Acclaimed Northern Ontario film opens in the Sault

Set and filmed in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Sleeping Giant opens at the Sault Ste. Marie Galaxy Cinema today with screenings at 4:30, 6:50 and 9:30 p.m.

Written, produced and directed by Andrew Cividino, the film stars Jackson Martin as Adam, Reece Moffett as Nate, and Nick Serino as Riley, three young boys spending a summer together on the shores of Lake Superior.

Sleeping Giant is an expansion of a 2013 short film of the same name and is Cividino’s first full-length feature.

The short earned Cividino a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Live Action Short in 2015.

The 90-minute feature has already had its share of honours, including the Best Canadian First Feature Film award at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, the 2016 Canadian Screen Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Nick Serino), the Best Canadian Feature Award at the 2016 Toronto Film Critics Association Awards, and Best Film By An Emerging Director at the 2015 Munich Film Festival.

Cividino also received Critics Week Grand Prize and Golden Camera nominations at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

Additional Sault screenings of Sleeping Giant include:

• Saturday, April 30 - 12, 2:15, 4:30, 6:50, and 9:30 p.m.
• Sunday, May 1 - 2:15, 4:30, 6:50, and 9:30 p.m.
• Monday, May 2 - 5:50 and 8:15 p.m.
• Tuesday, May 3 - 4:30, 6:50, and 9:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, May 4 - 5:50 and 8:15 p.m.
• Thursday, May 5 - 2, 6:50, and 9:30 p.m.

This film is rated 14A.

Film synopsis

Teenager Adam is spending his summer vacation with his parents on rugged Lake Superior.

His dull routine is shattered when he befriends Riley and Nate, smart aleck cousins who pass their ample free time with debauchery and reckless cliff jumping.

The revelation of a hurtful secret triggers Adam to set in motion a series of irreversible events that test the bonds of friendship and change the boys forever.

In this feature debut, director Andrew Cividino ushers us into a visually and emotionally rich universe, drawing complex, naturalistic performances from his young actors.

The film deals extensively with themes of death, masculinity, as well as adolescent perceptions of love, friendship and sexuality.

Sleeping Giant portrays a summer filled with euphoric moments as well as difficult times.

The relationship between the boys is never predictable, yet always feels authentic.

There will never again be a summer so intensely felt, so alive, so valuable to the forming of their characters.