'Rumble' Doc Rocks Canadian Screen Awards

By FYI Staff

"Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World" won three Canadian Screen Awards, which were presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television at Sunday night’s gala at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto.

The music documentary took top honours for Feature Length Documentary, Best Cinematography in a Documentary and Best Editing in a Documentary.

The Canadian documentary film, by Catherine Bainbridge and Alfonso Maiorana, premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and profiles the impact of Indigenous musicians in Canada and the US on the development of rock music. Artists profiled include Charley Patton, Mildred Bailey, Link Wray, Jesse Ed Davis, Stevie Salas, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Robbie Robertson, Randy Castillo, and Jimi Hendrix. The title of the film is a reference to the pioneering instrumental "Rumble", released in 1958 by the American group Link Wray & His Ray Men.

Many segments feature influential musicians talking about the contribution of indigenous artists, including commentaries from Quincy Jones, George Clinton, Taj Mahal, Martin Scorsese, John Trudell, and Steven Tyler.

In December, the Toronto International Film Festival named the film to its annual year-end list of the ten best Canadian films.

Gord Downie's multimedia project “The Secret Path,” telling the story of Chanie Wenjack, who died trying to get home from residential school in 1966, won the Donald Brittain Award for best social-political documentary.

The evening also included tributes for several distinguished Canadians honoured for individual achievement, including CBC's Rick Mercer and Peter Mansbridge, author Margaret Atwood and director Clark Johnson.

For more information, link to the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television website.