Heyday!

Director/Writer: Gordon Pinsent
Cast: Adam Butcher, Peter MacNeill, Joanne Kelly, Tom McCamus, Deirdre Gillard-Rowlings
Co-producers: Pope Productions, Newfoundland

Synopsis

The final days of WWII are turbulent ones for 16-year old Terry Follett – a sharp young man who yearns to rub shoulders with war heroes and movie stars at the nearby Gander airport hotel. Boasting the world’s longest runway and poised on the Eastern tip of the continent, Gander, Newfoundland provided an unlikely outpost for stars like Gene Tierney, Bob Hope and others who were often fogged-in while en route to their USO tours overseas. When his mother becomes gravely ill and the family house is quarantined, it is Terry’s brilliant imagination that carries him on a poignant journey of love and longing as he fights fear of loss by holding onto his infatuation with the vivacious Mary Dwyer (some ten years his senior) and encounters with the show business legends and local characters at the hotel.

Reviews

“…a beautifully made and perfectly paced coming-of-age drama about imagination and the depth of the desperation that fuels it in a young mind….As a director, Pinsent understands the power of quiet moments and hesitation….The movie is inventive, a little madcap, sometimes serious and always engaging. It’s very fine.” – John Doyle, THE GLOBE AND MAIL

“…endearing…” – Andrew Ryan, THE GLOBE AND MAIL, GLOBE TV

Awards

Gemini Awards, Achievement in Casting (5 other nominations) • Hugo Award for Excellence in Television Chicago International Festival • DGC Awards (4 Nominations) • CSC Award Best Cinematography Nomination