It Must be Surreal - 34 Years Later with Guy Maddin’s Tales From the Gimli Hospital

First released in 1988, Guy Maddin’s Tales From the Gimli Hospital has now been restored in 4K. The new release premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2022.

Set in the idyllic town of Gimli on the shores of Lake Winnipeg in the late 19th century, it’s a tale of jealousy, revenge, and peculiar erotic fixations. Shot in black and white on 16mm film and paying homage to both old Hollywood and surrealism, the feature draws on Maddin’s family heritage and the Icelandic immigrants that settled in the small Manitoba fishing town. Now labeled a cult classic, it marked the beginning of Maddin’s critically acclaimed, 30 year career in film. In this episode of Cinema Reignited, we go one-on-one with filmmaker Guy Maddin about the making of Tales From the Gimli Hospital, how he became a filmmaker, and the changes he made to the film during the 4K digitization.

Tales From the Gimli Hospital is currently playing at select theatres.

Cinema Reignited is a podcast by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, powered by Telefilm Canada.

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This podcast episode was produced by Quill