Friday, June 19, 2020

JUNETEENTH : A celebration of emancipation and freedom !

Spike Lee in Montreal for the 2014 Montreal International Black Film Festival Photo  © Lena Ghio 2014   Add caption
FRANÇAIS app de traduction à gauche

Today I want to celebrate JUNETEENTH by honoring the black people I have encountered whose talent and excellence shines. From Vu d'Afrique to Black History Month to the Jazz Festival we have delighted in the production of movies, music, art and more.

Montreal is a city that celebrates diversity. Since 2001 I have explored both the rich talents and particular challenges of black cultural actors. One remarkable actor is Fabienne Colas who has worked diligently for years to promote all aspects of Black and Haitian culture. Most prominently with the Montreal International Black Film Festival where I have seen the most meaningful and relevant films. That is where I met a few of the CENTRAL PARK 5 and saw the movie that retraces how 5 black children were jailed for a crime they did not commit. They were literally tortured by the state, in particular, the now president of the United States, Donald Trump, bought a 1 page add to promote the death penalty for these boys. And this chilling movie, Slavery By Another Name. Fabienne is currently working on Haïti en Folie a festival that will happen from July 24 to July 26 in Montreal and New York.


 
The injustice of slavery is a monumental loss to the heritage of humanity as we can attest by the multiple artists writers public personalities that are loved around the world by millions. We can only imagine the wealth we lost because greedy white people chained up an entire people so they could make a few bucks! 




Fabienne Colas  

Lucky for us black people are smart, resilient and creative. Montreal has enjoyed so much music theater dance cinema art and just the enduring Spirit of black people.

I celebrate the continuing growth of black people and I support Black Lives Matter because deeply love many many black people and I want them to have happy hopeful lives!

I applaud The Montreal Museum Of Fine Arts and it's director Nathalie Bondil who have been supporting black artists in countless ways.




https://www.mbam.qc.ca/en/
Kerry James Marshall, Philippe Pirotte & Luc Tuymans  Photos © Lena Ghio, 2016 
Yinka Shonibare MBE in the center ( photo Lena Ghio © 2015) with his Self Portrait ( after Warhol ) 1 & 2, 2013 on either side.
Pras Michel Photo © Lena Ghio 2015
I am proud Montreal has been doing more and more to integrate black culture but there is still a ways to go. I know it will be worth it when we finally reach the just society many have been dreaming of forever.

Lena Ghio

Monday, June 15, 2020

CE QUI NOUS SÉPARE



Annette Bening et Bill Nighy donnent des performances sensibles et poétiques sur un couple d'âge mûr dont le marriage se dissout.

De prime abord le sujet me semblait morose et je ne savais pas comment je trouverais le film. Une cinématography exquise, des performances justes et un dénouement qui reflète les phases et les choix qui nous confrontent tous tôt ou tard.

" Alors que le professeur Edward (Bill Nighy) et sa femme Grace (Annette Bening) s’apprêtent à célébrer le 29e anniversaire de leur mariage, leur couple va très mal. Elle l’accuse de ne plus faire d’effort pour la rendre heureuse, lui se réfugie dans un mutisme dont seule sa passion pour les pages historiques sur Wikipedia peut encore le sortir. La visite de leur fils unique Jamie pour le week-end aurait pu être l’occasion de faire le point et de repartir sur de nouvelles bases. Elle s’avère être le prétexte pour l’annonce du départ d’Edward du foyer familial, puisqu’il va désormais vivre avec Angela, la mère d’un élève avec laquelle il a une liaison depuis un certain temps. Grace tombe des nues et ne sait pas comment faire face à ce drame personnel qu’elle ne voyait nullement venir. "

 J'ai beaucoup aimé ce film qui coule comme une rivière bleu et verte. 

TVA FILMS offrira la version française de CE QUI NOUS SÉPARE (Hope Gap) en vidéo sur demande et sur Apple TV dès le 16 juin et la version anglaise seulement sur certaines plateformes dont Vidéotron, Cogeco et Sasktel. 

Friday, June 12, 2020

FANTASIA 2020






FANTASIA’S UPCOMING VIRTUAL EDITION (AUGUST 20 – SEPT 2)
ANNOUNCES FIRST WAVE OF PROGRAMMING,
WITH NEIL MARSHALL’S THE RECKONING TO OPEN FESTIVAL

The Fantasia International Film Festival will be celebrating its 24th edition as a virtual event accessible to movie lovers across Canada, with a wild assortment of scheduled screenings, panels, and workshops taking place online from August 20 through September 2, 2020. The decision to launch a digital edition of the famed genre festival was born from Fantasia’s desire to keep the health and safety of its attendees a top priority during the current global health crisis, while still offering daring, much-needed new genre entertainment to residents of Canada and supporting the breakout filmmakers of the year. Fantasia is excited to reveal a selected first wave of titles.

