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Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A Trump film tariff would send Canadian screen industry into 'chaos,' say local producers
When Daniel Bekerman set out to produce "The Apprentice" — last year's biopic about U.S. President Donald Trump — he figured some controversy might come from the subject, not the city it was filmed in. But the Toronto-shot film is now an example of the kind of international production that would be hit hardest by Trump's proposed full-scale tariff on foreign-made movies. In a social media post Sunday, Trump said he's authorized trade officials to impose a "100 per cent tariff" on all films produced outside of the United States, claiming the American movie industry is dying a "very fast death" due to the incentives other countries are offering to lure filmmakers. Many Hollywood projects are shot in Canada, where foreign-funded movies and TV shows make up about half of all output. The Canadian Media Producers Association pegs the value of foreign productions last year at $4.73 billion, creating more than 90,000 jobs. Bekerman is among several insiders who say Trump's proposed tariff on foreign-made films could send Canada's screen industry into "chaos," though most believe the plan is unlikely to ever be implemented. "The worst version of this could change the shape of the industry and my livelihood," says the Toronto-based producer and founder of Scythia Films. Still, Bekerman notes Trump has retracted several other tariff threats in recent months. "I think he's proving himself to be someone who you can't necessarily rely on what he says to be followed through on. With that level of unpredictability, the only really rational course is to hold steady, solidify all your partnerships and make sure that you're making good product that people want." Meanwhile, Noah Segal, the co-president of Canadian film distributor Elevation Pictures, says he's both 'concerned and dumbfounded' by Trump's announcement, adding he can't see any practical way the tariff could be applied. "It's getting harder and harder to make films and shows, and make them make sense so that you can release it and make money," says Segal, adding that the local industry has faced several hurdles lately, from the pandemic to the Hollywood strikes. "So I would suspect if something like this (tariff) comes along, there'd be a lessening of production and there would be a slowdown, which is never good for anybody." Segal says Trump's tariff threat underlines the importance of Bill C-11, which requires foreign streaming platforms to allocate five per cent of their Canadian revenues to a fund dedicated to supporting Canadian content. Later this month, the CRTC will hold a public hearing to help define what "Canadian content" means.
Winnipeg Free Press
05-05-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
A Trump film tariff would send Canadian screen industry into ‘chaos,' say local producers
President Donald Trump's proposed tariff on foreign-made films would send Canada's screen industry into 'chaos,' local producers say — though several believe the plan is unlikely to ever be implemented. In a social media post Sunday, Trump said he's authorized trade officials to impose a '100 per cent tariff' on all films produced outside of the United States. Many Hollywood projects are shot in Canada. The Canadian Media Producers Association pegs the value of foreign productions last year at $4.73 billion, creating more than 90,000 jobs. Toronto's Daniel Bekerman, lead producer of the Canada-shot Trump biopic 'The Apprentice,' says the proposed tariff would create chaos for Canada's film industry. Still, Bekerman doubts Trump will follow through on the threat. Meanwhile, the co-president of Canadian distributor Elevation Pictures Noah Segal says he's both 'concerned and dumbfounded' by Trump's announcement, adding he can't see any practical way the tariff could be applied. 'It's getting harder and harder to make films and shows, and make them make sense so that you can release it and make money,' says Segal, adding that the local industry has faced several hurdles lately, from the pandemic to the Hollywood strikes. 'So I would suspect if something like this (tariff) comes along, there'd be a lessening of production and there would be a slowdown, which is never good for anybody.' Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. It's still unclear when or how the tax would take effect, but U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick replied to Trump's post saying, 'We're on it.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Melancholy new take on controversial 1954 novel
A sun-drenched, languid mood piece about the end of summer and the beginning of adulthood, Bonjour Tristesse alternates between sultry heat and cool emotional affect. (Despite the French title, the film's international cast speaks mostly English, with a smattering of French with English subtitles. There's also a version showing in which the English is subtitled in French, so make sure to check.) Montreal-born filmmaker Durga Chew-Bose makes an ambitious but flawed directorial debut with this take on Françoise Sagan's 1954 coming-of-age novel, published when the French writer was just 18. A literary sensation, it was later adapted into a 1958 film. Elevation Pictures Lily McInerny plays Cécile, a young woman spending the summer with her father on the Côte D'Azur. Chew-Bose's version updates the story's setting, but struggles with modernizing the novel's subtle undercurrents and sexual politics. While examining its often superficial and aimless characters, the film risks becoming superficial and aimless itself. Cécile (American Lily McInerney of Palm Trees and Power Lines) is a 17-year-old girl on vacation at a beautiful villa on the Côte d'Azur with her rakish father Raymond (Danish actor Claes Bang, known for The Northman, The Square and Bad Sisters). Since the death of Cécile's mother, the two have formed a tight, indulgent, affectionate unit. They even play solitaire as a pair. Cécile is falling into an idle flirtation with a young neighbour, Cyril (Quebec actor/musician Aliocha Schneider). Raymond's latest girlfriend, Elsa (French actor Naïlia Harzoune of Gone for Good), seems to be one of an ongoing series; Cécile doesn't regard her as a threat to their summertime idyll. The dynamics shift, however, with the arrival of Anne (Love & Friendship's Chloë Sevigny), a close friend of Cécile's late mother. Anne, a successful designer, is disciplined and a little formal. She chastises Cécile for flunking her exams and worries she's being distracted by Cyril. As Raymond and Anne become closer, Cécile schemes to break up the relationship, with fateful results. Chew-Bose's production design is thoughtful and elegant, the visual images carefully composed and beautifully lensed. Bonjour Tristesse falls into that subgenre of films — including 2017's Call Me by Your Name, the 1969 French film La Piscine and its 2015 remake A Bigger Splash — that seem made to provoke summerhouse envy. There is a lot of leisurely coffee on the sun-dappled patio, a lot of candlelit dining tables crowded with wine bottles and a lot of lazy intergenerational loafing. But there's not much sense of the conflicts running underneath all this extraordinary surface beauty. In 1954, Sagan's novel earned a papal denunciation, but the relaxed approach to sex seen in this haute bohemian household doesn't seem quite so transgressive in 2025. In fact, seeing all the adults casually condone Cécile's cigarette-smoking will probably be more of a shock to contemporary audiences. Along with everyone just smoking their heads off, there's a French arthouse feel to the dialogue, which tends to be loaded and meaningful, with conversations about youth and age, freedom and responsibility, memory and regret. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. Too often, however, these themes are spoken rather than felt and motivations remain undeveloped or even unlikely. The individual performances can be good, but they don't come together as an ensemble. McInerny has the challenge of working in the shadow of Jean Seberg, who — with her absolutely iconic pixie cut — played Cécile in the 1958 film. She has some lovely, poignant moments, but there are also times when it's hard to gauge whether the flatness of her response is about the awkwardness of adolescence or just poor acting. Bang has a line in playing large, arrogant, unreflective men, and he conveys a sense of thoughtless charm here. Sevigny, as always, brings her spiky and original screen presence, but her Anne seems to exist somehow out of time. Melancholy rather than tragic, Chew-Bose's debut is promising in some ways, a letdown in others. Still, ennui never looked so good. Alison GillmorWriter Studying at the University of Winnipeg and later Toronto's York University, Alison Gillmor planned to become an art historian. She ended up catching the journalism bug when she started as visual arts reviewer at the Winnipeg Free Press in 1992. Read full biography Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
