The reeds of tall grass shift in the wind. The black-and-white scene along the dirt road is barren, poetic. Suddenly a large, lone horse rushes across the screen, attracted to a shining light on the horizon.
For the crowds attending the Sundance film festival, this could easily be one of the most arresting images they’ll see over the next ten days. Tao Gu’s short film On the Way to the Sea, one of the 14 Canadian films at Sundance, is a highly experimental work, drifting through the chaotic memories of survivors of the 2008 earthquake centred in Wenchuan, China.
Produced by Montreal’s Green Ground Productions, it’s the high-art side of Canada’s Sundance roster, while at the other extreme is Jason Eisener’s tongue-in-cheek exploitation feature Hobo With A Shotgun, about a homeless vigilante shooting down the bad guys.
Based on fake trailers within Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s film Grindhouse, the film has long been building word-of-mouth ahead of its showing at Sundance’s midnight program of films.
High art, tongue-in-cheek films among Canadian Sundance entries
