Media
My Fur Hat
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A review of Kelly-Anne Beaton's work as part of a retrospective at the Edmonton Reel Femme Festival October 17-19, 2008. |
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"As a resident of the Glebe, Beaton was thrilled to work with young fellow Glebites, Sam Rubinoff, Kate Millington and james and Kevin Vuckovic, who were extras in the film. The film was shot on location at Hopewell Public School." |
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Instead of having a best friend in high school, I should have bought a fur hat. Kelly Ann Beaton recently convinced me both could teach you the same lessons. And besides, you can't wear you best friend. "My Fur Hat is the third instalment in the trilogy on intimacy that I developed," Beaton explained. "Each of the films examine why people have some of their most intimate relationships with things instead of with people." Her newest film will be one of eight screened at the Independent Filmmakers Co-operative of Ottawa (IFCO) Gala at the Bytowne tonight. Beaton says it is challenging for indie filmmakers to get their films screened, especially in cities with smaller scenes, like Ottawa . "It is so tough to get your film shown. The opportunity to have the Gala at the Bytowne is just amazing because you're going to show your film to people who would never get a chance to see it anywhere else," she says.....Even Beaton's film - seven minute short took two years and $1000 per minute to make. "You have to really be so passionate to be a filmmaker not only in Ottawa , but this country. Particularly an independent filmmaker because it is a constant struggle every day for resources and just to keep going," she says. You can watch Beaton's labour of love tonight at 9 p.m. at the Bytowne Cinema. |
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"Kelly Ann Beaton's My Fur Hat is more on the cute
side. A middle age woman fondly remembers her |
The Organist
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This charming, slice-of-life vignette has a similar,
bittersweet touch that Beaton's 2000 film, Mulberry
Red, No.17 captures. The beautifully shot short about
a roly-poly, sparkly-eyed church organist is part of a trilogy
with Mulberry and the soon to be released, My Fur Hat. “Each
of the films deals with different aspects of intimacy. Every day
we all experience a moment that changes us, but we may not be conscious
of it,” the filmmaker says. - Ottawa Xpress (July 25, 2002) |
Mulberry Red, No. 17
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"Mulberry Red, No. 17 endures the test of time. The females portrayed in this quiet little film stay with you long after their lipstick has faded." Leslie Anne Cole, Female Eye Film Festival Curato (March 2004) |
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Even before this festival began, I was loving the
festival trailer and the subway advertisements for the 6th Annual
Toronto Worldwide Short Film Festival. We've all see trailers
that surpass their movies in sassiness and entertainment value.
Well, let me put any fears to rest – the films at the Short
Film Festival, particularly the Canadian ones, are as clever as
the trailers ... Mulberry Red, No. 17 (Kelly
Ann Beaton) makes me miss my mom. In a sad and humourous exposé of
women who enjoy their lipsticks, Beaton subtly taps into a real
desire. At the end, I wonder why I never wore lipstick myself. - Even Better Than the Trailer, Toronto Eye (June 1, 2000) |
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The week's event will unspool more than 150 short films
chosen from 1,200 entries from about 30 countries. Under the Canadiana
category too is The Old Man and the Sea, the animated 1999 Oscar-winning
short by Alexander Petrov, based on Ernest Hemingway's famous
novella. Other selections include Get Happy, a 3-minute romp through
the swinging world of Benny Goodman and his orchestra, Eyes, a
71/2 minute film essay exploring love, fear and mortality through
60 pairs of eyes and Mulberry Red, No. 17, a five-minute
story of how a lipstick chronicles a woman's life. - Filmmakers Get to Show Their Shorts, Gayle MacDonald, Globe & Mail ( May 31, 2000) |
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Moviegoers and aspiring filmmakers alike are in for a treat.
For the low, low price of $5.00 you'll have another chance
to catch the works of seven local filmmakers whose work was showcased
last year at the IFCO Gala Screening at the Bytowne Cinema. Among
the filmmakers showcased will be Kelly Ann Beaton, whose first
independent film, Mulberry Red, No 17 will soon
be screened at the Local Heroes International Film Festival in
Edmonton. - Can we go to the movies, huh?, J. McIntosh, Ottawa Xpress (February 17, 2000) |
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The line up includes Harry Knuckles and the Treasure of the Aztec
Mummy, directed by Lee Demarbre, which won a top prize at the recent
Slamdance festival in Park City, Utah and Mulberry Red,
No. 17, by Kelly Ann Beaton, which has been selected to
be on of the 20 Canadian short films to be screened at the Local
Heroes International Film Festival in Edmonton from March 31 to
April 8. - Independent Filmmakers to Screen Seven Short Movies, Ottawa Citizen (February 17, 2000) |
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Ottawa-based independent filmmaker Kelly Ann Beaton's first
film, Mulberry Red, No. 17 has been selected to
take part in the National Screen Institute's Local Heroes
2000 Film Festival. Local Heroes is a prestigious Canadian film
festival that focuses on distinctive independent films from around
the world. Beaton will be competing with 40 other filmmakers, each
vying for the new $1,000 Audience Choice Award. - One Lipstick at a Time, S. McGregor, Ottawa Xpress (December, 1999) |
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After 17 months without a permanent home, the Canadian Film Institutes
returns t the new and improved National Archives auditorium tomorrow
with the restored print of Act of the Heart, a 1970 Canadian film
staring Genevieve Bujold and Donald Sutherland. The screening tomorrow
will also present short films by Ottawa filmmakers, Kelly Ann Beaton's Mulberry
Red, No. 17 and Dan Sokolowski's Fire and Ice. Director
Paul Almond will attend a reception in the foyer, following the
screening of Act of the Heart. - Film Institute Returns to its Home, Steven Mazey, Ottawa Citizen (September 1999) |
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Delving into another quadrant of the psyche, Kelly Ann Beaton
examines women's relationships with the most transformative cosmetic – lipstick.
Inspired by dowager Irish-Canadian great aunts who advised young
women “never to go out without lipstick on,” Beaton's
camera observes women as they step up to the mirror to apply the
same tube of Mulberry Red, No. 17. “We have this love affair
with cosmetics to the point where… it's unhealthy,” Beaton
observes. Women cover their lips, one of the most sensual parts
of the body,” she muses, with this substance designed to
both camouflage and attract.” For Beaton, the most telling
scenes are the one in which the pre-pubescent girls and the elderly
woman are focus of the frame. “She goes outside the lines
(of the lips) just like the kids do,” she notes. “It's
going full circle.” Perhaps some, after seeing Mulberry,
will race ahead in their circuitous journey and start to enjoy
the beauty of non-conformity. - Reel Time in Colour, Terry McDonald, Ottawa Xpress (June 1999) |
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The mediation on lipstick is Mulberry Red, No. 17,
a five-minute first film by Kelly Ann Beaton, who says she always
wondered why women have such a personal, co-dependent relationship
with their lipsticks. In an interview, Beaton said she saw her
aging great aunt in hospital putting on lipstick, even though she
was dying. Her film, whish unspools to a soundtrack of an older
woman singing an Oscar Levant tune called Blame It On My Youth,
shows a series of increasingly aging women putting on lipstick
in front of a mirror. It's a spare film. - One Chance to See Seven Local Short Films, Jay Stone, Ottawa Citizen (June 22, 1999) |
