Bravo!FACT announces recent awards for My Name is Pochsy: An Industrial Film
My Name is Pochsy: An Industrial Film marks the filmmaking debut of award-winning writer-performer Karen Hines, whose cult character Pochsy has delighted cabaret and theatre audiences across the continent for over a decade.
The film's signature, subversive comedy fuses parody, pathos and an unforgettable character all set against a backdrop of northern Ontario’s slag heaps, and on the glorious Island of Manitoulin. Shot on Super 8, this is the first in a series of “Pochsy” films now in the works.
Synopsis
Pochsy works at Mercury Packers ... where she packs mercury. Having missed some kind of mass evacuation, she is utterly alone on a ravaged industrial landscape. 'My Name is Pochsy' is Pochsy's fictional 'personal documentary': a mercury-addled waif's ode to life, death, karmic reckoning and the future of the human soul. Ostensibly directed by Pochsy, starring Pochsy, and shot by her on abandoned scraps of black-and-white super 8 film, 'My Name is Pochsy' is Pochsy's message in a bottle to a forgetful world; a subversively comedic ode to a century of industrial film propaganda, and a mindful attack on mindless progress. Set against the stark, spectacular backdrop of northern Canada's mining fields (abandoned factories, ravaged rivers and streams, troubled animals...) it pits gritty realism against magic realism. With affirmations culled from sources as disparate as the Dalai Lama, 'The Secret' and the Wal-Mart Mission Statement, 'My Name is Pochsy' is a scathing satire for our times. Poisoned, and poisonous, Pochsy is a spokesgirl for a human species on the brink. The comedy is black, the aim is dead serious. With a musical score featuring the darker side of Tony Award-winner Greg Morrison (The Drowsy Chaperone).
('Pochsy' is pronouned 'Poxy' as in 'the pox,' and is an anagram for 'Psycho.')
Bravo!FACT announces recent awards for My Name is Pochsy: An Industrial Film
Festival Screenings:
- St. Pete Beach, Strasbourg Retrospective, Florida, 2010 (upcoming)
- Sled Island Film Festival, 2009
- Festival International du Film Sur l'Art, Montreal, 2009
- Flickering Light Series (MIX NYC), Philadelphia, 2009
- Vancouver Women in Film Festival, 2008
- MIX NYC Festival, New York, New York, October 2008
- Nuit Blanche, Toronto (Bravo!FACT), October, 2008
- Strasbourg International Film Festival, France, October, 2008
- Sudbury International Film Festival, Canada, October, 2008
- Planet in Focus, Toronto, Canada, October 2008
- Palm Springs International Film Festival, August, 2008
- Mountainfilm at Telluride, May, 2008
- Hazelwolf International Film Festival, April 2008
- Athens International Film Festival, Ohio, USA, April 2008
- Atlanta International Film Festival, Atlanta, U S A, April 2008
- Dawson International Short Film Festival, Dawson, Canada, March 2008
- Boston Underground Film Festival, Boston, U S A, March 2008
- Female Eye Film Festival, Toronto, Canada, March 2008
- US Festival of Super 8 and Digital Video, Rutgers University, New Jersey, U S A, February 2008
- High Performance Rodeo Bravo!FACT, January, 2008
- Edmonton International Film Festival, Canada, October 2007
- Just For Laughs Comedy Festival, Montreal, Canada, September 2007
Festival Awards for Pochsy:
- Strasbourg International Film Festival - Best Short - Experimental
- Boston Underground Film Festival: Audience Choice Award - Best Short
- Dawson City International Short Film Festival: Lodestar Award - Best Film
- Female Eye Film Festival In Toronto - Best Director Debut
- Edmonton International Film Festival: Kodak Canada Prize - Best Canadian Short
- Rutger's University: US Super 8 and Digital Video Film Festival - Best Experimental Film
- Strasbourg International Film Festival - Costume Design
Credits - My Name is Pochsy: An Industrial Film
Karen Hines – Writer, Director, Performer, Producer
Greg Morrison – Composer
Jamie Francey - Picture Editor
Benny Zenga - Cinematographer
Greg Woodbury - Cinematographer
John Turner – First Assistant Director, Co-Producer, Collaborator
Sandra Balcovske - Story Editor, Collaborator
Frank Laratta - Sound Editor
Richard McDowell – Technical Advisor
Company Bios - My Name is Pochsy: An Industrial Film
For complete Karen Hines bio please go here
Karen Hines: Director, Executive Producer, Lead Actor, Writer
Karen Hines is an award-winning writer, director and performer in film, television and theatre. A Second City alumna, she co-starred for three seasons in Ken Finkleman’s Emmy and Gemini Award-winning Newsroom (CBC), as well as his Foreign Objects (Rhombus) and Married Life (Comedy Central), for which Karen was nominated for Gemini and CableACE awards. Chicago-born, Toronto-bred, her theatrical black comedies have been presented across Canada and the U.S. Her acclaimed trilogy, The Pochsy Plays, and her genre-defying satire Hello...Hello have won her a loyal cult following as well as numerous awards and nominations including finalist for Canada’s Governor General’s Award for Drama. Karen is the director of high-performance horror clowns Mump & Smoot, from fringe theatres to Yale Rep. She recently wrote, directed, produced and performed in her first short film, My Name is Pochsy: An Industrial Film (Bravo!FACT), which has won seven prizes, internationally. My Name is Pochsy is the first in what will be a series of films featuring the character “Pochsy.”
