Darrell Wasyk (born 18 May 1958 in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

) is a Canadian film director.

Biography

Darrell Wasyk was born in

. He worked extensively in both theatre and opera before making the transition to film.

Film

Making his feature film debut with '' H'', it won the Toronto-City Award for Best Canadian Feature Film at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

. The film was presented at several Festivals that year including the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

, the

Hong Kong International Film Festival The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) is one of Asia's oldest international film festivals. Founded in 1976, the festival features different movies and filmmakers from different countries, and takes place in Hong Kong. HKIFF screens ...

, the

Vienna International Film Festival The Vienna International Film Festival, or Viennale, is a film festival taking place every October since 1960 in Vienna, Austria. The average number of visitors is about 75,000. Traditional cinema venues are ''Gartenbaukino'', ''Urania'', ''Met ...

, the

Palm Springs International Film Festival Palm Springs International Film Festival (sometimes stylized shortly as PSIFF) is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. Originally promoted by Mayor Sonny Bono and then sponsored by Nortel,here for Table of Contents it started in 19 ...

, the Birmingham International Film and Television Festival, and the

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

, where it picked up two major awards, making it the first Canadian feature film to win an official prize in the festival’s 47-year history. In Canada, ''H'' was presented at the

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (), commonly abbreviated MWFF in English or FFM in French, was an annual film festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1977 to 2019.Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Festi ...

, where it won the Best Canadian Screenplay Award. At the

12th Genie Awards The 12th Genie Awards were held on November 26, 1991, and honoured Canadian films released in 1990 and 1991."Genies undergo changes". ''The Globe and Mail'', November 26, 1991. The ceremony was hosted by actor Leslie Nielsen Following the disastro ...

the film won a Best Actress Award for

Pascale Montpetit Pascale Montpetit (born 28 July 1960) is a French Canadian actress. In 1990 she won a Best Actress Genie Award for Darrell Wasyk's '' H''. In 2002 she had a Genie Award for best actress in a supporting role for Mario Azzopardi Mario Philip Az ...

, and also received two nominations one for Best Direction and the other for Best Original Screenplay. '' Mustard Bath'', Wasyk’s second feature film, made its world premiere at the 1993 Berlin International Film Festival, and then made its North American premiere at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, where it won a Gold Prize for the Best Dramatic Feature Film. Back in Canada, ''Mustard Bath'' screened at the

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (), commonly abbreviated MWFF in English or FFM in French, was an annual film festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1977 to 2019.Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

, the Festival International du Film de Québec, and at the Vancouver International Film Festival. At the

15th Genie Awards The 15th Genie Awards were held on December 7, 1994 to honour Canadian films released in 1993. Actor Graham Greene hosted the ceremony. Building on the success of its Genie specials of the last two years, the academy and the CBC produced two show ...

the film won a Best Supporting Actress Award for

Martha Henry Martha Kathleen Henry (née Buhs; February 17, 1938October 21, 2021) was an American-Canadian actress and director of stage and screen. During her lifetime, she was considered one of her country’s most acclaimed and accomplished thespians. She ...

The Girl in the White Coat ''The Girl in the White Coat'' is a 2011 Cinema of Canada, Canadian drama film directed and written by Darrell Wasyk, based on the short story "The Overcoat" by Nikolai Gogol. Plot Elise, a factory worker who lives in isolation and is tormented by ...

is Wasyk's third feature inspired by Gogol's

The Overcoat "The Overcoat" (, translit. Shinyél’; sometimes translated as "The Cloak" or "The Mantle") is a short story by Nikolai Gogol, published in 1842. The story has had a great influence on Russian literature. Eugène-Melchior de Vogüé, ...

, starring Pascale Montpetit where she picked up another Genie nomination for Best Actress performance in a Leading role in yet another Wasyk feature film, at the

32nd Genie Awards The 32nd Genie Awards ceremony was held on March 8, 2012 to honour films released in 2011.

, as well as a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Joey Klein at the 2013

Jutra Award Jutras may have several meanings : * Claude Jutra: an award-winning French Canadian filmmaker **Jutra Award: Film awards formerly given in the Canadian province of Quebec, named after the filmmaker and now known as Prix Iris **The Claude Jutra Awa ...

Television

In television, Wasyk directed five episodes of

Ridley Ridley may refer to: Education * Ridley College (Ontario), a university preparatory boarding and day school located in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada * Ridley College (Melbourne), an evangelical theological college in Melbourne, Australia * Rid ...

and

Tony Scott Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was a British film director and producer. He made his theatrical film debut with ''The Hunger (1983 film), The Hunger'' (1983) and went on to direct highly successful action and t ...

