What do Jody Jamieson and Susan Sarandon have in common? They’ll both be featured in-person and on-screen in the sixth annual Grand River Film Festival (GRFF), which takes place at various venues throughout Kitchener-Waterloo and Cambridge from October 16 - 21.
Sarandon will introduce the screening of Robot And Frank on October 20 at 1:00 p.m. at Empire theatre in Kitchener. Later that evening, at 7:00 p.m., she joins director Laura Archibald and musician Sylvia Tyson in a panel Q&A following the screening of the gala presentation of Greenwich Village – Music That Defined A Generation.
The following day, Jamieson and Race Day producer Kelly Spencer will be part of a screening and panel Q&A during an event called The Cantabrigians (defined as a citizen of Cambridge). This new GRFF event focuses on aspects of community life. The theme for this year’s inaugural is Are You A Good Sport? which explores through video and photos, the role of sport in people’s lives and in the life of the community.
Jamieson was the city’s 2011 Athlete Of The Year at the 38th annual Cambridge Sports Awards banquet last November. He’s also a main character in the Race Day documentary which was produced in 2011 by Spencer’s company, Iron Horse Photo Inc., and released earlier this year.
Race Day was created with user-generated content. All of the footage used in the film was shot on Saturday, August 6, 2011 by the people who love, live and breathe harness racing. It’s an intriguing personal account of a typical day in harness racing — where no day is typical.
Race participants featured in the 23-minute film include Jamieson, Doug McNair, Anthony MacDonald, Phil Hudon, Randy Waples, Rick Zeron, Bruce Gilkinson and Stephanie Horner.
“We focused on crafting a film which showcases the personality of the sport through its characters,” explained Spencer. "We invited the characters to film themselves and each other with the intention of getting a true glimpse inside their days, and their love and respect for harness racing.
“A good film is a good story told by great characters, and this film has plenty. Audiences will be captivated by a good story regardless of their familiarity with the subject matter.”
The Race Day screening and Q&A Panel during The Cantabrigians event takes place Sunday, October 21 at the Cambridge Campus of the University of Waterloo School of Architecture at 2:00 p.m. This is a free event, but seats are limited.
For complete event information about the Grand River Film Festival, click here.
For complete Race Day documentary information, click here.