AN EVE OF RECKONING FALLS UPON FANTASIA’S OPENING NIGHT



Fantasia’s 24th edition will open with a special screening of Neil Marshall’s recently completed cinematic powerhouse THE RECKONING. A poignant and horrific period thriller set in 1665 against the backdrop of the Great Plague and the subsequent witch hunts in England, THE RECKONING stars Charlotte Kirk (OCEAN’S 8, NO PANIC WITH A HINT OF HYSTERIA), Sean Pertwee (DOG SOLDIERS, DOOMSDAY), Joe Anderson (THE GREY, THE CRAZIES), Steven Waddington (THE IMITATION GAME, LAST OF THE MOHICANS), and Emma Campbell-Jones (DOCTOR WHO). A vivid, compelling and confrontational film whose themes are frighteningly pertinent to today’s concerns. This will mark the second time that a work from the esteemed British filmmaker has opened Fantasia, THE DESCENT having been the festival’s official Opening Film in 2005.

A GENRE-BENDING VISUAL FEAST AWAITS YOU WITH UNDERGODS



An otherworldly journey through a Europe in decline, Chino Moya’s UNDERGODS is a collection of aesthetically astonishing, darkly humorous fantasy tales about a series of men whose worlds fall apart through a visit from an unexpected stranger. This singular visual feast is a co-production between the UK, Belgium, Estonia, Serbia, and Sweden with a cast that includes Geza Rohrig (SON OF SAUL), Johann Meyers (SNATCH), Hayley Carmichael (LES MISERABLES tv series), Eric Godon (IN BRUGES), Kate Dickie (THE WITCH), Adrian Rawlins (CHERNOBYL), Ned Dennehy (MANDY), and an especially crazed Jan Bijvoet (BORGMAN). World Premiere

MAKOTO TEZUKA ADAPTS THE LEGENDARY MANGA TEZUKA’S BARBARA!



One night, a famous novelist encounters a young, seemingly homeless woman in an overpass tunnel. He brings her home, which sets him on a path of increasingly bizarre encounters. TEZUKA’S BARBARA is the abrasively jazzy adaptation of Osamu Tezuka’s adult manga of the same name. Directed by Makoto Tezuka (LEGEND OF THE STARDUST BROTHERS) and lensed by Christopher Doyle (IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, HERO), this film – released as part of Tezuka’s 90th anniversary celebration – mixes pinku-style erotica with an examination of the creative impulse and a dash of the occult, thus unveiling the lesser-known dark side of the ASTRO BOY creator and anime maestro. North American Premiere

CELEBRATE 45 YEARS OF TROMA WITH LLOYD KAUFMAN’S LATEST CREATION!



Nearly 25 years after the release of TROMEO AND JULIET, Lloyd Kaufman and the Troma Team are going “back to the Bard” with an utterly insane interpretation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, set against America’s opioid crisis. Kaufman celebrates Troma’s 45th – and his 50th – year of making movies by taking on Big Pharma, addiction, and an intolerance of social media with all the sex, mutants, musical numbers, and violence that Shakespeare always wanted but never had. #SHAKESPEARESSHITSTORM marks the most ambitious project in Troma’s 45-year history, popping with Kaufman’s uniquely anarchistic style at a time when it couldn’t possibly be more needed! World Premiere

CANADIAN TITLES PRESENTED IN WORLD PREMIERE, STRONG PRESENCE OF WOMEN DIRECTORS AND SURPRISING NEWCOMERS

  • A mother and daughter are suspected of witchcraft by their devout rural community in Canadian filmmaker Thomas Robert Lee’s freakishly nightmarish THE CURSE OF AUDREY EARNSHAW. One of the most unsettling and surprising occult horror films since HEREDITARY, this haunting tale is steeped in folklore and brimming with imagery that will besiege your subconscious. It stars Catherine Walker (A DARK SONG), Jared Abrahamson (HELLO DESTROYER), Hannah Emily Anderson (WHAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE), Don McKellar (LAST NIGHT), and Sean McGinley (BRAVEHEART), and is co-produced by MY BLOODY VALENTINE director George Mihalka. World Premiere

