By JACK SKINNER
The film The Last Curlew will be premiered at the Fox Theatre in the Beach on Saturday, April 15. The movie was inspired by the book written by long-time Beach resident Fred Bodsworth.
The Last Curlew is also directed by a Beach resident, Gregory Sinclair. Cinematography for the film is by David Mewa and Ben Sharp.
Continuing the Beach connection, the film is written and produced by local resident Tom Allen who is a Canadian radio broadcaster with the CBC.
Bodsworth’s 1954 book Last of the Curlews charts the astonishing 14,000 kilometre migration of a male curlew who is in search of a mate and may be the last of his species. The movie The Last Curlew views that story through the eyes of a reluctant birder and grieving widower who brings his equally reluctant teenage daughter on a pilgrimage to the site where the bird was last seen.
“It is a journey that will change both of their lives forever,” said Allen.
Bodsworth was born on Oct. 11, 1918, in Port Burwell, Ont. He grew up with a love for the outdoors, specifically birds, and his writing reminded people how abusive humans can be to the environment. In 1944, Bodsworth married Margaret Banner and they raised three children. They moved to Toronto and lived in a house on Beech Avenue near Kingston Road.
Last of the Curlews was Bodsworth’s first novel and he was inspired to write it after reading a report on two Eskimo Curlew birds in Texas. He wondered, “What if they were the last two on Earth?”
Members of the Bodsworth family, along with renowned Canadian author Margaret Atwood (who is a friend of the family and an avid birder) will be in attendance to for the April 15 premiere.
The Last Curlew stars R.H. Thomson, Liyou Abere and Rheal Rees. Dances in the movie are performed by Julia April, alongside music by Canadian composers R. Murray Schafer, Alexina Louie and Marjan Mozetich. The music is played by harpist Lori Gemmell and violinist Etsuko Kimura.
The film’s screening begins at 7 p.m. The Fox Theatre is located at 2236 Queen St. E.
For ticket information, please go to https://www.foxtheatre.ca/movies/the-last-curlew/
For more Fred Bodsworth, Tom Allen and The Last Curlew, please see Bernie Fletcher’s Reel Beach column at https://beachmetro.com/2017/10/04/tom-allen-channels-fred-bodsworth-last-curlew/
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