You probably remember Matt Durant from our coverage of his solo show, Resilience, at Goodfellas Gallery in Toronto earlier this year. He has always been an artist that I have been following throughout the years and seen grow, develop and create interesting, reclaimed pieces of art. When I heard Daniel Thomson had made this film focusing on Matt’s work, I definitely had to share with all of you.
The short documentary, Reclaimed, premieres at this year’s Planet In Focus Film Festival on Sunday, November 24th at 9:30am in the Jackman Hall Theatre at the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Durant uses salvaged and reclaimed materials as a canvas to create beautiful pieces of art, combining eco sensibility with an eye for sustainable practices to produce works of a unique and original vision.
“I feel quite interested in the idea of resurrection of materials, things that are considered detritus to a lot of people that are discarding it. I feel there is definitely a lot more life still in it, and by making it into art I think that it can last a long time,” says Durant. “Wood and metal and materials – they scar like we do, there’s always a story behind what happened to create that marking.”
Reclaimed will premiere as part of Planet In Focus’ Eco Bits program at their upcoming 14th Annual Environmental Film Festival. The festival takes place in Toronto from November 21-24, with screenings at the TIFF Bell Lightbox and the Jackman Hall Theatre at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Two dollars from each ticket purchased will go towards planting a tree in the PIF Forest by The Carbon Farmer.
Reclaimed is produced and directed by Daniel Thomson, a 10-year veteran of the documentary and television industry. Notable credits include Death or Canada, Hangman’s Graveyard and Explosion 1812 for History, as well as Engraved on a Nation for TSN. Most recently, Thomson produced the feature length documentary SongbirdSOS. Daniel has been nominated for a Gemini Award and won awards from Heritage Toronto and The Canadian Archaeological Association. He has served as jury member for Heritage Toronto and the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.