Noam Gonick, (born March 20, 1973) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

filmmaker and artist.Ingrid Randoja
"Gonzo Gonick"
''

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Now ...

'', May 31, 2021. His films include ''

Hey, Happy! ''Hey, Happy!'' is a Canadian science fiction comedy film, directed by Noam Gonick and released in 2001. Set in a countercultural squatter camp on the outskirts of Winnipeg,"Shiny, happy prairie people". ''Toronto Star'', June 1, 2001. the film s ...

'', ''

Stryker The Stryker is a family of eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicles derived from the Canadian LAV III. Stryker vehicles are produced by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada (GDLS-C) for the United States Army in a plant in London, Ontario. It ...

'', ''Guy Maddin: Waiting for Twilight'' and '' To Russia with Love''. His work deals with homosexuality, social exclusion, dystopia and utopia.

Background

Gonick was born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

in 1970. His father,

Cy Gonick Cy Gonick (born April 8, 1936) is a former politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1969 to 1973, sitting as a member of the New Democratic Party. Gonick was born in Winnipeg to Louis Gonick an ...

, is an economist and former member of the

Manitoba Legislature The Legislature of Manitoba is the legislature of the province of Manitoba, Canada. Today, the legislature is made of two elements: the King of Canada in Right of Manitoba, represented by the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, and the unicameral ...

."Citizen raising Cain". ''

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Winnipeg Free Press'' (or WFP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, national, and international news, as well as ...

'', February 20, 2005. Gonick graduated from Ryerson University in Toronto. He edited ''Ride, Queer, Ride'' (1997) a collection of writings on and by filmmaker

Bruce LaBruce Bruce LaBruce (born January 3, 1964) is a Canadian artist, writer, filmmaker, photographer, and underground director based in Toronto. Life and career LaBruce was born in Tiverton, Ontario. He has claimed both Justin Stewart and Bryan Bruce as ...

. In 2007, he was made the youngest inductee to the

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Queen Victoria on 16 July 1880. The Governor General ...

. He has been on the board at the Plug-In Institute of the Contemporary Arts.

Film and television

Gonick's first film was the 1997 short ''1919'', a historically revisionist depiction of the Winnipeg General Strike from the window of a gay Oriental bathhouse. His next film was the documentary ''Guy Maddin: Waiting for Twilight'', narrated by

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

and featuring

Shelley Duvall Shelley Alexis Duvall (born July 7, 1949) is an American actress and producer who is known for her portrayals of distinct, often eccentric characters. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award and a Peab ...

. The film captures Maddin as he begins production on ''

Twilight of the Ice Nymphs ''Twilight of the Ice Nymphs'' is a 1997 fantasy romance film directed by Guy Maddin. The screenplay was written by George Toles and inspired by the novel '' Pan'' (1894) by Knut Hamsun, with an additional literary touchstones being the short stor ...

'' (1997). In 1999, Gonick created the experimental short ''Tinkertown''. In 2001 Gonick released his first feature film, ''

''. The film premiered at the 2001

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

, and had its Canadian premiere at the

Inside Out Film and Video Festival Inside may refer to: * Insider, a member of any group of people of limited number and generally restricted access Film * ''Inside'' (1996 film), an American television film directed by Arthur Penn and starring Eric Stoltz * ''Inside'' (2002 f ...

, where it won the award for Best Canadian Film. In its subsequent Canadian theatrical release, it was screened with

Guy Maddin Guy Maddin (born February 28, 1956) is a Canadian screenwriter, director, author, cinematographer, and film editor of both features and short films, as well as an installation artist, from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Since completing his first film in ...

's short film ''

The Heart of the World ''The Heart of the World'' is a short film written and directed by Guy Maddin, produced for the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival. Maddin was one of a number of directors (including Atom Egoyan and David Cronenberg) commissioned to make four ...

''."My own private Manitoba". ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'', June 1, 2001. In the early 2000s, Gonick directed a number of episodes of Canadian documentary television series ''

KinK Kink or KINK may refer to: Common uses * Kink (sexuality), a colloquial term for non-normative sexual behavior * Kink, a curvature, bend, or twist Geography * Kink, Iran, a village in Iran * The Kink, a man-made geographic feature in remote east ...

