LOCATION: Cinematheque

Dir: L'Atelier national du Manitoba | 60 mins | 2006 - Canada

* Special Presentation introduced by L'Atelier national du Manitoba (Walter Forsberg, Mike Maryniuk and Matthew Rankin)

L'Atelier national du Manitoba's Death by Popcorn: The Tragedy of the Winnipeg Jets is recognized as much for being a "media collage tour de force" as for the legal copyright controversy it sparked after the filmmakers publicly declared they obtained the footage from the CKY dumpsters.

"Death By Popcorn draws its source material from discarded Beta-format videotapes that were rescued from a dumpster by l’Atelier members. The city’s unforgiving natural elements took their toll on this fragile media; consequently, the images incorporated in the film are mere textured traces of their past Betamax glory. From this material, L’Atelier stitched together a compelling, fragmented history: an epic tale that descends into tragedy as Winnipeg’s hockey heroes become powerless against their foes. The film traces the rise and fall of this once-promising hockey team, and the sense of failure that later permeated the city as their team perpetually lost to its arch nemesis: Wayne Gretzky’s Edmonton Oilers.

As the sordid tale unfolds, Death by Popcorn’s textured fragments gain a manic momentum of turmoil and urgency. L’Atelier enlists the talents of civic luminaries such as Kern Hill Furniture Co-op magnate Nick Hill, whose howling television commercials became an anthem to Winnipeg bargain hunting rituals. Mustache bearing sportscasters wearing neon spandex biking shorts do their best to placate the maddening crowd, while pierogi tycoon Hunky Bill distracts the crowd with 30-second pierogi making lessons. Death by Popcorn’s use of seemingly insignificant local commercials is perhaps its most fascinating feature. In the philosophical spirit of Walter Benjamin, l’Atelier sifts through the ruins of community access and local television programs, weaving together fragments of outdated media in order to uncover an authentic portrait of the Winnipeg Nation."

- Excerpted from Solomon Nagler's esssay, "winnipeg eats itself: L'atelier national du Manitoba's Scheme for Sovereignty", published in INCITE! Journal of Experimental Media and Radical Aesthetics