Greg Morrison: Original Music/Composer
Greg Morrison received 2006 Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Backstage West Garland Awards for his work on Broadway’s The Drowsy Chaperone. Canadian credits: composer/ musical director for Hello…Hello (by Karen Hines -Tarragon Theatre); Pochsy’s Lips; Oh, Baby; Citizen Pochsy and Pochsy Unplugged (Toronto Fringe, Canadian/U.S. tours); The Drowsy Chaperone (Toronto Fringe, Theatre Passe Muraille, Mirvish Productions, Winter Garden Theatre, Toronto); Mump and Smoot in Something Else (Canadian Stage, Yale Repertory Theatre); Mump and Smoot in Flux (Canadian Stage); An Awkward Evening With Martin & Johnson (Tim Sims Playhouse); The Age of Dorian (Artword Theatre). TV songwriter credits: “Slings & Arrows” (Rhombus Media for Showcase/Sundance) and “Getting Along Famously” (CBC). Other: musical director for the Second City National Touring Company and The Alumni Café (Tim Sims Playhouse). Score for the short film My Name is Pochsy:An Industrial Film (BravoFACT)
John Turner: First Assistant Director, Collaborator, Co-producer
John Turner is best known as the “Smoot” half of the award winning Canadian clown duo Mump & Smoot, who have delighted audiences throughout North America, from Fringe festivals to the La Jolla Playhouse, Yale Rep and Off-Broadway, for the past 16 years. He is also the director of Karen Hines’ Citizen Pochsy, one of the acclaimed trilogy of Pochsy Plays, on which John has collaborated for over a decade, and which were recently nominated for the Governor General’s Award for Drama.
John began teaching the Pochinko style of clown in 1991 at Equity Showcase in Toronto. He taught there for 7 years before opening his own studio, The SPACE, with Michael Kennard (Mump) where he continued to teach, direct, and work on Mump & Smoot and Karen Hines’ shows for the next 6 years. He currently teaches primarily at Laurentian University in the innovative Programme en arts d’expression and throughout the summer on his farm on Manitoulin Island.
Sandra Balcovske: Co-Writer
Sandra Balcovske joined The Second City in Toronto in the early eighties, and directed eight Mainstage shows nominated for numerous awards, and was the director/collaborator on the first non-Fringe production of The Drowsy Chaperone. Sandra has also worked as a director and collaborating writer on a number of other original productions, including Karen Hines’ Pochsy’s Lips and Oh, Baby.Sandra was a writer/performer on CBC Radio for three seasons in the weekly spot, The Neighbours, and wrote on 26 episodes of Go Girl for S&S Productions and WTN, and two episodes of Supertown Challenge for S&S Productions and the Comedy Channel.
Recently, Sandra has worked as Creative Consultant for the movie Expecting and the television pilot The Joe Blow Show.
Benny Zenga: Cinematographer/DP
Benny Zenga is an award winning filmmaker known for his strong creative vision, inventive approach and visceral translation of energy to the screen. In 2000 he instigated ‘The Winking Circle’, a creative youth collective that exists to encourage self-expression and promote positive social change. The group became an instant sensation and through his documentary film The Winking Circle’s legendary status continues to grow. Benny’s films have aired on CBC, TVO, The Movie Channel, Music Plus! and have screened in film festivals worldwide.
Greg Woodbury: Cinematographer/DP
Greg Woodbury has worked in the Media Arts community in Toronto for over twenty years as an administrator, an educator, a technician, a producer and as an artist. He has currently co-directs Charles Street Video and teaches at Ontario College of Art and Design. His work is primarily based in collaborative practices.
Greg Morrison: Original Music/Composer
Greg Morrison received 2006 Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Backstage West Garland Awards for his work on Broadway’s The Drowsy Chaperone. Canadian credits: composer/ musical director for Hello…Hello (by Karen Hines -Tarragon Theatre); Pochsy’s Lips; Oh, Baby; Citizen Pochsy and Pochsy Unplugged (Toronto Fringe, Canadian/U.S. tours); The Drowsy Chaperone (Toronto Fringe, Theatre Passe Muraille, Mirvish Productions, Winter Garden Theatre, Toronto); Mump and Smoot in Something Else (Canadian Stage, Yale Repertory Theatre); Mump and Smoot in Flux (Canadian Stage); An Awkward Evening With Martin & Johnson (Tim Sims Playhouse); The Age of Dorian (Artword Theatre). TV songwriter credits: “Slings & Arrows” (Rhombus Media for Showcase/Sundance) and “Getting Along Famously” (CBC). Other: musical director for the Second City National Touring Company and The Alumni Café (Tim Sims Playhouse). Score for the short film My Name is Pochsy:An Industrial Film (BravoFACT).
Jamie Francey: Picture Editor
James Francey’s award-winning work as editor includes a variety of genres and clients: documentaries for NFB, Discovery Channel, Global; music videos for Bravo and Much Music; many short narratives and dance films for Bravo; award winning commercialls; music specials for CBC, CMT, MTV including Avril Lavigne, Finger 11, Tegan and Sara, Fred Eaglesmith, Oh Susanna; television programming for Life/Slice, Outdoor Life Network,ESPN and ABC.
Richard McDowell: Technical Supervisor
Richard is One Yellow Rabbit Theatre ’s resident composer and sound designer, webmaster, Mac computer guru and digital media guy. He has produced and performed scores for over 26 works including Down With Up With People, Liberators, Occupiers and Population, Heavens to Murgatroid, Dream Machine, Featherland, Thunderstruck, Doing Leonard Cohen, Permission and So Low and has toured and performed with the company across Canada and to Scotland, Germany, Holland, the Czech Republic, Mexico and the United States.