Being Canadian

Being Canadian is a 2015 Canadian–US documentary comedy film written and directed by Robert Cohen and produced by The Sibs (Colin Keith Gray and Megan Raney Aarons) in association with Movie Central and The Movie Network. The film is a humorous examination of Canadian identity. Structured around a cross-country road trip, Cohen interviews several dozen celebrities, most of whom are Canadian comedians.

Being Canadian
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRobert Cohen
Written byRobert Cohen
Produced by
  • Colin Keith Gray
  • Megan Raney Aarons
CinematographyMegan Raney Aarons
Edited byBecky Hunter
Music byCraig Northey, Scott Hard
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 25 April 2015 (2015-04-25) (Hot Docs Film Festival)
  • 26 April 2015 (2015-04-26) (Canada)
  • 18 September 2015 (2015-09-18) (US)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish
Budget$195,000

The film premiered in Canada at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto on 26 April 2015. Its US premiere in New York City on 18 September 2015 launched the Canada Cool film tour, sponsored by Telefilm Canada and the Museum of Modern Art. Critical response to the film was mixed. While some felt that it was an entertainingly patriotic love letter to Canada, others felt that it failed to provide a fresh perspective or meaningful answers to the questions raised. It was nominated for Best Documentary Screenplay by the Writers Guild of America.

Premise

Comedy writer Robert Cohen returns to Canada and sets out to find answers about Canadian identity[1] and the stereotypes and ignorance he had encountered while living abroad. He interviews several dozen fellow Canadians and a few Americans, most of them comedians,[2] posing questions he had frequently been asked. This is intercut with a road trip as the filmmaker travels across Canada, exploring his homeland after having spent most of his adult life working in the United States. He sets a goal to find answers and dispel misconceptions before arriving for Canada Day celebrations in Vancouver.[3]

Interviews

Cohen conducted over 100 interviews for the film.[4] Unless otherwise indicated, the interviewees are comedians.

Canadians, in order of appearance:

Americans, in order of appearance:

There were also brief on-the-street interviews with people in Canada, the United States, Britain, Bangladesh, and India.

Synopsis

The film opens with a brief mockumentary of Canadian Confederation, which filmmaker Robert Cohen says was met with the world's indifference. Cohen then speaks of his childhood in Calgary, Alberta, and moving to Los Angeles, California, where he became a television sitcom writer. He introduces the film as an attempt to explore the frustrating ignorance and stereotypes he encountered, through interviews with Canadians and foreigners while completing a cross-country road trip from 22 June to 1 July 2013.[5]

Outside perceptions of Canada are illustrated through interviews and anecdotal evidence, such as the idea that all Canadians live in igloos on a barren landscape.[3] Numerous Canadians who have worked in the US entertainment industry note how their nationality was met with confusion or suspicion, likened to McCarthy-era paranoia of the invisible outsider.[4][10]

Canadian politeness and propensity to apologize is noted as a true and positive stereotype, a reputation as good people which leads to better social treatment abroad (particularly in comparison to Americans). Some note that Canadians are "slaves to their courtesy" a statement which is followed by a montage of apologies. However, some perceive this as passive-aggressiveness.[11][10][12]

Maple syrup is noted for its close connection to Canadian cuisine, its association through the maple leaf as a national symbol, and one of the country's largest crimes.[2] Discussion of Canadian sports includes the respect observed in hockey fights and the Canadian Football League's 1951 and 1976 championships in which the competing teams had homophonic names.[13]

Crossing into Ontario, the weather suddenly changes and Canadians are shown taking this in stride with ice skating, art displays, and fishing on the frozen Rideau Canal in Ottawa.[14][lower-alpha 1] Surviving in the climate is discussed in the context of pioneer and modern times, with fatalistic humour raised as a coping mechanism. Noting the many Canadian comedians, Canadian humour is discussed.[9] Canada's position between the dominant British and American cultures is said to provide an outsider perspective for observational humour, satire and parody, with self-deprecating underdog characters and likeable troublemakers.

After stopping in Saskatchewan to take in a patriotic performance of the Musical Ride, Cohen travels to his hometown of Calgary. Canadian television of his childhood is examined, noting the low production values and the two-decade run of The Beachcombers. Comparisons with cross-border television leads into discussion of Canada's love-hate relationship with the United States. Canada is likened to an attention-seeking younger brother, and the interviewees note that Canada is unlikely to receive any acknowledgement from is southern neighbour and doesn't enter into the thoughts of most Americans.[16]

Canadians' inferiority complex is discussed along with many Canadians' need to create validating comparisons. Cohen visits a psychotherapist as Canada, a child of England and France with an awkward upbringing beside a noisy neighbour, and is told that he can't be happy defining himself by external comparisons.[2] Cohen becomes depressed as he begins the final leg of his journey with no definitive answer about what it means to be Canadian.

