Carolyn Combs (Director)
We asked Carolyn why she made this film:
I have always liked the script and been moved by it. I think it is the inevitability of the loss that brother and sister must face that I find particularly moving. I genuinely felt for the characters, and wanted to know more about them - their lives, their histories, the themes they represent. I've been building up to it for a long time. Many years. Eventually, I felt ready to really do it, and believed we had the right cast and crew.
Are you happy with the film?
Yes. Very. The work has continued to grow with every new stage of the production. We worked hard on the script development, then on casting, rehearsals and shooting, then on editing, music and post, and at every turn it has felt as if nothing has been lost but something new and special has been gained. It's been a wonderful experience that way.
What kind of director are you?
My initial focus is on the relationships between characters. I am always seeking how best to find and express change within the primary relationships. Once that direction is established, I think of myself as a facilitator, someone responsible for creating the environment where all the many artists can do their best work.
What is the central theme of Acts of Imagination?
The script is many layered, and I like it for that reason. Lots of ideas. But the central theme is revealed through Katya's emotional arc. It is the recognition of the mutual influence between historical analysis and imagination, and the role of imagination in shifting from historical obligation to present responsibility. I think, by the end of the film, Katya has moved to a place where she can more easily acknowledge those around her, in the present moment.
Will you make other films?
I would like to. We, the writer and I, are currently developing two new screenplays. The first is fairly well along, the other is in earlier stages. But our focus right now is Acts of Imagination. Perhaps, if its well received, it will be a bit easier to move forward.
Biography
Carolyn Combs was born in New York City, but moved to Hamilton, Ontario, at the age of six months, where she spent her formative years. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre from Concordia University and a Master of Education from the University of Manitoba. She has taught drama in various settings, including the faculties of education at the University of Manitoba and McGill University.
She has been an active member of Videographe and Main Film (Montreal), Video Pool (Winnipeg) SIFT (Ottawa) and Cineworks (Vancouver), where she developed her own work while also attending a variety of professional training workshops. She wrote, shot and edited her first work, a half-hour documentary entitled Stories From the Diner, in 1998. It captured the intensely moving struggle of a short order cook coming to terms with his past, and displayed an ability to build a compelling story through a precise and unhurried balancing of image and word.
From 2002 to 2005, with the support of the Canadian Centre for Disability Studies and the Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund, she finished a four part documentary series entitled Art & Ability, focused on the subjective experience of adults with a variety of disabilities as they pursue their artistic talents. Also in 2005, she delivered Protest Prayer, a well researched documentary capturing the attempts of a group of women to change United Church policy in the Middle East.
In the fall of 2005 she directed her first feature, which is set in and around Commercial Drive in east-end Vancouver, where she currently resides. In 2006 she was selected as one of two candidates for the Mentorship Program of Women in Film and Video in Vancouver.
