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Above: Scene from Dying at Grace
Legendary documentary filmmaker Allan King (below, left) will be the featured guest on Thursday, Oct. 30 at The Independents, a monthly series of screenings and discussions on independent Canadian cinema presented by York's Department of Film & Video.
King will present his latest production, the actuality drama Dying at Grace (2003), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last month to widespread public and critical acclaim. "Allan King’s documentary on death in a palliative care unit is a testament to the almost forgotten faith in the camera as a truth telling machine," said Liam Lacey in a Globe and Mail review about the film.
A riveting, intensely moving portrait of the end of life, the film records the experience of five patients dying in the palliative care unit of the Salvation Army Toronto Grace Health Centre. They, their families and caregivers agreed to share this ultimate experience in the hope it would be useful to the living.
Recognized internationally for his pioneering work in cinema verité, King’s groundbreaking productions include the documentaries Warrendale (1967), A Married Couple (1969), Who's In Charge (1983) and The Dragon's Egg (1999), as well as feature films such as the beloved Canadian classic Who Has Seen the Wind.
Seth Feldman, director of the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies and professor in the Film & Video Department at York University, will host the presentation of Dying at Grace and moderate a discussion with King and the audience following the screening.
A film historian, cultural critic and documentarian, Feldman is an authority on the works of Allan King. He curated nine programs of King’s films for the Toronto International Film Festival’s Canadian Retrospective in 2002, and is the author of Allan King: Filmmaker, a book about Allan King’s life and work.
Here are details of the York screening:
Thursday, Oct. 30, 6pm
Lecture Hall C, Computer Science & Engineering Building
Admission is free
For more information about the screening, call 416-736-5149, ext 22172. To find out more about the film in advance, visit http://www.allankingfilms.com/main.html.
Right: Scene from Dying at Grace