NEWS RELEASE
BARRIE FILM FESTIVAL
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On Oct. 15, 2023 at the Galaxy Cinemas, the Barrie Film Festival is honoured to welcome director and writer Barri Cohen, along with courageous survivors of the Huronia Regional Centre, who participated in the film, to a post-screening Q&A.
In researching the fates of her two half-brothers, filmmaker Barri Cohen uncovers the tragic history of neglect and abuse of institutionalized patients at the Huronia Regional Centre in Orillia. Unloved: Huronia’s Forgotten Children is a heartbreaking yet redemptive work that moves outwards from a highly personal and painful family secret to an investigation of hidden, searing truths about an entire government-enabled system of institutional cruelty and ugliness against vulnerable children.
Yet, humanity is hopefully restored by assembling community and survivor testimony, along with the filmmaker’s insistence that these experiences be fully recognized and memorialized.
The Huronia Regional Centre was located in Orillia and was in operation from 1876 until 2009.
Awards:
Winner — Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival, 2022
Winner — Best Documentary Feature, Bronx Social Justice Matters Film Festival, 2022
Winner — Best Picture Editing in a Documentary (Sarah Peddie), Directors Guild of Canada Awards, 2022
Nominated — Best Direction of a Documentary, Directors Guild of Canada Awards, 2022
Winner — Kat Award for Best Documentary, Together! Disability Film Festival, 2022
Nominated — Best Original Music, Documentary, Canadian Screen Awards, 2023
Nominated — Best Direction, Documentary Program, Canadian Screen Awards, 2023
Nominated — Barbara Sears Award for Best Editorial Research, Canadian Screen Awards, 2023
Nominated — Barbara Sears Award for Best Visual Research, Canadian Screen Awards, 2023
Nominated — Documentary Script, Writers Guild of Canada Screenwriting Awards, 2023
Unloved: Huronia’s Forgotten Children will be shown as part of the 26th Barrie Film Festival on Sunday, Oct. 15, 4 p.m. at Galaxy Cinemas, 72 Commerce Park Dr., Barrie. Tickets are $10.
The 26th Barrie Film Festival runs Oct. 13 to 22, 2023. For information: www.barriefilmfestival.ca.
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