FNC 2020 : SO MANY MOVIES, SO LITTLE TIME!

 

FULL PROGRAMMING

 

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I have been busy watching many mind blowing movies! We are entering the last week of the FNC and you will now find many special offers with film bundles at discounted prices. The festival has released this year's winners you can see all the details here.

Here is an overview of the films I have seen:

ATLANTIS

The winner of the Louve D'Or for best feature film in the International Competition, Atlantis is highly representative of the goals of the festival which is to bring together movies that challenge the standard quo of film making.The movie opens to a macabre scene in infra red night goggle vision of a man digging a grave. We are in 2025 Ukraine and the long war with Russia has ended. Both the people and the countryside are devastated. We follow Sergiy played by Andriy Rymaruk who gives a well contained performance in the sense that the character is in full PTSD yet he has a will to survive. We constantly sense the ocean of grief behind the face he shows the world. Valentyn Vasyanovych, the writer and director of the film, is receiving world wide accolades for the visual style of the movie that is a contemporary art piece of cinema. The movie delves slowly into the visual panorama of each frame letting the horror sink in. The quest for dignity and purpose in the overwhelming catastrophe that is the after war carries Sergiy forward.

SERVANTS

I was attracted to this film because of its atmosphere of danger and intrigue. Two young men, Juraj played by Samuel Skyva and Michal played by Samuel Polakovik, arrive at the seminary as good playful friends ready to become priests. However they land in the treacherous world of cold war Czechoslovakia where the oppressive communist party wants to repress the Catholic church. A sad story set in ethereal black and white that attempts to show the tragedy of how conflicting ideology destroys human life and people seem incapable of getting out of it.

CAUGHT IN THE NET

This film intrigued me very much. Tree youthful looking adult actresses are made to look 12 in this investigative documentary about online stalking of children. There are so many features of this movie that are both disgusting and disturbing. 

A lonely 12 year old opens her chat to an older man. The men range in age from adolescent to old man. Many repulsive old men don't even say hi! They whip out their penises and begin masturbating in front of a person they know is only 12! 

The documentary is supported by many social agencies from health to legal to social because at the end of the project, several men were to face criminal charges. Among the charges, one man send child porn to a girl. A MUST SEE!

Directed by Vít Klusák , Barbora Chalupova. Produced in collaboration with the Marie-Vincent Foundation

THALASSO & L'ENLÈVEMENT DE MICHEL HOUELLEBECQ 

Finally I needed a laugh! I got a lot of them from the movie Thalasso that features Michel Houellebecq and Gérard Depardieu as themselves. They are in Cabour at a health spa and we listen to their offbeat conversation about everything and nothing. I found it hilarious! Thalasso is part 2 of L'Enlèvement de Michel Houellebecq that I find less hilarious than the second. Guillaume Nicloux wrote and directed both films.

-LENA GHIO   

FNC 2020 : POISSONSEXE (Fishlove)

Festival du Nouveau Cinéma program

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I was attracted to the movie POISSONSEXE after seeing the trailer. The background of this love story is life, procreation and the extermination of 80% of our earths wild life. The animals, the fish and the birds ARE the magic that we are always seeking. In the bible it is written, and I paraphrase, that God created man to care for his creation, the wonderful planet we are privileged to exist on. When you think about the misery of the world you must recognize most of it is man made.

So how does a sweet love story come up from that tragic circumstance?

Amidst the reckless and selfish humans, and even in the warped spirits of the preceding, there is a well of hope. The characters of this Olivier Babinet film all face reproductive issues including the fish in the ocean that are almost all gone. 

Daniel Luxet, played by Gustave Kervern, has been preparing for a while to form a family. According to his calculation of the demographic where he lives, women who could partner with him are rare. Lucie, India Hair, has insomnia. She follows the navigation of Miranda, the last whale on earth, in all her spare time. A cute axolotl adds sweetness to the bleak forecast in the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie that at times had me laughing out loud. The characters are well performed and endearing. The conclusion satisfying. I was very glad to have this movie on my list of must watch.

