Thursday, November 29, 2018

Cinemania 2018 Awards


CINEMANIA 2018 AWARDS

Mel Hoppenheim Audience Award
LE GRAND BAIN by Gilles Lellouche
The public has chosen to crown this film after two packed film screenings at the the MAA Sports Club swimming pool, where the festival-goers also had a chance to meet the director who was present at the screenings.



Among the favourites of the public, LE GRAND BAIN was closely followed by these films:

MADEMOISELLE DE JONCQUIÈRES by Emmanuel Mouret
EDMOND by Alexis Michalik
DOUBLES VIES by Olivier Assayas


Prix jeunesse francophone TV5

A jury of young Franco-Québécois professionals chaired by actress Sophie Desmarais was entrusted with the award of the Best First Film Award. For the accuracy and sensitivity of writing, the strength of the subject and the questioning it raises, the TV5 Francophone Youth Award was awarded to Meryem Benm'Barek for her film SOFIA.


A special mention of the jury

Awarded to the film THOSE WHO WORK by Antoine Russbach for his directing and the remarkable performance of Olivier Gourmet.


For more information about the Cinemania  Film  Festival visit the Cinemania website.

Monday, November 26, 2018

RIDM 2018: Award Winners


AWARD WINNERS
21st Montreal's International Documentary Festuval (RIDM)

November 17, 2018 



Though Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) was ending on November18, 2018, the award winners of the 21th RIDM editioon were announced the day before, on November 17, 2018, during the closing ceremony that took place at the Concordia University's Alumni Auditorium.

GRAND PRIZE FOR BEST INTERNATIONAL Feature Film
presented by Bell Media
Hale County This Morning, This Evening by RaMell Ross

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE – INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
Extinction (Extinção) by Salomé Lamas

The jury for the international feature competition was composed of Mads Mikkelsen, Maria Augusta Ramos, Daniel Sponsel and Barbara Visser.

GRAND PRIZE FOR BEST CANADIAN FEATURE
presented by Studios Saint-Antoine
Dark Suns by Julien Elie

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE – CANADIAN FEATURE
Symphony in Aquamarine by Dan Popa

BEST NEW TALENT FROM QUÉBEC / CANADA
presented by Post-Moderne
Symphony in Aquamarine by Dan Popa

The Canadian feature competition jury was composed of Carlos Bonfil, Rosalie Lavoie and Fabienne Moris.

BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT OR MEDIUM-LENGTH FILM
presented by Télé-Québec
The Disappearance of Goya by Toni Geitani

Special mention

Gulyabani by Gürcan Keltek

BEST CANADIAN SHORT OR MEDIUM-LENGTH FILM

presented by Télé-Québec
Zagros by Ariane Lorrain and Shahab Mihandoust

The jury for the Canadian and International short and medium-length competitions was composed of Kalina Bertin, Tijana Djukic and Eric Hynes.

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD
presented by TV5
Memory is Our Homeland by Jonathan Durand

MAGNUS ISACSSON AWARD
And with a Smile, the Revolution by Alexandre Chartrand

The jury for the Magnus Isacsson Award was composed of Jocelyne Clarke, Martin Frigon (ARRQ), Viviane Saglier (Cinema Politica), Frederic Bohbot (DOC Québec) and Richard Brouillette (Main Film).

STUDENTS’ AWARD
presented by Desjardins
20-22 OMEGA by Thierry Loa

The jury for the Students’ Award was composed of Loïc Piché (Collège de Maisonneuve), Florence Frigon-Morin (Cégep Marie-Victorin), Julia Bonis Charancle (Collège Dawson), Maika Hearson (Cégep André-Laurendeau), Solène Côté (Collège de Maisonneuve) and Roxana Baloiu (Collège Dawson).

WOMEN INMATES’ AWARD
A Delicate Balance by Christine Chevarie-Lessard

The Women Inmates’ jury is composed of five inmates of the Joliette Institution. Claudia, Isabelle, Marie-Ève, Nicole and Roseline chose a winner from a selection of eight films from the official competition and Panorama. This initiative, implemented for the first time in Québec for the RIDM 2011 edition, is made in partnership with the Société Elizabeth Fry du Québec, the Entente sur le développement culturel de Montréal - project supported by the ministère de la Culture et des communications and Ville de Montréal.
The jury selected Ico Costa’s Nyo Vweta Nafta as this year’s best international short or medium-length film. “This magnificent film, shot in 16mm, is grounded in the political and economic realities of Mozambique. Its artistic vision serves its contemplation of the world and helps us understand important issues.”

