Landscape as Muse, seasons 3 & 4 were recently acquired by CBC’s digital channels Documentary and bold for national broadcast in the fall of 2008 and continuing into 2009. It airs on bold on Saturdays, starting November 8, at midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT with an encore presentation on Sundays, at 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT. starting November 9.

Landscape as Muse episodes have been licensed for in-flight screenings on Air Canada. Travelers will be able to view a different episode each month beginning in January 2009.

We are very excited to announce that Landscape as Muse IV has been awarded the 2008 Gemini for Best Performing Arts Program or Series or Arts Documentary Program or Series! We are extremely honoured to have won this award, and a huge thank you goes out to everyone who was involved or who helped us along the way.

Landscape as Muse has again been nominated at Canada’s Gemini Awards:

• Best Performing Arts Program or Arts Documentary Program or Series
• Ian Toews – 291 Film Company; Landscape as Muse IV

This is the second consecutive year, and third consecutive season for which Landscape as Muse has been recognized. We are again very excited, and very honoured, to be at the Geminis:

In the beginning nobody was sure that a slow moving TV show about nature and the making of art had any audience. But here we are 5 years, and soon to be, 51 episodes later and there is little doubt that Canadians care -- and care passionately -- about art and nature. The nomination affirms this, and also affirms that the television community realizes there is a place for cinematic documentaries on the airwaves.

Ian Toews, producer/director

We are also currently in production on the fifth, and final season of Landscape as Muse. Episodes are being shot across the country from New Brunswick, to Lake Superior, to Vancouver Island with artists including Thaddeus Holownia, Takao Tanabe, Eleanor Bond, Michael Belmore, John Chalke, and Sandra Meigs. Broadcasts of Season five are expected to commence in February 2009. The series will wrap up with a total of 51 episodes documenting many of Canada’s foremost visual artists.

Landscape as Muse will also be premiering on SCN Sunday April 6th at 7:30pm CST. Details on the episodes can still be found here.

The newest season of Landscape as Muse, our first season shot on HD, will premiere on Bravo! Canada Thursday March 13th at 7:30pm EST. Details on the episodes can be found here.

This February Ian Toews will be speaking at the Whyte Museum in Banff Alberta. The event will include a screening of two episodes of Landscape as Muse (Atacama Desert [Chile] with Edward Burtynsky and Waterton Lakes National Park with Tom Willock), followed by a discussion with Ian about the “visualization, creation, and challenges of making documentaries”. The event begins at 7:00pm.

click here to visit the Whyte Museum Website

The Forest with Peter von Tiesenhausen from Landscape as Muse Season II has been accepted to the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula Montana. The festival takes place from February 14th-20th.

click here to visit the Big Sky Festival Website

Just a quick update before we all leave for the holidays:

We’re currently finishing the first few shows for Landscape as Muse Season IV. Everything shot on the new HD camera looks great! We’re learning a lot and we’ve been really happy with all the results so far.

Ian and Cam just returned from their first winter shoot this year with Robert Wiens in Temagami Ontario. Lots of trudging through the snow, but it was a great time: we got there just after the first big snowfall and everything was extremely beautiful. Robert was great to work with, and we’re looking forward to seeing some of his paintings in the New Year.

Landscape as Muse Season II DVDs arrived yesterday! You can order them on the website, and we’ll be shipping them out after the holidays. Season III and Season IV won’t be far behind.

Living Legends El Salvador aired on SCN in October, and we’ve gotten a lot of really good feedback. The one-hour documentary will be airing again on SCN, and on APTN soon.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from everyone at 291 Film Company!

We’re very excited to announce that we’ve been nominated for two Gemini Awards:

• Best Direction in a Documentary Series:
  Ian Toews; Landscape as Muse II: The Forest with Peter von Tiesenhausen 
• Best Performing Arts Program or Series or Arts Documentary Program or Series: Ian Toews; Landscape as Muse III

The Geminis celebrate excellence in Canadian English-language television, acknowledging our country's triumphs in 91 award categories, in four gala presentations. Since its first broadcast in 1986, the event has grown in prominence and stature to become one of the most prestigious cultural events in Canada. This year marks the 22nd anniversary of the awards.
– source: Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television

“This is exciting news,” says Producer / Director / DOP  Ian Toews, “I feel like we’ve gained huge recognition for our little show.  It’s been under the radar for such a long time so it’s quite an honor.”  Landscape as Muse, which has aired on Bravo!, SCN, Knowledge Network, and AVRO (in the Netherlands), has been steadily carving out its place in the Canadian arts community while putting a very cinematic spin on television documentaries.

Its been quite a year. We’ve been getting phone calls, faxes, and emails from all kinds of people and organizations wanting to buy LAM (Landscape As Muse).  Its been sold to a large Dutch broadcaster, a variety of schools, the National Gallery of Canada just acquired the series, and now these Gemini nominations… It’s just a perfect way to wrap up a great year.

291 Film Company is currently producing a fourth season of Landscape as Muse.  Episodes are being shot across Canada—from atop glaciers in the Rocky Mountains to the rugged Atlantic shores of Newfoundland. Production will continue into December and broadcasts of Season 4 are expected to commence February 2007. Asked about the work schedule Toews said:

It’s great to be recognized for what we do—the workload is so great that sometimes we lose sight of the audience and the final outcome.  The fact is that these shows were created by a field crew of no more than two or three people on sync-sound 16mm film, and then finished by a post crew of about the same. We were conceptualizing, shooting, and finishing 13 episode seasons in about 10 months.  So this recognition is both for the content of the show and for the incredible hard work that got us there.

Ian and Cam are on their way to the east coast to begin shooting the fourth season of Landscape as Muse. Artists confirmed include: Mary Anne Barkhouse, Marlene Creates, David Alexander, Thaddeus Holownia, and Joe Fafard.

We've taken a major step and made the switch from 16mm film to HD. Now instead of a German built Arriflex we shoot on a Japanese Sony—an F-900 Cine Alta.

Quick update. Cam and Ian are heading down to Chile for 10 days to film an episode of Landscape as Muse with famed photographer Edward Burtynsky. This will be the last episode of the season and will focus on Burtynsky photographing the Chiquicamata Copper Mine and Santa Laura Saltpeter Mines. 

Meanwhile we are busy completing the first batch of shows for broadcast. LAM3 is slated for Wednesday nights at 7PM on Bravo! starting February 7.  We'll soon be sending e-mail updates to keep everyone in the loop about air dates and times. If you aren't on our e-mail list and would like to be added, please contact us and we'll be happy to add you.