Peter Lynch visits Calgary:
Film screenings, Q&A and Live Illustrated Lecture
The Calgary Cinematheque is pleased to present acclaimed filmmaker Peter Lynch, in Calgary for two nights at the Plaza.
On the first evening will be a screening of the cult favorite Project Grizzly with Mr. Lynch doing an introduction and a Q&A afterwards.
On the second evening, Arrowhead, a short film starring Don McKellar, will be screened and followed with an illustrated lecture by Mr. Lynch. Entitled "Cinematic Archaeology or, You Are What You See and Hear," it will be a discussion of his development as an artist and the role that certain places and films have played in it.
When Canadian documentary filmmaker Peter Lynch completed work on Project Grizzly in 1996, he knew he had something special on his hands. Detailing Troy Hurtubise's quest to create the ultimate anti-grizzly bear armor, the film taps into something primal – capturing Hurtubise's struggle to tame personal demons even as he shields himself from furry predators. Since its release, Project Grizzly has garnered a fan base that includes Quentin Tarantino and Matthew Barney (it even earned the Holy Grail of pop culture – a reference on The Simpsons).Time Out NY
Arrowhead tells the story of one Ray Bud, a suburban punk/amateur archaeologist/hoser raconteur (played with just the right mixture of pathos, angst, and charm by Don McKellar), who takes us on a tour of the neighbourhood in which he grew up.
Lynch on "Cinematic Archaeology or, You Are What You See and Hear":
This talk will playfully map my personal cinematic journey to date. It will be an entertaining, freewheeling, apocryphal, anecdotal, stream of consciousness talk featuring artifacts, sound and vision. It will be a self-portrait of sorts, moving between life, movies, memory, and places. This will also be, in a sense, a cinematic archaeological portrait of Toronto. It will look at my cultural experiences growing up as the son of English immigrants in an exploding multicultural Toronto while watching as much American pop culture as any American kid. The stories I present will link to my past, e.g. where I found the arrowhead in my neighbourhood; where I set forest fires; buried stolen goods; ended up in reform school overnight; and committed acts of creative delinquency growing up in TO. How I got lost and ended up becoming a filmmaker.
Peter Lynch's widely acclaimed work is often compared with that of Werner Herzog and Errol Morris. His first dramatic short, Arrowhead, received the 1994 Genie Award. In 1996, he made Project Grizzly, one of Canada's most acclaimed documentaries. These were followed by The Herd and A Whale Of A Tale. His 2001 Cyberman was featured at over 50 international film festivals, and listed as a top 10 feature film of the year by Film Comment.
Lynch was a major player in the early video/new media revolution and chronicler of punk, new wave, hip-hop, dancehall, and avant-garde music scene. He co-founded, co-produced and co-directed Video Culture International, a landmark video new media festival, including projects with Brian Eno, Nam June Paik, Bill Viola, Stuart Sherman, and John Sanborn.