CUAG to premiere Ottawa filmmaker’s take on Carr

For Michael Ostroff nothing is as powerful as an image. It’s a point he drives home in both the classroom and in an upcoming film on Canadian painter Emily Carr.

Ostroff, an Ottawa filmmaker and instructor of history and journalism, will screen Winds of Heaven: Emily Carr, Carvers and the Spirits of the Forest, at the Mayfair Theatre on October 27th and 28th. Presented by the Carleton University Art Gallery, the screening will also include a question and answer session with the director on October 27.

Five years in the making, Winds of Heaven explores the mystery and inner beauty of Emily Carr’s paintings and her relationship to the First Nations people of British Columbia’s Northwest Coast.  With the inclusion of over 120 original Carr works, Ostroff’s film portrays Carr’s vision of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century B.C.  

“I have always been fascinated by the way memory and storytelling shapes us and the tensions between myth and fact,” said Ostroff. “In Winds of Heaven, first person narratives, set-recreations and interviews with present-day art historians and critics complement the archival footage and photographs to create an intimate portrayal of Carr’s extraordinary life and her connection to First Nations peoples.”

In addition to a 40 year film career, Ostroff teaches Carleton students the art of bringing history and current events to life on the big screen.

“I teach a course to journalism students on making documentary films, in which I stress the need to think visually and try to beat out of them the idea that the word is the mighty instrument and the pictures are a secondary thought,” said Ostroff.

Winds of Heaven was made in partnership with Emmy-Award-winning Peter Raymont of White Pine Pictures. The film was supported by ten Canadian galleries, including the National Gallery of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, and Vancouver Art Gallery.

For more information on the screenings, see the Carleton University Art Gallery’s website, cuag.carleton.ca