Supported by the Audain Foundation.
Kevan Funk’s (BFA ’11) remarkable debut feature, released a decade ago, heralded the arrival of a new wave of talented, arthouse-conversant filmmakers in this province. Offering a timely and uncompromising look at institutionalized violence in our national sport, it treats with intelligence and sensitivity themes of work, masculinity, competition and failure, and has a great eye and ear for the nuances of small-town Canadian life. The evocative images by cinematographer Ben Loeb (Mandy, Dream Scenario) make a significant contribution to the impact of Funk’s rigorous, affecting film, among Canada’s best of the 2010s.
Post-screening Q&A with Kevan Funk moderated by curator Harry Killas, professor and assistant dean of Film + Screen Arts, ECU.
Kevan Funk is an award-winning filmmaker, whose work has screened and won awards at various prestigious festivals around the world. Kevan’s feature film debut, Hello Destroyer, premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, went on to collect a number of awards including being named to Canada’s Top Ten, the BC Emerging Filmmaker Award at VIFF, 4 Canadian Screen Award nominations (Best Picture, Director, Actor & Screenplay) and Leo Award wins for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actor & Cinematography. Previously, Kevan built an impressive career in the short film world. A Fine Young Man (2010), premiered at TIFF and won the Grand Jury Prix at the Melbourne International Film Festival. Yellowhead (2011) and Bison (2014) both premiered at TIFF, the former being awarded a Special Jury Prize, and both were named to Canada’s Top Ten in their respective years.
He is also recognized as a highly regarded music video director, where he produces through his production company Everything All At Once. Among the various accolades received for his music video work, his video for A Tribe Called Red’s Stadium Pow Wow won the Best Director Award at the 2017 Much Music Video Awards, received a Vimeo Staff Pick. His video for Belle Game’s Low, also a Vimeo Staff Pick, won the 2019 Prism Prize Grand Prize.
Kevan’s commercial work includes leading campaigns for Adidas, Chevy, Sephora and John Deere, among others. His short online film for The Bronx Freedom Fund received the prestigious Best of the Month Vimeo Staff Pick, as well as Webby and Shorty awards for Social Activism.
Kevan was raised in Banff, AB, in and around his parent’s grassroots theatre company, which focused on environmental activism through the arts. He holds a degree in Film, Video and Integrated Media from Emily Carr University of Art & Design in Vancouver, BC
100 Years in the Making | This event is organized in support of ECU 100, Emily Carr University of Art + Design’s centennial anniversary.