Twice Upon a Time... (French: Il était deux fois...) is a Canadian satirical short film, directed by Giles Walker and released in 1979.[1]

Twice Upon a Time...
FrenchIl était deux fois...
Directed byGiles Walker
Written byPeter Bierman
Produced byRoman Kroitor
Stefan Wodoslawsky
StarringMichel Choquette
Wayne Robson
CinematographySavas Kalogeras
Edited byDavid Wilson
Distributed byNational Film Board of Canada
Release date
  • 1979 (1979)
Running time
10 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguagesEnglish
French

Plot

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A satire of the cultural separation and lack of understanding between English Canada and French Canada, the film is set in Stereoville, a community in which unilingual anglophones and unilingual francophones are permanently tied to each other back to back, and deal with encounters with speakers of the other language by simply turning around so that their backmates can handle the conversation. One day, however, their rules for life are confounded when a tourist (Michel Choquette) arrives who does not have another person strapped to his back, and is in fact capable of speaking both languages himself.

Cast

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The cast includes Jeannette Casenave and Évelyn Regimbald as the hotel manager, Wayne Robson and Jean Archambault as the desk clerk, Basil Fitzgibbon and Camille Ducharme as the governor, Graham Batchelor and Jacques Lavallée as the secretary, Kevin Fenlon and Michel Forgues as the choreographer, and Valda Dalton and Madeleine Sicotte as a customer.

Award nomination

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The film received a Genie Award nomination for Best Theatrical Short Film at the 1st Genie Awards in 1980.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Bruce Bailey, "'Cocktail' capture's France's explosion". Montreal Gazette, November 1, 1980.
  2. ^ Jay Scott, "Changeling leads Canadian Film Award nominees". The Globe and Mail, February 8, 1980.
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