Fitzgerald returns to FIN with Splinters
Posted Sep 8, 2018 10:10:00 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Prolific Halifax director Thom Fitzgerald's Splinters will open FIN Atlantic International Film Festival, Halifax's premiere film event.
For Fitzgerald, it marks his first feature since 2011's Cloudburst, and a return to the format that catapulted him into FIN's favour with his 1997 debut The Hanging Tree.
“I've been working in television, and have done 40-to-50 episodes since my last film. I wanted a simple, important story I could bring to film screens,” said Fitzgerald.
His love for the content of Lee-Anne Poole's stage play for Splinters got him back into feature film.
“I've loved the protagonist, whose fluid sexual identity, and conflicts with her family over it, seem even more relevant now,” he said.
“I wanted to tell a simple story with a real sense of place. Splinters is all those things to me.”
He had been working on TV shows Forgive Me and Sex & Violence, and said episodic television is different from film.
“The pace is what changes things. TV is structured and cyclical, where film has its own unique identity,” he said.
“I love this film. I have pretty much all warm and fuzzy memories about making it, and of all of my films, I came closest to achieving what I wanted with this one.”
The drama, shot in the Annapolis Valley, follows a young woman and her struggles with her difficult mother following the death of her father. It explores themes of queer identity and family struggle that have marked Fitzgerald's earlier work also.
“To me, it's about showing a point of view. I don't think about queer representation as much as I think about capturing authentic characters. I'd rather them be 3-dimensional and flawed than be a good representation,” he said.
“I'm lucky to be able to explore these kinds of characters, because there were a lot of artists before me who weren't so fortunate.”
With Sofia Banzhaf — co-star of Closet Monster — and the venerable Shelley Thompson on board, he had a great cast to work with.
“Sofia is a star in every sense of the word, and I expect big things from her. Shelley and Sofia enjoyed each other a lot. Sofia came on with big respect for Shelley,” he said.
“The chemistry was like a mother and daughter. This is an absolutely beautiful turn by Shelley, and anyone who sees this mentions her performance.”
Fitzgerald has been lauded at FIN since 1997, and in two decades has won the Audience Award twice, the Best Canadian Feature award twice, and he's been lauded and bestowed honours for his writing and directing also.
“The festival has grown and changed so much, but I can't wait to go again. It still feels like home to me,” he said.
Splinters opens FIN on Thursday, Sept. 13, at the Rebecca Cohn Theatre at 7 p.m.
Seats are limited and tickets can be purchased online.