BEST CANADIAN SHORT OR MEDIUM-LENGTH FILM
The award for best Canadian short or medium-length film was presented to Jacquelyn Mills for In the Waves. The film “is a touching meditation that transcends the personal, elegantly steering a course from the banal to the deeply philosophical, without ever losing sight of the materiality of everyday routine.”

The jury for the Canadian and international short and medium-length competitions was composed of Adam Cook, Amandine Gay and Lisa Jackson.

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD
Presented by TV5, this award recognizes festivalgoers’ favourite film in the official competition and Panorama sections. This year’s audience pick was Amandine Gay for Ouvrir La Voix.

MAGNUS ISACSSON AWARD
The Magnus Isacsson award was created in honour of the late, much-loved Montreal documentary filmmaker Magnus Isacsson. It is presented to an up-and-coming Canadian director who demonstrates social conscience. Presented by the ARRQ, Cinema Politica, DOC Québec and Main Film, this year’s award went to Jason O’Hara for State of Exception, “a film that reveals its director’s exceptional commitment. An activist, passionate, necessary film, made entirely independently over many years.”

The jury for the Magnus Isacsson Award was composed of Jocelyne Clarke, Ezra Winton (Cinema Politica), Richard Brouillette (Main Film), Sophie Bissonnette (ARRQ) and Steve Patry (DOC Québec).

STUDENT AWARD
This award recognizes a documentary selected by the student jury from among the films in the Canadian competition. It is part of the RIDM’s youth outreach and awareness program and is presented with the support of the CSN and Telefilm Canada. This year’s student award was presented to Tasha Hubbard for Birth of a Family, a film notable for “the urgency and authenticity of its subject, majestic landscapes that echo the intense emotions the film inspires, and its frank documentation of the alienation of a people. It is a clear reminder that we are on unceded indigenous land.”

The jury for the student award was composed of Florence Côté-Lagacé (Cégep Édouard-Montpetit), Antoine Harvey (Collège Montmorency), Charles-Édouard Martel-Marquis (Cégep de Saint-Laurent), Sarah Mederos Bernia (Cégep André-Laurendeau), Adriana Paquette, (Cégep Marie-Victorin), Chloé Simard (Collège de Maisonneuve).

WOMEN INMATES’ AWARD
The women inmates’ jury is composed of five inmates of the Joliette Institution. They chose a winner from a selection of eight films from the official competition and Panorama. Daisy, Mélanie, Jackie, Roxanne and Julie named Bagages by Paul Tom for “its original approach that opens a window on the other and introduces us to young people who reveal themselves frankly and unreservedly, and because we believe this is a touching and necessary film.” This initiative is carried out in partnership with Telefilm Canada, the Quebec chapter of the Elizabeth Fry Society and the Entente sur le développement culturel de Montréal. The project is supported by the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications and the Ville de Montréal.



For more information, visit the RIDM festival's website. 

Tuesday, November 06, 2018

RIDM 2018: Films of Interest


RIDM 2018
21st Edition

November 8 - 18, 2018

FILMS OF INTEREST

Opening Film

WHAT WALAA WANTS
Director Christy Garland
QUEBEC PREMIERE
Opening movie
CanadaDenmark / 2018 / 89 min / Arabic with French subtitles 

Walaa, a strong-willed young Palestinian woman, dreams only of joining the Palestinian Security Forces. A complex and engrossing story of one woman’s education.


Full Length Films

PREMIÈRES ARMES
Director  Jean-François Caissy
QUEBEC PREMIERE
Canadian Feature Competition
Quebec / 2018 / 106 min / French with English subtitles
A non-judgmental observation of a Canadian Forces boot camp, exposing the deep workings of an institution geared to enforcing a collective ideal.
  
L’APOLLON DE GAZA
Director Nicolas Wadimoff   
CANADIAN PREMIERE
ARTifice
Switzerland, Quebec / 2018 / 78 min / English, French, Arabic, Hebrew with French subtitles 
A fascinating investigation into the fate of an ancient statue found and then lost in Gaza – a symbol of a fragile region’s complex situation. 
  
MY DEAREST SISTER
Director Kyoka Tsukamoto 
WORLD PREMIERE
Portraits
Quebec / 2018 / 74 min / English and Japanese with English subtitles
 
An intimate, poetic self-portrait in the form of a love letter to a sister, questioning the fundamental principles of Japanese society.

