I’m a Canadian film critic paid to cover Canadian films, and I would have to summon all my polite Canadian strength to scratch out a list of maybe - maybe! - 75 homegrown films that were released in theatres in 2017 . I highly doubt, on this, the sixth annual National Canadian Film Day, that anyone outside of Telefilm or Reel Canada’s hallways could do much better.
"Whoa, let's fight this one day at a time," says Jack Blum, executive director of Reel Canada, in an interview. "We think of this day as one giant ad," adds Sharon Corder, Reel Canada's artistic director."It's a big ad campaign that says, guess what, Canadian film exists and it's fun and it has you in mind."
"There are big questions about the whole commercial distribution system," Blum interjects,"But what is important here is that we begin to stitch a fabric together where people consume Canadian culture and feel it reflects them. When that happens, people can enjoy it. And it can survive." Colm Feore and Patrick Huard in Bon Cop Bad Cop 2, one of the top three highest-grossing Canadian films in 2017.The pair are well aware of the obligatory hand-wringing that accompanies any mention of Canadian film - “I’m not saying it’s not an uphill challenge,” Corder says - but the problems facing the industry feel especially acute today.