CCA BULLETIN / BULLETIN DE LA CCA

 

Arthur Drache among Canadian cultural figures honored at home and abroad

                                      

Ottawa, January 28^th, 2004 – Longtime arts advocate and charitable sector lawyer and advocate Arthur Drache was among those appointed by Her Excellency, the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, to the Order of Canada yesterday.

 

The Ottawa-based Drache is a respected lawyer who has spent years guiding arts and non-profit organizations through the perilous maze of federal tax law. He has shared a wealth of knowledge with many arts organizations through pro bono work, and his tireless efforts have led to substantial public policy changes for charities. Drache currently serves as Secretary to the Board of Governors of the Canadian Conference of the Arts.

 

In a joint letter nominating Drache for the Order of Canada, CCA National Director  Megan Davis Williams and Canadian Museums Association Executive Director John McAvity noted the depth of his dedication to these causes:

 

“He has offered support to artists in dispute with tax law who could not pay him, and to organizations which convinced him to do just one more thing for free.”

 

Among the other members of the arts community honoured yesterday were:

 

• Ronald Rompkey, writer and professor at Memorial University, member of the Board of Directors of the Cultural Human Resources Council, and former member of the CCA’s Board of Directors (1994 to 2000)
• Vincent Massey Tovell, radio and television producer who played a pivotal role in the establishment of important cultural institutions like the Canada Council for the Arts, the Canadian Conference of the Arts and the National Theatre School. 2001 recipient of the CCA’s Diplôme d’honneur
• Arthur Spohr, former artistic director of and advisor to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet (Promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada)
• Veronica Tennant, author and former Prima Ballerina for the National Ballet of Canada. (Promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada)
• David W. Foster, music producer. (Promoted to Officer of the Order of Canada)
• Daniel Gauthier, co-founder and former president of Cirque du Soleil
• Guy Laliberté, co-founder and chief executive of Cirque du Soleil
• Roy E. Peterson, Vancouver Sun editorial cartoonist
• Guy C. Vanderhaeghe, award-winning writer and member of the New Canadian Library's advisory board
• William Weintraub, writer, journalist and filmmaker. Author of Why Rock the Boat?
• William J.S. Boyle, chief executive officer at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre
• Donna Butt, co-founder and artistic director of the Rising Tide Theatre Company in Newfoundland
• Robert Cooper, Choral conductor currently with Chorus Niagara, the Orpheus Choir of Toronto and the Opera in Concert Chorus
• Susan Dyer Knight, founder and artistic director of the Newfoundland Symphony Youth Choir
• Heather Ostertag, president of the Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent on Records (FACTOR)
• Timothy Porteous, former director of the Canada Council for the Arts and former President of the Ontario College of Art
• Leonard P. Ratzlaff, Professor of choral studies at the University of Alberta
• Douglas Riley, performer, arranger and composer, former musical director for the Famous People Players
• James I. Robb, Visual artist whose paintings, sketches and photographs document the Yukon
• Serge Turgeon, Former president of the Union des artistes and current director of the Théâtre du Rideau Vert. Presented with a Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal by the CCA
• Kenneth Welsh, one of Canada’s most accomplished theatre and film actors
• Betty Jane Wylie, playwright and former chair of the Writers Union of Canada

 

For more information on the Order of Canada recipients, see http://www.news.gc.ca/cfmx/CCP/view/en/index.cfm?articleid=75919&

 

 

Canadian filmmakers honoured internationally

 

Canadian filmmakers have been honoured prominantly over the past year, and in the past few weeks in particular.

 

Les invasions barbares (The Barbarian Invasions) received Oscar nominations on Tuesday morning for Best Original Screenplay and Best Foreign Language Film. The film had also received nominations earlier in the month for Best Film not in the English Language and Best Screenplay at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards (BAFTA).

 

Les invasions barbares has already won two awards at the Cannes Film Festival, and was named Best Foreign Film by the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the National Board of Review in the U.S.. It also received the Screen International Award at the European Film Awards, besting American blockbusters like Kill Bill Vol. 1, Finding Nemo and Mystic River.

 

Also receiving two Oscar nominations was Les triplettes de Belleville, a France-Canada coproduction. The film received nominations for Best Animated Film and Best Original Song.

 

Canadian films also received audience awards at the Sundance Film Festival this month. The Corporation, a sharp and incisive look at corporate culture won the World Cinema Documentary Audience Award, while La grande séduction, a tale of a small Quebec fishing village’s attempt to keep a visiting doctor, won the World Cinema Audience Award.

 

At a time when there is tough talk about belt-tightening within all federal government departments, and the Department of Canadian Heritage in particular, it is important to note that all four of these international successes were partially funded through Telefilm Canada, as well as other federal and provincial funding agencies. It is unlikely that Canada’s filmmaking excellence could have been demonstrated to a global audience audience without this funding.

 

http://www.thecorporation.tv/

http://www.lestriplettesdebelleville.com

 

For more information:

Kevin Desjardins

Communications and Public Relations Manager

(613) 238 3561 ext.11

Fax (613) 238 4849

info@ccarts.ca

www.ccarts.ca

 

05/04

 

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