Ez Sez Artist in Res'

Dear Friends,

I'm thrilled to announce that I've been selected as the very first Artist in Residence at Tweed, Canada's largest licensed producer of medical cannabis. This is by all accounts the first artist in residence program at any cannabis company worldwide. As a longtime advocate for the sheer versatility of this plant, and as a proud artist, you can imagine what an honour this is. Especially at a time when we see cannabis legalization turn a corner from pipe dream to a multi-billion-dollar industry.

There is most certainly a place for a bit of art and fun in all this, and I'm ready to bring it.

Here is the company's official press release.

Though Tweed is headquartered in Smiths Falls, Ontario, and housed in Canada's sprawling former Hershey's Chocolate factory, the year-long photography-based residency will see me continue to reside at home in Montreal (perhaps you were wondering if I'd have to live in a giant marijuana factory - I don't), all the while affording me a budget and mandate to travel to various cities across Canada and worldwide to create exciting new photo series of my own creation. Some of these photo project will be marijuana and hemp related while others will be more general in theme, taking their inspiration from the colourful world around us.

Ez in Res': a lab coat selfie on a recent visit to Tweed's headquarters

The Tweed factory in Smiths Falls, ON

I first met the good folks at Tweed back in 2014 when I visited there to film a pivotal scene from my cannabis edibles film, Grass Fed. I had dropped by with comedian, sciatica patient and Tweed customer Mike Paterson. You can watch Mike and Tweed's parent company president Mark Zekulin in this unforgettable scene in Grass Fed which is now on iTunes.

I stayed in touch with the team at Tweed ever since and they loved my idea for the company to take on an artist in residence. I'm incredibly grateful to them for this unprecedented opportunity.

Extra special thanks also go out to my old pals Paul Flicker and Andy Nulman for their very kind letters of reference on my behalf. Andy gracefully began his letter to Tweed with:

"If you are actually, seriously considering making Ezra Soiferman your inaugural Artist-in-Residence at Tweed, I’d ask 'What are you smoking?'...but that would be obvious and disrespectful."

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Josh Ritter and me backstage
at his recent concert in Albany, NY

And now some more good news, I'm very pleased to share the inaugural project of my residency. "The Walls of Montreal" / "Les Murs de Montréal" is a brand new music photeo (huh?) featuring the captivating song "Homecoming" by Idaho-born, Brooklyn-based folk-rocker Josh Ritter, of whom I'm an old fan.

Click the above image or this link to watch the brand new video!
(Featured mural by Chris Dyer)

Between 2013 and 2016, I photographed over 1500 artistic painted murals throughout the streets and alleys of Montreal. The project was inspired by my daughter Talula's fascination with the colourful murals we were constantly discovering together on our everyday adventures in our neighbourhood (NDG) and throughout the city. We could not believe how many there were out there.

On the hunt for more murals

Talula admiring a downtown mural

The video will be shared by Tourisme Montréal and Notre-Dame-des-Arts and will make its film festival premiere at NDG Arts Week on Friday, August 26th at 8pm at the NDG Off The Wall Film Festival in Montreal's Girouard Park. Please join me for this fun annual outdoor community event.

Tweed recently entered into a business venture with hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg. As part of my residency, I was invited down to Toronto by the company to photograph Snoop at his concert and at a private Tweed-sponsored after-party at which he was DJ'ing. Quite the experience, to say the least. Here are a couple of shots from the night. I'll be releasing more shots from this night throughout the year.

 

'Soif Dogg' at the Snoop after-party in Toronto

Stay tuned for more photos, photo series and music photeos from me throughout the year. There's lots and lots in the works and I'll be sharing it all for you here and at my new site: EzraSoiferman.com.

Huh?! New website?! Why yes... I built a brand new site and it's already loaded up with many photo series for you to see!  Have a look around. EzSez.com will remain the go-to place for all my news and  EzraSoiferman.com will feature in-depth looks at my photo projects, info on my ongoing filmmaking work and much more.

As we like to say at EzraSoiferman.com, "Come for the flicks, stay for the pix!"

Finally, I'm also now on Twitter. Follow @EzraSoif today.

OK, please enjoy my new short video "The Walls of Montreal", an entirely new way to appreciate this city I love, thanks to the art of so many truly incredible mural artists.

Regards to all from Montreal,

Ezra

Ezra Soiferman
Documentary filmmaker and photographer