-LENA GHIO   

 

Secret digital art trucks driving around Montreal * ISEA2020 (Oct 13–18)

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I received information about this activity from Raison D'Être Média and I thought you might enjoy participating:

" As part of MTL connect (i.e. Montreal's Digital Week) from October 13 to 18! This (semi)secret mobile art program, displayed via 2 large LED screen-equipped trucks in transit around the city, will showcase cutting-edge digital works by 13 Canadian and international artists—stopping us in our tracks! It's on a catch-it-if-you-can basis, as only hints of locations will be disclosed about this stealthy project! Here's a little cheat-sheet:

10/13, 16:00 – 20:00 → Hochelaga / Centre-Sud

10/14, 14:00 – 21:00 → Montreal at large

10/15, 15:00 – 21:00 → Downtown / Village / Plateau / Griffintown

10/16, 16:00 – 22:00 → Côte-des-Neiges / NDG

10/17, 16:00 – 22:00 → Villeray / Mile End / Saint-Michel

10/18: 14:00 – 21:00 → Montreal at large

 

In addition, MTL connect's 'creativity' pavilion, the globally-renowned International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA), returns to Montreal after 25 years! In 1995 ISEA introduced Montreal as a digital arts centre and gave a spotlight to emerging local talent. Now, as one of the world's foremost digital hubs, Montreal welcomes it back for its 26th edition: ISEA2020!

ISEA2020's artistic program explores the theme of Sentience – feeling-sensing-making sense – through 80 works by 105 local & international artists that include installations, videos, virtual reality works, online pieces/performances and interventions in public spaces: https://youtu.be/CjTMlCLHeuo. ISEA2020 will also feature keynote speeches, artist talks, workshops, special events and so much more—presented entirely via an online platform. Some events are offered for free, otherwise special packages and student rates are available throughout! "

Follow the links for more information about who is doing what and free activities!

ART MUST GO ON!

-LENA GHIO  

 

FNC 2020 : SIBERIA

 

FNC PROGRAMMING

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Abel Ferrara and Willem Dafoe reunite for the sixth time in the film SIBERIA about a man who is on a shattering journey of self-discovery. What attracted me to this choice of movie was Willem Dafoe and the compelling visual style of the film.

The film opens to a snow storm in the mountains. Clint, Willem Dafoe, works behind a bar in an isolated in where forlorn journeymen stop to warm their weary bones. The sporadic action is limited to this snowy retreat until he ties up the dogs and leaves. The characters appear and disappear without beginning or end about their relationship with Clint. Some images are disturbing like when he finds an old woman suffering in the cellar. 

At this point we are almost midway through the movie when he enters a cave, then he travels with his dogs in a desert until they reach an oasis. There is a lot of shamanic undertones throughout the movie. In the shamanic practice of entering into a spirit journey the shaman must visualize then cross an entrance. This can be a cave, a watering hole, going down a stairway; all symbols that repeat throughout the film.

If I stay with the shamanic theme, his gorgeous sleigh dogs then can be paralleled to the animal spirit guides that accompany the shaman on the other side.

Definitely a dark movie.

-LENA GHIO  

FNC 2020 : THE BOOK OF VISIONS

 

 

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I begin my screening of Festival du Nouveau Cinéma (FNC) with a movie produced by Terrence Malick, The Book of Visions. I was seduced by my past experiences with the visual splendor of Malick's cinematographic wonders like the Knight of Cups. This movie is directed by Carlo S. Hintermann, his directorial debut. Jörg Widmer, Malick’s cinematographer for A Hidden Life, is the cinematographer for this work.

The first question the lead character Eva, played by Lotte Verbeek, asks : " When did doctor's stop listening to their patients? "

The mystery of childbirth, the dreams of pregnant women, how human's treat nature and each other are explored in a fog of mythology in two different time frames. Charles Dance, Sverrir Gudnason and Lotte Verbeek play two roles, one in modern times the other in the nineteenth century when, the story speculates, science took over superstition. Isolda Dychauk, Filippo Nigro, Rocco Gottlieb and Justin Korovkin round up the cast.

The script asks questions about the above subjects but the form is mostly dreamlike therefore it is not about finding a definite answer but about the evasive nature of our life experiences. There are so many words we have never spoken, so many kisses we did not share and our life thunders forward mercilessly.

I was delighted by the visual. I hope you will be also.

-LENA GHIO  

FNC 2020 49th edition / October 7 > 31 2020 / #FNC2020

https://nouveaucinema.ca/en/films

 

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ART MUST GO ON!!!

So it is that the 49th edition of FNC will be, in part, online. 

There will be some screenings at the X YUL drive-in: YUL Montreal-Trudeau International Airport Employee Parking P11, English Avenue, Dorval, H9P 1B4, QC: including the opening feature film SOUTERRAIN ↓

Wednesday, October 7th - Opening Night - Free (upon reservation, one reservation per car)
8.00 PM: SOUTERRAIN by Sophie Dupuis
Entrance to the site at 7.00 PM

Discover full drive-in program here.

