Lisa Ray plays Kalyani in the film Water. (Devyani Saltzman, Mongrel Media)

Lisa Ray plays Kalyani in the film Water. (Devyani Saltzman, Mongrel Media)

Celebrate Canada’s 150th with screening of Water in Chilliwack

Celebrate our nation’s sesquicentennial with National Canadian Film Day 150

Celebrate Canada’s sesquicentennial and wealth of filmmaking talent with the Chilliwack Community Arts Council when they screen Deepa Mehta’s poignant 2005, Academy Award nominated film, Water on April 19.

This special 7 p.m., admission-free screening at Cottonwood 4 Cinemas is hosted in partnership with Reel Canada’s National Canadian Film Day 150 and the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) as part of its Canada on Screen project.

A massive one-day celebration of Canadian cinema, National Canadian Film Day 150 will offer more than 800 screenings country-wide in honour of our country’s milestone anniversary. This dedicated film day presented by Reel Canada, in collaboration with numerous community partners, creates an inclusive opportunity for all Canadians to be exposed to both treasured classics and soon-to-be favourites.

Building on this initiative, TIFF, and its three core project partners: Library and Archives Canada, the Cinémathèque Québécoise, and The Cinematheque in Vancouver, have embarked on an equally ambitious project which presents further province-to-province screenings of some 150 essential moving-image works from Canada’s history.

The film, Water, is the finale to Mehta’s landmark Elements trilogy. This brave, perfectly-pitched film explores lives altered by religious tradition. Delving into Indian society of the ’30s during Ghandi’s rise to prominence, Water is a remarkably inspirational film about a girl who refuses to accept her fate and struggles against powerful rules that turn her into a prisoner without a future. Water stars Seema Biswas, Lisa Ray, John Abraham, Sarala Kariyawasam, and Manorama. (Canada – Drama [PG] 117 minutes, Hindi with English subtitles)

Accomplished director, producer, screenwriter, and human rights activist, Deepa Mehta, is best known for her Elements trilogy — Fire (1996), Earth (1998), and Water (2005), Midnight’s Children (2012), and Beeba Boys (2015). Mehta is a recipient of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Order of Ontario, and Queen’s Jubilee Medal. Mehta was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2013 for “challenging cultural traditions and bringing stories of oppression, injustice and violence to the fore.”

Spend National Canadian Film Day 150 with the Chilliwack Community Arts Council on April 19. The screening will be held at 7 p.m. at Cottonwood 4 Cinemas (45380 Luckakuck Way).

Admission is free for this special screening. Donations to the Chilliwack Community Arts Council are greatly appreciated and help to ensure the organization’s ability to continue to provide quality events programming throughout the year. Please note: seating is limited.

The Chilliwack Community Arts Council acknowledges the support of the Toronto International Film Festival, and all of its Canada on Screen partners and sponsors. To learn more about the Canada on Screen project, please visit www.tiff.net/canadaonscreen.

For further details about the Chilliwack Community Arts Council’s April 19, 2017 screening of Water, please visit chilliwackartscouncil.com, or call 604-769-2787.

Chilliwack Progress