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Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Climate
- Winnipeg Free Press
Free Press Head Start for Aug. 15, 2025
Sunny, becoming a mix of sun and cloud this afternoon. Wind becoming west at 20 km/h gusting to 40 this morning. High 23 C. Humidex 25. UV index 7 or high. What's happening today A new 4K restoration of Winnipeg-raised director David Secter's 1965 debut feature Winter Kept Us Warm opens tonight at the Dave Barber Cinematheque and runs until Aug. 20. Shot on campus against the wishes of the conservative establishment with an assist from student actors at the University of Toronto and photo school instructors from the former Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, the film has been cited as an inspiration by David Cronenberg, who has called the film 'a shattering revelation.' For tickets and showtimes, click here. Winter Kept Us Warm is screening six times at Cinematheque. (Supplied) Today's must-read Manitoba's first targeted U.S. campaign to attract American board-certified nurses has led to three new hires, nine currently working toward being licensed and 29 additional expressions of interest. 'We're glad to see that interest, but this is just one tool in our recruitment toolbox,' Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said in a statement. 'Our priority remains the one-on-one relationship-building that's proven to get results and keep people here for the long term.' If the province wants to attract more nurses, it needs to get its largest hospital removed from the 'grey list' alerting nurses that it's an unsafe place to work, says the head of their union. Carol Sanders has the story. Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press files) On the bright side Neepawa is home to one of Canada's only remaining public-access television stations. Prior estimates that there are fewer than 30 left in Canada. Launching in 1983, during public-access TV's heyday, NAC-TV has a small studio and control room in which a tight-knit team of staff, volunteers and summer students dart back and forth. Part civic forum, part variety show, its programming blends local political news with charming homegrown fare — scavenger hunts, Filipino heritage events, high school sports and graduation ceremonies. Conrad Sweatman has the story. Neepawa's Community Access Television Station (NACTV) NACTV Manager Ken Waddell, left, and Eoin Devereux, journalist, in discussion on their show that discusses news and issues from the Neepawa Banner and Press. (Cheryl Hnatiuk / Free Press) On this date On Aug. 15, 1963: The Winnipeg Free Press reported in London, police had arrested four suspects and seized a large sum of money (equivalent to $300,000), apparently cracking Britain's great train robbery. The Soviet Union and China revealed the source of their acrid dispute over the nuclear test ban treaty: the U.S.S.R.'s refusal in 1959 to give China nuclear weapons. Prairie farmers expecrted a bumper crop, exceeding even that of 1952, a Free Press survey indicated. Read the rest of this day's paper here. Search our archives for more here. Today's front page Get the full story: Read today's e-edition of the Free Press .
Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Nuanced 1965 drama delicate romance in complicated time
This groundbreaking queer film, now available in a 4K restoration that revives its original black-and-white esthetic, never uses the words 'gay' or 'homosexual.' It's a marvel of subtext, a coming-of-age story in which the relationship between the two main male characters is kept quietly coded. This discretion is understandable: Winter Kept Us Warm, written and directed by Brandon-born, Winnipeg-raised David Secter, was first released in 1965, when homosexuality was still a criminal offence in Canada. In 2025, the film functions as a fascinating historical document, a significant marker in the long journey from the celluloid closet to contemporary queer representation. Winter was also the first English-language Canadian work to screen at Cannes, and became an important (but often overlooked) influence on a generation of independent Canadian filmmakers, not just because of its radical subject, but because it managed to get made at all. Modest but often ingeniously artful, Winter was filmed on a shoestring budget by a mostly student cast and crew who were basically learning on the job. Beyond its considerable historic value, though, the film holds up because the story's enforced subtlety shapes a delicate and deeply affecting character study. Our two protagonists, both students at the University of Toronto, are presented in the opening sequences as a study in contrasts. Doug (John Labow, who later became a documentary producer) roars toward campus in a cool convertible, wearing sunglasses and accompanied by a jazzy score. He walks into the college residence like he owns the place. Peter (Henry Tarvainen, who also went on to work as a producer) arrives by cab, awkwardly lugging a big cardboard box, rubbernecking at the big city and all its tall buildings. He's unsure of where to go or what to do. Doug is an extroverted senior, charming and popular, always surrounded by a gang of admiring male friends and often accompanied by his beautiful girlfriend, Bev (billed here as Joy Tepperman, she became the prolific Canadian novelist Joy Fielding). Peter is an introverted, bookish junior, a scholarship boy from an immigrant Finnish family and a small Ontario town. He spends a lot of time alone in the library, and that's where he and Doug get into a conversation about T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, the poem that lends the film its title. Over the course of the school year, the two men's seemingly unlikely friendship grows in intensity, but the dynamics shift, ever so finely, when it seems they might want different things. Secter's approach to the story's queer undercurrents is necessarily oblique. It comes out in a certain way of framing collegiate roughhousing and locker-room towel-flicking, in a shower scene that fades to black, in a sentence left unfinished. 