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REMINDER: This Saturday! Aug 2 at 7pm
John Dunning Book Launch & Screening
Concordia’s J.A. De Sève Cinema (View map)
John Dunning (1927-2011):
“The unacknowledged godfather of an entire generation of Canadian filmmakers.”
–David Cronenberg
Join us for an evening honouring the late John Dunning and the publication of his memoir, You’re Not Dead until You’re Forgotten. There will be a special screening of Dunning’s original 1973 film, Le diable est parmi nous (a rare 35mm archival print!) followed by a book signing with Montreal journalist and author Bill Brownstein.
From the Fantasia website:
Le diable est parmi nous (The Possession of Virginia) is a strange, surrealist, paranoid film. Horror was not a genre often explored in Quebec cinema. While English Canada produced a number of notable works of horror, Quebec generally demurred — and so Le diable est parmi nous is a true curiosity. Our films dealing with esoteric conspiracies and pacts with the devil are all too rare. A soundtrack blending funk, disco, pop, atmospherics and classical music, care of François Cousineau, is definitive of its era. Toss in some nightmarish visions, howl-worthy dialogue, and one of Quebec’s first on-screen gore murders, and you’ve got a vital piece of local film history.
This excerpt from Dunning’s memoir will surely set the mood for the screening on Saturday:
On the distribution front, we had been doing well with an Italian film about the occult featuring a possessed woman who gets exorcised. This was before The Exorcist was made in Hollywood. So we started thinking that for our next production, we should also focus on the demonic possession theme. It just could be our ticket, we figured.
Around the same time, we had been introduced to an up-and coming director from the National Film Board. Jean Beaudin was a real Young Turk, an angry and spirited fellow with lots of passion. We were looking for just that kind of intensity to handle such a risky project. I remember walking down the NFB corridor with Jean and he was casually kicking holes in the plaster baseboards while we walked. It scared me a little, but we still wanted to work with him. Besides, he was completely fascinated by the diabolical cult idea. So, we put a script together, cast Louise Marleau once again, and we started shooting. Except that Jean was still tinkering with the script while shooting. That was highly unusual for us. We always had a set script before shooting. It could have been an omen of things to come.
The film, Le diable est parmi nous, was one of the most difficult films in which we had ever gotten involved. Jean was shooting it in a style we were unfamiliar with. The weirdest part of shooting came during a Black Mass scene at a studio in the city. The line producer called me in a panic to say things were really getting out of hand on the set. People were using drugs. They were wandering around with lit black candles and wearing black hoods.
Everyone seemed spooked.
To calm everyone, we had hired a White Witch to cleanse the set, which had been dressed with a sacrificial altar placed on a devil’s pentagram. It was scary. Some thought it was another set up to use as one of our wacky publicity stunts for its future release.
We then commenced shooting the Black Mass ritual. And some of the people were still in a state. One actor got so freaked out that he ran off the set. He was stark naked under a black robe. Yet he never came back for his clothes or, later, for his paycheque. He simply disappeared.
To learn more about You’re Not Dead until You’re Forgotten, click here.
For media requests, please contact Jacqui Davis.
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