Heather performing live in Vancouver with Bear 71.
Heather performing live in Vancouver at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival
Friday May 4 | 7:00 PM | St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church
Leanne Allison, Jeremy Mendes, and the NFB Digital Studios’ remarkable new interactive documentary does so much more than trace the life of a grizzly bear in Banff National Park. Captured, collared, and christened Bear 71 at age three, this mother grizzly was under surveillance for the rest of her life. Motion-triggered trail cameras captured her daily activities in grainy low-fi footage, like the kind used to spy on humans at 7-Eleven. Along with the other residents of the park—golden eagles, bighorn sheep, wolves, and deer, Bear 71’s every move was analyzed. But who watches the watchers? The answer may surprise you as the film also examines the systems of surveillance that have, in turn, trapped us all in a larger web of control. A singular cinematic experience and an emotionally profound work, Bear 71 shows that the illusion of freedom is just that.
Produced by the National Film Board of Canada (Vancouver and Edmonton) and featuring narration from actress Mia Kirshner and a script from J.B. MacKinnon (The 100 Mile Diet), Bear 71 is an interactive and immersive experience that blurs the boundaries between surveillance and subjectivity. Bear 71 questions the very idea of documentary presentation and offers up a poetic investigation of the densely tangled and interconnected systems of wired and wild life. Featuring live musical performances by Tim Hecker, Loscil, and cellist Heather McIntosh, DOXA is exceptionally proud to partner with the NFB to bring Bear 71 home to Vancouver within the stunning setting of Saint Andrew’s-Wesley Church. –DW
It’s such a different approach to filmmaking and art, that it may take a while for the average Joe or Jane to take it all in, but that’s kind of the point: We’re only half-awake to our animal nature, and all our ambient technology only serves to shove us deeper and deeper into a state of instinct denial. –The Vancouver Sun
‘Compliance’ screens at SXSW.
Mon. March 12, 11am
Stateside Theatre
Tues. March 13, 8pm
Stateside Theatre
Thurs. March 15, 10pm
Violet Crown 2
Sat. March 17, 6:30pm
Alamo Lamar B
Look who appears on Norah Jones’ new album!.
Out May 1
ELEPHANT 6 HOLIDAY SURPRISE LIVE AT ATP (curated by JEFF MANGUM).
Holiday Surprise is here to spread their cheer wherever they can. This time around, the ATP festival is where the players will bring the fun. More than a dozen musicians will share the stage – whether all at once, one a time, or any number in between; seldom playing more than a couple songs in a row in the same configuration. They’ll swap instruments, play each others songs and maybe even treat audiences to one of Julian Koster’s famous games. The people in the crowd will have as much fun as the people on the stage – and that’s saying something.
While the Elephant 6 Collective Orchestra has existed in many sizes and shapes over the years, this most recent incarnation known as Holiday Surprise first came together in 2008. This weekend’s iteration of the Orchestra features players Will Cullen Hart, Pete Erchick, John Fernandes, Julian Koster, Scott Spillane, Andrew Rieger, Laura Carter, Bill Doss, Derek Almstead, Heather McIntosh and Robbie Cucchiaro – plus some special guests & friends – playing the songs of Elf Power, Circulatory System, The Gerbils, Scott E. Spillane EXP, Major Organ and the Adding Machine, Pipes You See, Pipes You Don’t, The Instruments and more.
Be sure to catch their set! No two shows are ever the same!
Link: ATP Festival
Heather performing live in Montreal with Bear 71.
Bear 71 performance in Montreal! 2:30 on Feb 22nd
BISTRO SAQ – CINEMATEQUE QUEBECOISE:
[a] 335, boul. de Maisonneuve Est [métro Berri-UQAM],
Montréal
Heather’s score to ‘Compliance’ positively highlighted in press reviews.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER — January 23, 2012 — by Justin Lowe
“Tightly framed shots, subtle camera movements and constrained blocking build tension, underlined by Heather McIntosh’s excellent, foreboding score.”
VARIETY — January 21, 2012 — by Justin Chang
“Heather McIntosh’s surging orchestral score imbues the banal horror of the proceedings with a genuinely tragic dimension” – Justin Chang
Link: Variety
Link: The Hollywood Reporter
Heather performing live tonight at Sundance with Bear 71.
Jeremy Mendes and Leanne Allison’s poignant interactive documentary about a bear in the Canadian Rockies illuminates the way humans engage with wildlife in the age of networks, satellites, and digital surveillance. Audiences from around the world can use their smartphones to become part of an interactive forest environment rich with bears, cougars, sheep, deer, and people as they follow an emotional story of a grizzly bear tagged and monitored by Banff National Park rangers.
30-minute narrative starts at the top of every hour
This installation will launch in a special ticketed event/reception on Friday, January 20 at 8:00 p.m. at New Frontier.
Link: Sundance Film Guide
Heather and Butchy Fuego featured on Paper Mag blog.
“Attendees were welcomed by a suite of compositions inspired by winter, written and performed by Butchy Fuego (of Pit er Pat) and cellist Heather McIntosh (who’s the house cellist for Elephant 6 Collective and has played with a ton of bands, including Animal Collective, Cat Power, Lil Wayne). The duo were well-aware of the irony of playing anything winter-inspired in mild L.A. — they even donned coats, scarves and hats to underscore this point. Their performance featured hauntingly spare drums and computer-y sounds with looped and re-looped cello.”
Link: Paper Mag
BMI’s “Music & Film: The Creative Process” roundtable.
Heather and director Craig Zobel, who worked together on ‘Compliance’; will appear as panelists at BMI’s “Music & Film: The Creative Process” roundtable at Sundance 2012.
Link: BMI
Butchy Fuego & Heather McIntosh Live at Dublab.
Heather McIntosh + Butchy Fuego come together for a live Dublab sesion of cello + mpc.
Original Broadcast: Aug 22, 2011
Link: Butchy Fuego & Heather McIntosh Live at Dublab