’s Scottfree/Telescene Film Group’s

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

original series '' The Hunger'', starring

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

and

Terence Stamp Terence Henry Stamp (born 22 July 1938) is an English actor. Known for his sophisticated villain roles, he was named by ''Empire (magazine), Empire'' as one of the 100 Sexiest Film Stars of All Time in 1995. He has received various accolades in ...

. Episodes include: ''Sloan Men'', ''Anais'', and ''The Lighthouse'' (1998), and ''The Suction Method'' and ''The Perfect Couple'' (1999).

Art

Wasyk’s art installations include ''Intermission'', ''List'', ''Intermezzo'', ''Middle'', and ''Liszt, Franz'' at the

Wynick/Tuck Gallery Wynick/Tuck Gallery is a privately owned contemporary art gallery based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned and operated by Lynne Wynick and David Tuck. Founded in 1968 as Aggregation Gallery, the gallery presented a wide program of over 500 e ...

, as well as ''On Going'' at the YYZ Artists' Outlet both in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Theatre

A student of the

National Theatre School of Canada The National Theatre School of Canada (NTS, ) is a private institution of professional theatre studies in Montreal, Quebec. Established in 1960, the NTS receives its principal funding from grants awarded by the Government of Canada and cultural ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Wasyk went on to apprentice with Sir Peter Hall at the

Glyndebourne Festival Opera Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, e ...

on Hall's productions of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

’s ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...

'' and

Dame Janet Baker Dame Janet Abbott Baker (born 21 August 1933) is an English mezzo-soprano best known as an opera, concert, and lieder singer.Blyth, Alan, "Baker, Dame Janet (Abbott)" in Sadie, Stanley, ed.; John Tyrell; exec. ed. (2001). ''New Grove Dictionar ...

’s farewell performance of

Gluck Christoph Willibald ( Ritter von) Gluck (; ; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire at ...

’s ''

Orfeo ed Euridice (; French: '; English: ''Orpheus and Eurydice'') is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, based on the myth of Orpheus and set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the '' azione teatrale'', meaning an ...

''. His apprenticeship with Sir Peter Hall continued on to the

National Theatre of Great Britain The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...

, where he worked with

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...

on '' Other Places'', and on

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

’s ''

The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, a Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde, the last of his four drawing-room plays, following ''Lady Windermere's Fan'' (1892), ''A Woman of No Importance'' (1893) and ''An Ideal Husban ...

'', both starring

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Widely considered one of Britain's greatest actors, she is noted for her versatility, having appeared in films and television, as well as for her numerous roles on the stage ...

. In New York, Wasyk worked with

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

, directing the off-Broadway production of ''

Out Cry ''Out Cry'' is a play by Tennessee Williams, his rewrite of '' The Two-Character Play'' which he had written in 1966 and which was staged in 1967 and published by New Directions Publications in 1969. Williams began rewriting the play after its p ...

''. He continued studying at the

Actors Studio The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights located on West 44th Street in Hell's Kitchen in New York City. The studio is best known for its work refining and teaching method actin ...

, and later worked with

Marshall W. Mason Marshall W. Mason (born February 24, 1940) is an American theater director, educator, and writer. Mason founded the Circle Repertory Company in New York City and was artistic director of the company for 18 years (1969–1987). He received an Obie ...

at the

Circle Repertory Company The Circle Repertory Company, originally named the Circle Theater Company, was a theatre company in New York City that ran from 1969 to 1996. It was founded on July 14, 1969, in Manhattan, in a second floor loft at Broadway and 83rd Street by di ...

. Wasyk became the Associate Artistic Director of the Toronto Free Theatre from 1984 to 1986, as well as becoming the founding Artistic Director of his own theatre company 45.3, where he wrote and directed the Chalmers-nominated play ''In the Wee Hours''. Other productions included

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

’s ''

Baal Baal (), or Baʻal, was a title and honorific meaning 'owner' or 'lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The ...

'',

Alfred Jarry Alfred Jarry (; ; 8 September 1873 – 1 November 1907) was a French Artistic symbol, symbolist writer who is best known for his play ''Ubu Roi'' (1896)'','' often cited as a forerunner of the Dada, Surrealism, Surrealist, and Futurism, Futurist ...

’s '' Ubu the King'',

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...

’s, '' Bluebeard’s Castle'', and

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned half a century. He wrote 58 plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, ...

’s '' Killer’s Head''. During the

Shaw Festival The Shaw Festival is a Charitable organization, Charitable theatre festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is the second largest repertory theatre company in North America, second only to Canada's Strat ...

’s 1984 season, Wasyk directed the first play reading series, ''New Works''.

Filmography

Feature films

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wasyk, Darrell 1958 births Film directors from Edmonton 20th-century Canadian screenwriters 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian male writers Writers from Edmonton Canadian television directors Living people Screenwriters from Alberta