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Carl Bessai is a Director, Scriptwriter, Co-Producer, Director of Photography and Cinematography born on 1966 at Edmonton (Canada)

Carl Bessai

Carl Bessai
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Birth 1966 (58 years) at Edmonton (Canada)

Carl Bessai (born 1966 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. Bessai studied at OCAD University and at York University in Toronto graduating with a Master of Fine Arts Degree. He got his start directing documentary films before moving to Vancouver and directing his debut feature film Johnny in 1999. Bessai has made a career working on low-budget independent features but has worked with A-List actors Ian McKellen and Deborah Kara Unger on his film Emile and Carrie-Anne Moss on his film Normal. He was nominated for the Genie Award for Best Achievement in Direction for the latter film. Bessai is a member of the Director’s Guild of Canada, the Writer’s Guild of Canada, and the Canadian Film and Television Producer's Association.

Usually with

Amanda Crew
Amanda Crew
(2 films)
Jay Brazeau
Jay Brazeau
(1 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Carl Bessai (9 films)

Display filmography as list

Director

No Clue
No Clue (2013)
, 1h36
Directed by Carl Bessai
Origin Canada
Genres Comedy, Crime
Actors Brent Butt, Amy Smart, David Koechner, David Cubitt, Dan Payne, Kirsten Prout
Rating56% 2.8493552.8493552.8493552.8493552.849355
Advertising salesman Leo (Butt) unwittingly assumes the role of a private investigator to help Kyra (Smart), but becomes embroiled in a risky and ever-deepening murder mystery.
Embrace of the Vampire, 1h31
Directed by Carl Bessai
Origin Canada
Genres Horror
Themes Films about sexuality, Erotic films, LGBT-related films, Vampires in film, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film, Lesbian-related films
Actors Kaniehtiio Horn, Sharon Hinnendael, Victor Webster, Chelsey Reist, Robert Moloney, Ryan Kennedy
Rating41% 2.0617452.0617452.0617452.0617452.061745
Charlotte vient de quitter une école catholique et arrive dans une fac où elle intègre l'équipe d'escrime. Réservée, elle va se rendre compte qu'elle est poursuivie par une vieille malédiction ancestrale...
Repeaters
Repeaters (2012)
, 1h29
Directed by Carl Bessai
Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Thriller, Fantastic, Action, Crime
Themes Time travel films, Temporal paradox
Actors Dustin Milligan, Amanda Crew, Alexia Fast, Emily Perkins, Gabrielle Rose, Michael Adamthwaite
Rating57% 2.851792.851792.851792.851792.85179
Kyle Halsted, Sonia Logan, and Michael Weeks are inmates at a rehabilitation facility. Bob Simpson, the administrator, tasks them with apologizing to those they have hurt with their addiction. When Kyle attempts to apologize to his younger sister Charlotte, she angrily blows him off, and the principal kicks him off school grounds. Sonia goes to the hospital where her dying father is a patient, but she is unable to bring herself to face him. Michael visits his father in jail, but the conversation is cut short by his father's abusive threats. When Bob tries to get them to discuss their day in group therapy, they refuse, and Michael storms off. Later, while discussing the pointlessness of Bob's therapy, Sonia is told that her father has died. As the trio try to deal with their emotional pain, a storm rolls in, and each of them is shocked and knocked unconscious.
Sisters & Brothers, 1h30
Directed by Carl Bessai
Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Comedy
Actors Cory Monteith, Dustin Milligan, Gabrielle Miller, Jay Brazeau, Amanda Crew, Camille Sullivan
Rating47% 2.3694352.3694352.3694352.3694352.369435
Le peu courageux Dustin Milligan en a assez de vivre dans l'ombre de son frère, star du cinéma. Le troisième film de la trilogie de Carl Bessai sur la famille qui explore la vie et les relations de différents frères et soeurs.
Normal
Normal (2007)
, 1h40
Directed by Carl Bessai
Origin Canada
Genres Drama
Actors Carrie-Anne Moss, Kevin Zegers, Callum Keith Rennie, Tygh Runyan, Andrew Airlie, Camille Sullivan
Rating57% 2.851192.851192.851192.851192.85119
Un accident de voiture mortel bouleverse la vie de trois personnes.
Unnatural & Accidental, 1h30
Directed by Carl Bessai
Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime
Themes Films based on plays
Actors Callum Keith Rennie, Tantoo Cardinal, Tinsel Korey, Michelle Thrush
Rating46% 2.3343252.3343252.3343252.3343252.334325
Unnatural & Accidental is about a First Nations woman named Rebecca (Carmen Moore) who returns home to Vancouver to be with her dying father and searches for her mother, Rita Jones (Tantoo Cardinal), who has been missing for years. Her journey leads her into the troubled life faced by many First Nations women who have ended up killed.
Severed
Severed (2005)
, 1h33
Directed by Carl Bessai
Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Thriller, Horror
Themes Medical-themed films, Zombie films, Films about viral outbreaks, Disaster films
Actors Paul Campbell, Sarah Lind, JR Bourne, Julian Christopher, Patrick Gallagher, Sage Brocklebank
Rating45% 2.2590152.2590152.2590152.2590152.259015
In a forest on a remote island, a team of loggers led by Mac (Julian Christopher) face opposition from protesters led by Rita, a known eco-terrorist. The company that employs Mac's team is conducting an experiment in the area, supervised by Carter, a chemist. One of Mac's loggers hits a spiked tree and suffers a wound from his chainsaw. The sap of the tree infects his wounds and causes him to undergo a transformation.
Émile
Émile (2003)
, 1h35
Directed by Carl Bessai
Genres Drama
Actors Ian McKellen, Deborah Kara Unger, Ian Tracey, Tygh Runyan, Chris William Martin, Janet Wright
Rating62% 3.1473453.1473453.1473453.1473453.147345
'Emile' is the third in a loose trilogy of films written and directed by Carl Bessai, all exploring aspects of personal identity. The first, 'Johnny', looked at a teenager with his life ahead of them, the second, 'Lola', portrayed a middle-aged woman trying to escape an abusive relationship, and 'Emile' is a Proustian examination of memory, imagination, regret, lost roots, and the possibility of redemption and reconciliation, all seen through the eyes of an old man whose life is almost over.

