A Midsummer’s Wake

A MIDSUMMER'S WAKE

Fiction, Drama, 90 min, 2008, DV, colour, NTSC.

Synopsis

Lea (Kim Prangley) and Andrew (Bashar Shbib) have been complacently married for over fifteen years. Lea’s inability to bear children is what has caused the biggest rift in their union. When Andrew dies of a sudden heart attack, Lea’s friends (Karina Chadwick, Alexandra Woodward, Christina Andrade-Sangster, Joan Andrade) surround her for comfort and support. As they gather for a weekend to mourn the loss of their loved one, these five women of various ages come to strengthen the ties that bind them to one another.

The natural landscape that envelops them in its benevolent gaze exerts itself as a guide in their spiritual quest. The funerary wake becomes an opportunity for the women to explore the meanings of life, death, friendship and passion. Such a process cannot occur smoothly. When buried secrets emerge into the light of day, the widow and her friends eventually come to appreciate the cycles at work within themselves, as well as the natural world around them. In the end, an unexpected outcome will bring each of them to redefine their meanings of the word “love”.

A Midsummer's Wake is an honest and vibrant exchange that professes to heart-wrenching feelings, emotions, love, sex, and secret revelations.

Cast & Crew

STARRING: KIM PRANGLEY, KARINA CHADWICK, ALEXANDRA WOODWARD, CHRISTINA ANDRADE-SANGSTER, JOAN ANDRADE, BASHAR SHBIB, MAÏA NADON-CHBIB,
EDITOR: EYAD HAMAM
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: TOLGA KUTLUAY
ORIGINAL MUSIC: MAXIME FILLION, GEOFF KLEIN
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: J.-P. FORTIN, SYLVAIN BROSSET
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: MAÏA NADON-CHBIB
WRITER, PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR: BASHAR SHBIB

The Upside

THE UPSIDE

Fiction, Comedy, 76:40 min, 2009, HDV, colour, NTSC.

Synopsis

Dee (STEPHEN TAYLOR) and Jamie (XANIA KEANE) are two eccentric personalities. This is the story of the misadventures of two well-intentioned individuals who meet and fall clumsily in love.

Jamie’s insular world changes when Dee moves into the apartment close to where she keeps her trailer. The son of a desperate mother, Dee is tall and seductive. He is more timid and uncertain than Jamie. At the age of 30, Dee is finally moved to find someone for himself, with the obvious help of his mother, Janet (DOMINIQUE REMY-ROOT). When they are faced with their first meeting, the strange and secret world of Jamie becomes engaged with a more extravagant reality.

Dee’s relationship with his mother falls into complete dysfunction. Dee wants to be independent, but is unsure whether he will be able to survive without her. For this reason, when Janet informs her son that she has invited Jamie to dinner, Dee complains that she is trying to entangle Jamie into her maternal umbilical cord, along with himself.

Cast & Crew

STARRING: XANIA KEANE, STEPHEN TAYLOR, DOMINIQUE REMY-ROOT, SIMON BROWN, NIPSI BELLIAPA, MARLENE EDOYAN, JAMES MURRAY, STEPHEN DE OLIVEIRA, KIM PRANGLEY
ART DIRECTOR: MATT WEAVER
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: KALE REUM
MUSIC: TRIKE
EDITOR: JIMMY BELLEMARE, GABRIEL BROWN
SOUND: STEPHEN DE OLIVEIRA
SCREENPLAY: ROBERT MURRAY
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: ROBERT MURRAY, DAMON COX
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: MAÏA NADON-CHBIB
PRODUCER: BASHAR SHBIB
DIRECTOR: GABRIEL BROWN

Murder In Rock Island

MURDER IN ROCK ISLAND

Fiction, Comedy, 70:24 min, 2010, DV, colour, NTSC.

Synopsis

Jean (Krissy Longtin) and Kelly (Dustin Ruck), are two young lovers who are living through difficult times in their relationship. The trouble begins when, against her wishes, an old friend of Kelly’s named Lawson (Andrew Hopps) joins them in house-sitting for Jean’s mother (Kim Prangley). The adventure ends in death as the ghost of Jean’s father (Bashar Shbib) intervenes in the couple’s life, murder ensues in the little town of Rock Island, Canada.

