Down River is a Canadian drama film, directed by Benjamin Ratner and released in 2013."Down River an uplifting take on women, friendship". Toronto Star, March 21, 2014.
Created as a tribute to actress Babz Chula following her death in 2010, the film stars Helen Shaver as Pearl, an older woman who is a friend and mentor to actress Fawn (Gabrielle Miller), visual artist Aki (Jennifer Spence) and bisexual musician Harper (Colleen Rennison)."An unsentimental journey; In Down River, director loads the emotional food processor and lets the cameras roll". Vancouver Sun, March 14, 2014. The cast also includes Jay Brazeau, Tahmoh Penikett, Ali Liebert, Brian Markinson, Tom McBeath, Nancy Sivak and Hiro Kanagawa.
The film premiered at the 2013 Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival."Four Canuck films anchor fest". Sudbury Star, July 31, 2013. It was subsequently screened at the Vancouver International Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for Most Popular Canadian Film"VIFF wraps up successful year; Winners include Jason James, Jeff Barnaby and festival's new venues". Vancouver Sun, October 12, 2013. and received an honorable mention from the jury for the Best British Columbia Film award."B.C. spotlight shines on Dick Knost; Made-in-B.C. films get the glory at festival gala". Vancouver Sun, October 7, 2013.
Cast Helen Shaver as Pearl Gabrielle Miller as Fawn Jennifer Spence as Aki Colleen Rennison as Harper Jay Brazeau as Larry Teach Grant as Todd Ali Liebert as Molly Peter Flemming as Peter Brian Markinson as Otto Tahmoh Penikett as Chris Daevyd Avalon as Murray (credited as David-Paul Grove) Kevin House as Dooley Nancy Sivak as Lili Hiro Kanagawa as Aki's Father Jerry Wasserman as Dr. Leonard Tom McBeath as Bob Loretta Walsh as Victoria Kimberley Sustad as Christie (credited as Kimberly Sustad) Nadia Vanessa Rose as Molly's New Girlfriend (credited as Nadia Blanchfield) Mike Branham as Harper's Dealer
Awards The film won the Vancouver Film Critics Circle's award for Best British Columbia Film,"The Dirties cleans up in Vancouver; Film critics give top prizes to Matt Johnson, 12 Years a Slave". Edmonton Journal, January 9, 2014. and Rennison received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Original Song at the 2nd Canadian Screen Awards, for the song "Molly"."Colleen Rennison scores Canadian Screen Awards nomination". The Georgia Straight, January 16, 2014.
The film led the nominations at the 2014 Leo Awards with 13 nods, including Best Motion Picture, Best Actress (Shaver), Best Supporting Actress (2: Rennison, Spence), Best Director (Ratner), Best Screenplay (Ratner), Best Musical Score (Chris Ainscough, Kevin House), Best Editing (Robert Wenzek), Best Cinematography (Larry Lynn), Best Production Design (Josh Plaw), Best Costume Design (Gloria Tsui) and Best Overall Sound (Brian Lyster, Randy Kiss and Michael Macdonald)."Vancouver-filmed Down River leads Leo Awards list". The Province, April 28, 2014. It won the awards for Best Picture, Supporting Actress (Spence), Screenplay, Costume Design and Overall Sound."B.C.'s best Shine; Leo awards had plenty of glitz and glamour". Vancouver Sun, June 2, 2014.
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