(September 12, 2016 – Toronto, ON) Last year there were two Canada-Ireland coproductions that seemed to be the darlings of the film festival world. Both Room and Brooklyn were hits in general release and Room went on to be a contender at the Oscars®. This year there’s another Canada-Ireland co-pro and it’s turning out to be this year’s festival darling.
Maudie is the filmic retelling of the true story about Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis. It’s a tale of physical hardship and pain counterbalanced by love and her unique creativity. Lewis suffered from the effects of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and in 1938, married the man whose house she tended in Marshalltown just outside Digby, Nova Scotia. Before her death in 1970, the untrained Lewis created hundreds of paintings depicting cheerful scenes of life in rural Nova Scotia. In addition to her work, painted on almost any surface she could find, Lewis also painted the near-entirety of the small one-room house where she lived with her husband in bright, garden-like designs. The house itself is now in the collection of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in Halifax. The film crew built a replica of Maud’s house in Newfoundland, where the film was shot, then created sets to give the feel of the time period.
Maudie will have its Canadian premiere today at TIFF, with two more screenings on Tuesday and Wednesday. It has also been selected to open the Atlantic Film Festival and the Vancouver International Film Festival.
Click here for a link to the Toronto International Film Festival and other September film festivals.
