The Making of Monsters
| The Making of Monsters | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | John Greyson |
| Produced by | Laurie Lynd |
| Written by | John Greyson |
| Starring |
Christopher Anderson Stewart Arnott Lee MacDougall |
| Music by | Glenn Schellenberg |
| Edited by | Miume Jan |
Production company | |
Release date | 1991 (Berlin) |
Running time | 35 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
The Making of Monsters is a Canadian short film, directed by John Greyson and released in 1991.[1] Made while Greyson was a student at the Canadian Film Centre,[1] the film's premise is that Bertolt Brecht is alive and living in Toronto, and actively interfering with the production of a heavily sanitized movie of the week about the 1985 death of Kenneth Zeller in a gaybashing attack.[1]
The film's cast includes Lee MacDougall as the film within a film's version of Zeller, while the roles of Brecht and Kurt Weill are played by talking fish.[2]
The film premiered at the 1991 Berlin International Film Festival,[3] and was later screened at the 1991 Toronto International Film Festival[4] and selected LGBT film festivals, including Vancouver's Out on Screen,[5] Montreal's Image+Nation[6] and Edmonton's The Voice and the Vision.[7]
Controversy
Following its initial run on the film festival circuit, the film remained unavailable for many years due to copyright issues, as Warner-Chappell, the holder of the rights to Weill's songs, obtained a court injunction against the use of a "Mack the Knife" parody with different lyrics in the film even though parodies are fully legal under fair use provisions.[8] Warner-Chappell had originally approved the use, but changed their mind after learning that the film contained gay content;[8] even after Weill's songs passed into the public domain in 2001, Warner-Chappell continued to use legal threats to block public screenings of the film, even preventing it from being included in the 2012 Greyson retrospective at the Art Gallery of Ontario.[8]
The film has, however, been screened in some university film studies courses without incident.[8] The issue also influenced the copyright-related themes of Greyson's later feature film Uncut.[9]
Accolades
At Berlin, the film won a Jury Prize from the Teddy Award program.[10] The film won the Toronto International Film Festival Award for Best Canadian Short Film at the 1991 Toronto International Film Festival.[11]
References
- 1 2 3 Matthew Hays, "Legends: The Making of Monsters". POV, February 1, 2009.
- ↑ R. Bruce Brassell, "The Making of Monsters: The queer as producer". Jump Cut, no. 40, March 1996, pp. 47-54.
- ↑ "Monsters in Berlin". The Globe and Mail, January 18, 1991.
- ↑ "Film festival to showcase record number of Canadians: Lineup includes Egoyan, McDonald". The Globe and Mail, July 24, 1991.
- ↑ "Gay film festival extends friendly hand to all". Vancouver Sun, May 22, 1991.
- ↑ "Gay film fest not afraid to tackle issues". Montreal Gazette, November 15, 1991.
- ↑ "Film festival gives voice to gays". Edmonton Journal, March 10, 1992.
- 1 2 3 4 "The censoring of Monsters". Daily Xtra, April 2, 2012.
- ↑ "John Greyson, an Uncut above: The Genie Award-winning director of Lilies returns to his prickly, ironic, video-art roots". The Globe and Mail, May 30, 1997.
- ↑ "Canadian films make mark among 700 at Berlin fest". Halifax Daily News, February 22, 1991.
- ↑ "Film festival gives cash to promising director". Toronto Star, September 16, 1991.