The Fairy Who Didn't Want to Be a Fairy Anymore
- Daniel MacIvor
- Holly Cole
- Micah Barnes
- John Turner
- Michael Kennard
- 1992 (1992) (TIFF)
The Fairy Who Didn't Want to Be a Fairy Anymore is a Canadian musical comedy-drama short film directed by Laurie Lynd, which premiered at the 1992 Toronto International Film Festival before going into wider release in 1993.[1] Made as an academic project while Lynd was studying at the Canadian Film Centre,[2] it won the Genie Award for Best Live Action Short Drama at the 14th Genie Awards.[3]
Plot
An allegory for gender stereotypes and internalized homophobia,[4] the film stars Daniel MacIvor as a fairy who approaches a surgical team (Holly Cole as the doctor and Micah Barnes as the nurse) to have his wings removed so that he can become a normal human being, after facing anti-fairy discrimination.[2] Following a musical debate between the three, the doctor agrees to perform the surgery. As he leaves the clinic, the now-wingless fairy is initially happy to be just like everyone else around him,[2] but soon comes to regret his decision as he belatedly realizes the unique qualities and gifts, such as the ability to fly, that he has given up by pushing his identity into the closet.[2]
Production
Michael Kennard and John Turner, in character as the clown duo Mump and Smoot, also appear in the film, depicted as reading the story in the form of a book that they have found on the sidewalk.[2] MacIvor also wrote the film's screenplay.
Release and reception
In addition to its Genie Award win, the film received an honorable mention from the Best Canadian Short Film jury at TIFF,[5] and won the award for Best Short Film at the Seattle International Film Festival in 1993.
Several years after its original release, the film received a follow-up screening at the 1998 Toronto International Film Festival as part of a special program commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Canadian Film Centre. In 2007, Toronto's Inside Out Film and Video Festival screened both The Fairy and Lynd's earlier film RSVP, along with an excerpt from his highly anticipated but not yet completed feature film Breakfast with Scot.[6]
References
- ^ "Rock and role-playing". Toronto Star, July 2, 1993.
- ^ a b c d e "Contrary fairy tale is class work". Toronto Star, July 2, 1993.
- ^ "Film centre grads making their mark". Toronto Star, December 24, 1993.
- ^ "Radical Sissies and Stereotyped Fairies in Laurie Lynd's The Fairy Who Didn't Want to Be a Fairy Anymore". Cinema Journal, Vol. 45 Issue 1 (Fall 2005), p. 66.
- ^ Jay Scott, "Festival focus firmly on first features". The Globe and Mail, September 21, 1992.
- ^ "Inside Out Wrap-Up: Laurie Lynd and the Gay-ple Leafs". Torontoist, May 27, 2007.
External links
- The Fairy Who Didn't Want to Be a Fairy Anymore at IMDb
- v
- t
- e
(1949–1996)
- Who Will Teach Your Child? (1949)
- North Shore (1950)
- After Prison, What? (1951)
- Opera School (1952)
- L'Homme aux oiseaux (1953)
- Farewell Oak Street (1954)
- High Tide in Newfoundland1 (1955)
- Gold (1956)
- The Sceptre and the Mace (1958)
- Money Minters, The Quest and The Tall Country (1959)
- Royal River (1960)
- Universe (1961)
- Morning on the Lièvre (1962)
- Nahanni (1963)
- Anniversary (1964)
- Do Not Fold, Staple, Spindle or Mutilate and Ça n'est pas le temps des romans (1968)
- Vertige and At Home (1969)
- A Matter of Fat and Blake (1970)
- Don't Knock the Ox (1971)
- This Is a Photograph (1972)
- Goodbye Sousa (1973)
- Along These Lines (1975)
- Cooperage (1976)
- Spartree (1977)
- L'Affaire Bronswik (1978)
- Nails (1980)
- The Strongest Man in the World (1981)
- Zea (1982)
- Elvis Gratton (1983)
- Ted Baryluk's Grocery (1984)
- Charade (1985)
- George and Rosemary (1988)
- Saeed (1991)
- Arrowhead (1994)
- Les fleurs magiques (1995)
- The Home for Blind Women (1996)
(1986–present)
- The Edit (1986)
- I Need a Man Like You to Make My Dreams Come True (1987)
- The Mysterious Moon Men of Canada (1989)
- In Search of the Last Good Man (1990)
- Battle of the Bulge (1992)
- The Fairy Who Didn't Want to Be a Fairy Anymore (1993)
- The Hangman's Bride (1997)
- When Ponds Freeze Over (1998)
- Moving Day (1999)
- Le P'tit Varius (2000)
- The Heart of the World (2001)
- I Shout Love (2002)
- Noël Blank (2003)
- Capacité 11 personnes (2004)
- Milo 55160 (2005)
- Le rouge au sol (2006)
- Après tout (2007)
- Next Floor (2008)
- Danse Macabre (2009)
- Savage (2010)
- Doubles with Slight Pepper (2011)
- Throat Song (2012)
- Noah (2013)
- Hole (2014)
- She Stoops to Conquer (2015)
- Mutants (2016)
- Fluffy (2017)
- Fauve (2018)
- Pick (2019)
- Black Bodies (2020)
- Girls Shouldn't Walk Alone at Night (2021)
- Simo (2022)
- Motherland (2023)
(1968–present)
- Un enfant...un pays1 (1968)
- Walking (1969)
- To See or Not to See (1970)
- Evolution (1971)
- Dans la vie... (1972)
- The Family That Dwelt Apart (1973)
- The Owl Who Married a Goose (1975)
- The Street (1976)
- Spinnolio (1977)
- Afterlife (1978)
- Every Child (1980)
- The Big Snit (1986)
- Get a Job (1987)
- The Cat Came Back (1989)
- Juke-Bar (1990)
- Strings (1992)
- Pearl's Diner (1993)
- La vieille dame et les pigeons (1997)
- Bingo (1998)
- When the Day Breaks (1999)
- Village of Idiots (2000)
- The Boy Who Saw the Iceberg (2001)
- The Hungry Squid (2002)
- Falling in Love Again (2003)
- Ryan (2004)
- cNote (2005)
- The Danish Poet (2006)
- Madame Tutli-Putli (2007)
- Isabelle au bois dormant (2008)
- Runaway (2009)
- Lipsett Diaries (2010)
- Romance (2011)
- Paula (2012)
- Subconscious Password (2013)
- Me and My Moulton (2014)
- The Ballad of Immortal Joe (2015)
- Blind Vaysha (2016)
- The Tesla World Light (2017)
- Animal Behaviour (2018)
- Giant Bear (2019)
- Hot Flash (2020)
- Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman's Apprentice (2021)
- The Flying Sailor (2022)
- Where Rabbits Come From (2023)