OF FATHERS AND SONS
Director Talal Derki
QUEBEC PREMIERE
International Feature Competition
Germany, Syria, Lebanon, Qatar / 2017 / 99 min / Arabic with French subtitles 
A disturbing look inside the life of a Syrian jihadi family, and an unforgettable perspective on a world without a future, where childhood and innocence no longer have meaning.

DE CHAQUE INSTANT
Diredtor Nicolas Philibert
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
Special presentations
France, Japan / 2018 / 105 min / French with English subtitles
Nicolas Philibert takes us inside a nursing school, where we meet the students and see their stressful lives, captured with deep empathy. 
  
PREMIÈRES SOLITUDES
Director Claire Simon
CANADIAN PREMIERE
Special presentations
France / 2018 / 100 min / French with English subtitles 
Claire Simon lets us share in the turmoil of an uncertain age by filming the private conversations of a group of teenagers from a Paris suburb. 
   
MA GUERRE
Director Julien Fréchette
QUEBEC PREMIERE
The State of the World
Quebec / 2018 / 97 min / French and English with French subtitles 
A portrait of four Westerners who volunteered to fight against the Islamic State group alongside the Kurds, including a captivating visit to the combat zones. 

THE TRIAL
Director Maria Augusta Ramos
QUEBEC PREMIERE
Retrospective Maria Augusta Ramos: Exposing the system
Brazil, Netherlands, Germany / 2018 / 139 min / Portuguese with English subtitles
As gripping as any fictional thriller, The Trial follows the daily twists and turns of the trial that led to the impeachment of Dilma Rousse, Brazil’s first democratically elected woman president. 
SAMOUNI ROAD
Director Stefano Savona
QUEBEC PREMIERE
Special presentations
France, Italy / 2018 / 126 min / Arabic with French subtitles 
Weaving together intimate testimonies and mesmerizing animation, acclaimed filmmaker Stefano Savona retraces the destruction of the Samouni family’s life in Zeitoun, Gaza.

LES COASTERS
Director Nicolas-Alexandre Tremblay and Stéphane Trottier
WORLD PREMIERE
Special presentations
Quebec / 2018 / 86 min / French, English, Innu with French subtitles 
An inspiring, humanist ensemble film about the realities of life in Quebec’s Basse-Côte-Nord region.

BEAUTIFUL THINGS
Director Giorgio Ferrero
CANADIAN PREMIERE
La bête humaine
Italy / 2017 / 96 min / English, Italian, German and Tagalog with English subtitles 
Where do the thousands of objects around us come from? Where do they go? This audio-visual symphony is a dark reflection on our world.  

THE WALDHEIM WALTZ
Director Ruth Beckermann
QUEBEC PREMIERE
Special presentations
Austria / 2018 / 94 min / English, German and French with French subtitles
 
During the Austrian presidential election campaign of 1986, Kurt Waldheim’s reputation is seriously attacked – and suffers no damage. The episode foreshadowed our reactionary future. 

ENSEMBLE
Director Jean-Nicolas Orhon
WORLD PREMIERE
ARTifice
Quebec / 2018 / 92 min / French and English with English subtitles
 
Jean-Nicolas Orhon spent a year filming the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal, closely observing its rehearsals, working relationships, precision and passion.


Short or Medum Length Films

OUR SONG TO WAR
Director Juanita Onzaga
CANADIAN PREMIERE
International Short or Medium-Length Competition
BelgiumColumbia / 2018 / 14 min / Spanish with English subtitles
As the war winds down in the Colombian jungle, the ghosts of the dead wander the forest and the living resume their lives. A film whose aesthetic is steeped in mystery and beauty.

LA RIVIÈRE TANIER
Director June Balthazard
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
International Short or Medium-Length Competition
France / 2017 / 17 min / French and Creole with English subtitles 
Who was Marie Lourdes? The filmmaker reconstructs the past of her grandmother, who has lost her memory, and explores her Creole identity through beautiful animation.

LA CHANSON
by Tiphaine Raffier
CANADIAN PREMIERE
International Short or Medium-Length Competition
France / 2018 / 31 min / French with English subtitles
A hilarious, brilliantly critical futuristic fiction presented as a documentary-to-come about Marne-la-Vallée, home to Disneyland Paris. 


For more information:
VISIT THE RIDM FESTIVAL WEBSITE FOR PROGRAMMING AND SCHEDULES.