SAT, OCT 4 / 7 pm
Dir. John Pozer | Canada 1991 | 100min. | 35mm | Drama
FREE ADMISSION
BRUCE SWEENEY INTRODUCES: THE GROCER’S WIFE
THE ADJUSTER earned Atom Egoyan the award for Best Canadian Feature at the 1991 Toronto Festival of Festivals, which included a $25,000 prize. He repeated the generous tribute given him by Wim Wenders four years earlier in Montreal by donating the entire award to John Pozer, for his film THE GROCER’S WIFE. Set in the industrial hell of Trail, B.C. THE GROCER’S WIFE is a decidedly bent comic drama about a man who spends his days checking the emissions from the town’s giant smoke stack. Following the death his domineering mother from the pollution, his life takes a bizarre turn when an itinerant American stripper moves into her bedroom. To make matters worse the local grocer’s wife lusts after the young man. This unsettling fairy tale – director John Pozer’s completely original “no budget” feature debut – is shot in dense black and white.
Bruce Sweeney is regarded as one of the west coast’s best directors, noted for his improvisational style in working with actors. His first feature LIVE BAIT won Best Canadian Film at the Toronto International Film Festival in 1995. His second feature DIRTY screened at Sundance and Berlin. This film won Best Emerging Artist at the Vancouver Film Festival in 1998. His third feature, LAST WEDDING was chosen as the opening night film at Toronto International Film Festival in 2001. More recently Bruce directed AMERICAN VENUS, released in 2007.
