The Filmmakers: Sean Garrity - Writer, Producer, Director
In
2006, Sean Garrity was given the Special Jury Prize by the Don Haig jury at
Toronto's Hot Docs Film Festival. The cash award is presented to a filmmaker
whose work is not only outstanding, but has also bridged the documentary and
fiction genres. The press referred to his work as "possessing a dark,
twisted beauty" (Janet Smith, Georgia Strait) and has compared his work
to that of David Cronenberg (Globe and Mail) and even Luis Bunuel (Steve Palopoli,
San Jose MetroActive).
His second feature film, Lucid, won the CityTV award for best Western Canadian
Feature at the 2005 Vancouver International Film Festival, was an Audience
Award pick at Cinefest and was an official selection of the 2005 Toronto International
Film Festival in the Contemporary World Cinema program.
His first feature film, INerTia, was awarded "Best First Feature"
at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival, and netted him "Best
Director" at the 2001 FilmCan Festival. The Globe & Mail named him
one of three "Canadian Filmmakers to Watch" in 2002.
After spending years backpacking though Asia and South America, he returned
to Winnipeg to begin a career as a filmmaker and musician in 1997, quickly
creating award-winning music videos for Winnipeg artists including The Wyrd
Sisters, Mark Reeves and Richard Moody. He also completed a number of documentaries,
and short films, including Middle, which won awards at film festivals in Toronto
and Vancouver, and How Much for a Half Kilo?, which won best film award at
the Calgary Independent Film Festival and was nominated for a 2001 Blizzard
Award. It was later sold to television. Buenos Aires Souvenir, which premiered
at the Vancouver International Film Festival in 2001, and was an official
selection in competition at the 2002 Clermond-Ferrand Short Film Festival,
was sold for broadcast in Canada, France, Portugal and Germany.
Sean first studied film production and theory at Toronto's York University
and continued his studies at the Instituto de Arte Cinematografico de Avellaneda
in Buenos Aires. There he produced and directed an experimental collage film
which was played at film festivals in Avellaneda and Santa Fe, Argentina.
After three years of living in Japan and traveling through Asia, Sean made
a short abstract collage video in Japanese called Departure in 1996.
Sean also works as a bass player, having appeared on half a dozen CDs, and
performs live most weekends in Winnipeg, where he lives.
Filmography
View Sean Garrity's filmography at IMDb (this link will open in a new browser window).
