Family Viewing

Director Atom Egoyan
Year 1987
Run Time 86min
Genre Drama
Atom Egoyan’s provocative second feature follows an estranged father and son, Stan (Stemblen) and Van (Tierney) who engage in a battle of wills that further drives them apart. Devoted to his grandmother in a way his father isn’t, Van is desperate to get her out of a nursing home, and enlists the help of Aline (Khanjian), a phone sex worker he meets there. When he discovers that his father has been destroying the record of his childhood by recording over old home movie videostapes to record scenes of perversion with his new wife, his plan takes on a sinister twist, leading to unexpected complications.

Nominated for 8 Genie Awards, and now considered Egoyan’s breakthrough feature, Family Viewing is a classic that is a must-see for Canadian film fans.

Director

Atom Egoyan

Egoyan is a Companion of the Order of Canada, and received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award in 2015 for Lifetime Artistic Achievement. He has produced a significant body of work in film, television, and theatre. He has won over 60 awards, and was nominated for 80 others, including two Academy Award nominations for The Sweet Hereafter. His films have screened at festivals and in major retrospectives around the world, and a number of books have been written about his work. His films include Exotica, Ararat, The Captive, and Seven Veils, among many others.

Writer

Atom Egoyan

Cast

Arsinee Khanjian, David Hemblen, Aidan Tierney, Gabrielle Rose

Producer

Atom Egoyan

Genre

Drama

Interest

Family Relationships

Original Language

English

Canadian Distributor

Canada Council for the Arts