Now, she's stepping in to the spotlight with the debut of her first feature film, Our City Dreams, at The Canadian Art Foundation's Reel Artists Film Festival.

A moving portrait exploring the experiences of five renowned female artistsSwoon, Ghada Amer, Kiki Smith, Marina Abramovic, and Nancy SperoOur City Dreams is both a window on five eclectic women and a group portrait of one kind of life, that of the New York artist. Beautifully observed, compellingly scored, and often moving, Our City Dreams easily earns the acclaim it received on the festival circuit last year.

Last night, WOMAN.ca enjoyed chatting with Clemente, and of course, catching up with Canadian Art's prodigious Editor extraordinaire, Richard Rhodes. Bravo to gala event co-chairs Amoryn Engel and Kimberley Bozak!

Through it's forwarding thinking foundation, Canadian Art magazine provides the best forum in the country for showcasing illuminating documentaries on Canadian and international visual artists with this adventurous festival. The festival mandate seeks to demystify visual art by allowing audiences to consider key personalities and the thinking behind contemporary art. Many of the filmmakers are present to introduce their films and take part in special post-screening conversations. The festival appeals to students, educators, artists and the art-interested public alike.

For more about the festival and check the Full Festival Schedule.

Can't make the screenings? Check out the Megumi Sasaki Video Online!

Join Megumi Sasaki, director of the documentary film Herb and Dorothy, and Ann Webb, executive director of the Canadian Art Foundation, as they discuss what inspired Megumi's interest in the story of the Vogels, two middle-class collectors who accumulated one of the most important contemporary art collections in America.

WOMAN.ca's Reel Artists Festival Picks

Saturday, February 28th, 2009 at 1 PM

Ellsworth Kelly: Fragments
TORONTO PREMIERE
Director: Edgar B. Howard
Co-Director: Tom Piper
Colour, 67 minutes, English, 2007

Ellsworth Kelly is widely regarded as one of the most important abstract painters, sculptors and printmakers working today. His emphasis on pure form and colour and his suppression of gesture in favour of creating spatial unity have played a pivotal role in the development of abstract art in America. In following Kelly as he revisits the Paris of his early twenties, the film uncovers early influences that Kelly would return to, reiterate, refine and rework throughout his career. film also follows Kelly's creation of two wall sculptures commissioned for the United States embassy in Beijing.

EDGAR B. HOWARD In 1979, Edgar B. Howard established Checkerboard Film Foundation to document on film and video the American arts for archival and educational purposes. With his first profile on painter Brice Marden in 1977, Howard began filming artists and capturing their creative processes. Films on Aaron Siskind, Harry Callahan, Roy Lichtenstein, Philip Johnson, the Paris Review and Billy Collins are examples of Checkerboard's titles. All reflect the wide range of artistic endeavours Howard has chosen to explore.

Al Green Theatre, Miles Nadal JCC, 750 Spadina Avenue

Saturday, February 28th, 2009 at 2:30 pm

Antony Gormley: Making Space
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
Director: Beeban Kidron
Colour, 48 minutes, English, 2007

Introduction by Jane Perdue

Filmed over several months, Making Space is an intimate portrait of sculptor Antony Gormley, one of Britain's most celebrated artists, as he prepares for a major exhibition. film follows Gormley as he makes three ambitious new works and shows how he produces his artfrom casting moulds of his own body to collaborating with makers and eventual installation in the gallery. Exploring both the premise of his sculptures and the ups and downs of the creative journey, Making Space gradually builds a picture of both the pressures and the compulsions that lie behind Gormley's work.

BEEBAN KIDRON Beeban Kidron is an acclaimed filmmaker and director of drama and documentaries. Her television work includes the BAFTA-award-winning Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit and the documentaries Carry Greenham Home and Hookers, Hustlers, Pimps and their Johns. Feature films include To Wong Foo, Swept Away and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.

Al Green Theatre, Miles Nadal JCC, 750 Spadina Avenue

Saturday, February 28th, 2009 at 7:00 pm

David Lynch: The Air is on Fire/Milano
WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Marina Zenovich
Colour, 29 minutes, English, 2008

Known for his distinctive and unorthodox approach to filmmaking, David Lynch has garnered a strong cult following despite the ever-growing popularity of his films. This documentary reveals David Lynch, the visual artist. Following him as he prepares his 2007 retrospective exhibition The Air is on Fire in Milan, the film features interviews with actors Laura Dern and Dennis Hopper, as well as with writer Kristine McKenna and exhibition curator Ilana Shamoon, who discuss Lynch as a painter, sculptor, photographer and filmmaker.

MARINA ZENOVICH Marina Zenovich's film Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and won its Best Documentary Editing Award. It was also chosen as an official selection at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. The film was named one of the best five documentaries of 2008 by the National Board of Review. Other Zenovich films include Who is Bernard Tapie?, Independent's Day and Estonia Dreams of Eurovision! Further credits include Vanessa Beecroft in Berlin, Julian Schnabel in Naples, Robert Wilson: Video Portrait, John Baldessari and Takashi Murakami for Gallery HD's series Art in Progress.

Both screenings Saturday, February 28, 7:00 pm
Al Green Theatre, Miles Nadal JCC, 750 Spadina Avenue

Si Si Penaloza
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