Ted Kotcheff’s The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz to be shown in Cannes Classics
Cannes Film Festival 2013
Montreal, April 25, 2013 – Telefilm Canada is delighted to announce that The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, directed by Ted Kotcheff in 1974, will be shown in the prestigious Cannes Classics section of the Cannes Film Festival in 2013. Created in 2004 to honour the masterworks of the past, Cannes Classics is an integral part of the Festival—a special opportunity for audiences to rediscover the classics of film history, showcased in restored prints.
Today’s announcement is the fourth entry for Canada’s film industry at Cannes this year. Earlier it was announced Sarah préfère la course (Sarah Would Rather Run) a debut feature by Chloé Robichaud, will be shown as an Official Selection in the section Un Certain Regard. The short film Going South by Jefferson Moneo will be screened as part of the Cinéfondation programme. And Le Démantèlement by Sébastien Pilote will be part of the line-up during International Critics’ Week (Semaine de la Critique).
Adapted from the novel of the same name by Mordecai Richler and produced in 1974, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz is considered one of the best Canadian films of all time. It won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, Film of the Year at the Canadian Film Awards and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium. It also received an Oscar nomination in 1975 for Best Adapted Screenplay. An irresistible comedy starring Richard Dreyfuss, Micheline Lanctôt, Randy Quaid and Jack Warden—this story of the tribulations of a young Jewish man in Montreal, a character at once ambitious and cynical—attained a degree of commercial success unheard of in Canada at the time.
During a brilliant career in London, Hollywood, New York and Australia, director Ted Kotcheff has created 19 feature films, including First Blood (1982), Joshua Then and Now (1985) and Weekend at Bernie’s (1989), in addition to a highly successful career as a director for television.
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz has been restored with the support and assistance of many organizations and companies, including the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, Astral, Technicolor Creative Services, Telefilm Canada, the National Film Board of Canada, the Directors Guild of Canada and the Cinémathèque québécoise. The original film production was initially funded by the Canadian Film Development Corporation, now known as Telefilm Canada.
For more information and rich content (such as vintage photos) please visit http://www.academy.ca/duddy/.