'If I didn't know better, I'd swear you and Pete are…,' Joy says to Doug at one point. That's about as explicit as things get. There are a few clunky moments from inexperienced cast members in minor roles, but the lead performances are remarkably assured. As we follow Doug and Peter's relationship, our initial impressions shift. Doug's brash assurance could be a screen for a deeper insecurity, while Peter ends up being tougher and more confident than he initially appears. The nuanced approach to character extends to the young women. Joy, who senses Doug's declining interest without being able to pinpoint its cause, is given sympathetic treatment, as is Sandra (Janet Amos), a theatre student Peter meets during a production of Ibsen's Ghosts. Secter, who now lives and works in Hawaii, is clearly dealing with an almost non-existent budget and severe practical constraints. (Remember, this was long before struggling cineastes could shoot films on their iPhones.) He has a clear gift for working with actors, and his thoughtful framing and careful camera placement keep things visually interesting, so that even seemingly simple scenes are layered with meaning and intent. The film catches a key juncture in the mid-1960s, poised between tradition (the young men attend dining hall dressed in academic gowns and often socialize in suits and ties) and coming social changes (they also go to coffeehouses and talk about the Vietnam War). The film's open-ended conclusion suggests that Doug and Pete are, like their era, at personal turning points. We are left to imagine each man's future, and even how each might look back at this brief, poignant moment in their lives, with T.S. Eliot once again coming in, speaking of 'memory and desire.' 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.
Winnipeg Free Press
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Revisiting Morrie
On opening night, Nicholas Rice arrived on one foot. It was a Saturday in September, and the Winnipeg-raised actor was meant to be playing the titular role in Tuesdays with Morrie, the first production of the Winnipeg Jewish Theatre's 2024 season. But instead of portraying the sage professor at the heart of Mitch Albom's now-classic story of mentorship, mortality and menschlachkeit, the performer was at the Berney Theatre watching from the audience as Harry Nelken served as a last-minute Rice substitute. 'I did audition for the role, but my good friend Nick Rice got it,' recalled Nelken in an interview days before the première. 'And then my good friend Nick Rice had an accident.' Landon Nesbitt photo Nicholas Rice is portraying Morrie Schwartz in a Toronto production of Tuesdays with Morrie. After the fourth day of rehearsals wrapped up, Rice and his co-star David Sklar returned to their rented accommodations, an old house off Westminster Avenue. 'I had to go up 18 outdoor steps to get into my second-storey flat,' recalled Rice before the last WJT season opened, sitting down for an interview at Schmoozer's Cafe. 'Not a problem. But for some reason, David couldn't get into his main-floor flat. I said, 'David, it's OK. I think I know a back stairway. I'll go down there, get into your apartment and pop your door open from the inside.'' However, Rice was unable to enter the apartment and while he was trying to figure out what to do, he locked himself out. 'There was a locked door behind me and a fence in front of me,' said the actor, whose earliest dramatic inklings were nurtured at Kelvin High School in the 1960s. 'I thought, the hell with this. I'm not going to stand here and keep my friend waiting on the other side of the building. I'm gonna climb this fence. I can do that. I used to do that as a kid. 'So I climbed very carefully up, thrust my left leg over the top. Didn't hurt my gentles in any way. Now bring the right leg over. Perfect — more than halfway there. 'I admit, this is a stupid thing for a 73-year-old man to be doing.' The ascent was clean, but the damage came on the dismount. Rice initially was able to hobble up the stairs, thinking it was a sprain, but around midnight, he called director Mariam Bernstein. 'I said, 'I think I have to go to emerg.'' Bernstein came over and insisted that he call an ambulance. Writhing on the floor with what turned out to be a severely fractured heel and internal damage, Rice still managed to quote Blanche DuBois as the paramedics ushered him to the Health Sciences Centre. 'I told them that I'd always depended on the kindness of strangers. Nobody laughed,' he said. With Nelken called in as a backup, Rice spent nearly two days in the emergency department before splitting a curtained room with a man named Gord. 