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232-6727 All screenings at FREE PARKING CAFÉ EX at ADMISSION Ticket and Membership Purchase Info: All tickets, memberships and festival passes can only be purchased at the box office. Tickets can only be purchased on day of screening; they cannot be purchased in $ 6.00 $10.00 $200.00
Separate admission for non-members. Tous les soirs un double programme pour les membres.
Cinematheque Canada is a non-profit, charitable organization. Private (#0264572-22) Cinémathèque Canada est une organisation à but non-lucratif. Ses activités dépendent du financement public et de dons. |
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As the 2004 Ottawa International Film Festival begins and the Silent Film Festival soon gets underway, behind-the-scenes preparations are busy. One of the most important figures in the operations of the Canadian Film Institute is, of course, the projectionist. This in-depth look at the CFI's head projectionist (and the man in the booth at the Archives during the Animation Festival) reveals a fascinating portrait of an underrated, and often unrecognized, profession. AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT WAYNE BELYEA by Adam Holman Wayne Belyea has been an Ottawa-area film projectionist for over twenty-five years. Before he began at the Canadian Film Institute, he projected at almost every theatre in town, including the now defunct Rideau, Elgin and Somerset cinemas. Completely dedicated to perfecting his craft, Wayne fits right in at the CFI, where his expertise is still highly appreciated among a profession that is becoming increasingly devalued throughout Canadian multiplexes. I sat down with Wayne to discuss everything from working at the CFI to the advancement of the medium to the upcoming International Silent Film Festival. “Audiences that go to the Canadian Film Institute screenings are lucky they have a venue like they do at the National Library and Archives of Canada,” he explains. What he is specifically referring to is the renovations that the Archives undertook five years ago. “Before then, the auditorium and the projection booth resembled a post-WWII venue, with no sloped seating, a primitive sound system and a badly outdated screen. It seriously limited what we could show, for example, seeing the sub-titles were always a problem and viewing films in certain aspect ratios was sometimes not possible.” Since the renovations, the National Library and Archives has invested in a number of technological advancements, including surround sound, multi-region viewing equipment, and digital projection. “With DVDs and digital filmmaking, anything is possible,” he continues. But one of the things it has led to, Wayne explains, is the deterioration of the job of the projectionist. He figures in about ten years there won't be a need for people of his profession anymore, as films will be able to be shown from a single control room in Toronto or Los Angeles, transmitted to a theatre through a satellite signal. “The best format, though, is still film,” he explains. “It's brighter, richer in detail, and there's a certain nostalgic quality about it that can't be replicated with digital pixels.” Which, of course, leads us to the ever-growing Silent Film Festival. “The Silent Festival is really a treat to put on. Bill O'Meara's [the accompanying pianist] playing is just phenomenal, and being able to work with prints that pre-date sound – some of which we don't even run on the same speed as regular films – is certainly a rare treat in this field. “I'm really glad there's an audience for this type of film,” he continues. “It just goes to show that film will always be there, no matter how much the art form advances and tries to displace it.” It is also important, Wayne explains, that people realize how the process of showing films is done. “A great deal of work goes into the exhibition process. It can take a lot of organizing to get a film sent from Toronto or New York or wherever to us, and get it up on the screen for our audiences. The prints for the Silent Festival are even harder to round up, so it's quite fortunate that this venue and organization exist to show these great prints.” And what about his role as projectionist at the CFI in future years? “A cinémathèque is like a museum – people will always come out to see its exhibits as long as you're showing something interesting.” Note: The Canadian Film Institute website will continue to run a recurring interactive column devoted to our dedicated projectionist where our patrons can send in questions for him to answer. Please send your queries to: cfi-icf@magma.ca
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