MONTREAL — The final film by late National Film Board animator Ryan Larkin, about his life begging on St-Laurent Boulevard, will premiere at Montreal’s 37th Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, which runs Oct. 8-19.
Larkin, who died last year of cancer at age 63, started but never finished Spare Change, which will open the festival’s Focus section. Described as a journey through the streets of Montreal and the animator’s imagination, the work was completed after his death by producer-musician Laurie Gordon. Chris Landreth’s 2004 film about Larkin, entitled Ryan, won an Oscar for best animated short.
Larkin’s film will precede the feature-length documentary All Together Now, about the collaboration between former members of The Beatles and the Cirque du Soleil to create the popular Las Vegas LOVE show. The documentary explores the friendship between George Harrison and Cirque founder Guy Laliberté and the human side of this successful mega-production.