A Winter Tale

A Few weeks ago I was at the 15th Annual African Diaspora Film festival here in New York and by chance I happen to attend the screening for this film called A Winter Tale.

The film took place in Toronto, in a neighborhood called Parkdale.

Now I'm not at all familiar with Toronto or the neighborhoods, or the city dynamics etc. but I loved this movie so much. The acting was really good, well written. The way certain details came through the exposition was handled really well.

Its a story thats mainly centered around the events that take place after a young boy is shot in the head, and the effort of one community member to create a support group against the deaths of young Black males in the city.

I don't want to give up what happened, but i'm sure some of you have heard, or probably seen the film. (I think it was released in Canada in early 2006?)

I really enjoyed how the film focused in on the Black community in Toronto. I caught a little deja vu while watching the film (as a kid my father owned similar west Indian type of restaurant in the bronx). I'm a young Black male and I come from an African American/Caribbean Background, and I knew of certain things issues going on up there but I'm not too informed. (What I know of city issues in Toronto come from my niece and nephew that live up there)

watching the move was refreshing because it really is a remarkable work of art, but at the same time I was frustrated because, I said to myself damn why is it they never try to show you Canada from this perspective

I would definitely recommend this movie here are some links about flick: ledaserenesnewz1.blogspot.com, awintertale.ca

Best thing about it was the Director and two of the actors were in the audience. The director said that most of the script was based off of improv, that right there was remarkable.

Neither chained by realism nor burdened by it, director Frances-Anne Solomon thoughtfully explores the issue of Black-on-Black crime within the Black community, which certainly transcends national boundaries. Nevertheless, in "A Winter Tale"—the opening night presentation for this year's African Diaspora Film Festival in New York City—Solomon remains specific to Black Canadian affairs. Her consistent use of intimate scenes reminds the audience that such a universal theme is grounded in a specific location that is worthy of close-up attention.

The film opens with the death of a young boy as a result of stray gunfire near a drug location. Instead of allowing female characters to pronounce the pain and mournfulness of the moment, Solomon captures the devastated sounds and piercing silence of men's pain, tears and struggles. Solomon does not ignore facial dialogue. In fact, she makes good use of visual resources at the most telling moments. Her thoughtful portrayal of a crime that might only merit a blurb in newspapers is the reason for viewing the film.

Following the death, a young community-builder, Gene Wright, starts a local support group exclusively for men. Wright thinks that this unfortunate homicide will galvanize men across generations to address problems of the community. The first meeting, however, fails expectations. It is only within a local eatery, Miss G's Caribbean Take Away, that the men start to come together. It is in this more intimate setting that the film shows how crimes within the community are intertwined and have lasting effects within the home despite the bantering and play that goes on in the eatery. Amidst the urgent need to address the recent killing, each key male character has difficult issues of home that do not have comforting or identifiable resolutions.

In a question-and-answer session following the premiere screening, some audience members observed that the instructive potential of the film might be lost due to some explicit content. In response, the director upheld the current format of the film in order to show how these explicit images are not holistically demanding. Likewise, I think that although driven by true-to-life narratives, the edgy exactitude of Solomon's cinematography indicates the artist's innovative imagination.

In "A Winter Tale," Solomon along with her talented cast deliver a complex yet common story that respects the audience's interpretative freedom by preserving the dynamic lives of each character. (Courtesy of SeeingBlack.com)

The Reel World Film Festival in April opened with a gala performance of the made in Canada film A Winter Tale. It won the award for best Canadian feature at the festival which included films from a number of countries.

It's the work of British-born, Trinidad raised Frances-Anne Solomon whose experience embraces award winning feature films and television productions for the BBC.

Leonie Forbes, Jamaica's "first lady of film" won the festival's award of excellence for her telling performance as Miss G, the proprietor of a small restaurant in Toronto's Parkdale district, where the entire tale is set during bleak winter time.

After a ten-year-old boy is shot by a stray bullet a social worker tries to form a black men's support group seeking a witness to the crime. But it's an uphill struggle against fear of retribution from neighborhood, drug dealing gangs is portrayed. A Winter Tale offers a searching perspective on the timely issues of gun violence, set against the backdrop of a Caribbean community's hopes and tribulations. The film, although fictional is directed and filmed with a documentary-like sense of realism. It reminds one how shallow are the "reality" TV shows when art can imitate life in such a telling fashion.

At present, I can't tell you where this moving film might be shown theatrically, but please watch out for A Winter Tale.

I have to say, I loved this movie (thank you Peter for bringing it with you) The story was very moving (well done Frances Anne) with a few fun moments and tragedy. However, the underlying story is very fresh today, whether in Canada, USA, UK, and all over the world. Its an issue that really needs to be noted, and for people to start realising. We are a multicultural society now, we have to learn to live and respect one another. This movie would be very good shown in schools, to show kids the gritty side of life, not the glamorised side like a Hollywood movie.

I have to say, after watching A Winter Tale, I'm considering a career change. I'm seriously considering re-training and doing something more meaningful with my life, to help kids/youths/supporting adults. I've been thinking about it for a while, and with seeing A Winter Tale, I'm very seriously contemplating this move. Sorry, back to the movie: Would I watch the movie again? Yes Would I buy the movie? Yes! Well done everyone on the movie!!

A Winter Tale is a beautifully shot feature that highlights men's communication skills regarding gun violence.

Shot on location in Toronto's inner city neighbourhood of Parkdale, this crucially relevant film is all too timely.

We feel the characters viscerally, as if the film were a documentary, but its narrative flow and close camera work draws the audience in to experience the action as if we were part of the circle, face to face with real people with whom we can identify.

Scene by scene, Parkdale comes to life in full spectrum; character is revealed through a grim, suspenseful inevitability.

A Winter Tale does not provide answers to Toronto's gun violence per se, but it does expose the difficulties­ and the necessity­ in ensuring that a dialogue about these issues gets started. Now.

Penn Kemp, pennkemp.ca