''North of Pittsburgh'' is a Canadian comedy-drama film, directed by Richard Martin and released in 1992. The film stars Jeff Schultz as Tony Andretti, an aimless slacker living in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

who supports himself smuggling marijuana to Canada. After bungling a delivery and being forced to go on the run, he decides to take his estranged grandmother Rosa (

Viveca Lindfors Elsa Viveca Torstensdotter Lindfors (December 29, 1920 – October 25, 1995) was a Swedish stage, film, and television actress. She won an Emmy Award and a Silver Bear for Best Actress. Biography Lindfors was born in Uppsala, Sweden, the d ...

) on a quest to seek financial compensation for her husband's death of

black lung disease Coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP), also known as black lung disease or black lung, is an occupational type of pneumoconiosis caused by long-term exposure to coal dust. It is common in coal miners and others who work with coal. It is similar to ...

after a lifetime working as a

coal miner Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

."Movie shooting involves making Vancouver look like Pittsburgh". ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'', January 18, 1991. Martin's father, comedian Dick Martin, also has a small role in the film as the president of the coal mining company. The film's cast also includes

John Cassini John Cassini (born in Toronto) is a Canadian actor. Career Cassini appeared in the 1995 Brad Pitt film '' Seven''. He starred in the 2005 film '' Cool Money''. Cassini starred as Ronnie Delmarco on the CBC series ''Intelligence'', which was c ...

Jay Brazeau Jay Brazeau is a Canadian actor, best known for his role as Sam Fisher in ''Cold Squad'', as Harlan in ''Stargate SG-1'' (1997–2007), and for voicing Uncle Quigley in '' Sabrina: The Animated Series''. He is also known for his role as Bobby in ...

Robert Clothier Robert Allan Clothier, DFC (October 21, 1921 – February 10, 1999) was a Canadian stage and television actor most famous for his role as Relic on the CBC television series, ''The Beachcombers''. Biography Like many of his contemporaries, ...

James Purcell James Purcell may refer to: * James Purcell (actor), American actor and filmmaker * James Purcell (businessman), Australian businessman * James Purcell (mountain man), American mountain man of the 19th century * James Purcell (politician) Ja ...

and Babz Chula. The film was shot primarily in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, with some location shooting in Pittsburgh.

Award nominations

The film garnered seven Genie Award nominations at the

13th Genie Awards The 13th annual Genie Awards were held on November 22, 1992, and honoured Canada, Canadian films released in late 1991 and 1992. They were dominated by the Canadian/United Kingdom, British/Japanese co-production ''Naked Lunch (film), Naked Lunch''. ...

in 1992:"French-Canadian films steal Genie show: Cronenberg's Naked Lunch leads the pack with 11 nominations". ''

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 ...

'', October 14, 1992. *

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 aw ...

: Viveca Lindfors *

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with the ...

: Jeff Schultz * Best Overall Sound: Dean Giammarco, Patrick Ramsay, Paul A. Sharpe and Bill Sheppard * Best Editing: Bruce Lange * Best Sound Editing: Charles O'Shea, Shane Shemko, Cal Shumiatcher, Alison Grace and Marti Richa *

Best Original Song This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

: Cam Wagner, "Midnight Ride" * Best Original Score: Graeme Coleman

References

External links

* 1992 films English-language Canadian films Films about mining Films set in Pittsburgh Canadian road comedy-drama films 1990s road comedy-drama films 1992 directorial debut films Canadian films about cannabis 1990s English-language films 1990s Canadian films {{1990s-Canada-film-stub