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WE'RE TOO LOUD

Breagan Smith’s family moved to Hornby Island, British Columbia, Canada along with many “back to the landers” in the 1970s. This migration of hippie youth settled, built communities, raised families, and developed an ecologically sound way of living. But now, as baby boomers retire, many of their generation move to the island, making it too expensive for many young locals who are forced to leave the island for larger towns or cities. After a decade of living away, Breagan moved back to Hornby to return to his roots.

The film begins a few years into his return where we meet Breagan and a small group of local musicians eager to maintain an ecological way of life. But soon after a rock show his hopes for a summer of concerts is dashed by a series of cancellations due to complaints of alcohol use and noise. Is it possible to live as a rock and roll artist on an island quickly becoming a retirement community? This film follows Breagan’s struggle to maintain a way of life on an island he loves, while it is quickly transformed by gentrification.

  • Michael B MacDonald
    Director
    Pimachihowan, John Wort Hannam is a Poor Man
  • Breagan Smith and the Good Times
    Key Cast
    "themselves"
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    54 minutes 14 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 15, 2018
  • Production Budget:
    4,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • ICTM official selection
    Lisbon
    Portugal
    June 27, 2018
  • Metro Cinema
    Edmonton
    Canada
    October 2, 2018
Director Biography - Michael B MacDonald

Michael B. MacDonald is an award-winning filmmaker, ethnomusicologist, and associate professor of music in the faculty of Fine Arts and Communications at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. His research focuses on audio-visual ethnomusicology. He has published two books: “Playing for Change: Music Festivals as Community Learning and Development” and “Remix and Life Hack in Hip Hop: Towards a Critical Pedagogy of Music” and is currently working on a book titled “Cinema Vitalite: the Cine-Ethnomusicology of Les Blank”.

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Director Statement

Director's Discussion: Cinema Vitalite, The art and craft of Being There

Artists working in the Cinema Verite and observational documentary tradition worked diligently to develop methods to help the viewer be there. It is unclear whether any of these filmmakers thought of their work as an extension of existentialism into film. But since the 19th century, existentialists have indeed used art practices to forward their philosophical projects. Ethnographic film, emerging as it did with the creation of ever more portable cameras, can indeed be seen as a new phase of this longer tradition. The celebrated filmmaker Les Blank began to apply these methods to music films in the 1960s making two important contributions. The first is the inclusion of the subject of musicians and music making into the world of existentialism. The second, is the development of an ecological orientation to existentialism. Taken together these contributions have laid a foundation for the development of ecological existentialism, and a new form of ethnographic filmmaking that has been called Cinema Vitalite.

Les Blank, because he was a filmmaker, has remained outside of the musicological and ethnomusicological traditions. Now that musicological film has been accepted as a disciplinary activity and scholars working in this tradition seek to establish methodological approaches, it is necessary to harmonize the methods Blank has innovated with the contemporary practice of musicology.

Doing this requires that ethnomusicological filmmakers take chances with the academic feature documentary. In WE’RE TOO LOUD, I have attempted to follow Blank’s approach, with one major change. Recognizing the continuity of digital cinema and digital downloads, I try to introduce Breagan Smith’s music without giving it away. I use sections of songs and utilize music video aesthetics to inspire the viewer to download his music. It is my hope that this form of ethnomusicological film can work alongside DIY musicians to create culturally significant documents for public education while also contributing to economic development in the arts.