January 31, 2013

2012 Update!

2012 was a big year for Parabola Films, so busy in fact that we haven’t done a proper update in ages! so here we go…

Our 2011 collaborative documentary film St Henri, the 26th of August played at film festivals all over the world, and has had an extended life on Air Canada flights, on Netflix, and continues to reach audiences at community screenings and in classrooms. The next screening is with a community in Trois Rivières on February 13th. Our very first Parabola production, this documentary not only brought together over 100 people in Montreal’s film community to make it happen but it also paid homage to the wonderful tradition of documentary in Quebec.

As 2011 wound down, Parabola Films and award-winning filmmaker Laura Bari began production on Laura’s new film, Ariel shot in Mendoza, Argentina. This poetic docu-experimental is an odyssey that Laura has been filming over many years and that will finally be released to audiences in 2013. Part verité, part fiction, and 100% Laura Bari, ‘Ariel’ is a coproduction with the National Film Board of Canada, with Beso Films and the Documentary Channel. We look forward to sharing this beautiful film with you!

In the final months of 2011, Parabola also began gearing up for the follow-up to “St Henri, the 26th of August” : another collaborative neighbourhood documentary, shot by local filmmakers on one day. But this time, in Johannesburg South Africa, where longtime collaborator Shannon Walsh had discovered a wealth of stories and local voices to tell them.

Jeppe on a Friday was shot all on one day in March, 2012. In true indie doc style, the film was willed into existence by many friends and collaborators who supported a successful Indiegogo campaign (our first experiment in crowdfunding!). Working with our friend and co-producer Elias Ribeiro at Uruco Media, with the added support of the Gauteng Film Commission, Visions Sud Est, the NFB’s FAP program, Post Moderne and Technicolor, this international production was shot and edited in Johannesburg and came home to us in Montreal for the final stages of Post Production.

The resulting feature documentary premiered at the RIDM festival in Montreal in November 2012, will play at the Big Sky Documentary Festival and at the Rendezvous du Cinéma Québecois in February 2013. Directed by Shannon Walsh and Arya Lalloo, Jeppe is on the Guardian’s list of the top 10 African films to watch out for in 2013 . Stay tuned for more Jeppe festival news!