Canadian Oscar Winner Opens Outdoor Film Series

by Sandy Mandelberger, Online Dailies Editor

THE NECESSITIES OF LIFE, an award-winning French Canadian film, opened the outdoor screening series on the central Market Square in Wroclaw for the 9th edition of the Era New Horizons International Film Festival.

The film is the touching tale of an Inuit man who is relocated to Quebec City in the 1950s to cure his tuberculosis, provoking a culture clash between the native sensibilities and the Anglo-Saxon world view. Directed by former documentarian Benoit Pilon, the fim was the big winner at this year’s Genie Awards, the Canadian Oscar.

The film won top prizes for Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Editing, as well as Best Actor for the non-professional Natar Ungalaaq. For his touching performance, Ungalaaq also won Best Actor honors at the Jutra Awards (the French Canadian Oscar) and the Palm Springs Film Festival.

The Market Square Screenings series runs all week and will include films from Festival honorees Jan Troell and Krzysztof Zanussi, Milos Forman, Royston Tan, Sylvie Verheyde, Johan Kling and even Charlie Chaplin.