Cast & Crew

STARRING: KRISSY LONGTIN, DUSTIN RUCK, ANDREW HOPPS, KIM PRANGLEY, BASHAR SHBIB
ART DIRECTOR: GEOFF KLEIN
EDITOR: GEOFF KLEIN, DANY FOSTER
SOUND : ROGER ORCAU
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: GEOFF KLEIN
MUSIC : XANIA KEANE, ROBERT DONACHIE
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: SYLVAIN BROSSET
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: MAÏA NADON-CHBIB
WRITER, PRODUCER, DIRECTOR: BASHAR SHBIB
ALSO STARRING : KIM PRANGLEY, BASHAR SHBIB, GEOFF KLEIN

The Making of… Indie TV ?

THE MAKING OF... INDIE TV ?

Making-of, 83:00 min, 2012, DV, colour, NTSC.

Synopsis

The making of…indie television? portrays how a low-budget, independent television program is made without compromising one’s creative freedom. Using Granite Forks, a television series filmed on location in Stanstead, Canada as a case study, along with footage from some of independent filmmaker Bashar Shbib’s other films, this full-length feature gives the inside scoop on the challenges of independent media production and why it is such a driving force in one director’s life.

Cast & Crew

STARRING : BASHAR SHBIB, KIM PRANGLEY, ALEXANDRA WOODWARD, ROBERT MURRAY, CRAIG HENDERSON, JAMES MURRAY, STEPHEN WALKER, HEATHER CROGHAN, KARINA CHADWICK, JON DEITCHER, MICHAEL PENNING, EYAD HAMAM, CHRISTINA ANDRADE-SANGSTER, JOAN ANDRADE, MATT TURNER
EDITOR : GEOFF KLEIN
SOUND: STEPHEN DE OLIVEIRA
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY : EYAD HAMAM
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER : MAÏA NADON-CHBIB
WRITTEN PRODUCED AND DIRECTED BY : BASHAR SHBIB
ALSO STARRING : SARA BAXTER, CLARA BIRD, REUBEN BIRD, ZACHARY BIRD, PAUL BOITEUX, MARY LYNN BOYS, COLIN CAMPBELL, ROBERT CHADWICK, CINDEL CHARTRAND, TAMMY CLEROUX-BAILEY, MICHAEL SHANE CONLEY, HEATHER CROGHAN, STEPHEN DE OLIVEIRA, EMILY DESORMEAUX, DJELA DJAMBA OKOKO, NICOLAS DOUCET, BRIAN DUBOIS, MYRIAM ENAULT, BEVERLEY GOODSELL, RONALD GOODSELL, AARON GUIMOND, GILLES GUIMOND, HOPE GUIMOND, ANDREW HOPPS, DAVID HOPPS, MEGHAN JENSEN, ERICA KOHL-BRADLEY, GEOFF KLEIN, TOLGA KUTLUAY, JONAH LERNER, JAYME MARROTTE, RYAN MOLEIRO, MAÏA NADON-CHBIB, NANCY NURSE, CHRISTIAN OUELLET, STACY POULIN, FRED ROBERTSON, RUSSELL SANGSTER, CHRIS SEVERS, ALBERT SMITH, JERRY SMITH, ARIEL THERRIEN, MARJOLAINE TREMBLAY, MATT TURNER, PETER VARGAS, RAYMOND YATES

The Search For Evangeline

THE SEARCH FOR EVANGELINE

Documentary, 83:38 min, 2014, HD, colour, NTSC.

Synopsis

THE SEARCH FOR EVANGELINE is an hommage to 100 years of feature filmmaking in Canada. Evangeline was the first feature film directed by E. Sullivan and P. Cavanaugh made in Canada in 1913 and shot in Nova Scotia based upon a Longfellow poem written in 1847 depicting the expulsion of the Acadian population into diaspora by King George II. The 1913 film was independently produced by Canadian Bioscope Company without any government funding. A copy of the 1913 production of Evangeline has not been found so far. Shbib seeks to find out what there remains of this first Canadian feature film. Shbib's documentary was shot in Louisiana, Washigton D.C., Massachusetts, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Maine, California, New York, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Ontario.

