''True Confections'' is a 1991 Canadian comedy-drama film written and directed by
Gail Singer. Based on
's
Stephen Leacock Award The Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour, also known as the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour or just the Leacock Medal, is an annual literary award presented for the best book of humour written in English by a Canadians, Canadian writer, publis ...
-winning novel ''True Confections'', it stars
Leslie Hope
Leslie Ann Hope is a Canadian actress and director, best known for her role as Teri Bauer on the Fox television series '' 24'' and prosecutor Anita Gibbs on ''Suits''.
Personal life
Hope was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Ann and Frank Hop ...
as Verna Miller, a young
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
woman growing up in the 1950s who rebels against the rigid
gender role
A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cent ...
assigned to women in her era due to her ahead-of-her-time sensibilities and life aspirations.
["Singer: Cracking wise and felling lies". '']Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'', September 2, 1991.
Rather than a strict adaptation of Gotlieb's novel, Singer added some material to the screenplay that was more reflective of her own experiences in that era.
The film's cast also includes
Judah Katz
Judah Katz (born June 23, 1960) is a Canadian actor born in Montreal, Quebec. He has worked in Toronto and Los Angeles for more than 30 years, appearing in both TV series and films.
Winning an ACTRA award (now called a Gemini Award) for his v ...
,
Chandra West
Chandra K. West (born December 31, 1970) is a Canadian actress.
Early life and education
West was born in Edmonton, Alberta, the youngest of eight children. The family moved to Oak Bay, British Columbia, where she attended Monterey Elementary ...
, Jeff Pustil, Jill Riley, Stewart Bick and
Daniel Kash
Daniel Joshua Kash (born April 25, 1959) is a Canadian actor and film director.
Life and career
Kash was born in Montreal, Quebec, the son of Canadian opera singer Maureen Forrester and Toronto-born violinist and conductor Eugene Kash (May 1, 1 ...
.
["True Confections shows there's more to Winnipeg than boys". '']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 ...
'', August 25, 1991.
The film premiered at the
Montreal World Film Festival
The Montreal World Film Festival (WFF; french: le Festival des Films du Monde) was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF (although the Toronto Internat ...
in August 1991,
and was screened at the
1991 Festival of Festivals in September. Singer's documentary film ''
Wisecracks
''Wisecracks'' is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Gail Singer and released in 1991. The film profiles a number of women who were active in comedy in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including Joy Behar, Phyllis Diller, Ellen DeGeneres, Wh ...
'' was also screened at the 1991 Festival of Festivals, making her the first filmmaker in the festival's history to have both a documentary and a narrative fiction film screened at the festival in the same year.
Award nominations
The film garnered three
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
13th Genie Awards
The 13th annual Genie Awards were held on November 22, 1992, and honoured Canadian films released in late 1991 and 1992. They were dominated by the Canadian/British/Japanese co-production ''Naked Lunch''.
The ceremony was held at the Metro Toronto ...
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 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 ...
: Gail Singer
*
Best Art Direction/Production Design: Andris Hausmanis
*
Best Costume Design: Alisa Alexander
References
External links
*
1991 films
1991 comedy-drama films
Canadian comedy-drama films
English-language Canadian films
Films set in Winnipeg
1990s English-language films
1990s Canadian films
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