![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/wp-content\/uploads\/filmmakers-photo2.jpg\" "\\"filmmakers-photo2\\"")
\nInrig’s stop-motion film, The Depose of Bolskivoi Hovhannes<\/em>, won a top prize at the 2008 Ottawa International Animation festival.<\/p>\n
Inrig now finds himself facing his first professional roadblock. Production of his latest documentary feature \u2014 The Fantastic Ballet of the Mind and its Master<\/em>, about the adult autistic mind and a little-studied phenomenon called \u201cautistic fantasy\u201d \u2014 has ground to a halt.<\/p>\n The troubles plaguing the production of the documentary are not the fault of its director. Rather, they are the result of a financially unstable cultural environment in Canada, one that\u2019s hesitant to take a chance on emerging directorial talent. Those who are making movies are often doing so at great financial risk.<\/p>\n A passion deferred<\/p>\n The Fantastic Ballet of the Mind and its Master<\/em> is a highly personal project for Inrig; his younger brother Ben is autistic.<\/p>\n It\u2019s Ben who is featured in the doc\u2019s opening scene. He stands up to his shoulders in the rushing waves of Lake Ontario at Sandbanks Provincial Park at sunset, his arms outstretched and his face rapturous, eyes fixed on something the audience can\u2019t see.<\/p>\n \u201cYou look at his face and you realize that he\u2019s not here,\u201d Inrig said, voice cracking with emotion. \u201cHe\u2019s somewhere else. But you look into his eyes and it\u2019s just divine ecstasy. And there\u2019s something quite beautiful in that, and there\u2019s also something quite tragic. And that\u2019s what I have to make a movie about.\u201d<\/p>\n After receiving enough financial help from the NFB (largely in the form of access to post-production facilities) to produce a demo reel for the film, Inrig has found himself with neither the funds nor facilities needed to continue filming.<\/p>\n A national problem<\/p>\n Adam Symansky, an Oscar-winning producer with the Board and Inrig\u2019s mentor, said the NFB has done everything it can to start Inrig off financially, but the next step is his to take.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we can help Will, it would be the sort of thing that the Board should be doing,\u201d he said. \u201cWhether we\u2019ll be able to or not is still up for discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n ‘The project is excellent, the rest is going to come. I\u2019ve lived my whole life with people with mental disabilities. What I\u2019m quite positive I can do is bring people into that world; I can show them the soul of these autistics, their gentleness, nobility, dignity.’ \u2014 Will Inrig<\/p>\n For the moment, Symansky said, the Board can afford no more investment until Inrig starts on-location filming at an institution for autistic adults. This, however, would require more capital, leaving Inrig stuck in pre-production limbo.<\/p>\n The basic problem is that Canada\u2019s national audio-visual producer has taken a series of financial hits in the past two decades. In 1996 the Board suffered a 32% cut to its operating budget, leading to job cuts and the permanent closure of one of its studios, dedicated to production by female filmmakers; since the early 2000s the Board has experienced a series of smaller budget cuts; today only one of its two Montreal headquarter buildings is in use.<\/p>\n According to the Board\u2019s 2008\u20132009 to 2012\u20132013 mandate, \u201cthe constant erosion of the organization\u2019s [\u2026] power results in a constant reduction of its capacity to deliver value to Canadians.\u201d<\/p>\n The NFB isn\u2019t the only Canadian cultural institution strapped for cash. Between 2006 and 2008 the Conservative government cut $45 million of arts and culture funding, an issue that figured prominently in the country\u2019s 2008 election.<\/p>\n Inrig has approached virtually every major broadcaster and distributor in the country for capital, but the fact is that his project is risky.<\/p>\n Even if he does succeed in making Ballet<\/em> the way he wants to, it\u2019s obviously not a film destined to break box office records. During this time of economic duress, risky investment doesn\u2019t seem to be in the cards. The response from potential investors has been always the same.<\/p>\n \u201cBallet<\/em> looks like a unique and very ambitious film,\u201d said distributor Kino International in a letter to Inrig. \u201cWe are interested in following the progress of your production and would like to see it upon completion.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe feel that Will\u2019s film [. . .] will touch a wide audience of filmgoers who are looking for something compelling, and different,\u201d documentary distributor Zeitgeist Films echoed. \u201cWe intend to view the film when it is finished and will strongly consider its potential for theatrical distribution at that time.\u201d<\/p>\n Apart from small donations here and there \u2014 a corporate sponsorship from TELUS, a grant from the Ontario Arts Council and personal donations from Inrig\u2019s high-school principal and from Global TV anchor Kevin Newman \u2014 no one seems willing to take the plunge and invest fully in the making of Inrig\u2019s film.<\/p>\n So what does it take for an emerging filmmaker to make a movie in Canada these days? If Inrig, with all his potential, has stood for so long at a production standstill, what hope is there in Canada for other new filmmakers?<\/p>\n A risky solution<\/p>\n Two thousand and nine was Xavier Dolan\u2019s year. The 20-year-old Quebecois actor aced first the Cannes Film Festival, where he took away a prize for outstanding new director, and then the Toronto International Film Festival, where his directorial debut, J\u2019ai tu\u00e9 ma m\u00e8re<\/em> (“I killed my mother”), was well received by the public. In addition, the film was picked up by domestic distributor K Films Am\u00e9rique and will be distributed theatrically and on DVD in the United States by Here Films in 2010.