GIFT
Status: Completed
Director & Writer: Robin McKenna
“Marvelous and inspiring.” – Lewis Hyde, Author of The Gift
Produced by: Ina Fichman (Intuitive Pictures) and Robin McKenna
Edited by: Mahi Rahgozar
Cinematography: Mark O’Fearghail and Nicolas Canniccioni
Original Music: Serge Nakauchi Pelletier
Sound Design: Sylvain Bellemare
Inspired by Lewis Hyde’s beloved classic The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World, GIFT is a richly cinematic film, interweaving character‐driven stories. On North America’s Pacific Northwest Coast, a young indigenous man 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 Mingwei Lee prepares to launch Sonic Blossom – a “transformative gift” of song.
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, and the beauty and challenges of fearlessly giving and receiving.
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Nominated for the Director’s Guild of Canada’s Allan King Award for Excellence in Documentary, 2018.
PRESS
Good Docs – “GOOD TALK WITH ROBIN MCKENNA”
Conversation with Lewis Hyde, hosted by DHC/Art (with Cheryl Sim) in Montreal
With Amanda Palmer & Melissa Auf der Maur at Basilica Hudson, NY
PRAISE FOR “GIFT”
“Robin McKenna’s elliptical, poetic, and visually arresting “Gift” examines the radical concept that creativity is not a commodity to be sold but a blessing to be shared.” -Peter Keogh, The Boston Globe
Thank you for this magisterial film, subtle as it is on the revolutionary nature of art and the power forged when we honor our gifts and give them away. A dream, a meditation, a call to action. -Terry Tempest Williams, author & environmentalist
“At a time when art is relentlessly commercialized and commodified, Robin McKenna’s “Gift” provides a gentle and welcome reminder of other values.” -A.O. Scott, The New York Times
“A beautiful, moving, and thought-provoking reflection on the creative process and the things that make us human.” -Jonathan Lethem, novelist
“GIFT is a poetic outlook on gift economies through art and cultural practices. It follows four storylines linked by creativity, generosity, resistance and defiance.” -Phi Centre
“GIFT presents us with a rare opportunity to escape the relentless logic of the market and to reclaim a little bit of our human freedom.” -Le Devoir
“GIFT is a poetic outlook on gift economies through art and cultural practices. It follows four storylines linked by creativity, generosity, resistance and defiance.” -Phi Centre
“Above all, GIFT honours the creative impulse, and asks us to reflect on what art has to offer humanity, regardless of its market value.” -Brava.Media
“GIFT is [a film] worth watching, and a must-see if you are an artist.” -Laurette Folk, Compassion Anthology
“A beautifully crafted film and such a thoughtful exploration of the idea of The Gift.”
-Faye Ginsburg, David B. Kriser Professor of Anthropology, New York University
“I just watched the film and love how it conveys the spirit of gift and gives a glimpse into what the world could be with a little more sharing, a little more release, a little more trust.”
-Charles Eisenstein
- March 7, 2024
