Winter is coming, and so is a thrilling partnership with Vancouver’s Pyrrha Jewellery. When season four of Game of Thrones premieres on April 6, keep an eye out for the jewelry that the kings, queens and conspirators are wearing. Pyrrha’s talisman necklaces and rings, made of sterling and bronze, are being featured in the hugely successful HBO series, as well as in an official Pyrrha for Game of Thrones collection. Starting on April 4, you can wear your allegiance on your hand or neck. The collection features the House of Targaryen’s dragon of Westeros, the House of Stark’s dire wolf, the House of Tyrell’s rose, the House of Lannister’s lion and the House of Greyjoy’s kraken.
CBC has grounded Arctic Air. On Monday evening, Arctic Air executive producer Gary Harvey confirmed that the adventure series — currently airing its third season episodes on the national broadcaster — had been cancelled. “So there we go now. It’s official. #ArcticAir is cancelled,” he tweeted. Arctic Air was shot in Greater Vancouver, as well as on location in Yellowknife. The final episode will air on April 8.
Also on the CBC chopping block: the Toronto-shot crime procedural Cracked. Sources cite government budget cuts and the loss of NHL broadcast exclusivity as the primary factors behind these latest cancellations. (Previously announced cancellations include The Ron James Show and George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight).
It was a good weekend at the box office for Down River. The critical hit of the Vancouver International Film Festival opened at Fifth Avenue Cinemas on Friday to a sold-out house. “We held our ground in the theatre and will be carried over for another week for sure,” writer-director Ben Ratner told Reel People. “As long as people continue to buy tickets, we will stay in the theatre.” The locally shot drama was inspired by the life and passing of Vancouver acting legend Babz Chula. Down River’s journey continues beyond Vancouver, too: it opens in Toronto on March 21, and Ratner recently inked a deal with a worldwide sales company. “[There] is much ahead for Down River,” said Ratner.
Another VIFF favourite begins its Vancouver theatrical run next week. Three Days in Havana — about an insurance executive who gets caught up in an assassination plot while visiting Cuba — screens at Cineplex Tinseltown beginning March 28. The film was co-written and co-directed by Tony Pantages and Gil Bellows and stars Bellows, Greg Wise, Rya Kihlstedt, and Christopher Heyerdahl.
Emmy Award-winning executive producer and director Michelle MacLaren is the featured guest in a special question-and-answer presentation hosted by VIFF’s Film and Television Forum and the Directors’ Guild of Canada. The veteran of Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead and Hell on Wheels will dissect some of her favourite scenes from her expansive body of work. March 27 at Vancouver International Film Centre. More at VIFF.org.
The April 8 screening of Not Business As Usual at Vancity Theatre will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Sharad Khare, the founder of Imagination Dialogue. Speakers include W. Brett Wilson (Dragon’s Den), Joel Bakan (writer of The Corporation), Mark Brand (Save-On Meats), Sandra Odendahl (RBC director of sustainability). Doors: 5:30pm; film: 6:30; panel and Q & A: 7:40; reception: 9. Tickets are $18 and available at VIFF.org.
