1. CINEMACAN A D A
•
Seven days in June
T
here is an absolutelydevastating BBC
documentary called Fourteen Daysill
May in which aBritish film crew follow
acondemned black man through his
final two weeks on death row in
Mississippi. There are serious doubts as to the
man's guilt,but clemency for ablack convicted
ofrapingawhitewomanandkillingalawofficer
inMississippi is about as remote as summer
snow.
Ipaced the room asIwatched life tick down
for this young man, painfully wondering if the
BBCcrewhadactuallybeenallowedintothegas
chamberitself.Fifteenminutesbeforehe wasto
be executed,with his family around him in
death'swaitingroom,amemberoftheBBCfilm
crew stepped out from behind the camera and
said goodbye. We were spared the inhumanity,
butnot theagony. In90minuteswehadcometo
know the man and his executioners, and we
marked our.feelingswith tears.
The scene took place in earlyMay during the
selection committee'processfor the Banff
TelevisionFestival.Fiveofus hadcometo Banff
to screen some 450 programssubmitted as
possible candidates for competition in the
nine-year-old international TV program
competition. Ourjobwas to whittlethe number
ofentriesdown for thefinaljury,forwarding our
choices without recommendation. The ultimate
decision on winnerswould be the jury's alone.
Akind of tense camaraderie exists between
the selection committee and the jury at a
program competition likeBanff. The committee
hasitsfavorites,whichdon'talwaysgelwith the
final choices of the jury. Ifelt Fourteen Days ill
Mayshouldhavebeenafinalistforamajorprize
like "best of festival"or one of the so-called
"special jury awards"for programs of
exceptional merit.
NotonlydidFourteell DaysillMayfail to make
thelistofcontendersforamajorprize,itdid not
even win its category. Such are the dilemmasin
anyprogramcompetition. Outofrespectfor the
integrityoftheprocess,youcanonlyshrugyour
shoulders, offer to buy ajury member a
refreshment at the bar, and proceed to demand
answers while refraining from wringing his
neck.
There was no quibbling, however, on the
Grand Prize winner at Banff. Without sounding
self-serving(well, perhapsjustabitself-serving)
IpickedBakll:PeopleoftheRainForest,as thebest
BobRemingtonistelevisioncriticfOrTheEdmonton
Journal.
'ULY I AUGUST 1...
BanffTelevision Festival '88
BY BOB REMINGTON
Channel Four's ,Jeremy Isaacs,
honoured with an award for lifetime
achievement, with Banff foundation
executive director Carrie Hunter
of anything Ihad seen in pre-selection. This
independently-made program for Britain's
acclaimed Channel Four wassimply an
outstandingexample of debunking stereotypes.
For twoyears, afilm crew lived with the Bah
pygmies of eastCameroon,coming awaywith a
portraitofanalmostStoneAgefamilywhowere
people, not savages. Wonderful music,
unobtrusivecameras, it was compelling
anthropology that was as engrossing as any
make-believeprime-time drama.
In the final analysis, the jury matched my
choicesinsixof10categories.Not bad,giventhe
vagariesofcultureand taste thatexistbetweena
kid from Edmonton and seven jurors from
around the world.Itwasespeciallygratifyingto
see Canadian programsrunning second only to
British productionsin the TV derbyat Banff.
Britain took six awards;Canada four.
The final count does raise one of my major
concerns with Banff. There is afair amount of
America-bashingthattakes placeat thisfestival,
and Iwonder how much chance the St.
Elsewheresand the L. A. Laws and The Wonder
Years have in this arena. That's not to say
American programs haven'twon,or that Banff
organizershaveananti-Americanbias.Nothing
could be further from the truth. Hill Street Blues
has its share of Rockies, and MTM Productions
was honored last year with the festival's
outstanding achievement award.
While it is true that American television tends
topainteverythingwithbroadstrokesinstead of
employing subtleties,one wonders how an
absolutely top-rate TV movie like ABC's God
Bless TheChild orthe eloquentlywritten and
charming The Wonder Yearscan come away
emptyhanded. Iil the international effort to
build dams againstthe rushing floodwatersof
American culture, let's hopethe gates will
remain open for at least atrickle ofAmerica's
best.
Despitethis nagging concern, there's no
doubtthatBanffisafirst-class affair. Thefestival
hascomealongway from the dayswhen Dinah
Shore was given an Award of Excellence and
CTV entered ThisWeek in the CFL as a
documentary. Today, the Banff festival is
mercifullyshortonstarappeal.Peoplego tosee,
Grand Prize I Best of the Festival ($5,000)
Baka: PeopleoftheRilinfvrest
DJA River FilmsU.K.
SpecialJury Award ($1,500)
FosterChild
NFB,Canada
Tudawali
SBSlBarronFilms, Australia
State ofWelfare
VPRO TV,Netherlands
Quebec-Alberta Prize ($5,000)
Ravel
RhombusMedia, Canada
Best Television Featwe
Shadow on the Earth
BBC, U.K.
Best Continuing Series
DegrassiJunior High
Playing with Time, Taylor
Productions, CBC, Canada
Best Social &Political Documentary
The Falklands War:TheUntoldStory
Yorkshire Television,U.K.
Best Limited Series
The Horse's Eye
Sveriges Television,Sweden
Best Performance Special
Music inCamera:Faauie
BBC,U.K.
BestTelevision Comedy
The ComicStrip Presents...The Striki
The Comic Strip Ltd. U.K.
CINIMA CANADA
not to be seen. Peter Ustinov picked up this
year'sAward of Excellence, and Soviet TV
smoothie Vladimir Pozner wowed delegates
withsomeperceptivecommentsaboutTVnews
Eastand West. But, for the most part, Banff
remains an invigorating think-tank that
stimulates the mind, not the ego.
There is also afair amount of backroom
commerce taking place at Banff, although it is
not, norwill it ever be, amarketplace like MIP.
It was difficult toengage in any journalistic
skullduggeryatthe festival thisyear,butnotfor
lack of trying. Everyone Ispoke with, including
someclosetcriticsofthefestivalinthe past,said
1988 was one of themost productive business
years at Banff.
Nextyear,its 10th anniversary, the Banff
Television Festival can be excused for throwing
itself aparty.
Baka: People of the rain forest
Best Children's Program
L'HommeQui Plantait Des Arbres
SRC,Canada
Best Arts Documentary
Boplw l
DanielRiesenfeld Productions,U.S.A.
Best Drama Special
SweetAs YouAre
BBC, U.K
Best Popular Science Program
Vista :TheGreenhouse Effect
TVOntario,Canada
PAGI17

2. Congratulations Ron
* OFFICIAL SELECTION *
1988 Edinburgh Film Festival
"COMIC BOOK CONFIDENTIAL"A Film by Ron Mann
I
PAGE 18 CINEMA CANADA
_ 'ULY I AUGUST 1911