'We listened to the Labour Day Classic — Bombers and Saskatchewan — and we actually became quite good friends, although I never saw him.' After his discharge, Rice got around with a mobility scooter, and on opening night, he wheeled his way down the Asper Jewish Community Campus's 'Main Street' to tell his Morrie story, which as far as he was concerned had unceremoniously finished. Little did he know that one year after his fall, Rice would get another shot at Morrie glory. Last spring, Rice rented out a venue in his native Toronto for a four-show run of his autobiographical fringe show A Side of Rice, which premièred at Winnipeg's 2024 festival. In the audience was Toronto Metropolitan University theatre instructor Marianne McIsaac. 'She said, 'Nicholas, I know somebody who's looking for Morrie. I gave them your name.' Within days, a Zoom audition was set up for Rice with King Theatre Company artistic director Chloë Rose Flowers and Josh Palmer, a former McIsaac student who'd already been cast as Albom. 'Instantly, you can get a really good sense of who Nick Rice is as a person and a performer. He has that Morrie sparkle, that Morrie twinkle in his eyes,' says Flowers, who cast him on the spot for the one-year-old GTA company's third-ever production. Nearly one year after his accident, Rice takes the stage tonight for the first time as Schwartz for a two-week stand at the King. 'I just feel so blessed,' says Rice, who is dedicating his performance to his high school English teacher, Rudi Engbrecht. 'It's almost like a Mitch Albom experience, and in this particular book, a guy messes up, but then miraculously gets to roll back the tape, make amends and get it right the second time.' Ben WaldmanReporter Ben Waldman is a National Newspaper Award-nominated reporter on the Arts & Life desk at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Ben completed three internships with the Free Press while earning his degree at Ryerson University's (now Toronto Metropolitan University's) School of Journalism before joining the newsroom full-time in 2019. Read more about Ben. Every piece of reporting Ben produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. 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.
Winnipeg Free Press
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg singer-guitarist gets his own signature Fender Stratocaster
For nearly 20 years as a professional musician, Ariel Posen has been honing his unmistakable signature sound. Now, the Winnipeg-raised guitar hero has his own signature guitar, too. Earlier this month, Posen and the manufacturing giant Fender released the Limited Edition Ariel Posen Stratocaster, an instrument customized to the specifications of the prolific singer-guitarist, who has released two albums — Mile End III and a self-titled duo album with session drummer Ash Soan — so far in 2025. 'It was kind of like the sky's the limit; whatever you want, we can do,' says Posen of the collaboration with Fender and the company's pickup designer Tim Shaw, who worked with Posen for nearly three years to get the finished product — which combines his favourite features of Jazzmaster and Strat models — just right. SUPPLIED Ariel Posen plays the custom Fender Limited Edition Stratocaster designed for him. 'It's a fairly simple instrument, but every little detail I wanted was never an issue. Everyone has their tool of choice in whatever field they're in, and for me specifically, this is the style of guitar I gravitate to.' Posen, whose career kickstarted with local projects such as the New Lightweights, Sierra Noble and the Bros. Landreth, has lived in Montreal for five years while touring at a consistent clip. Much of the work with Fender was done remotely, but the guitarist had the chance to visit the company's Corona, Calif., headquarters to prepare video content for the instrument's release. Prior to last week's limited launch of 100 signature models, finished with a faded Lake Placid blue lacquer and featuring custom soapbar pickups, Posen had a prototype model for about a year, which he says gave him the chance to get comfortable with the instrument that puts him in rarefied company. Other guitarists to receive a limited-edition Fender model include country star Brad Paisley, the Clash's Joe Strummer, Beatle George Harrison, guitar virtuoso Eric Johnson, '60s icon Jimi Hendrix, Mike McCready of Pearl Jam and John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. 'It's hard for me to register that this is actually a real thing. It's so funny to find my name there. I'm just incredibly beyond grateful for the opportunity, whether my name belongs on that list or not,' says Posen, 37, whose parents Kinsey Posen and Shayla Fink are members of legendary klezmer band Finjan. 'The first guitar I ever got was a $30 acoustic that my parents bought for me, maybe from a garage sale.' Earlier this summer, Posen also partnered with Stringjoy to introduce a signature, nickel-wound string set, which, according to Premier Guitar, is ideal for B standard, open C and other lower tunings. On Dec. 12, Posen will bring his signature sound, strings and guitar to Winnipeg's Park Theatre for the closing show of his 24-date Future Present Tense tour. Tickets for the all-ages show go on sale today at Ben WaldmanReporter Ben Waldman is a National Newspaper Award-nominated reporter on the Arts & Life desk at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Ben completed three internships with the Free Press while earning his degree at Ryerson University's (now Toronto Metropolitan University's) School of Journalism before joining the newsroom full-time in 2019. Read more about Ben. Every piece of reporting Ben produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. 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.
