To say that Canada's Guy Maddin is the best in the world at what he does - although very much true - is a bit of a misrepresentation. You see, Guy Maddin is the only person in the world who does what he does, a true auteur with twinned obsessions on classic expressionism and mythologizing his native city of Winnipeg. His films are striking, laced with whimsy and an off kilter sense of humor, frequently incorporating elements of science fiction lifted directly from what the films of the 1930s thought their future - our present - would be like. And now, after a very unusual stint in the documentary world with My Winnipeg, Maddin returns to narrative film with his new short, Night Mayor.
Winnipeg, 1939. A Bosnian immigrant to Canada, Nihad Ademi, conceives of a way to harness the power of the Aurora Borealis in order to broadcast imagery of his vast and beloved adopted land from coast to coast to coast. From his tenement apartment-cum-laboratory, with the help of his large and eager family, Nihad perfects his device and prepares to bring Canada – or at least images of Canada, from the fighting beaver on – to its own people. From directly in the centre of the country, a startling broadcast emanates like ripples in a formerly placid pond.Incredibly, due to the unfathomable powers of the Northern Lights, the device begins projecting images that do not even exist – images plumbed first from the depths of Nihad Ademi’s subconscious mind, and presently from the group consciousness of the whole citizenry of Canada.
However, all of this does not rest easy with the government. They stage a raid on Nihad’s laboratory in an effort to prevent the dissemination of unregulated patriotic imagery. The climactic donnybrook between cops and family leads to the tragic suspension of this remarkable method of broadcast, and relegates Nihad Ademi to the footnotes of Canadian history.
Produced by the National Film Board of Canada, Night Mayor will debut at the the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival and we've got your first look in the form of nine stills linked below.
Actually brettlv5506, most of Maddin's shorts are available as bonus features on the various DVD releases of his features. Several others pop up on The Sundance Channel or CBC. Some are even on Youtube.
Yes most are, but quite a few like Pomps of Satan and Hands of Ida are impossible to find.