'', before releasing his second feature film ''

'' in 2004. In 2007, Gonick wrote and directed ''Retail'', a comedy TV pilot, followed by ''Hirsch'' (2010), on

John Hirsch John Stephen Hirsch, OC (; May 1, 1930 – August 1, 1989) was a Hungarian-Canadian theatre director. He was born in Siófok, Hungary to József and Ilona Hirsch, both of whom were murdered in the Holocaust along with his younger brother I ...

, and ''What If?'' (2011), on Leslee Silverman, artistic director of Manitoba Theatre for Young People. In 2012 he won the

Winnipeg Film Group The Winnipeg Film Group (WFG) is an artist-run film education, production, distribution, and exhibition centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, committed to promoting the art of Canadian cinema, especially independent cinema. While specializing in shor ...

's Manitoba Film Hothouse Award. Gonick directed the documentary '' To Russia with Love'', featuring LGBT athletes in the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

. The film was nominated for a

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their live ...

for Outstanding Documentary at the

26th GLAAD Media Awards The 26th GLAAD Media Awards was the 2015 annual presentation of the GLAAD Media Awards, presented by GLAAD honoring the 2014 season. The awards honored films, television shows, musicians and works of journalism that fairly and accurately represent t ...

, In 2016 he was one of the directors of the documentary series '' Taken'' for Aboriginal People’s Television Network, about murdered and missing Indigenous women.

Installation

Gonick's installation art began in 2005 with a collaboration with

Rebecca Belmore Rebecca Belmore D.F.A. (born 1960) is an interdisciplinary Anishinaabekwe artist who is notable for politically conscious and socially aware performance and installation work. She is Ojibwe and member of Obishikokaang (Lac Seul First Nation). B ...

at the Venice Biennale. ''Wildflowers of Manitoba'' (2007) is a performance piece and film installation created with Luis Jacob. A geodesic dome is furnished as a teenaged bedroom, and includes images of homoeroticism. It premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, and has been exhibited worldwide. ''Precious Blood'' (2007), commissioned by the

Ontario College of Art and Design Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD, is a public art university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is spread throughout several buildings and facilities within do ...

, was a video of interviews with girlfriends and friends of inmates on the façade a scale model of the Provincial Remand Centre in Winnipeg. ''Commerce Court'' (2008) is a satire on corruption in the financial industry. Projected originally onto a six-story building in Commerce Court, the world headquarters of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, it features a performance by

Roman Danylo Roman Danylo (born in Calgary, Alberta) is a Canadian comedian, improviser and actor based out of Vancouver, British Columbia. He is best known for his starring role in the CTV Television Network show '' Comedy Inc.'' Career As a teen, Danylo r ...

as a banker having a nervous breakdown. The installation premiered at Toronto's

Nuit Blanche Nuit Blanche () (White Night) is an annual all-night or night-time arts festival of a city. A Nuit Blanche typically has museums, private and public art galleries, and other cultural institutions open and free of charge, with the centre of the ...

. ''No Safe Words'' (2009) is a multi-channel video installation uses sports broadcasts to examine athletic stadiums as sites of violence. The piece, broadcast originally during Toronto's 2008 Pride March, has also been interpreted as a commentary on the deradicalization of the gay pride movement. Gonick and Bernie Miller collaborated on Bloody Saturday, a public monument in Winnipeg commemorating the 1919 general strike which was unveiled in 2019. Bapiiwin, a design by Gonick and Belmore for the planned

LGBTQ2+ National Monument The LGBTQ2+ National Monument is a planned public monument in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, dedicated to the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and two-spirit communities in Canada. The monument was launched by the LGBT Purge Fund ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, was named as one of the five finalists in the design competition in November 2021, although it was not ultimately selected as the final winner."Thunderhead design chosen for LGBTQ2+ National Monument in Ottawa"

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...

Ottawa, March 24, 2022.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gonick, Noam 1973 births Living people Artists from Winnipeg Canadian male screenwriters Film directors from Winnipeg Writers from Winnipeg LGBT film directors LGBT screenwriters Canadian gay writers Canadian Film Centre alumni LGBT artists from Canada Gay artists 21st-century Canadian artists 21st-century Canadian screenwriters Canadian installation artists Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts