Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

July 2 - 10, 2010

Waydowntown
( Waydowntown )

Colour, 35 mm
Canada, 2000, 82 min
Section: Forum of Independents
www.waydowntown.com

Director: Gary Burns
Screenplay: Gary Burns, James Martin
Dir. of Photography: Patrick McLaughlin
Music: John Abram
Designer: Donna Brunsdale
Editor: Mark Lemmon
Producer: Shirley Vercruysse
Production: Burns Film Ltd.
Sales: Oasis International
Contact: Burns Film Ltd.

Cast

Fabrizio Filippo, Don McKellar, Marya Delver, Gordon Currie, Jennifer Clement

Synopsis

Tom, Sandra, Randy and Curt are young white-collar workers, enslaved by money. One day they make a bet: the person who stays indoors the longest is the winner. They live and work at the city centre where virtually all the buildings are interconnected with glass-covered passages. With so many office towers, shopping malls and apartment buildings joined together, they need never step outside until their retirement! If only it didn’t drive them crazy... A smart and slightly absurd comedy about the near future: or the not too distant present?

About the director

Gary Burns, writer, director and producer, was born in Calgary on April 18, 1960. He studied literature and fine arts and graduated in film studies at Concordia University in Calgary in 1992. He has made several short films. His directorial debut, The Suburbanators, was a critical success at the 1995 Toronto Film Festival. After his second film, Kitchen Party, he came to be considered one of Canada’s most interesting young directors. Films: Happy Valley (short, 1992), Beerland (short, 1993), Turtleheads (short, 1993), The Suburbanators (1995), Kitchen Party (1997), Fuck Coke (short, 1999), Waydowntown (2000), My Life As A Movie (TV, 2003), A Problem with Fear (2003).