Frank Borg Movies
Independent Canadian filmmaker Carl Bessai directs Emile, the final entry in his identity trilogy that started with Johnny and Lola. Ian McKellen plays Emile, a retired university professor who travels from England to his hometown in Canada in order to accept an educational honor. Visiting the family farm in Saskatchewan, he recalls his childhood relationships with brothers Freddy (Tygh Runyan) and Carl (Chris William Martin). He stays with his grown-up niece, Nadia (Deborah Kara Unger), who still hasn't forgiven him for his misdeeds of the past. Trying to make up for abandoning her, Emile develops an emotional bond with her daughter, Maria (Theo Crane). Emile premiered at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ian McKellen, Deborah Kara Unger, (more)
- 1999
Djordje (Timothy Webber) is a Serbian soccer star turned Vancouver cabbie who refuses to believe the Serbian atrocities he hears on TV. Everything changes when he hits recent Bosnian Muslim refugee Ahmed (Tony Nardi). Whereas Djordje and his family have had a relatively easy time adjusting to their new culture, Ahmed and his clan have had to struggle. He has a hard time with the language and his wife Sayma (Asja Pavlovic) is still traumatized by repeated rapes and abuse at the hands of Serb troops. Djordje's attempts at making amends are inevitably interpreted as acts of aggression, and soon the two families are forced to either be drawn into an ugly cycle of hatred or to learn from one another. This film was screened at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tony Nardi, Timothy Webber, (more)
- 1998
One of the most successful Canadian drama series of the late 1990s, Da Vinci's Inquest was also one of the CBC's slickest efforts -- not to mention one of the most realistic. Nicholas Campbell starred as Dominic Da Vinci, a former cop who worked as a police coroner in Vancouver. Like Quincy before him, Da Vinci used his official capacity to right wrongs, help those in distress, and in general boldly go where the "regular" cops feared to tread. In this he was assisted by a number of friends, business associates, and family members, who frequently found themselves in jeopardy, obligating the hero to effect a last-minute escape. Compared by some critics to the American TVer Homicide (albeit with a bit more melodrama), the series was created by Chris Haddock, who also wrote many of the 60-minute teleplays. Da Vinci's Inquest began its long and profitable CBC TV run on October 7, 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
