MICHAEL MACKENZIE, WRITER AND DIRECTOR
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Photo by Pamela Gentile |
Michael
Mackenzie's second feature film as director, "Adam's Wall",
(co-written with Dana Schoel, produced by Couzin Films) premiered
at the Festival du Nouveau Cinema (2008) here in Montreal on October
15th at the Imperial Theatre. It is now in general release in Montreal (distributed
by Equinoxe), playing at the AMC Forum. See the trailer. The movie received an excellent review in the Montreal Gazette. Read the article.
Michael's
first feature film as a writer/director
"The Baroness
and the Pig", (produced by Media Principia), was selected for the Toronto International
Film Festival (2002), Festival de nouveau cinema et media (Montreal
2002) where it was the closing film, Sundance Film Festival (2003)
and San Francisco Film Festival (2003). The
film starred Patricia Clarkson and Colm Feore and was nominated for
Best Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Editing for the Quebec
Jutra Awards (2003). |
Regarding his second feature, Michael said, "Vanier students were essential for the making of 'Adam's Wall'. They can be seen in the film in the 'silent peace demonstration' scene where our two lovers meet for the first time; and then later in the not so peaceful demonstration scene, where they showed a lot of energy!" (See the photo at right and click on it for a larger version.) Their presence really helped to make our low budget Canadian movie look like something special. Many thanks to them, Peggy McCoy and all the others at Student Services who helped organize this."
In the last
five years Michael Mackenzie's plays have been produced professionally
in Budapest (five year run) and Szekesfehervar (Hungary), in Prague
(four year run), at a number of theatres in Germany, Ottawa, and
at the International Theatre Festival in Avignon. He has also been
produced in the U.K. (Bristol old Vic and BBC radio), Portugal and
Tel Aviv. A recent production (May 2008) of his play, 'The Baroness
and the Pig' here in Montreal, got rave reviews in the English and,
especially, French press. |
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Michael's plays
are currently published in French, Hungarian and German.
He has directed
for the professional theatre in Ottawa (National Arts Centre Atelier),
Toronto (Tarragon, Toronto Theatre Centre) and New York City (Vine
Tree Theater).
Currently, he
is currently working with Robert Lepage on the English version of
Lepage's 'Dragon Bleu'.
As well as working
with Lepage's ex machina company on previous occasions, Michael
was dramaturge and script editor for the Cirque de Soleil show 'Ka'
now playing at the MGM Grand in Los Vegas.
He has a Ph.D
in the Economics and History of Science; past appointments include
Visiting Fellow at Princeton University (Woodrow Wilson School)
and Consultant at the United Nations (U.N.C.S.T.C.).
Michael Mackenzie
teaches in the Humanities Department.
Michael (left)
along with Andrea Ureno (thedramaqueen.com) waits for the bus to take
them to
the screening of his movie “The Baroness and the Pig” at
the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.
  
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