''Swann'' is a 1996 Canadian drama film directed by Anna Benson Gyles and starring

Miranda Richardson Miranda Jane Richardson (born 3 March 1958) is an English actress. She made her film debut playing Ruth Ellis in '' Dance with a Stranger'' (1985) and went on to receive Academy Award nominations for ''Damage'' (1992) and ''Tom & Viv'' (1994). ...

and

Brenda Fricker Brenda Fricker (born 17 February 1945) is an Irish actress, whose career has spanned six decades on stage and screen. She has appeared in more than 30 films and television roles. In 1990, she became the first Irish actress to win an Academy Awar ...

."Swann film probes journey of discovery". ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...

'', February 14, 1997. "Swann Premieres at Toronto Festival". ''

Kingston Whig-Standard ''The Kingston Whig-Standard'' is a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It is published five days a week, from Tuesday to Saturday. It publishes a mix of community, national and international news and is currently owned by Postmedia. It has ...

'', August 23, 1996. The film is an adaptation of the

Carol Shields Carol Ann Shields, (née Warner; June 2, 1935 – July 16, 2003) was an American-born Canadian novelist and short story writer. She is best known for her 1993 novel '' The Stone Diaries'', which won the U.S. Pulitzer Prize for Fiction as well a ...

novel '' Swann: A Mystery'', which was itself inspired by the real-life murder of poet

Pat Lowther Patricia Louise Lowther (born Patricia Louise Tinmuth) (July 29, 1935 – September 24, 1975) was a Canadian poet. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, she grew up in the neighboring city of North Vancouver. Life Lowther's first published poem ...

. The film premiered as the opening gala film 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. Deepa Mehta's ''Fire'' was selected as the opening film. Awards Programme Gala Presentation *'' Shine'' by S ...

Plot

Rose Hindmarch is a small town librarian whose life is significantly changed when Sarah Maloney, a famous author and academic, arrives in town to research a new book about the long-ago murder of local poet Mary Swann.

Cast

as Rose Hindmarch *

as Sarah Maloney *

Michael Ontkean Michael Leonard Ontkean (born 24 January 1946) is a retired Canadian actor. Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Ontkean relocated to the United States to attend the University of New Hampshire on a hockey scholarship before pursuing ...

as Stephen *

David Cubitt David Cubitt (born 18 March 1965) is an English-born Canadian television actor. Born in England in 1965 to a Dutch mother, Jette, and an English father, David, he moved with his parents to Vancouver, British Columbia when he was six months ol ...

as Brownie * Sean McCann as Homer * John Neville as Cruzzi

Award nominations

The film garnered five

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; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...

nominations at the

17th Genie Awards The 17th Genie Awards were held on November 27, 1996, to honour films released in late 1995 and 1996. They were the ''second'' Genie Award ceremony held in that year; the 16th Genie Awards were delayed from the fall of 1995 and took place in Janua ...

in 1996:"Nominees for the 17th-annual Genie Awards". ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'', October 17, 1996. *

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 awar ...

: Brenda Fricker * Best Supporting Actor: Sean McCann * Best Art Direction/Production Design: John Dondertman * Best Costume Design: Elisbetta Beraldo * Best Original Score:

Richard Rodney Bennett Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (29 March 193624 December 2012) was an English composer of film, TV and concert music, and also a jazz pianist and occasional vocalist. He was based in New York City from 1979 until his death there in 2012.Zachary Woo ...

It did not win any of the awards.

References

External links

* 1996 films 1996 drama films Canadian drama films English-language Canadian films Films based on Canadian novels Films scored by Richard Rodney Bennett 1990s English-language films 1990s Canadian films {{1990s-Canada-film-stub