''North of Pittsburgh'' is a Canadian comedy-drama film, directed by Richard Martin and released in 1992. The film stars Jeff Schultz as Tony Andretti, an aimless slacker living in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

who supports himself smuggling

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

to Canada. After bungling a delivery and being forced to go on the run, he decides to take his estranged grandmother Rosa (

Viveca Lindfors Elsa Viveca Torstensdotter Lindfors (December 29, 1920 – October 25, 1995) was a Swedish-American stage, film, and television actress. She won an Emmy Award and a Silver Bear for Best Actress. Biography Lindfors was born in Uppsala, Swed ...

) on a quest to seek financial compensation for her husband's death of

black lung disease Black lung disease (BLD), also known as coal workers' pneumoconiosis, or simply black lung, is an occupational type of pneumoconiosis caused by long-term inhalation and deposition of coal dust in the lungs and the consequent lung tissue's react ...

after a lifetime working as a

coal miner Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extrac ...

."Movie shooting involves making Vancouver look like Pittsburgh". ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, and is the larg ...

'', January 18, 1991. Martin's father, comedian

Dick Martin Thomas Richard Martin (January 30, 1922 – May 24, 2008) was an American comedian and director. He was known for his role as the co-host (and comic foil of Dan Rowan) of the sketch comedy program ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' from 1968 to 197 ...

, also has a small role in the film as the president of the coal mining company. The film's cast also includes

John Cassini John Cassini (born in Toronto) is a Canadian actor. Career Cassini appeared in the 1995 Brad Pitt film '' Seven''. He starred in the 2005 film '' Cool Money''. Cassini starred as Ronnie Delmarco on the CBC series ''Intelligence'', which was ca ...

Jay Brazeau Jay Brazeau is a Canadian actor, best known for his role as Sam Fisher in '' Cold Squad'', Harlan in ''Stargate SG-1'' (1998, 2001), and for voicing Uncle Quigley in '' Sabrina: The Animated Series''. He is also known for his role as Bobby in ''D ...

Robert Clothier Robert Allan Clothier, DFC (October 21, 1921 – February 10, 1999) was a Canadian stage and television actor most famous for his role as Relic on the CBC television series, ''The Beachcombers''. Biography Like many of his contemporaries, ...

, James Purcell and Babz Chula. The film was shot primarily in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, with some location shooting in Pittsburgh.

Award nominations

The film garnered seven

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

nominations at the

13th Genie Awards The 13th annual Genie Awards were held on November 22, 1992, to honour Canada, Canadian films released in late 1991 and 1992. They were dominated by David Cronenberg's ''Naked Lunch (film), Naked Lunch'', Jean-Claude Lauzon's ''Léolo'', and Jean B ...

in 1992:"French-Canadian films steal Genie show: Cronenberg's Naked Lunch leads the pack with 11 nominations". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', October 14, 1992. * Best Actress: Viveca Lindfors *

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...

: Jeff Schultz * Best Overall Sound: Dean Giammarco, Patrick Ramsay, Paul A. Sharpe and Bill Sheppard * Best Editing: Bruce Lange * Best Sound Editing: Charles O'Shea, Shane Shemko, Cal Shumiatcher, Alison Grace and Marti Richa * Best Original Song: Cam Wagner, "Midnight Ride" * Best Original Score: Graeme Coleman

References

External links

* 1992 films English-language Canadian films Films about mining Films set in Pittsburgh Canadian road comedy-drama films 1990s road comedy-drama films 1992 directorial debut films Canadian films about cannabis 1990s English-language films 1990s Canadian films English-language road comedy-drama films {{1990s-Canada-film-stub