  • The sophomore feature by Canadian Writer/Director/Cinematographer/Composer Anthony Scott Burns (OUR HOUSE), COME TRUE is a distinctive and compelling work of dark science-fiction that haunts the space between wakefulness and sleep. Plagued by disturbing dreams and unable to go home, rebellious teenager Sarah (THE KILLING’s Julia Sarah Stone) is relieved to find shelter at a university sleep study.  Hoping this will finally help her to get rid of her nightmares, she unwittingly becomes the channel to a horrifying new discovery. Co-starring Landon Liboiron (TRUTH OR DARE). Produced by Mark Smith (IN THE TALL GRASS) and Nicholas Bechard (HOLIDAYS) and Canadian genre film luminaries Steve Hoban (GINGER SNAPS) and Vincenzo Natali (CUBE). World Premiere

  • In New Delhi filmmaker Sidharth Srinivasan’s first horror work - and first narrative feature in a decade, following SOUL OF SAND - a DJ encounters a beautiful woman at a club, goes back to her home, and finds himself thrust into a nightmare odyssey of ritual magic, patriarchal death customs, and family conflict most unusual. Transgressive, darkly humorous, and mystically atmospheric, KRIYA is a fever dream of fear starring Navjot Randhawa (MEHSAMPUR), Noble Luke, and Avantika Akerkar (THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL), is co-produced by Andy Starke (IN FABRIC) and Pete Tombs (FREE FIRE), and features an unforgettable score by Jim Williams (POSSESSOR). World Premiere

  • Bernardo is an undertaker. He runs his mortuary business in the same house where he resides. In the front, he has his clients. And in the back, his dysfunctional family lives amongst coffins, wreaths, and the mischievous but nonviolent ghosts that visit on a daily basis. But when a malevolent entity enters the scene, it wreaks havoc on the already fractured household in Argentinean writer/director Mauro Iván Ojeda’s chilling first feature. THE UNDERTAKER’S HOME (La Funeraria) stars Luís Machín (MONTECRISTO), Celeste Gerez (DESTINO ANUNCIADO), and Camila Vaccarini (PAISAJE). World Premiere

  • A film by John C. Lyons and Dorota Swies, UNEARTH is a fracking horror story that follows two neighboring farm families whose relationships are strained when one of them chooses to lease their land to a gas company. Adrienne Barbeau (THE FOG), Marc Blucas (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER), and Allison McAtee (WE SUMMON THE DARKNESS) star. World Premiere

  • Swedish filmmaker Johan Von Sydow’s eight-years-in-the-making TINY TIM: KING FOR A DAY, like its subject, is unlike anything else out there. Through Tiny´s intense diaries (read by "Weird Al" Yankovic performing Tim's inner voice with genuinely dramatic results), archival footage, and interviews with family, friends, and contemporaries like Wavy Gravy, Tommy James, and the late Jonas Mekas and D.A. Pennabaker, the film paints an intimate portrait of one of the oddest careers in showbiz World Premiere

  • Shinichiro Ueda (ONE CUT OF THE DEAD) is back with his highly anticipated sophomore film SPECIAL ACTORS! A delirious meta-comedy, doubling down on the performative antics of his previous making-of/zom-com hybrid, Ueda now turns the entire world into a stage – to our utmost delight! Canadian Premiere

  • The sophomore feature from Natasha Kermani (IMITATION GIRL), LUCKY tells the tale of May (Brea Grant, who also scripted), a self-help author who suddenly finds herself stalked by a threatening but elusive masked man that mysteriously reappears every night. A visceral and smart exploration of gaslighting through the prism of horror storytelling, LUCKY was originally slated to launch at this year’s SXSW. International Premiere

  • Tormented by vivid nightmares and the belief they are real, Marlene suffers a nervous breakdown in a remote German village. Michael Venus’ SLEEP (Schlaf), co-starring Gro Swantje Kohlhof (NOTHING BAD CAN HAPPEN) and Sandra Hüller (TONI ERDMANN), is a supremely confident debut. A standout at this year’s Berlinale. North American Premiere

  • Originally slated to launch at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, 12 HOUR SHIFT is a gripping real-time, hospital-set thriller / black comedy taking place in the late ’90s at the onset of the opioid crisis. Fronted by a career-best performance from Angela Bettis (MAY), playing a ferociously uncommon kind of anti-hero, and infused with inspired directorial details, the film co-stars Chloe Farnworth, David Arquette, and Mick Foley. Writer / Director Brea Grant (who also scripted and stars in this year’s LUCKY) has delivered one of our favorite films of the year. International Premiere

  • An alien takes over the body of a middle-aged drug addict (Gary Green) and goes on a delirious joyride across Cape Town in Ryan Kruger’s FRIED BARRY, an acid trip of a road movie. Winner of a RapidLion Award for Best South African Film, it’s a tale that’s alternately depraved and oddly sweet. Canadian Premiere

  • Believe the hype. With YUMMY, Belgian filmmaker Lars Damoiseaux has made one of the craziest, funniest, most inventive, and surprising zombie gorefests to assault screens in recent years.


