PRESS

To request screeners, set up interviews with John Zaritsky / students from the film, or more information, please contact: Ingrid Hamilton, GAT Productions, 416-802-2079 ingrid@gat.ca

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- For Immediate Release -


Award-winning filmmaker John Zaritsky Goes Back To School

COLLEGE DAYS, COLLEGE NIGHTS

A Documentary Channel Original Production from John Zaritsky
World Premiere on The Documentary Channel

A Three-Part Series, March 1, 2, 3, at 8:00pm ET. Repeating March 27 6:00pm ET.

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(February 3, 2005 – Toronto)

Parties, sex, sports, and part-time jobs is the unofficial curriculum of colleges across Canada. For 16 students at the University of British Columbia, college life leaves little time for classes … or sleep!

College Days, College Nights is a new, three-part documentary from Academy Award®-winning filmmaker John Zaritsky. The film makes its world premiere on The Documentary Channel March 1, 2, 3, at 8:00pm ET.

Zaritsky and his crew of filmmakers, which included intern filmmakers, followed 16 undergraduates at the University of British Columbia over a 10-month period during the 2003-2004 school year. They documented all aspects of student life both on and off campus. The students were also given video cameras to record their own personal diaries over the course of the year. The resulting film integrates the documentary film shot by Zaritsky’s crew, with footage shot by the students themselves. This combination lends an intimacy to the production rarely, if ever, seen in mainstream media.

“College Days, College Nights was also shot in large part by eight film school interns under my tutelage, both in a classroom setting and as integral parts of our production team,” said Mr. Zaritsky. “Overall, the experience has been overwhelmingly successful both personally and professionally. I am particularly pleased with how video diaries lent a confessional-type quality to the students’ stories, and a candor and honesty to the film that might not otherwise have been achieved.”

"If you're wondering what the future leaders of our country will be doing in 20 years —what they’re like, what they want, and how they misbehave—don’t miss this film,” said Michael Burns, Director of Programming for The Documentary Channel. “With 25 cameras shooting over 10 months, this is the most exhaustive study of university life ever attempted in Canada. It's a spectacular achievement.”