Indie flick an Atlantic hit
Biopic following life of Nova Scotia folk artist sells out screenings
HALIFAX — The small-budget biopic of folk artist Maud Lewis has become an unlikely Atlantic Canadian blockbuster.
Maudie is the region’s No. 2 film, with a higher per-screen average last weekend than the top grossing The Fate of the Furious, according to Mongrel Media, the film’s distributor.
“Maudie had a weekend per-screen average of $7,239 in the Atlantic Provinces,” Alison Zimmer, Mongrel’s theatrical sales co-ordinator, said Wednesday. “It definitely over-performed in Atlantic Canada.”
The drama stars Oscar-nominated British actor Sally Hawkins as the reclusive Nova Scotia artist whose hands were riddled with arthritis, and American Ethan Hawke as her fish pedlar husband, Everette.
It opened in limited release on April 14, and is currently being shown on 30 screens, half in the Atlantic region. A total of 75 screens will play Maudie across Canada by this weekend. People have lined up around the block at some theatres, and at least one Halifax junior high school plans a field trip to see it. The success has exceeded initial expectations, said Zimmer, although she adds that she knew Maudie would be an East Coast hit — it is set in Nova Scotia and was filmed in Newfoundland.
The independent Fundy Cinema in Wolfville, N.S., planned two showings, but owner Noemi Volovics added two more after they entirely sold out. “Maudie has done very well for us,” Volovics said.
Aisling Walsh directed and Sherry White wrote the Canada-Ireland co-production. It has received critical acclaim at various festivals around the world and captured the Super Channel People’s Choice award at the Vancouver International Film Festival.
Lewis, who lived in poverty for most of her life, sold her paintings from her home near Digby, N.S., for as little as $2 and $3. She died in 1970, but her paintings have since sold for up to $22,000.
A Halifax native, Zimmer said she understands why the film was so successful in the Atlantic Provinces.
“It’s a story of a Canadian female artist, which is something we don’t get the opportunity to see very often,” she said.