THE CAMERA LUCIDA SECTION DEDICATED TO BOUNDARY-PUSHING, AUTEUR-DRIVEN WORKS AT THE INTERSECTION OF GENRE AND ARTHOUSE CINEMA

The Camera Lucida section unveils its first titles:

  • With the passing of director Nobuhiko Obayashi in April of 2020, cinema lost a titan. His final film, LABYRINTH OF CINEMA (2019) is deeply humanist text: an endlessly delirious career coda and a voyage through Japan’s wartime and cinematic history. Canadian Premiere

  • Originally slated to launch at this year’s SXSW, Noah Hutton’s LAPSIS follows activist documentaries DEEP TIME and CRUDE INDEPENDENCE with this brilliant skewering of the absurdity of contemporary work environments, leaving no stone unturned: from the sharing economy to healthcare profiteering and the increasing game-ification of labor. This is speculative fiction at its most relevant. International Premiere

  • An entrancing debut for German director Sabrina Mertens, TIME OF MOULTING unfolds as a series of meticulous domestic tableaus, slowly morphing into a disturbing descent into a young girl’s inner turmoil. Crushing, and not for the faint of heart. North American Premiere

All titles will compete for the AQCC-Camera Lucida prize, awarded by a jury of critics from the Québec’s Critics Association (AQCC), member of the FIPRESCI.

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND GROSS-OUT GAGS FILL FANTASIA’S ANIMATION SECTION

Fantasia’s Axis section unveils its first two selections – one to guide young ones as they grow up, the other for older folks who defiantly resist growing up.

  • Mexican feature A COSTUME FOR NICHOLAS, directed by Eduardo Rivero, is a wild and colourful fantasy adventure. Canadian Premiere
 
  • Estonian country-bumpkin shock-comedy THE OLD MAN MOVIE, directed by Oskar Lehemaa, Peeter Ritso and Mikk Mägi’s hugely successful YouTube series has become a high-water mark for stop-motion animation, and a glorious new low in lowbrow laughs! North American Premiere

All film screenings will be geo-blocked to Canadian audiences and only accessible from within the country, vastly expanding the number of viewers Fantasia can engage with outside of Quebec.

Fantasia’s 24th edition will be held online from August 20 to September 2. A second wave of Fantasia 2020 titles will be announced in July and its full lineup will be revealed in early August, with ticket sales commencing shortly afterwards.

For more information, visit us on the web at www.fantasiafestival.com



Wednesday, June 10, 2020

JUNETEENTH : A celebration of emancipation and freedom with dignity Friday, June 19 2020

(L to R) Harry Belafonte, Fabienne Colas, Stedman Graham, Raymond Santana, Yusef Salaam.
Photos ©  Lena Ghio, 2012
In this historic time, to celebrate JUNETEENTH  the day slavery was abolished in North America, this coming Friday, June 19, The Lena Ghio Paradox will remember some of the great cultural events that happened in Montreal where the stories of black people on our planet were shared with the public.

Here, I remember

THE 8th MONTREAL INTERNATIONAL BLACK FILM FESTIVAL 2012

 The press conference with Stedman Graham who informed us on how to reach meaningful success!

Black people have extraordinary gifts to share with us! Let us embrace those gifts!

Friday, June 5, 2020

The MAC to reopen its doors on June 24






Montréal, June 5, 2020 – The Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (MAC) is pleased to announce its reopening for visitors as of June 24, just in time for the Fête nationale du Québec. The MAC will reopen with an adjusted schedule (open from Wednesday to Sunday, from noon to 6 p.m.) and special measures.

“I am pleased to announce free admission to the MAC on June 24 for our first day of reopening,” said John Zeppetelli, Director and Chief Curator of the MAC. “We are firmly convinced that art can be a priceless source of comfort in situations of uncertainty and given these unprecedented times, we are thrilled to be able to reopen the Museum.”

Buying and booking tickets

For the free day on June 24th, as well as for subsequent days, visitors must book their tickets and time slots online: https://macm.org/en/buy-tickets/ (online ticketing will open June 20). MAC members may access the museum freely at any time, but they are nonetheless invited to book their tickets and time slots online. No fee will be applied to the booking.

Ongoing exhibitions

The MAC invites the public to enjoy its art again and to come discover or rediscover artists from its collection and its ongoing exhibitions, which will be extended: Painting Nature with a Mirror and Points of Light.