<\/p>\n The similarities between Dolan\u2019s and Inrig\u2019s films and between the filmmakers themselves are numerous. Like Inrig, Dolan drew on highly personal subject matter for inspiration. J\u2019ai tu\u00e9 ma m\u00e8re<\/em>, which Dolan also wrote and starred in, is an autobiographical examination of a gay teenager\u2019s rocky relationship with his infuriatingly kitschy mother.<\/p>\n \u201cI wrote the screenplay to evacuate things, with mostly a cathartic intention,\u201d he explained. \u201cBut then a friend read the project and told me that it should be a movie, rather than a little diary for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n Like Inrig, Dolan has an intimate understanding of Canada\u2019s entertainment industry, having acted throughout his childhood in Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois films and television programs. Dolan too approached many potential investors with his film\u2019s script, which he wrote when he was 17.<\/p>\n After submitting the project to the \u201cusual funding agencies\u201d and being rejected by all, Dolan took matters into his own hands. He was lucky enough to have saved over $100,000 from his acting career, and used those savings to bring his script to life. It was a huge risk, one with no guaranteed reward.<\/p>\n \u201cThe distributor and the producer associated with the project just backed out,\u201d Dolan explained. \u201cThey had all the documents and papers ready, but it didn\u2019t work out and they couldn\u2019t do it with their own money because we just don\u2019t have producers or directors putting their house on mortgage to save movies. But I had the urgency to do the movie. I paid for the movie myself. That was the base, all I had to start the movie.\u201d<\/p>\n ‘I paid for the movie myself. That was the base, all I had to start the movie.’ \u2014 filmmaker Xavier Dolan<\/p>\n Eventually, once production of the film was underway, Dolan resubmitted a proposal to Telefilm Canada, and the agency came on board to carry the film through to completion. Without their financial aid, it\u2019s doubtful the film would have been completed, but it took Dolan accepting the initial risk to coax the cultural agency to step forward.<\/p>\n The cultural cost?<\/p>\n According to Roch Brunette, manager of the Ottawa-Gatineau Film and Television Development Corporation, aspiring filmmakers like Dolan and Inrig can\u2019t rely on traditional organizations to make movies anymore. Independent filmmaking has never been an easy career choice, he explained, but now the artists who succeed will be those willing to risk everything to have their voice heard.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is money in this business regardless of what people are saying,\u201d he insisted. \u201cBroadcasters are putting a lot of projects on hold because they\u2019re waiting on God knows what, but in the meantime directors like Will have to go forward with their projects.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGoing forward\u201d with no guarantees comes with the possibility of failure. But there is greater risk here than just to individual artists. What of the cultural cost?<\/p>\n The NFB has been publicly and federally criticized for being out of touch with what modern Canadian audiences want and are willing to pay to see. It\u2019s not unaware of these criticisms and addresses them in its mandate, as well.<\/p>\n The NFB\u2019s vision for the next three years is \u201c[t]o ensure that [it] remains a vibrant cultural institution, necessary, relevant and vital.\u201d The mandate is littered with words like \u201ccreative,\u201d \u201cemerging talent\u201d and \u201cchallenging subject matter.\u201d<\/p>\n Inrig and his documentary seem to be a manifestation of the sort of production even the NFB knows it needs, to survive cuts and losses; but he remains stuck in a financial quagmire. There is the very real possibility that his passion for his subject matter will never be put to film. And, had Dolan been unwilling to put his life\u2019s savings on the line, it\u2019s possible that his vision would have been ignored by Canada\u2019s cultural funding agencies. How can the Canadian film industry hope to compete with the cinematic giant that is Hollywood if new cinematic voices are being silenced before they\u2019re ever heard?<\/p>\n Running on a latte and a prayer<\/p>\n Inrig doesn\u2019t have savings like Dolan\u2019s to fall back on. He can\u2019t afford that sort of risk. All that remains is his passion for Ballet<\/em> and his belief that it should be made.<\/p>\n \u201cThe project is excellent, the rest is going to come,\u201d he said confidently. \u201cI\u2019ve lived my whole life with people with mental disabilities. What I\u2019m quite positive I can do is bring people into that world; I can show them the soul of these autistics, and their gentleness and their nobility, their dignity. These are some of the most dignified people I\u2019ve ever met.\u201d<\/p>\n The question then becomes not how an emerging filmmaker can hope to make a movie in Canada in the current economic climate, but rather, who has the drive to?<\/p>\n Related Links<\/p>\n National Film Board’s official website<\/a><\/p>\n Video of Will Inrig’s The Depose of Bolskivoi Hovhannes<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/wp-content\/uploads\/filmmakers-photo1.jpg\" "\\"filmmakers-photo1\\"")
\nInrig filming the opening scene of The Fantastic Ballet of the Mind and its Master<\/em> at Sandbanks Provincial Park.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/wp-content\/uploads\/filmmakers-photo3.jpg\" "\\"filmmakers-photo3\\"")
\nA scene from director Xavier Dolan’s acclaimed J\u2019ai tu\u00e9 ma m\u00e8re<\/em>. Dolan put his life savings on the line to make the film.<\/p>\n