Production Notes
The “Socalled” Movie
After over two years of filming, production for The “Socalled” Movie has come to an end. With over 150 hours of footage, director, Garry Beitel and editor Dominique Sicotte are in the throes of shaping the material into a series of short films that will form the structure of a theatrical length feature documentary.
Inspired by Francois Girard’s acclaimed Thirty-two Short films about Glenn Gould, The “Socalled” Movie will be a kaleidoscopic portrait of Montreal based Josh Dolgin, aka Socalled, a multi-talented musical wizard. Each of the “Socalled” short films will take us inside the idiosyncratic creative process of our effervescent protagonist. Each stand alone film will have its own unique treatment and will vary in length – as short as a minute or two or as long as ten or fifteen.
As we work through the material, we are re-discovering Socalled’s witty charm, his contagious enthusiasm, his amazing musical virtuosity and of course, his playful engagement with our camera.
As he (and others) tell the story of his move from funk and salsa roots to his discovery and immersion in hip hop klezmer and beyond, we follow him on stage with, James Brown trombonist, Fred Wesley, master clarinetist David Krakauer, pianist and songwriter, Gonzales, legendary lounge pianist Irving Fields and more…
Our short films will take us from Montreal’s Mile End to a klezmer cruise on the historic Dnieper River in the Ukraine to the legendary Apollo and Olympia theatres in Harlem and Paris, to Grenoble and Marseille. We’ve included pictures on (use link here) taken during the filming.
Guided by his musical versatility, we will also step inside his world of magic, cartooning, photography, filmmaking and collecting
We expect to have a rough cut by the middle of December.
Twice Upon a Garden
Now finished, Twice Upon a Garden captures the lush beauty through the changing seasons of one of North America's most visited gardens - the Reford Gardens in Québec's Gaspé Peninsula.
Directed by Philippe Baylaucq, the film takes us inside this magnificent oasis, first cultivated in the 1930’s by Elsie Reford and now nourished by the vision of her great grandson Alexander Reford.
Past and present, traditional and avant-garde are linked by stunning cinematography by Marc Gadoury, and evocative journal and photo archives.
After its début avant-premiere at the Reford Gardens this past August, Twice Upon a Garden, is now ready to hit the festival circuit in anticipation of 2010 broadcasts on Télé-Québec and ARTV.
DVD copies of the film will be available for sale from us and at the Reford Gardens as of June 2010. We'll let you know as soon as they are available.