The purpose of art can sometimes be to bring people to reflect on and confront the harsh realities we live in. For bold visitors who aren’t afraid to question the modern world, the MAC is presenting as of July 4, two powerful and dystopian video works from Montreal artist Jon Rafman, which form a diptych in the artist’s mind : Disasters Under the Sun (2019) and Poor Magic (2017) (Beverly Webster Rolph Room).

Upcoming virtual events

The MAC will also be holding some free virtual events in the coming weeks, including:
  • A conversation on “The Perspectives, Challenges and Relaunch of Four Montreal Museums”
    Host and participant: John Zeppetelli (MAC)
    Participants: Nathalie Bondil (Montreal Museum of Fine Arts), Giovanna Borasi (Canadian Centre for Architecture) and Suzanne Sauvage (McCord Museum)
    June 19, 2020
     
  • World premiere of “Jardin de sculptures éphémères”, a performance created and choreographed by Marie Chouinard.
    June 30, 2020

The MAC will share further information on how to attend these online events in the near future.

Special measures

The Museum will be implementing special measures when it reopens to ensure the safety of its visitors and employees, while continuing to provide a pleasant, unparalleled experience. For example:
  • There will be a one-way route through the exhibitions, signs on the floor and walls, as well as multiple hand sanitizing stations to ensure visitors adhere to current safety guidelines.
  • It is highly recommended that visitors wear face coverings or face masks.
  • The following services are temporarily suspended: coat check, art workshops, guided tours, group tours and children’s parties.
  • The MAC day camps have been cancelled.
  • Cleaning intervals and housekeeping protocols have been enhanced.
The Museum is also asking people who are experiencing symptoms or not feeling well to stay home.

Since health is everyone’s business, the MAC is also asking visitors and its employees to follow the hygiene measures recognized and recommended by the Quebec government.

Acknowledgements

The Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal is a provincially owned corporation funded by the ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec. It receives additional funding from the Government of Canada and the Canada Council for the Arts.

Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal

Located in the heart of the Quartier des Spectacles, the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal makes today’s art a vital part of Montréal and Québec life. For more than fifty years, this vibrant museum has brought together local and international artists, their works and an ever-growing public. It is also a place of discovery, offering visitors experiences that are continually changing and new, and often unexpected and stirring. The MAC presents temporary exhibitions devoted to outstanding and relevant current artists who provide their own particular insight into our society, as well as exhibitions of works drawn from the museum’s extensive collection. These may feature any and every form of expression: digital and sound works, installations, paintings, sculptures, ephemeral pieces, and more. In addition to its wide range of educational activities familiarizing the general public with contemporary art, the MAC organizes unique artistic performances and festive events. It is a window onto a myriad of avant-garde expressions that extend the reach of art throughout the city and beyond. macm.org/en/

Very Good News!
-LENA GHIO 

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Festival international du film d'histoire de Montréal 4 - 14 juin 2020

Un des films présenté est The London Monster
Festival international du film d'histoire de Montréal

Le COVID-19 a transformé la culture sans l'arrêté. Vous pourrez participer au FIFHM dès ce jeudi à partir de viméo.

Voici l'information:

Et pendant que l’histoire s’écrit à la vitesse grand V, le cinéaste Richard D. Lavoie et les historiens Éliane Bélec et Mathieu Trépanier vous proposent un festival exceptionnellement en ligne pour sa deuxième édition du 4 au 14 juin prochain. Trente films éclatés sous toutes leurs formes (documentaire, fiction, animation, expérimental, marionnette) et de tous les formats (court, moyen, long) sont réunis sur une même plateforme pour 20 $ seulement. Consultez la programmation en ligne sur le site fifhm.com ou sur https://www.facebook.com/events/244831963460580


Événement / Facebook Live avec la réalisatrice Lisa Sfriso Le 7 juin à 19 h!
Ce petit bijou rafraîchissant de 16 minutes, Au pays des Mille-Îles de Lisa Sfriso présenté pour la première fois, offre un accès inédit aux archives 16mm du Fonds d’archives du Club nautique des Mille-Îles, à Laval, de 1945 à 1960. Un regard sur les vacances et les loisirs de l’Après-guerre. Une occasion unique d’échanger avec la cinéaste sur sa découverte et le traitement de ces archives!
Des prix honorifiques seront remis pour le meilleur court et le meilleur long métrage par un jury composé des cinéastes, Pascale Ferland, Claudie Lévesque et Julie Perron ainsi que des historiens Pascal Bastien et Éric Bédard.
Consultez la programmation en ligne sur le site www.fifhm.com
Suivez-nous sur facebook www.facebook.com/FIFHMontreal/

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-LENA GHIO