Cast & Crew

FEATURING: GEORGES ARSENAULT, RENALDO BARNES, FRANÇOISE BONENFANT, JEANNÉ MANCE CORMIER, ZOE CONSTANTINIDES, DAVID DALY, CLAUDE DEGRÂCE, PHILIP FREY, ANDRÉ GAUDREAULT, JACKIE D. JUSTICE, LYNDA L. KINSLEY, LOUIS PELLETIER, DEBORAH ROBICHAUD, DEBBIE SAVOY, GARY SHUTLAK, D.J. TURNER, CHRISTINE WIRTH, DYLAN ZINK, JAMES B. ZINK
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: J. P. FORTIN
SOUND RECORDIST: SYLVAIN BROSSET
COMPOSER: MAXIME FILLION
PRODUCTION MANAGER: CHRISTINA RYAN
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: SYLVAIN BROSSET
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: MAÏA NADON-CHBIB, D. J. TURNER, FAROUK S. CHEBIB, HARALABOS SUGLERIS
PRODUCERS: BASHAR SHBIB, J. P. FORTIN
WRITER, DIRECTOR: BASHAR SHBIB

Almost Paradise

ALMOST PARADISE

Fiction, Drama, 82:25 min, 2014, HD, Canada, colour, NTSC.

Synopsis

Catherine (Catherine Enoe) is native to Grenada and works as a nurse caring for outpatients. She travels from patient to patient, healing them and taking the pulse of contemporary Grenada. She indirectly reveals to us that in this presumed post colonial world new forms of colonialism are still alive and well in this almost paradise.

Cast & Crew

STARRING : CATHERINE ENOE, VERA ENOE
DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY : J.-P. FORTIN
SOUND RECORDIST : SYLVAIN BROSSET
EDITOR : DORIN GOIAN, J.-P. FORTIN
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS : MAÏA NADON-CHBIB, D.J. TURNER
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS : CHERYNE CHEBIB, SYLVAIN BROSSET
PRODUCERS : BASHAR SHBIB, J.-P. FORTIN
WRITERS : BASHAR SHBIB
DIRECTOR : BASHAR SHBIB

Lazarus

LAZARUS

Fiction, Drama, 78:30 min, 2015, HDV, colour, NTSC.

Synopsis

Louise (Rebecca Rau) and four other troubled young patients are ordered to appear at a week-end of art therapy sessions with Doctor Zion (George Moskos). Louise soon falls in love with another inductee, an alcoholic patient named Kurt (Dustin Ruck). Doctor Lazarus (Damon Cox), an assistant of Dr. Zion, guides their progress while the doctor is out.

One of the patients, Eric (Jason J. Cox) is a sexually depraved teenager. He soon takes an obsessive interest in Louise, who becomes distrustful of the goings-on in the halfway house.

Through discussion, painting lessons and music therapy, the group hashes out their life stories and inner struggles. All the while, Dr. Lazarus becomes sexually obsessed with Eric. The story takes a turn to black humour when Doctor Lazarus manages to create an atmosphere of fear and distrust amongst the group.

Cast & Crew

STARRING : DAMON COX, REBECCA RAU, JASON J. COX, DUSTIN RUCK, SOPHIE CULLEN AUBUT, GEORGE MOSKOS
WRITER : JIMMY BELLEMARE
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY : GABRIEL BROWN
SECOND UNIT CAMERA : CAMILLE FORTIN-CHBIB
BOOM OPERATOR : MARTIN ALLAIRE
ART DIRECTOR : SOPHIE CULLEN AUBUT
EDITOR : DANY FOSTER
SOUND: TITI REBO
MUSIC: DUSTIN RUCK
PRODUCER : BASHAR SHBIB
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER : MAÏA NADON-CHBIB
DIRECTOR : JIMMY BELLEMARE

Aporia

APORIA

Fiction, Comedy, 72:15 min, 2015, HD, colour, NTSC.

Synopsis

Two Los Angeles sisters, Marguerite (Karen Sedgley) and Sabina (Nancy Wolfe) visit for the first time the city of Istanbul, Turkey to find their missing sister Ariel.

