Sturla Gunnarsson

Gerrie & Louise

Sturla Gunnarsson

Gerrie and Louise is the true story of politically star-crossed lovers. Gerrie was a colonel in the South African Defense Force, and Louise one of South Africa's top investigative journalists working to expose government hit squads and the men who ran them - men like Gerrie. Realizing that apartheid was doomed and he himself had been betrayed, Gerrie used Louise to get his revenge and she used him to get a story. In the process they fell in love, an improbable relationship that illuminates the difficulties of truth and reconciliation.

Final Offer

Sturla Gunnarsson, Robert Collison

Henry Ramer

The filmmakers were given remarkable freedom to record the historic 1984 contract negotiations between the United Auto Workers and General Motors Corporation. Bob White, labour leader of the Canadian branch of the UAW, must also confront his American counterpart from Detroit and succeeds in arriving at a contract that is significantly Canadian. His members had already given him a mandate to fight for independence from the American union. This is an invaluable document for anyone interested in the complexities of United States-Canada relations. It's an extraordinary film about revolutionary events.

Air India 182

Sturla Gunnarsson

A look at one of the worst plane bombings of the 20th century. In 1985, an Air India 747 flying from Montreal, Canada to Delhi was blown up in mid-flight by Khalistani extremists. All 331 passengers were killed, most were of Indian origin.

Wrath of Gods

Jon Gustafsson

Джерард Батлер, Stellan Skarsgård

When Canadian director Sturla Gunnarsson set upon Iceland to film Beowulf & Grendel starring Gerard Butler and Stellan Skarsgard in 2004, they expected the usual complication involved in making a movie, but what they encountered made them wonder if the Norse gods were actually working against them.

Monsoon

Sturla Gunnarsson

Part road movie, part spectacle, part drama, Monsoon is Sturla Gunnarsson's meditation on chaos, creation and faith, set in the land of believers. The subject is the monsoon, the incomparably vast weather system that permeates and unifies the varied culture of India, shaping the conditions of existence for its billion inhabitants. -- IMDb Plot: Monsoon (2014)

The Diary of Evelyn Lau

Sturla Gunnarsson

Sandra Oh, Yan Cui

A teenage girl runs away from home and her very strict mother, becomes a prostitute and drug-addict, which she writes a book about.

Such a Long Journey

Sturla Gunnarsson

Roshan Seth, Soni Razdan

The story, set in 1971 at the time of the war between India and Pakistan, is based on the novel of the same name by Rohinton Mistry, an Indian now living in Toronto. "Such a Long Journey" takes place mostly in and around a large apartment complex, its courtyard and the street, which the municipal authorities want to widen so that even more choking diesel fumes can cloud the air. We meet the hero, Gustad (Roshan Seth), in the process of defending the old concrete wall that protects his courtyard from the street, and later he strikes a bargain with an itinerant artist (Ranjit Chowdhry), who covers the wall with paintings from every conceivable religious tradition, with the thought that all of the groups represented will join in defending the wall.

Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie

Sturla Gunnarsson

David Suzuki, Severn Cullis-Suzuki

David Suzuki, iconic Canadian scientist, educator, broadcaster and activist delivers a 'last lecture' — what he describes as "a distillation of my life and thoughts, my legacy, what I want to say before I die". The film interweaves the lecture with scenes from the places and events in Suzuki's life — creating a biography of ideas — forged by the major social, scientific and cultural events of the past 70 years.

After the Axe

Sturla Gunnarsson

After the Axe is a 1982 Canadian drama film about executive firings.

The Man Who Saved Christmas

Sturla Gunnarsson

Jason Alexander, Kelly Rowan

Alfred Carlton Gilbert invented the Erector Set and is trying to get it onto the toy shelves of the country. A.C. is startled to be summoned to the White House, where top officials ask him to convert the toy factory into a weapons manufacturing company for the duration of the war. "No" is really not an option, for fear of being labeled unpatriotic so the switch is made. Later, government officials ask A.C. to be their spokesman for a campaign to avoid "toy giving" for the coming holidays and buy war bonds instead. With a young son himself, who looks forward to Christmas like any other child, what will A.C. do this time?

The National Parks Project

Stéphane Lafleur, Sturla Gunnarsson

In an increasingly urban nation, Canada’s national parks are a treasured escape into extraordinary beauty and rugged wilderness. If the Group of Seven were an introduction to the landscape’s majesty, National Parks Project is the next logical chapter. Fifty-two contemporary artists from across the country, whose talents are as diverse as the parks they set out to explore, used their surroundings as a source of inspiration to blend musical and cinematic skills into collaboratively crafted vignettes. Epic in its ambition to celebrate these locales during Parks Canada’s centennial year, this omnibus film resonates with the knowledge that our unprotected land is more vulnerable than ever. Including films by Zacharius Kunuk, Peter Lynch, Sturla Gunnarsson and John Walker, and music by Sarah Harmer, Sam Roberts, Cadence Weapon and The Besnard Lakes, among many others, National Parks Project is a one-of-a-kind documentary experience.

Rare Birds

Sturla Gunnarsson

William Hurt, Andy Jones

A down-and-out restaurateur and his neighbor hatch a plan to lure luminaries to their small Newfoundland town.

Diplomatic Immunity

Sturla Gunnarsson

A female Canadian diplomat goes on a mission to El Salvador to try smooth relations between their government and the people of a small town who risk the loss of their home.

We the Jury

Sturla Gunnarsson

Kelly McGillis, Lauren Hutton

Jury has to decide on a murder case but some of the jurors have their own agendas or are biased. Sounds like '12 Angry Men' but this is not a remake. It's a totally fresh take on the theme. Totally different case, for example. There is no question about the identity of the culprit, the jury has to decide between manslaughter and murder. - Written by Holger Hellmuth hellmuth@ira.uka.de

Ricky Nelson: Original Teen Idol

Sturla Gunnarsson

Jamey Sheridan, Sara Botsford

Biographical story of rock idol and TV star, Ricky Nelson is recalled from the view of Ricky in a discussion with a fan just hours before his death in a plane crash in 1985 -

Scorn

Sturla Gunnarsson

Eric Johnson, Brendan Fletcher

Darren Huenemann, a spoiled 18-year old plots to have two classmates murder his mother and grandmother so he can inherit their fortunes. His worship of Caligula leads him to treat all like those in the Roman Imperial Court, manipulating, threatening and cajoling those who would stand in his way. Based on a true story of the early Nineties in British Columbia.