#FIRSTLOOK: “500 DAYS IN THE WILD” COMING TO PARAMOUNT+

Paramount+ in Canada announced today that its first Original Documentary, 500 DAYS IN THE WILD will premiere on March 15. The documentary from award-winning filmmaker
Dianne Whelan, tracks her incredible adventure as the first person to travel the 24,000 km on the Trans Canada Trail.
500 DAYS IN THE WILD has received numerous awards including the prestigious
Audience Award at the 2023 Whistler Film Festival. Following a limited theatrical release, Paramount+ in Canada is partnering with Hot Docs to host an exclusive screening event
on March 14, including a special Q&A with Whelan.

After a six-year journey, filmmaker Dianne Whelan became the first person to travel 24,000 km over land and water on the Trans Canada Trail—the longest trail in the world. 500 DAYS IN THE WILD weaves adventure, personal reflections, stunning wildlife and landscapes to document a unique ecological pilgrimage and journey towards reconciliation. Just as Dianne was profoundly changed by her experience, 500 DAYS IN THE WILD gives audiences a window into their own possibilities in life.

As Dianne travels from one end of the country to the other, she meets Indigenous elders and
communities, as well as locals and friends who walk and paddle with her. Admittedly, Dianne started out alone, disillusioned with the state of the world, to look for different ways of caring for the land and for each
other. The journey turned more complicated when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, yet after it all, she ended the expedition a bit wiser, more hopeful, in love and with a passion to share this story.

“I’ve made a film on the highest mountain in the world and I’ve made a film on the most northern coastline in the world, but 500 DAYS IN THE WILD is the mother of them all,” said Dianne Whelan. “Unlike most adventure films, which are about conquering something, 500 DAYS IN THE WILD is about connection – I didn’t conquer the trail, I connected with it.”

“500 DAYS IN THE WILD is an absolutely epic documentary adventure from one of our country’s best filmmakers, Dianne Whelan,” said Doug Smith, SVP Streaming & Content Licensing Paramount Global, Canada. “Dianne has captured so many nuances of our country in this beautifully moving film – from the people and the stunning landscape to the threat of climate change and the need for reconciliation, this documentary records a moment in our history that will inform generations to come.”

500 DAYS IN THE WILD
is produced by Betsy Carson and executive produced by Christine Haebler and Dianne Whelan and produced with the participation of Telefilm Canada and distributed by Elevation Pictures in Canada.

500 DAYS IN THE WILD premiered at the 2023 Whistler International Film Festival to rave reviews and earned the prestigious Audience Award, chosen by festival goers. The Paramount+ Original documentary also won the festival grand prize at the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival and audience favourite award at the Victoria Film Festival.

#FIRSTLOOOK: ELEVATION PICTURES 2024 RELEASE SLATE

Elevation Pictures have announced their upcoming 2024 release slate with multiple titles which recently have done the Festival Circuit.

ORIGIN
Opens in theatres on January 19 

Directed by: Ava DuVernay
Starring: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jon Bernthal, Vera Farmiga, Audra McDonald,
Niecy Nash-Betts, Nick Offerman, Blair Underwood.

I.S.S.
Opens in theatres on January 19

Directed by: Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Starring: Ariana DeBose, Chris Messina, Pilou Asbaek,
John Gallagher Jr., Costa Ronin, Masha Mashkova

Tensions flare in the near future aboard the International Space Station as a worldwide conflict breaks out on Earth. Reeling from this, the astronauts receive orders from the ground: take control of the station by any means necessary. Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite, working with Nick Shafir’s Blacklist script, brings together a stellar cast that includes Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose, Chris Messina, Pilou Asbaek, John Gallagher Jr., Costa Ronin, and Masha Mashkova, in a high-stakes thriller set entirely in the confines of the I.S.S. as astronauts are called to duty in fateful and terrifying ways.

FITTING IN
Opens in theatres on February 2

Directed by: Molly McGlynn
Starring: Maddie Ziegler, Emily Hampshire, Djouliet Amara,
D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Ki Griffin

A joyful, comedic drama, from writer/director Molly McGlynn, Fitting In is a coming-of-age story that follows 16-year-old Lindy (Maddie Ziegler) who is unexpectedly diagnosed with a reproductive condition, MRKH syndrome. The diagnosis upends her plans to have sex, her presumptions about womanhood and sexuality, her relationship with her mother, and most importantly, herself.

FLOAT
Opens in theatres on February 9

Directed by: Sherren Lee
Starring: Robbie Amell, Sarah Desjardins, Andrea Bang

A city girl rejected by her parents makes an impulsive decision to spend the summer at a small beach town with her estranged aunt. She nearly drowns and is rescued by the lifeguard next door, who offers to teach her how to swim.

PERFECT DAYS
In theatres on February 16

Directed by: Wim Wenders
Starring: Kôji Yakusho, Tokio Emoto, Arisa Nakano, Aoi Yamada,
Yumi Aso, Sayuri Ishikawa, Tomokazu Miura, Min Tanaka

Hirayama (Kôji Yakusho) is a cleaner of public toilets in Tokyo. He lives alone in a small house full of plants, his days going by according to quiet rhythms that never seem to change. His is a neighborhood of tiny cafés frequented by the same people, of bookshops that sell works by Patricia Highsmith or young, contemporary Japanese writers.

Hirayama speaks very little, but he has a great passion for music, books, and the trees he loves to photograph. As he drives to work in his minivan, fully equipped with his cleaning gear, The Rolling Stones, Patti Smith, or Lou Reed ring in ageless, husky hums from a tape player.

FRENCH GIRL
Opens in theatres on February 23

Directed by: James A. Woods & Nicolas Wright
Starring: Zach Braff, Vanessa Hudgens, William Fichtner

Follows Gordon Kinski, a high school teacher from Brooklyn, who goes with his girlfriend and chef Sophie Tremblay to her hometown of Quebec City where she is testing for the Michelin 3-star restaurant of super-chef Ruby Collins.

500 DAYS IN THE WILD
Opens in theatres on March 1

Directed by: Dianne Whelan
Starring: Dianne Whelan

Follows Dianne Whelan that after disappointed with the state of the world did a solo self-recorded journey travelling across Canada.

IRENA’S VOW
Opens in theatres on March 15

Directed by: Louise Archambault
Starring: Sophie Nélisse, Dougray Scott, Andrzej Seweryn, and Maciek Nawrocki

Through the eyes of a strong-willed woman comes the remarkable true story of Irena Gut Opdyke and the triumphs of the human spirit over devastating tragedy. 19-year old Irena Gut is promoted to housekeeper in the home of a highly  respected Nazi officer when she finds out that the Jewish ghetto is about to be liquidated. Determined to help twelve Jewish workers, she decides to shelter them in the safest place she can think of: the basement of the German commandant’s house. Over the next two years, Irena uses her wit, humor, and courage to hide her friends until the end of the German occupation, concealing them in the midst of countless Nazi parties, a blackmail scheme, and even the birth of a child. Her story is one of the most inspiring of our time.

(Photo/video credit: Elevation Pictures)