Through a Blue Lens sequel gets theatrical run

A documentary that was 10 years in the making by a group of Vancouver police officers is getting a week-long theatrical run in Vancouver later this month.

Tears For April: Beyond the Blue Lens, opening Nov. 30 at the Tinseltown Cinemas, was shot on the Downtown Eastside by officers who worked that beat and called themselves the Odd Squad. The movie is a sequel to 1999's Through a Blue Lens, which told the stories of six area residents.

Independently financed and produced, and co-directed by retired Const. Al Arsenault and movie veteran Ken Jubenvill from a script by Province writer-editor Steve Berry, the new movie updates the stories of those profiled in the first movie.

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Odd Squad Productions Award Winning Documentary Tears for April: Beyond the Blue Lens makes its Canadian Premiere in
Vancouver November 29,2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 2, 2007
(Vancouver, BC) – Odd Squad Productions Society proudly announces its long-awaited and awarding-winning feature documentary Tears For April: Beyond the Blue Lens will begin a week-long run of theatrical release on Friday, November 30, at Vancouver’s Cinemark Tinseltown Theatre, 88 West Pender Street. (It will premiere on Thursday, November 29, at a private screening for supporters, volunteers and media.)

Tears for April: Beyond the Blue Lens, is the sequel to Through a Blue Lens (National Film Board of Canada), which was honoured with many industry awards after its 1999 release. Tears for April, 10 years in the making, was honoured by the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival with an award for Excellence in Cinema for a Feature Film. It made its international debut in September at the festival (held in Los Angeles).

Co-directed by retired VPD Constable Al Arsenault and movie veteran Ken Jubenvill (Promise the Moon), from a script by Steve Berry (The Province), Tears for April updates viewers on the stories of the six subjects first introduced to audiences in Through a Blue Lens (National Film of Canada). Armed with cameras, the officers captured the addicts on-screen as they generously shared their stories and details of their lives in the hopes of discouraging young people from using drugs. The slope of addiction is a slippery one indeed.

Tears for April brings those stories full circle. It’s an unequalled and unflinching look at life and loss in Canada’s poorest postal code, a film that could only be made by those who intimately know the DTES. Odd Squad has filmed Through a Blue Lens’s subjects since 1998, tracking their victories, and as often their failures, in their individual battles against addiction.

In April’s case, the officers ultimately tell the tragic story of April “Shannon” Reoch’s life and her death after taking her 'before' and 'after' photos of her in 1993. She was found murdered, leaving her young son Daniel without a mom. He reflects on his mom’s life in Tears for April. The film also details the success story of Randy Miller, one of the addicts featured in both films. Randy is now clean and sober, after years of living addicted and homeless. In 2006, he was honoured with the Coast Foundation’s Courage to Come Back Award, with the Odd Squad members by his side.

Through a Blue Lens started Odd Squad, a corps of Vancouver Police officers, on their filmmaking journey. Odd Squad’s mission is to create documentary films to inform the public about vital social issues, many related to the scourge of drug addiction. Another of Odd Squad’s recent films, Stolen Lives, about the perils of auto theft, was also honoured at the NYIIFVF. It received Founder’s Choice Award for Documentary Film. Odd Squad-member Sgt. Tim Shields (RCMP) and Ken Jubenvill helmed it.

Unlike most Canadian films, which rely on government funding, Tears for April: Beyond the Blue Lens is completely independently financed. The film was made thanks to the generous support of many business leaders, philanthropic organizations, countless hours of volunteer labour and the unfailing moral support of the Vancouver Police Department.

Tears for April: Beyond the Blue Lens’s creative team includes: Arsenault and Jubenvill, co-directors; Toby Hinton, executive producer; Brian Shipper, producer; Steve Plitt, editor; Steve Berry, writer; Norm Torp, camera and cinematographer; Tom Keenlyside, music. The film’s directors and creative team are available for interviews.

For interviews, please contact:

Al Arsenault, Odd Squad

604-408-9945

Or arsenault@telus.net

Who: Odd Squad Productions Society (www.oddsquad.com)

What: Tears for April: Beyond the Blue Lens theatrical release
When: Opens to the Public, Friday, November 30, to Thurs, December 6, 2007.

Where: Cinemark Tinseltown, 88 West Pender Street, Vancouver

(www.cinemark.ca)

Check newspapers for listings!