While stopping due to a storm, Cohen's doubts about the project grow and he is shown having a drunken vision of Wayne Gretsky, who tells him to believe in Canada and persevere. He reaches Vancouver in time for Canada Day celebrations. While filming an enthusiastic and boisterous parade, Cohen realizes that in his absence Canada had grown into a confident and patriotic country that doesn't need to be defended by him or his film, but his old viewpoint had kept him from seeing it. With a renewed sense of pride, Cohen realizes that there was no need for his insecurities, that today's Canada doesn't need outside recognition and that he can carry that cool identity with him.[3]

Development and production

Cohen started collecting interviews in 2008, without a firm plan of what the assembled documentary would become.[5][lower-alpha 2] In 2011, Cohen spoke at Toronto's Humber College about the factors that allow Canada to produce a large number of comedians. His research for this raised personal questions about Canadian identity and why the outside world seemed to have such little interest in the country.[4] Cohen also had a long frustration with perceptions of Canada and Canadians in the United States,[lower-alpha 3][lower-alpha 4] and sought to dispel stereotypes and ignorance.[3]

Cohen was inspired by the documentary Sherman's March for the structure of the film, following a 10-day road trip from Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, to Vancouver, British Columbia.[17][14] Producers Colin Gray and Megan Raney Aarons (a.k.a. The Sibs) of Grainey Pictures said that Cohen's project was "love at first sight" for them.[18] It was executive produced by Michael Souther, Teza Lawrence and Michael LaFetra, for Amaze Film + Television.[19]

Cohen had difficulty obtaining interviews with high-profile figures until he reached out to friends Foley and Myers. The project then quickly built momentum as an increasing number of celebrities sought to be included.[12] Cohen stated that Americans Griffin, O'Brien and Stiller were fascinated by the subject and wanted to be part of it when they learned of the Canadian celebrities participating.[5] Distributor Entertainment One was attracted to the project on the strength of media attention from the celebrity interviews.[18] Cohen then faced a different problem, as months of editing were required reducing 120 hours of interviews[12] into the finished 89-minute film.[2][11] Some material not used in the film was provided to promotional sponsors and video-on-demand (VOD) services as bonus footage.[18]

Financing

The film was initially self-financed by the core production team, who worked on deferred payment. The production faced some uncertainty with funding from Telefilm Canada. Although created by Canadians and about being Canadian, there was a question about it being Canadian enough.[4] This was because Grainey Pictures, the production company of Canadian expatriates Gray and Aarons, was California-based, technically making the film a US-coproduction.[18] Telefilm later provided financing for the film.[20]

The production conducted public fundraising on the Indiegogo website[4] from 17 May 2013. They raised $12,000 towards a goal of $95,000 in the first two weeks.[21]

Release

Cohen had hoped to release the film at the September 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, only two months after filming the cross-country road trip.[4] However, fundraising shortfalls and substantial editing work made it impossible to meet that goal.

The film premiered 25 April 2015 at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema as part of Toronto's Hot Docs international documentary festival.[8][22] It was screened in the Special Presentations programme of 17 documentaries which were premieres, recent award-winners, and works by veteran documentarians.[1] The film was released through video-on-demand (VOD) services in Canada the following day.[5] Given the limited number of screens available, Entertainment One believed the immediate VOD release was the best way to make the film available while taking advantage of media coverage of its premiere. Promotional sponsors for the film included iconic Canadian brands Tim Hortons, Air Canada, Molson Canadian, and Roots.[18]

Candy Factory Films acquired the US and worldwide distribution rights at the Hot Docs festival.[19][23] It was originally planned for a US release on 1 July (Canada Day).[18] The film instead had its US theatrical premiere on 18 September 2015 at Cinema Village in New York City, launching Telefilm Canada's Canada Cool exhibition tour in partnership with the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).[24][lower-alpha 5] On the same day, film was released on VOD in the US.[19][25]

The film had its television premiere on The Movie Network on 13 December 2015.[26]

The film toured several film festivals in 2015, including the Nantucket Film Festival,[27] DocFest film festival,[28] and Traverse City FF.[29]

Reception

Critical response

Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film was a "hardly essential but diverting doc". He found it explored every cliché about Canada, with amusing commentary by a staggering number of Canadian celebrities, but did not provide satisfactory answers to the questions it raised.[2] Will Sloan and Carly Maga of Torontoist gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, finding the celebrity interviews entertaining but calling it a shallow examination which acknowledged cultural quirks without finding answers, offering nothing new for a domestic audience.[22] Michael Rechtshaffen of the LA Times found it to be "more of a checklist than an in-depth analysis" and that the humour would be understood more by Canadian expats than indifferent Americans.[30] David Berry of the National Post rated the film 1 out of 4 and wrote that the film's jokes and observations were stale and outdated, tied together with a sloppy narrative.[13] Norman Wilner of Now Magazine called it "a pandering stunt" and felt that, through its attempts at humour, the film dismissed the interviewees' considered opinions on identity and cultural responsibility.[7]

