Tom Thomson Art Gallery is excited to announce that director Chandler Levack will be attending the presentation of her first feature film, I Like Movies, on Monday, April 3, at Galaxy Cinemas in Owen Sound as part of the Gallery Night at the Movies series. There will be a question-and-answer period where Levack will provide insight into her film and the process that went into making it. I Like Movies was named one of the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) Top Ten Canadian Films of 2022, and the director attributes the authentic feel of the film to the ‘goldmine’ that she found at the former Blockbuster just outside Owen Sound that closed in 2011.
I Like Movies is set in Burlington, Ontario, in 2003 at a time when video stores were thriving, and any kid with a camcorder could declare themself a filmmaker. Lawrence Kweller (TIFF Rising Star Isaiah Lehtinen) has a video camera and remains obsessed with getting into NYU Film School — surely everyone will recognize his genius, right? But Lawrence also believes that being an artist means never having to say you’re sorry. He treats his friend terribly, treats his mother (Krista Bridges) even worse, and has little patience for the customers at the local “Sequels” video store where he works part-time, much to the dismay of his manager (Romina D’Ugo).
Toronto-based director Levack, whose short film We Forgot to Break Up was a Canada’s Top Ten selection in 2017, captures the period detail perfectly, right down to the pop culture references and the spacious video-rental franchise: you can practically smell the popcorn ground into the “Sequels” carpet.
Tickets for I Like Movies on April 3, part of the Tom Thomson Art Gallery’s film series, Gallery Night at the Movies, are available for sale at The TOM during regular hours and can be purchased in person or over the phone. Screening times are 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.; tickets are $15 each.
Chandler Levack is a filmmaker and writer from Toronto. After studying cinema at the University of Toronto and graduating from the Canadian Film Centre in 2012, she co-directed several acclaimed music videos for the band PUP and made the short film We Forgot to Break Up in 2017. She has written for SPIN, Toronto Life and Maisonneuve and is a current film critic for the Globe & Mail. I Like Movies is her first feature and is based on her formative education working at Blockbuster Video in Burlington, Ontario, in the early 2000s.
In conjunction with the Toronto International Film Festival, The TOM’s Gallery Night at the Movies film series is one of The TOM’s longest-running programs. As an Official Film Circuit Centre, Gallery Night at the Movies provides local filmgoers with an opportunity to see films that may not otherwise be available in our region and supports the Canadian film industry by providing filmmakers and distributors with the opportunities to extend the reach and theatrical runs of their releases into the smaller communities across the country. With a season running from September to May, Gallery Night at the Movies brings the best of Canadian, foreign and independent film to the region featuring highlights from TIFF and the Film Festival Circuit. Films are screened at the local Cineplex Theatre, Galaxy Cinemas in Owen Sound, offering a true cinematic experience with all the amenities.
source: media release