Ariel's pilgrimage led her to Istanbul, where she hoped to find answers to her current midlife crisis. Her diary, journaling her every location throughout this city, was left behind and became the sisters' sole lead into finding her.

While searching for her, they meet several characters who take them on their exploration throughout the city. The sisters are forced to re-assess their relationship while they search for Ariel.

Cast & Crew

STARRING : KAREN SEDGLEY, NANCY WOLFE, UGUR CAN GURSOZLU, ARTUN BINGOL, GONENC NIHAT DIRIK, BASHAR SHBIB
D.O.P / CAMERA : J.-P. FORTIN, EREN AYTEKIN, SYLVAIN BROSSET
SOUND RECORDISTS : UGUR CAN GURSOZLU, EMMANUEL CAMPEAU, VICTOR CHAN
EDITORS : ROBERT DONACHIE, J.-P. FORTIN
MUSIC: MURAT DOGAN
PRODUCTION MANAGER : UGUR CAN GURSOZLU
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER : SYLVAIN BROSSET
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS : MAIA NADON-CHBÏB, HARALABOS SUGLERIS
PRODUCERS : BASHAR SHBIB, J.-P. FORTIN
WRITER, DIRECTOR : BASHAR SHBIB
ALSO STARRING : UGUR CAN GURSOZLU, BASHAR SHBIB, ARTUN BINGOL, GONENC NIHAT DIRIK

The Weddings Murders

THE WEDDINGS MURDERS

Fiction, Drama, Crime, 90 min, 2016, 35mm, colour, NTSC.

Synopsis

The Wedding Murders is a story of obsession, told through the lives of two men – a serial killer and a detective. Henry Sparks (Mark Houghton) has worshiped Detective Prospect Jenkins (Ross Partridge) from the day he met him in the schoolyard when he was ten. As adults, a series of murders have brought Henry and Prospect closer together, as Prospect becomes more estranged from his wife, Geena (Alexandra Woodward). Prospect will be drawn deeper into the world of this homosexual serial killer, where he will learn just how far worship can go.

No amount of professional ambition could have prepared Prospect for the high-profile serial-killings known in the headlines as “The Wedding Murders”. Bodies begin to turn up in and around the district. Prospect’s obsessive determination to regain control of the case begins to take its toll on his personal and professional life. The obsession has clearly become mutual; Henry has won Prospect’s attention... Regardless of the cost.

Cast & Crew

STARRING : MARK HOUGHTON, ROSS PARTRIDGE, ALEXANDRA WOODWARD, TONIA LYNN, TADZEO HORNER-CHBIB
COSTUMES : CATHIA PAGOTTO
ART DIRECTOR : JEAN-FRANÇOIS DA SYLVA-LA RUE
EDITOR : JON DEITCHER
ANIMATION: GABRIEL SANCHEZ
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY : KARINE ZERBÉ
ORIGINAL MUSIC : STEPHEN DE OLIVEIRA, PHILIPPE LAUZIER
SCREENPLAY : BASHAR SHBIB, BRIAN DOUGLAS McDONALD
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER : MAÏA NADON-CHBIB
PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR : BASHAR SHBIB
ALSO STARRING : NICOLAS MARANDA, LINDSAY O. PIERRE, KEIR CUTLER, HUBERT MARSOLAIS, PATRICIA ADNAN

Giacomini

GIACOMINI (French Language Original)

Documentary, 25:30 min, 2016, HD, colour, NTSC.

Synopsis

Pascal Giacomini is a Hollywood based sculptor working with various media. In this documentary he recounts his life as an artist and also demonstrates his working methods set in his LA studio.

Cast & Crew

PARTICIPANT: PASCALE GIACOMINI
EDITOR : EMMANUEL CAMPEAU
SOUND : SYLVAIN BROSSET
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY : J.-P. FORTIN
SECOND UNIT CAMERA: EMMANUEL CAMPEAU
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS : MAÏA NADON-CHBIB, D.J. TURNER, FAROUK S. CHEBIB, HARALABOS SUGLERIS, KIRA ETTEHADIEH
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY : BASHAR SHBIB
PRODUCED BY: BASHAR SHBIB

A MIDSUMMER'S WAKE

a Bashar Shbib film