Laurence Kardish, curator emeritus of MoMA, said that the film had "ambitious originality".[24] Dan Snierson of Entertainment Weekly called it a "charming underdog film".[3] Debra Yeo of the Toronto Star wrote that the film could leave Canadian viewers full of "pride, or at least amusement".[26] Liz Braun of The Toronto Sun wrote that the interviews were the best part of the film, which had well-delivered humour in a condensed look at Canadian culture.[31] Matthew Ritchie of Exclaim! wrote that the comedy documentary was "a labour of love" full of silliness, and that its underlying message was simply that "Canadians are funny people".[9] Pat Mullen of Point of View Magazine called the film "unabashedly and amusingly patriotic" and a "fun, laid-back jaunt into our collective psyche", told in a manner where even its omissions are distinctly Canadian. He compared it to Alan Zweig's 2013 documentary When Jews Were Funny, as the interviewees laugh and joke at the absurdity of what they've all experienced. Mullen excuses the film's flaws in the art of relating a joke.[11] Stephen Marche, writing for Esquire, took note of the invisible-outsider status of Canadians in the United States, which interviewed comedians say gave them a special edge. He found the film to be a true documentary comedy, a journey in pursuit of a country's identity, landing on a joke. "Canadians make the best kind of foreigners. You can barely tell they're there. And when you do notice them, they just make you laugh."[10] Peter Howell of the Toronto Star noted Cohen's "absurd and generous wit" and his ability to get his subjects to open up.[6]

Award nomination

Being Canadian was nominated for Best Documentary Screenplay by the Writers Guild of America at their 68th annual awards in 2016.[32][33]

See also

Footnotes

Notes
  1. In one of the film's more blatant parodies of misconceptions about Canada, Ottawa is shown to be frozen-over in June (when average low temperatures are about 11 °C [52 °F] and the record low is 3.5 °C [38.3 °F][15]). Scenes of the Winterlude festival on the 7.8-kilometre (4.8 mi) Rideau Canal Skateway are shown as if normal everyday summer activities in Canadian cities.[14][13]
  2. One of Cohen's first interviews was with The Barenaked Ladies, before a concert in Los Angeles, prior to Steven Page's departure from the group in early 2009.[17][5] Conan O'Brien's interview was on the Late Night set, from February 2009 or earlier.[9]
  3. While Cohen was on a family vacation in Hawaii, local shops offered free donuts to Canadians for their country's role in the Iran hostage crisis. Cohen and his brothers tried to take up a shop's offer but were refused as the owner thought Canadians wore furs and had blue skin with icicles hanging from their faces.[4]
  4. While moving to Los Angeles, Cohen was given a traffic ticket by a law enforcement officer who refused to acknowledge the existence of Alberta, as indicated on his licence plates, and wrote that he was from "Atlantis".[3]
  5. The Canada Cool tour replaced the Canada Front showcase at the Museum of Modern Art.[20]

References
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  2. Scheck, Frank (18 September 2015). "'Being Canadian': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Los Angeles, California. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  3. Snierson, Dan (13 October 2015). "Being Canadian documentary features Mike Myers, Michael J. Fox, Rush, debunks stereotypes". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  4. Ahearn, Victoria (30 June 2013). "What does "Being Canadian" mean to Canuck comedy writer Robert Cohen". Vancouver Sun. Vancouver, British Columbia: Postmedia Network Inc. The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  5. Ahearn, Victoria (23 April 2015). "'Being Canadian' doc recruits celebs as it explores what it means to be Canuck". CTV News. Toronto, Ontario: Bell Media. The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  6. Howell, Peter (30 April 2015). "Hot Docs: Movies about comedy look for the universal laugh within the particular joke". Toronto Star. Toronto, Ontario. Archived from the original on 30 December 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
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  10. Marche, Stephen (18 September 2015). "What It Really Means to be Canadian". Esquire. New York City: Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Archived from the original on 21 January 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
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  15. Raymond, Red (4 June 2019). "Coldest June in 55 years recorded in Ottawa". CTV News.
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  20. Pinto, Jordan (24 July 2015). "Telefilm launches 'Cool' film tour in U.S." Playback. Toronto, Ontario: Brunico Communications. Archived from the original on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  21. Matt, Sylvain (31 May 2013). "Weekly roundup: Premieres, mentorship and financing news". Playback. Toronto, Ontario: Brunico Communications. Archived from the original on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
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