''Sculpting Memory'' (French: ''Au fil de la mémoire'') is a 2015 Canadian short artistic video directed and written by

Daniel Cockburn Daniel Ernest Cockburn is a Canadians, Canadian performance artist, film director and video artist. Cockburn won the Jay Scott Prize in 2010 and the European Media Art Festival's principal award in 2011 for his debut feature film ''You Are Here ...

which profiles and celebrates the body of work of Canadian director

Atom Egoyan Atom Egoyan (; ; born July 19, 1960) is an Armenian Canadians, Armenian-Canadian filmmaker. One of the most preeminent directors of the Toronto New Wave, he emerged during the 1980s and made his career breakthrough with ''Exotica (film), Exotica ...

commissioned for the occasion of the 2015 Canadian Governor General's Performing Arts Awards, where Egoyan was presented with a Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award.

Synopsis

is shown setting up several television sets in a large room. The television sets show excerpts from Egoyan's films ''

Next of Kin A person's next of kin (NOK) may be that person's spouse A spouse is a significant other in a marriage. A female spouse is called a wife while a male spouse is called a husband. Married The legal status of a spouse, and the specific righ ...

'', ''

Family Viewing ''Family Viewing'' is a 1987 Canadian drama film. The second feature directed by Atom Egoyan, it stars David Hemblen, Aidan Tierney, Gabrielle Rose, Arsinée Khanjian, and Selma Keklikian. The plot follows a young man from a dysfunctional family w ...

'', ''

Calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A calendar date, date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is ...

'', ''

The Adjuster ''The Adjuster'' is a 1991 Canadian drama film directed by Atom Egoyan, his fourth feature film and the first to achieve international acclaim. The film won five awards, as well as two other nominations upon its initial release. Plot Insurance ...

'', '' The Sweet Hereafter'', ''

Speaking Parts ''Speaking Parts'' is a 1989 Canadian drama film directed by Atom Egoyan. It earned a Best Motion Picture nomination, and five other nominations, at the 1989 Genie Awards. It was also nominated for Gold Hugo in 1989 Chicago International Film Fe ...

'', ''

Exotica Exotica is a musical genre that was popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s with Americans who came of age during World War II. The term was coined by Simon "Si" Waronker, Liberty Records co-founder and board chairman, named after the 1957 Mart ...

'', ''A Portrait of Arshile'', and ''Citadel''.

Themes

''Sculpting Memory'' literally surrounds

with his own films, a conceptual move referencing Egoyan's adaptation of

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

's ''

Krapp's Last Tape ''Krapp's Last Tape'' is a 1958 one-act play, in English, by Samuel Beckett. With a cast of one man, it was written for Northern Irish actor Patrick Magee (actor), Patrick Magee and first titled "Magee monologue". It was inspired by Beckett's e ...

'' (for the project '' Beckett on Film''), as well as "evoking Egoyan's own work as a moving-image installation artist and his concern with the recording and displaying of images."

Production background

''Sculpting Memory'' is one of seven films made to honour achievements by seven laureates of the 2015 Governor General's Performing Arts Awards. At the time of production, Cockburn had returned to his

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

to earn his

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

degree in 2014. The short film features an original score by Lev Lewis.

Release

The seven short films were released online on 30 May 2015. The films are available on the

National Film Board The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

Online Screening Room, as well as through its apps for smartphones, tablets and connected TV, and in ''The Performing Arts in Canada: A Celebration'', the GGPAA e-book.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official online release
at the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

website
Official online release
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

2015 films Canadian biographical films Films directed by Daniel Cockburn 2010s biographical films Canadian collage films National Film Board of Canada short films 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films English-language biographical films