Scriptwriter

Sisters & Brothers, 1h30
Directed by Carl Bessai
Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Comedy
Actors Cory Monteith, Dustin Milligan, Gabrielle Miller, Jay Brazeau, Amanda Crew, Camille Sullivan
Roles Writer
Rating47% 2.3694352.3694352.3694352.3694352.369435
Le peu courageux Dustin Milligan en a assez de vivre dans l'ombre de son frère, star du cinéma. Le troisième film de la trilogie de Carl Bessai sur la famille qui explore la vie et les relations de différents frères et soeurs.
Normal
Normal (2007)
, 1h40
Directed by Carl Bessai
Origin Canada
Genres Drama
Actors Carrie-Anne Moss, Kevin Zegers, Callum Keith Rennie, Tygh Runyan, Andrew Airlie, Camille Sullivan
Rating57% 2.851192.851192.851192.851192.85119
Un accident de voiture mortel bouleverse la vie de trois personnes.
They Wait
They Wait (2007)
, 1h29
Directed by Ernie Barbarash
Origin Canada
Genres Thriller, Horror, Slasher
Themes Ghost films, Serial killer films
Actors Terry Chen, Jaime King, Cheng Pei-pei, Michael Biehn, Yee Jee Tso, Vicky Huang
Rating54% 2.70092.70092.70092.70092.7009
Married couple Sarah (King) and Jason (Chen), and son Sammy (Oey), travel to Vancouver for the funeral of Uncle Raymond (Foo). During this time, Sammy begins to see ghosts and falls gravely ill, his illness coinciding with the Chinese festival of Ghost Month. After traditional western medicine fails to help Sammy, Sarah turns to a mysterious pharmacist who tells her that her son is held in a death grip by a living corpse. Sarah now must find what the spirits want before the last day of Ghost Month, or Sammy will be lost forever.
Severed
Severed (2005)
, 1h33
Directed by Carl Bessai
Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Thriller, Horror
Themes Medical-themed films, Zombie films, Films about viral outbreaks, Disaster films
Actors Paul Campbell, Sarah Lind, JR Bourne, Julian Christopher, Patrick Gallagher, Sage Brocklebank
Roles Author
Rating45% 2.2590152.2590152.2590152.2590152.259015
In a forest on a remote island, a team of loggers led by Mac (Julian Christopher) face opposition from protesters led by Rita, a known eco-terrorist. The company that employs Mac's team is conducting an experiment in the area, supervised by Carter, a chemist. One of Mac's loggers hits a spiked tree and suffers a wound from his chainsaw. The sap of the tree infects his wounds and causes him to undergo a transformation.

Producer

No Clue
No Clue (2013)
, 1h36
Directed by Carl Bessai
Origin Canada
Genres Comedy, Crime
Actors Brent Butt, Amy Smart, David Koechner, David Cubitt, Dan Payne, Kirsten Prout
Roles Co-Producer
Rating56% 2.8493552.8493552.8493552.8493552.849355
Advertising salesman Leo (Butt) unwittingly assumes the role of a private investigator to help Kyra (Smart), but becomes embroiled in a risky and ever-deepening murder mystery.
Repeaters
Repeaters (2012)
, 1h29
Directed by Carl Bessai
Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Thriller, Fantastic, Action, Crime
Themes Time travel films, Temporal paradox
Actors Dustin Milligan, Amanda Crew, Alexia Fast, Emily Perkins, Gabrielle Rose, Michael Adamthwaite
Roles Producer
Rating57% 2.851792.851792.851792.851792.85179
Kyle Halsted, Sonia Logan, and Michael Weeks are inmates at a rehabilitation facility. Bob Simpson, the administrator, tasks them with apologizing to those they have hurt with their addiction. When Kyle attempts to apologize to his younger sister Charlotte, she angrily blows him off, and the principal kicks him off school grounds. Sonia goes to the hospital where her dying father is a patient, but she is unable to bring herself to face him. Michael visits his father in jail, but the conversation is cut short by his father's abusive threats. When Bob tries to get them to discuss their day in group therapy, they refuse, and Michael storms off. Later, while discussing the pointlessness of Bob's therapy, Sonia is told that her father has died. As the trio try to deal with their emotional pain, a storm rolls in, and each of them is shocked and knocked unconscious.
Sisters & Brothers, 1h30
Directed by Carl Bessai
Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Comedy
Actors Cory Monteith, Dustin Milligan, Gabrielle Miller, Jay Brazeau, Amanda Crew, Camille Sullivan
Roles Producer
Rating47% 2.3694352.3694352.3694352.3694352.369435
Le peu courageux Dustin Milligan en a assez de vivre dans l'ombre de son frère, star du cinéma. Le troisième film de la trilogie de Carl Bessai sur la famille qui explore la vie et les relations de différents frères et soeurs.