''Shoemaker'' is a 1996 Canadian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Colleen Murphy.

Gerald Pratley Gerald Arthur Pratley (September 3, 1923 – March 14, 2011) was a Canadian film critic and historian. Piers Handling"Gerald Arthur Pratley" ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', September 18, 2011. A longtime film critic for the Canadian Broadcasting Cor ...

, ''A Century of Canadian Cinema''. Lynx Images, 2003. . p. 196. It was written by Jaan Kolk and produced by

Elizabeth Yake Elizabeth Yake is a Canadian film producer, who is the founder and president of True West Films."Producer Yake goes Green in B.C.". ''The Province'', August 27, 2005. She is most noted for the films ''Everything's Gone Green'' and ''It's All Gone ...

for Subjective Eye and the

Canadian Film Centre The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) is a charitable organization founded in 1988 by filmmaker Norman Jewison in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally launched as a film school, today it provides training, development and advancement opportunities for ...

. The film stars Randy Hughson as Carey, a man with an intellectual disability who works in a shoe repair shop owned by Paul ( Hardee T. Lineham); one day, Carey meets and begins a romantic relationship with Anna (

Alberta Watson Faith Susan Alberta Watson (March 6, 1955 – March 21, 2015), better known as Alberta Watson, was a Canadian film and television actress. Early life Watson was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1955.Rita Zekas. , Toronto Star, August 5, 1994. She gr ...

), a woman he meets at the grocery store. The cast also includes

George Buza George Buza is an American and Canadian actor who is best known for voicing Beast (Dr. Hank McCoy) in '' X-Men: The Animated Series'' and ''X-Men '97''. Personal life Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he moved to Toronto, Ontario, as a young man and be ...

and Ellen-Ray Hennessy. The film premiered at the

1996 Toronto International Film Festival The 21st Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 5 and September 14, 1996. The festival opened with the film ''Fly Away Home'', and closed with ''That Thing You Do!''. This year's festiva ...

, and was released theatrically in Canada and Germany in 1997.

Awards and nominations

The film won the Audience Award, the Award of Independent Cinema Owners and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury - Special Mention at the

International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg The Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival (), often referred to by the German-language initialism IFFMH, is an annual film festival established in 1952 hosted jointly by the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg, the ...

in 1997, and was nominated for the Maverick Spirit Award at the

Cinequest Film Festival The Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival is an annual independent film festival held each March in San Jose, California and Redwood City, California. The international festival combines the cinematic arts with Silicon Valley’s innovation. It ...

in 1998. The film received three

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

18th Genie Awards The 18th Genie Awards were held on 14 December 1997 to honour Canadian films released that year. to honour the best Canadian films of 1997. The ceremony's hosts were film critics Geoff Pevere and Cameron Bailey. For this year, CBC Television dec ...

, with a

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress award ...

nod for Watson and a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Lineham, and a nomination for the

Claude Jutra Award The John Dunning Best First Feature Award is a special Canadian film award, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the year's best feature film by a first-time film director. Under the earlier names Claude Jutra Award and Ca ...

for Best First Feature."Sweet Hereafter leads the Genie award pack". ''

The Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they ...

'', November 5, 1997.

References

External links

* 1996 films 1996 drama films English-language Canadian films Canadian drama films Canadian Film Centre films 1990s English-language films 1990s Canadian films {{1990s-Canada-film-stub