''Johnny'' is a 1999 Canadian drama film, written, produced, and directed by

Carl Bessai Carl Bessai (born 1966 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. Bessai studied at OCAD University and at York University in Toronto graduating with a Master of Fine Arts Degree. He got his start directing documentary fi ...

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. 113. Inspired by the

Dogme 95 Dogme 95 is a 1995 avant-garde filmmaking movement founded by the Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, who created the "Dogme 95 Manifesto" and the "Vows of Chastity" ( da, kyskhedsløfter). These were rules to create films ba ...

movement, the film stars

Chris Martin Christopher Anthony John Martin (born 2 March 1977) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist, pianist, rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Born in Exeter, Devon, he went to Univ ...

as Johnny, a young man who is making a film about

squeegee kid A squeegee man or squeegee woman, squeegee kid (Canada), squeegee boy (Baltimore), squeegee punk (Montreal), squeegee merchant (London), squeegee guy or squeegee bandit is a person who, using a washcloth and squeegee, wipes windshields of cars sto ...

s around

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, but begins to manipulate them into performing increasingly dangerous stunts. The cast also includes

Gema Zamprogna Gema Zamprogna (born 24 May 1976) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Felicity King on ''Road to Avonlea'' and Mackie "Mac" Daniels in '' The Challengers''. Personal life Gema Zamprogna was born 24 May 1976 in Hamilton, ...

Kris Lemche Kris Lemche (born 1978 or 1979) is a Canadian actor. Career At 17 years old, Lemche answered a newspaper casting call and won a role on the Disney series ''Flash Forward''. Abandoning plans to study biochemistry in University, Lemche instead ...

, Vanessa Shaver, Clinton Walker,

Rainbow Sun Francks Rainbow Sun Francks (born 3 December 1979) is a Canadian actor known for his role as Lt. Aiden Ford in the television show ''Stargate Atlantis'', and his recurring roles on ''The Listener'', ''The Umbrella Academy'' and ''High Fidelity''. Ea ...

, Kyra Harper,

Hrothgar Mathews Hrothgar Mathews (born January 27, 1964) is a Canadian actor known for his performance as Gill St. George in the 1999 television film ''Milgaard.'' Career He has also played the recurring roles of Mark Fellows in '' Tom Stone'', Det. Charlie Klot ...

Sabrina Grdevich Sabrina Grdevich is a Canadian actress. Sabrina portrayed Dana Ballard in the 1999 made-for-TV movie '' Ultimate Deception'' with Yasmine Bleeth. Her starring roles include ''Mile Zero'' and ''Lola''. Other roles included playing Cathy Blake in ...

and

Hugh Dillon Hugh Dillon (born May 31, 1963) is a Canadian singer and actor who is the lead vocalist of rock band Headstones. He is also a film and television actor; his notable roles include Mike Sweeney in '' Durham County,'' Ed Lane in '' Flashpoint'' and ...

. The film was inspired by Bessai's prior work on a documentary about street kids, during which he found that many of them had difficulty expressing themselves until he gave them video cameras and asked them to film something that represented their own first-person views of their lives. The film premiered in the Perspective Canada program at the

1999 Toronto International Film Festival The 24th Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 9 to September 18, 1999. The festival opened with Atom Egoyan's ''Felicia's Journey'' and closed with '' Onegin'' by Martha Fiennes. A total of 318 films were screened in the 13 progra ...

, where Martin was one of three actors, alongside

Liane Balaban Liane Balaban (born June 24, 1980) is a Canadian actress. Her film debut was in ''New Waterford Girl'' (1999) as Agnes-Marie "Mooney" Pottie. She has since appeared in the films ''Definitely, Maybe'' (2008), ''Last Chance Harvey'' (2008), and the ...

for ''

New Waterford Girl ''New Waterford Girl'' is a 1999 Canadian comedy-drama film directed by Allan Moyle, and written by Tricia Fish. It stars Liane Balaban as Agnes-Marie "Mooney" Pottie, a teenager in New Waterford, Nova Scotia, who dreams of life beyond her small ...

'' and

Karine Vanasse Karine Vanasse (born 24 November 1983) is a French-Canadian actress, who had roles in the films '' Polytechnique'', '' Séraphin: Heart of Stone (Séraphin: un homme et son péché)'', ''Switch'' and '' Set Me Free (Emporte-moi)''. International ...

for '' Set Me Free (Emporte-moi)'', given special jury citations by the Canadian film jury for their performances.Liam Lacey, "Five Senses tops jury list at Toronto Film Festival: Canadian audience gazes favourably on American Beauty at award brunch capping off star-studded year". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', September 20, 1999.

References

External links

* 1999 films 1999 drama films Canadian drama films English-language Canadian films Films directed by Carl Bessai Films shot in Toronto Films set in Toronto 1990s English-language films 1990s Canadian films {{1990s-Canada-film-stub