Documentary filmmaker Mike Downie will be the guest speaker later this month, as Albert College welcomes the Kingston native for a pair of talks at the school.
Downie has made many award-winning documentaries/films/shorts, that cross the culture and identity of Canada.
Downie most recently directed and produced The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal, which won the Toronto International Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award for Documentary, and recently won seven Canadian Screen Awards.
He is the co-founder of the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund, named in honour of his younger brother Gord Downie (The Tragically Hip).
Part of his work included a project called Secret Path, which tells the Chanie Wenjack story of living in a northern Ontario residential school, escaping, and dying on his return home.
Mike Downie spoke to Quinte News about his pair of talks (one for Albert College students/one open to the public), entitled Canada’s story.
” … about my background as a filmmaker and the importance for Canadians to do a better job of telling our own story. I use some examples of stories that I haven’t made films about, that I think that are beneath the surface.”
He says there is one film that has a major focus.
“So I show a few scenes from documentaries, one in particular The Tragically Hip-No Dress Rehearsal. So I lean into the fact that The Hip, over their career, my brother’s career of songwriting, did such a good job of telling Canadians’ stories, but also making Canadians enthusiastic about our stories.”
Canadians are known for their quiet humility about our success.
Also for apologizing:
“It’s so true, it’s so true. That’s one of the things I talk about, the reason we have not done a better job, and I think part of it is that modesty and that humility as you say. I think it’s time to maybe put that on pause and find that voice. I’m excited to be coming to Belleville and getting in front of the students and getting in front of the local community as well and try to get a few people fired up.”
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