L'Oiseau Mort airs on CBC Sunday July 25, 2010 at midnight!

That's right: L'Oiseau Mort will be on the Canadian national airwaves on Sunday July 25th as part of the CBC's ongoing series "Canadian Reflections." It airs that Sunday at midnight, so stay up late and celebrate.

Oiseau's International Premiere at the Strasbourg International Film Festival

L'Oiseau Mort has been officially selected by the Strasbourg International Film Festival, marking Oiseau's international premiere (outside of North America).

Located in one of the most bloodily contested regions of Europe, the Strasbourg International Film Festival (September 12-20) is Alsace's biggest celebration of cinema and the filmmakers who will be leaders in tomorrow's world of filmmaking. Devoted to showcasing creative, edgy, out-of-the-box and marverick filmmakers, the SIFF champions bold works that show a clear, unique voice and vision ready to be seen by a global audience.

Oiseau will also be screening that same week in Austin, Texas at the Non-Violence International Film Festival.

Oiseau at Moondance and San Diego

L'Oiseau Mort was recently named a semi-finalist at Moondance and will screen in Boulder, Colorado on the Labour Day weekend 2008. Oiseau was also recently made an Official Selection of the San Diego International Children's Film Festival and will screen at 3:30 p.m. Saturday Aug. 9 at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park, San Diego.

It's been a while since I've posted any news about L'Oiseau Mort's status on the festival circuit. After submitting to a round of international film festivals, Oiseau is now in the second phase of festival submissions to some specialized festivals. Check back here for more news at the end of the summer.

L'Oiseau Mort at the CFC's Worldwide Short Film Festival

L'Oiseau Mort has been accepted into the Canadian Film Centre's 2007 Worldwide Short Film Festival, one of the world's most prominent short film showcases and an Academy Award qualifying festival. (The Danish Poet, last year's Academy Award Winner for Best Animated Short Film, qualified for the Oscars by winning a "best of" category at the WSFF.) Oiseau is one of around 170 short films selected from the 3100 submissions and will screen in Toronto during the festival, sometime between June 12th and June 17th.

Started by Academy Award-nominee Norman Jewison, the Canadian Film Centre has been developing Canadian talent for film and television for 18 years.

Congratulations to the cast and crew!

L'Oiseau Mort at the Kick Start Screening May 10th!

L'Oiseau Mort will be screening in full HD on Thursday May 10th at the Ridge Theatre in Vancouver at 7:30PM (Arbutus and 16th) as a part of a showcase of the 2006 Kick Start films.

It will screen with The Visitor (Dir: Dan West, Prod: Sian McArthur), The Sparkle Lite Motel (Dir: Corey Kinney Prod: Mel Weisbaum), Glimpse (Dir: Kryshan Randell, Prod: Lauren Grant), and The Weight of Light (Dir: Jericca Cleland-Hura, Prod: Bill Lyle).

The Kick Start program, administered by the Director's Guild of Canada BC Chapter and supported by DGC BC and BC Film, awards $20,000 to five projects per year. The program, which supports filmmakers looking to launch their directing careers, offers all kinds of other support and is recognized and supported in the industry by service and equipment houses like Post Modern Sound, Finale Editworks, Sharpe Sound, and Rainmaker.

L'Oiseau Mort would like to acknowledge the support of the following agencies, companies, service and equipment houses: DGC BC, BC Film, BC Arts Council, UBCP, The Animal Department, Fillmore Riley LLP, Multimedia Risk, William F. White, Panavision, Kodak, Dolby, Royal Bank of Canada, Offset Rentals, and Action Enterprises Ltd.

Oiseau Wraps Up the VIFF

With its world premiere on Wednesday October 11th at 9:30PM and its festival swansong on the afternoon of Friday the 13th, L'Oiseau Mort annointed itself a hit.

Oiseau screened before a sold-out audience at both showings as a part of the Eccentric Orbits program of short films. The response was palpable: gasps, laughs, and introspective silence during the intensely emotional scenes.

Paul Christie, the producer, and writer/director Spencer Maybee were on hand at both screenings for a Q&A session afterward.

"I'm really proud of all the work that everyone put into Oiseau," says Maybee. "Every single person from Ian, our DoP, who put in extensive thought and research to develop the look of the film, to Joanne, our powerhouse 1st AD; from our incredibly diligent and gifted cast, to each and every crew member including Paul's friends who dropped in to help wrap out the location. Everyone did their part extremely well and the final product is testament to that."

Maybee and Christie were both thrilled to see the final picture on the big screen. "You go to the expense of shooting on 35mm and finishing to HD, and when all you've seen through the post process is a down-res'd version on a small computer screen, it's a real relief to see how great it looks on the big screen."

Oiseau is now doing the festival circuit. Check back here for updates on upcoming festival screenings.

L'Oiseau Mort at the VIFF!

L'Oiseau Mort is an official selection for the 25th annual Vancouver International Film Festival. It will screen at the Pacific Cinematheque as a part of Eccentric Orbits program of short films on:

Wednesday October 11th at 9:30PM
Friday October 13th at 3:30PM

For more info and to purchase tickets click here and look for Eccentric Orbits.