GIFT is a tribute to something that can’t be measured or counted, bought or sold. Exploring the parallels between artists’ work and a gift economy, it’s a reflection on the creative process, the reasons we “labour in service of our gifts.”
Gift directed by Robin McKenna is a documentary inspired by Lewis Hyde’s beloved classic The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World. The documentary was nominated for the Director’s Guild of Canada Awards’ Allan King Award for Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking in 2018. The Gift will be released in theaters starting October 10th in New York and Los Angeles.
On North America’s Pacific Northwest Coast, a young Indigenous artist and carver undertakes the elaborate preparations for a potlatch – to make a name for himself by giving everything away. In Rome, Italy, a factory occupied by migrant families is transformed into a living museum, protected by a barricade of art : a model of resistance, and an invaluable gift. In the pirate utopia of Burning Man, a mutant bumblebee art car distributes honey in a post-apocalyptic desert landscape. Meanwhile, in Auckland, New Zealand, artist Lee Mingwei prepares to launch Sonic Blossom – a “transformative gift” of song.
Robin McKenna is director, producer and writer of GIFT, a feature-length documentary and crossmedia project inspired by Lewis Hyde’s classic bestseller The Gift. She is currently making Thanadoula, a short animated documentary fairytale about a real-life “death doula”, in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada – and Medicine, a feature-length documentary over a decade in the making, about ayahuasca, medicine and healing, with Dr. Gabor Maté. She directed Genevieve Bujold: Art=Vie, a short film tribute to Bujold on 16mm, for the Governor General’s Awards for the Performing Arts in 2018. Robin grew up in Montréal, and began making films with La course destination monde. Her cinematography credits include City of Borders (Berlinale, Hot Docs 2009) and The Take with Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis (AFI Best Documentary 2004).
THEATRICAL RELEASE SCHEDULE
OPENS IN NEW YORK CITY ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11
NOTE: WITH SPECIAL ADVANCE SCREENING WITH AUTHOR LEWIS HYDE & DIRECTOR ROBIN MCKENNA IN-PERSON ON THE EVENING OF THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10
Quad Cinema
34 W. 13th Street, New York, NY 07470
OPENS IN LOS ANGELES ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11
Laemmle’s Monica Film Center
1332 2nd Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401
OPENS IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA (MULTIPLE VENUES) ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25
Landmark’s Opera Plaza Cinema
501 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102
&
Smith Rafael Film Center
1118 4th Street, San Rafael, CA 94901
&
Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas
2230 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704
OPENS IN BOSTON ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1
Landmark’s Kendall Square Cinema
1 Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA 02139
OPENS IN DENVER ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1
Landmark’s Chez Artiste Theatre
4150 E Amherst Avenue, Denver, CO 80222
OPENS IN WASHINGTON, DC ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
555 11th Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20004
OPENS IN SANTA FE ON FRIDAY NOVEMBER 1
Center for Contemporary Arts
1050 Old Pecos Trail, Santa Fe, NM 87505
OPENS IN YORK, PA ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1
Small Star Arthouse
232 West Market Street, York, PA 17401
OPENS IN MINNEAPOLIS ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8
Landmark’s Lagoon Cinema
1320 Lagoon Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55408