Download Press Release



Download Press Photos



Download Press Kit



Tweet This Release



CANADIANS OWN 10 MILLION GUNS AND SALES ARE ON THE RISE



New Feature-Length Documentary

UP IN ARMS: How The Gun Lobby Is Changing Canada

Takes Aim at the Gun Control Debate



World Broadcast Premiere on TVO Wednesday, September 23 at 9 pm.

(Toronto, September 3, 2015) – Up In Arms: How the Gun Lobby is Changing Canada, a new documentary by Nadine Pequeneza (Inside Disaster Haiti) and produced by HitPlay Productions, makes its world broadcast premiere on TVO Wednesday, September 23 at 9 pm.

In Up In Arms, the Toronto-based filmmaker explores the rising level of private gun ownership and sport shooting in Canada against the backdrop of further gun deregulation and escalating gun violence in Canada’s most vulnerable communities.

Pequeneza filmed the project over two years and was granted rare access to record documentary footage at gun shows, dealers and competitions, as well as inside the world’s largest firearms trade show in Las Vegas.

“Canada is at a crossroads with regard to gun control legislation,” says Up In Arms director/producer, Nadine Pequeneza. “Which path we choose will have significant, long-term implications for our society. I hope this film encourages Canadians to begin a much-needed discussion about the future of gun control.”

Emboldened by the recent repeal of the long-gun registry, Canada’s gun lobby is pushing for further deregulation. Up In Arms follows Tony Bernardo, Executive Director of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association (CSSA) and a full-time Canadian firearms lobbyist, as he shepherds Bill C-42, a new, less restrictive gun law, through Parliament. The film also talks to gun owners like John Evers, Ontario Regional Director for the CSSA and past president of the East Elgin Sportsmen’s Association. Evers has raised his own kids around guns and takes a special interest in introducing Canadian youth, the next generation, to sport shooting. In Hamilton, Up In Arms meets with gun store owner Pauline Langlois, who has become a pariah in the gentrified neighbourhood where her store Al Simmons Gun Shop has operated for more than 40 years.

To most gun owners guns signify sport and recreation, but in Canada’s poorest neighbourhoods, where the vast majority of shootings occur, guns are the cause of fear and deadly violence. Up In Arms talks to former Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair who feels that laws and anti-gang initiatives are only a start to reducing violence, and thinks that action has to be taken at a community level to help young people make better choices. Roderick Brereton, a youth counsellor in Toronto’s Weston-Mount Dennis area, runs a program aimed at steering at risk kids away from gangs, drugs and guns. One of his group is Alex, who grew up surrounded by guns and crime in Toronto’s Regent Park and is now, at age 18, trying to turn her life around. She talks about the demand for guns and the impact of easy access.

Up In Arms will be repeated on TVO on Wednesday, September 23 at midnight, on Friday, September 25 at 10 pm, and on Sunday, September 27 at 11 pm. TVO will also offer the film for free online viewing at www.tvo.org beginning Thursday, September 24.

Up In Arms also has an interactive website, funded by TVO and the Bell Fund, launching on August 28, 2015, called Up In Arms: What Do You Think? It will offer a rich interactive experience, inviting users to learn and share their opinions about issues related to gun control and public safety. Check it out at http://www.upinarms.ca/

Up In Arms is a HitPlay Production and was commissioned by TVO in association with Knowledge Network and SRC, with the participation of The Bell Fund, The Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, and the Ontario Media Development Corporation Film and Television Tax Credit.

About HitPlay Productions

HitPlay Productions is a Toronto-based production company specializing in social issue documentaries with the potential to engage audiences in the world around them. Founded in 2000 by award-winning filmmaker Nadine Pequeneza. Among her feature documentaries are 15 to Life: Kenneth’s Story, about a 15-year-old sentenced to life in prison for armed robbery and his quest for redemption following a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision. An Honouree at the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Awards, the film aired across the United States on PBS in 2014. For her documentary series Inside Disaster Haiti, Nadine spent six months embedded with International Federation of Red Cross relief teams after the devastating 2010 earthquake, earning a Gemini Nomination for Best Directing in a Documentary Program, a Special Jury Award at the Sichuan Film Festival, and Official selections at the One World International Human Rights Documentary Festival and Milano Film Festival.

For media preview link and interview requests, contact:

Website: http://www.upinarms.ca/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/upinarmsdoc Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/upinarmsdoc Jeremy KatzPublicist for HitPlay ProductionsTorontoOffice/Land: 416-656-6970Cell/Text: 416-997-6970Email: jeremyk@sympatico.ca