This year's programming includes several films noirs that are quite disturbing. Last and First Men narrated by Tilda Swinton explores the architecture left behind after the extinction of mankind. This movie exemplifies perfectly the intention of FNC which is to explore new and daring ways to make movies.

There are movies that explore the hidden lives imposed on people by political regimes. Dau, Natasha is a good example of this. Through the live of Natasha we see how the communist party of Russia, far from producing the ideal world it promoted in propaganda, became a ruthless dictatorship that bore absolutely no consideration for the individuals it was supposed to ennoble.

I will be discussing movies from the festival all month. I hope you will choose your favorites and discuss in comments below!

-LENA GHIO  

OCTOBRE CHEZ PLANÈTE + Piaf, Camus, Gandhi, Marie Curie : les grands personnages de l'histoire à l'honneur en octobre sur Planète+

 

Maguerite Duras

J'ai toujours exprimé ma passion pour les biographies de personnages exceptionnels ainsi que les films et photos d'archives. La collection proposée ce mois-ci est superbe. Les documentaires sont couplés avec des fictions qui élargissent l'expérience de découverte de ces vies devenues mythiques. Pour cet article, j'ai choisi la biographie de Marguerite Duras. Autrice, cinéaste, personnalité de la radio et de la télévision. On découvre son enfance au Vietnam, sa maman qui a tout perdu jusqu'à sa joie de vivre, ses amitiés avec les monstres du cinéma français et des anecdotes plus ésotériques. Parmi ces anecdotes, elle raconte comment les femmes du Moyen Âge sont devenues des sorcières. Leurs maris envoyés à la guerre ces femmes isolées dans les forêts anciennes parlaient aux plantes et aux animaux. Quelle belle histoire.

Voici un souvenir que Gérard Depardieu partage sur cette femme extraordinaire.

Plus d'infos:

La chaîne PLANÈTE + est heureuse de présenter sa programmation du mois d’octobre qui met à l’honneur les grands personnages de l’histoire. De leur intimité à leur vie sur le devant de la scène publique, des documentaires retraceront les vies d’Édith Piaf, de Jerry Lewis, d’Albert Camus, Marie Curie, Chaplin et de Gandhi sur PLANÈTE+.

Si ses refrains ont fait le tour du monde, c’est dans PIAF INTIME que le public pourra retrouver la Môme, un documentaire sur ses amours fracassants, ses malheurs, ses déboires et ses résurrections sur scène, diffusé le jeudi 1^er octobre à 18 h. Les grands artistes se succèdent, et parmi eux Jerry Lewis. Des archives, des extraits de films et des témoignages d'amis, de critiques et d'artistes contribuent à retracer sa carrière hors du commun dans JERRY LEWIS, CLOWN REBELLE, diffusé le lundi 5 octobre à 20 h. Côté littérature, c’est l’écrivain français du XX^e siècle le plus traduit et le plus lu dans le monde qui sera mis à l’honneur. VIVRE AVEC CAMUS est un hommage au lauréat du Prix Nobel de littérature, pour lequel son réalisateur a parcouru la planète pour rencontrer des lecteurs de tous âges et de toutes conditions qui ont été marqués par son œuvre.  Un poseur de plancher québécois, un apprenti pâtissier algérien, une gendarme française, un humanitaire allemand, un ancien condamné à mort américain... et même la chanteuse Patti Smith témoigneront de leur amour pour Albert Camus le dimanche 11 octobre à 19 h 30. Enfin, Planète+ propose de plonger dans LE MYTHE GANDHI le jeudi 29 octobre à 20 h. Ce film revisite l’émergence d’une icône mondiale, leader de la non-violence et symbole de l’indépendance de l’Inde. Richement illustré d’archives, le documentaire questionnera ce qui perdure aujourd’hui du mythe, ce qu’il continue à inspirer, ses échecs et la façon dont, finalement, il fut trahi.

Rappelons aussi qu’une nouvelle case horaire de PLANÈTE+ mêlant fiction et documentaire débutera ce samedi 3 octobre dès 19 h. Au programme : soirées spéciales en compagnie de ceux qui ont marqué l’histoire, en opposant la vision d’un film de fiction et celle d’un documentaire. Napoléon, Marie Curie, Paul Gauguin, Charlie Chaplin, Marguerite Duras ou encore Camille Claudel ont ainsi leur heure de gloire sur PLANÈTE+, tous les samedis dès 19 h.

http://www.planetepluscanada.com/

-LENA GHIO