Noam Gonick
Encyclopedia
Noam Gonick RCA is a Canadian
film director
, screenwriter
and artist
.
The son of radical Marxist and former Manitoba MLA
Cy Gonick
, Noam supplemented his formal film education by studying directors Guy Maddin
and Bruce LaBruce
. His survey of Maddin's life and work became the documentary Waiting for Twilight (1998), narrated by Tom Waits
. His interest in LaBruce resulted in the book Ride, Queer, Ride!
Gonick's first short, 1919 (1997), was a retelling of the Winnipeg General Strike seen through the window of a Chinese bathhouse/barbershop. The film posits a more positive, albeit historically inaccurate, outcome to the famous labour uprising.
Hey, Happy!, Gonick's first feature film, is an astro-camp epic set in the Winnipeg rave scene on the eve of an apocalyptic flood. The film's world premiere was at the Sundance Film Festival
in 2001.
Stryker (2004) is a gang war flick with a Native power message. The film was shot by cinematographer Ed Lachman (Far From Heaven, Ken Park). Stryker premiered at the 61st Venice Film Festival
.
Wildflowers of Manitoba (2007) is a film installation made in collaboration with Luis Jacob. It has exhibited at the Montreal Bienalle, and the Toronto and Berlin International Film Festival
and was purchased by the UBC Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery
.
Gonick has produced for Anishinaabe
performance artist Rebecca Belmore
, including her installation Fountain for the Canadian Pavilion of the Venice Biennale and her latest work: March 5th, 1819.
He recently created the television comedy pilot Retail and is working on a slate of upcoming art, film and TV projects.
In June 2007, Gonick was elected into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
(RCA).http://www.rca-arc.ca/en/news/news_items/newmembers_awards07.htm
He is President of the Board of Directors of the Plug In Institute of Contemporary Arts
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
.
The son of radical Marxist and former Manitoba MLA
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and the lieutenant governor form the Legislature of Manitoba, the legislature of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly in provincial general elections, all in single-member constituencies with first-past-the-post...
Cy Gonick
Cy Gonick
Cy Gonick is a former politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1969 to 1973, sitting as a member of the New Democratic Party....
, Noam supplemented his formal film education by studying directors Guy Maddin
Guy Maddin
Guy Maddin, OM is a Canadian screenwriter, director, cinematographer and film editor of both features and short films from Winnipeg, Manitoba...
and Bruce LaBruce
Bruce LaBruce
Bruce LaBruce is a Canadian writer, filmmaker, photographer and underground gay porn director based in Toronto, Ontario.-Biography:...
. His survey of Maddin's life and work became the documentary Waiting for Twilight (1998), narrated by Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
. His interest in LaBruce resulted in the book Ride, Queer, Ride!
Gonick's first short, 1919 (1997), was a retelling of the Winnipeg General Strike seen through the window of a Chinese bathhouse/barbershop. The film posits a more positive, albeit historically inaccurate, outcome to the famous labour uprising.
Hey, Happy!, Gonick's first feature film, is an astro-camp epic set in the Winnipeg rave scene on the eve of an apocalyptic flood. The film's world premiere was at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
in 2001.
Stryker (2004) is a gang war flick with a Native power message. The film was shot by cinematographer Ed Lachman (Far From Heaven, Ken Park). Stryker premiered at the 61st Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
.
Wildflowers of Manitoba (2007) is a film installation made in collaboration with Luis Jacob. It has exhibited at the Montreal Bienalle, and the Toronto and Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
and was purchased by the UBC Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery
Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery
The Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery is a contemporary art gallery located in Vancouver, British Columbia, on the campus of the University of British Columbia....
.
Gonick has produced for Anishinaabe
Anishinaabe
Anishinaabe or Anishinabe—or more properly Anishinaabeg or Anishinabek, which is the plural form of the word—is the autonym often used by the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Algonquin peoples. They all speak closely related Anishinaabemowin/Anishinaabe languages, of the Algonquian language family.The meaning...
performance artist Rebecca Belmore
Rebecca Belmore
Rebecca Belmore is a Anishinaabe-Canadian artist based in Vancouver. Her work addresses history, voice and voicelessness, place, and identity through the media of sculpture, installation, video and performance.-Life:...
, including her installation Fountain for the Canadian Pavilion of the Venice Biennale and her latest work: March 5th, 1819.
He recently created the television comedy pilot Retail and is working on a slate of upcoming art, film and TV projects.
In June 2007, Gonick was elected into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts is a Canadian arts-related institution founded in 1880, under the patronage of the Governor General of Canada, Sir John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, the Marquess of Lorne. Canadian landscape painter Homer Watson was a member and president of the Academy...
(RCA).http://www.rca-arc.ca/en/news/news_items/newmembers_awards07.htm
He is President of the Board of Directors of the Plug In Institute of Contemporary Arts
Film
- 19191919 (film)1919 is a 1985 British drama film directed by Hugh Brody and written by Michael Ignatieff together with Brody. It was entered into the 35th Berlin International Film Festival.-Cast:* Paul Scofield as Alexander Scherbatov* Maria Schell as Sophie Rubin...
(1997) - Guy Maddin: Waiting for TwilightGuy MaddinGuy Maddin, OM is a Canadian screenwriter, director, cinematographer and film editor of both features and short films from Winnipeg, Manitoba...
(1997) - Tinkertown (1999)
- Hey, Happy! (2001)
- StrykerStryker (film)Stryker is a 2004 fictional film by Noam Gonick about gang violence in Winnipeg's North End. It follows a 14-year-old arsonist who becomes involved in a turf war between the Indian Posse and the Asian Bomb Squad . He is known only as Stryker, a slang term for a prospective gang member...
(2004)
Installation
- Wildflowers of Manitoba with Luis Jacob (2007)
- Precious Blood (2007)
- Commerce Court (2008)
- No Safe Words (2009)
External links
- http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2005/36/noam_gonick/