Winnipeg Free Press
18-06-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Homecoming for Froese
One of the finest talents produced on a Manitoban soccer pitch has returned home. Kianz Froese, the Cuban-born and Winnipeg-raised attacking midfielder, agreed to a contract with Valour FC, the city's Canadian Premier League side, on Wednesday. The deal secures the 29-year-old for the remainder of the season, with an option for the club to bring him back in 2026. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Cuban-born, Winnipeg-raised midfielder Kianz Froese signed with the Winnipeg's Valour FC on Wednesday. 'I think he's one of the best players that Manitoba has produced,' said an excited head coach and GM Phillip Dos Santos, who first crossed paths with Froese as a teenager on the youth national team. Valour's goalkeeper coach, Patrick Di Stefani, coached Froese during their time with Manitoba's provincial program. 'He has a track record that — for any young Manitoba player — you look at and say, 'Man, I would like to have a career like the one he's had,'' Dos Santos added. 'And he's young, he's 29, he still has very good years ahead of him.' Froese hasn't played at home since he was 16. He's spent the last seven years playing professionally in Germany, where his mettle was tested while playing in the country's lower divisions with Fortuna Düsseldorf II, FC Saarbrücken, TSV Havelse and SV Wehen Wiesbaden. 'Hard,' Froese, who netted 32 goals in 190 matches, said of his time in Germany. 'It's a hard thing when you go abroad and get used to Germany as a culture. Extremely different. I mean, Canadians are extremely nice when you think about the culture and the way they treat you, and there, I think it's very demanding, in terms of sport, in terms of pressure — they are on it when it comes to sports. 'I had to adapt to that at the start. Then I got used to it. And then, obviously, at some point I didn't really remember it, but now I'm able to reflect back and say, 'Hey, look at the differences,' so it's kind of like a reflective time period right now for me.' Froese was a sensation as a young player in the Garden City area. It didn't take long for him to earn the attention of evaluators at the provincial and national level, as he later went on to play for Team Manitoba and take part in the National Training Camp (NTC) program. At 16, he joined the Vancouver Whitecaps Academy and quickly ascended through the ranks to make his professional debut in Major League Soccer in 2014. At 19, Froese made his debut with the Canadian men's national team in a friendly against Ghana, the first of two international caps he's earned. Now he returns to the place where it all started, with a wealth of experience behind him. 'I think it's nice to be in a familiar environment,' said Froese, who had offers to continue playing in Germany last year but decided to go back to Cuba. 'That's just part of who I am, in a sense, and even if I don't remember everything, I still feel that being back where I grew up, where I spent those early years, formative years of my life, is just a nice thing for me.' This was the right time for him to join a new club. If he didn't do it now, he said, it's unlikely he would've ever returned to the pitch. 'That's sort of the main point, and the reason why I chose Valour over whatever else I could have done, because that's kind of what I'm looking for.' Froese is exactly what Valour needs right now. Dos Santos credited him with possessing a level of decision-making and 'game intelligence' in the final third that the club is looking for. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Winnipeg Valour's head coach Phillip Dos Santos has high hopes that midfielder Kianz Froese (centre) will be the boost the club needs to climb in the Canadian Premier League standings. Winnipeg's side is once again struggling for offensive production. Valour, which currently sits seventh in a table of eight teams at 2-6-2, has nine goals in eight matches this season, tied with Vancouver FC for the second-fewest behind Pacific FC. 'Everyone sees it,' said Dos Santos. 'I think the common observer could see that. We were looking at our last five league games, where you outshoot the opposition… (but) there's actually an opportunity to maybe get in and put a teammate into closer spaces. So I think that he's a player that's going to give us that. He's a player that's gonna read those moments and increase the quality that we could have in those positions.' This will be Froese's debut season in the CPL. He is perhaps the biggest homegrown player that fans can cheer for since his once-close friend Marco Bustos, who scored seven times in Valour's inaugural season, then fled to West Coast rival Pacific. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. 'Quality. Clarity in the final third. Explosiveness in space. We're not talking about straight-line fast here, we're talking about football fast. Experience — so many things,' Dos Santos said of Froese. 'Definition, goals, assists — but again, there's a process and the process is that it's still a player that's going to need time to get rhythm.' Dos Santos said it will be 'a few weeks' before Froese dons Valour's colours in a match. His last game action was July 2024, so the first step is re-establishing his conditioning for a 90-minute contest. 'He's almost going through a pre-season right now, so we're gonna take our time with him and make sure we have a healthy fit, and that he's ready when he's gonna step on the field for the first day,' Dos Santos said. Valour hosts second-place Forge FC (5-5-0) at Princess Auto Stadium on Sunday (3:30 p.m.). Joshua Frey-SamReporter Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh. Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. 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.
