Internationally recognized performers continued to figure prominently in Canadian feature film coproductions shot in 2002.

The legendary Lauren Bacall stars in the $6.4-million Canada/U.K. thriller The Limit (GFT Entertainment/Studio Eight). French actor Gerard Depardieu is the lead in the $8.5-million France/Canada drama Aime ton pere (Maragnon-Transfilm/GMT Productions) and countryman Philippe Noiret (Il Postino) stars in the $7.3-million France/Canada feature Pere et fils (Max Films/AJOZ/Little Bear), shot principally in rural Quebec. William Hurt and Pascale Bussieres are the co-leads in the $12.5-million Canada/U.K. family adventure The Blue Butterfly (Galafilm/Global Arts), filmed on location in Costa Rica and Quebec, while Claire Bloom, Jackie Burroughs, Bruce Greenwood and Emilia and Edward Fox are the featured cast in the recently wrapped $6-million Canada/U.K. copro The Republic of Love (Triptych Media/Dan Films), director Deepa Mehta’s adaptation of the Carol Shields’ bestseller (see story, p.1).

In Western Canada, Chevy Chase and Joan Plowright are two of the main players in the $7.5-million Canada/U.K. family holiday feature The Great Goose Caper (Voice Pictures/Productions Colin Neale/Studio Eight), while U.S. actor James Caan stars in two new Canadian copros shot in ’02, including the $5.8-million Canada/U.K. feature The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie (Nomadic Pictures/Anafi Productions).

In Vancouver, Sarah Polley, Mark Ruffalo, Amanda Plummer, Scott Speedman, Alfred Molina, Deborah Harry and Spanish actor Leonor Watling are featured in the low-budget Spanish copro My Life Without Me (My Life Productions/El Deseo), exec produced by director Pedro Almodovar (Talk to Her).

On the international film festival circuit, some 475 Canadian productions and copros were screened at more than 100 festivals last year, in distant locales ranging from Shanghai and Edinburgh to Park City, UT and Pusan, Korea.

Economic activity

In 2002, Canada partnered on 27 feature film copros representing cumulative budgets of $182.9 million, with close to half, or $90.8 million, of the financing coming from Canada.

Approximately $83 million of the total expenditure was in Canada. More than a dozen of the copros had budgets of $6 million or more. In 2001, Canada coproduced 24 feature films, with $96.6 million of the $177.4 million in total financing from Canada.

The U.K. was our leading international partner in 2002, participating in 11 films representing financing of more than $100 million (the U.K. was a coproducer on a total of 15 projects), while France was the lead partner on nine films representing financing of more than $53 million. Producers from South Africa, Spain, Japan, New Zealand, Austria and Switzerland were also part of the copro picture.