Planet in Focus

Friday Oct. 14th at 12:45 at the Miles Nadal JCC (750 Spadina Ave.) in the Al Green Theatre

Cinematographers from this year’s films show clips of their movies and discuss the challenges and rewards of making environmentally-themed films.

MODERATOR

KEVIN McMAHON  Writer, Director, Producer, Standing Wave, Waterlife

Kevin has written and directed 18 documentaries, eight of them features including the award-winning Waterlife,  and Standing Wave as part of the National Parks Project, a multimedia series about Canada’s parks which screens at Planet in Focus this year.  Kevin’s passion has been for environmental subjects has been viewed directly—through stories about Niagara Falls, the Great Lakes, the north Atlantic cod fishery, the nuclear arms race and Canada’s Arctic—and more obliquely—in stories about technology guru Marshall McLuhan, the rejuvenation of Haida culture, and the nature of human intelligence. In addition to directing, Kevin produces non-fiction television series, mentors younger filmmakers and is an author and essayist, focusing on environmental themes and on the craft of documentary. He is a partner in Primitive Entertainment, a Toronto production company specializing in high quality documentary.  Kevin will also receive the Planet in Focus 2011 Canadian Eco Hero Award.

SPEAKERS

EVAN ABRAMSON  Co-Director, Carbon for Water

Evan is a former photojournalist whose Webby and World Press Photo-nominated documentary When the Water Ends was produced by MediaStorm in 2010. Together with his wife Carmen Elsa Lopez, Evan writes, shoots, directs, edits and produces all of their work.  Their latest, Carbon For Water, screens at Planet in Focus.  In 2010 they formed Cows in the Field, a production house focused on telling the stories of people whose lives are impacted by social and environmental crisis around the globe.

SUZANNE CHISHOLM  Producer, The Whale

Suzanne is a British Columbia filmmaker. She filmed, directed and produced over 20 documentary pieces for the National Geographic Channel, on subjects as diverse as puffins, melting ice in Greenland, rising sea levels in the Netherlands, ecological hotspots in the South Pacific, and the Inuit relationship to animals.  Suzanne is the producer, co-cinematographer, and co-director of Saving Luna, a feature documentary about a young orca called Luna who tried to befriend people. Saving Luna won 25 awards from around the world, and was broadcast in more than 25 territories. She has just produced another feature-length version of Luna’s story, narrated by Ryan Reynolds, called The Whale. The Whale has its Canadian premiere at Planet in Focus as our closing night gala (followed by a Canadian theatrical run in late October 2011).

DAMIR CHYTIL   CSC Director of Photography, The Polar Explorer

HD camera expert and Gemini-award winning cinematographer Damir has more than 20 years’ experience with documentary filming, specializing in science and nature photography. He has worked with filmmaker Mark Terry on many projects, most recently, his two climate change documentaries The Antarctica Challenge: A Global Warning and The Polar Explorer (screening this year at Planet in Focus). Some of his most popular science and nature films include Polar Passage, Earth’s Natural Wonders, Mysteries of Sacred Sites, Ghosts of the Rainforest, Dog of the Midnight Sun and The New Quest for Space.

JOHN MINH TRAN  Director of Photography, Waterlife

John is an award-winning Cinematographer. Born in Vietnam and raised in Calgary, John moved to Toronto to attended Ryerson University for film studies. Since graduating in 1995 he has remained in Toronto, where he works as a cinematographer in both documentary and drama. Recently, John worked on The St. Judes of North Ontario, a 3D film directed by Jeffrey St. Jules. He received a CSC Best Documentary Cinematography award for Waterlife (directed by Kevin McMahon), a Gemini nomination for Cheating Death (directed by Eric Geringas), and a CSC Best Documentary Cinematography nomination and Yorkton Golden Sheaf nomination for Mozartballs (directed by Larry Weinstein).

Admission: $15, Festival Pass or Industry Pass.