Cinemania 2018: Opening and Closing Films

CINEMANIA
24th Edition

November 1 - 11, 2018

Opening Film

Doubles Vies (English title: Non-Fiction)

Director Olivier Assayas / France / 100 min / 2018

OFFICIAL SYNOPSES

"Alain (Guillaume Canet) is a publisher and Léonard (Vincent Macaigne) a needy novelist. Modern publishing trends and shifting tastes have totally passed them by. These guys are overwhelmed by change and in mid-life crisis - they struggle to find their place in society in a changing industry whose entry codes they cannot seem to crack. And, they're tone-deaf to the advice of their restless wives (wonderfully portrayed by Juliette Binoche and Nora Hamzawi). All four, plus assorted girlfriends and lovers, agonize over the future with delicious dialogue in a series of dinner parties.

Renowned director-scriptwriter Olivier Assayas gathers a great ensemble cast, delivering a clever not-to-be-missed comedy set in today's sophisticated world of Parisian publishing!"

Closing Film

Edmond

Director Alexis Michalik / France, Belgum / 1h 45 min / 2018

OFFICIAL SYNOPSES

“December 1897, Paris. Playwright Edmond Rostand, is not yet 30 and is stressed ‘to-the-max’. He hasn’t written a word in 2 years! Desperate, he propositions the great theatrical actor Benoît-Constant Coquelin to appear in his next production, a heroic comedy for the stage in time for the year-end holidays. The only problem...it hasn’t been written yet! In the midst of a chaotic life filled with capricious actors & actresses, a jealous wife, demanding producers, his best friend’s convoluted love life, and a general lack of enthusiasm for his new play, Edmond sits down to write. But all he can thus far commit to paper is the title, ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’...”

For more information about the festival, viisit the CINEMANIA website.

MWFF 2018: Curtis

CURTIZ

WORLD COMPETITION

Montreal World Film Festival / FFM

Hungary / 2018 / black & white  / 93 min.

This film won the Grand Prize of the Americas (Best Film) at the Montreal World Film festival 2018 Closing Ceremony. See all the winners here.

Those interested in the history of cinema, and especially in the production of the iconic American classic CASABLANCA, will especially appreciate this Hungarian production about the famous director MIchael Curtiz, an eccentric and talented director and a winner of an Oscar. The film is largely inspired by his life. It details all the intriguing twists and turns in the creation of CASABLANCA, all political, Warld War II implications and intrigues that affect the production of the film, as well as his personal life and his relationship with his daughter Kitty.

When he leaves Europe for America, Michael Curtiz leaves his family behind in Budapest. He worries about his sister and tries to get her to the USA by all means, but there are many obstacles. In Hollywood, Curtiz is powerful, arrogant and preparing to shoot CASABLANCA with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. But it is 1942, and the United States is getting ready for World War II. While the director is struggling with production problems, his abandoned daughter Kitty appears on the set and confronts him. The meeting with his daughter and the conflicts that arise directly influence Curtiz's creative resolution of CASABLANCA's ending, thus gelling together his great iconic masterpiece.

In CURTIZ, Rick's famous cafe and the piano featured in CASABLANCA film were faithfully reproduced for the filming purposes.

SYNOPSES

1942. America is on the edge of war. Hungarian-born film director Michael Curtiz, under government pressure, gets a chance to influence public opinion about war, thus gaining international recognition by directing a new propaganda film: Casablanca. It does not comeat the best time though. Curtiz is working on helping his Jewish sister emigrate from Hungary before the Nazis get to her also, his daughter appears on set with the purpose of getting answers why Curtiz had abandoned her as a child. Can Curtiz overcome his famously arrogant and cynical personality? What sacrifices make a man a patriot in a foreign country, a good brother and an honest father at the same time? What should his main character, Rick, choose in the end of Casablanca?

Left to right: actress Evelin Dobos (Kitty), screenwriter Zsuzanna Bak,
producers Judit Romwalter and Claudia Sumeghuy, and actress Lili Bordan

PRODUCTION TEAM

Director: Tamas Yvan Topolánszky.

Script: Zsuzsanna Bak, Tamás Yvan Topolánszky.

Photography: Zoltán Dévényu.

Editor: Eszter Bodoky.

Music: Gábor Subicz.

Cast: Ferenc Lengyel, Evelin Dobos, Declan Hannigan, Yan Feldman, Rafael Feldman, Lili Bordan, Caroline Boulton, Scott Alexander Young.

Producers: Claudia Süneghy, Halluci-Nation Ltd., Budapest (Hongrie), cell.: +36 302 488 239, sumeghy.claudiabernadett@gmail.com / SPARK, Camera and Lighting Ltd., Budapest (Hongrie), judit@sparks.hu.

For more information on the festival visit the Montreal World Film Festival's website.

MWFF 2018: In This Land Nobody Knew How to Cry

IN THIS LAND NOBODY KNEW HOW TO CRY

WORLD COMPETITION

Montreal World Film Festival / FFM
Greece, France / 2018 / 90 min. / English subtitles

The acclaimed Greek director Giorgos Panousopoulos returns after 14 years hiatus back to the cinematographic scene with his eighth feature film In This Land Nobody Knew How to Cry, for which he also wrote the screenplay. Although at a first glance it might appear that this film is only an off-beat comedy, it actually examines some fundamental issues how our modern world functions, and presents a viable alternative established by a small Greek island inhabitants, deeply based on historical traditions.

It was filmed exclusively on the idyllic island of Ikaria, which is well known for the exceptionally high life expectancy of its inhabitants and their relaxed philosophy of life. It becomes a setting for the imaginary island of Armenaki where people declared NO to money, banks, the usual monetary way of living, and establish their own simple system of paying taxes, solving disputes, educating theur children, and conducting the everyday life duties and transactions. The film introduces the Greek perspective, the way of thinking, and how it has been altered before and after the financial crisis. The islanders cope remarkably well within their simple rules, and their own understanding as what represents abundance, happiness, love and freedom. Their lifestyle is both remarkable and very seductive. 

The film tells a story of a European official, Felix (Serge Requet-Barville), who arrives to the island with the sole purpose of examining the island's "investment opportunities”. He is accompanied by his assistant Aura (Margarita Panousopoulou). There, he falls in love with an enigmatic widow Chrysa (Foteini Tsakiri), while Aura meets Vitorio (Babis Chatzidakis), the island's school teacher. A transformation takes place as the island has a magical ability to change people's lives.

SYNOPSES:

Something magical happens when a French member of the European Parliament and a young Greek economist come to Armenaki, a small Aegean island, to report on its investment potential. They are entranced by the subversive charm of a place without banks or even money, where there are no cars, streets, or rooms to let. In different ways, both visitors will allow themselves to be drawn into the island’s vortex of love. Giorgos Panousopoulos.

For more information on the festival visit the Montreal World Film Festival's website.

MWFF 2018: The Etruscan Smile

THE ETRUSCAN SMILE

WORLD COMPETITION

Montreal World Film Festival / FFM
Switzerland, Germany, UK, USA / 107 min. / English & French subtitles

This film won the Special Grand Prix of the Jury at the Montreal World Film festival 2018 Closing Ceremony. See all the winners here.

The film is based on a bestselling novel by the Spanish economist and author José Luis Sampedro La sonrisa etrusca written in 1985. It was shot across two continents, with filming taking place on location in the iconic city of San Francisco as well as in Scotland's breath-taking Hebridean coast.

The Etruscan Smile is a remarkable film that deals with many modern men issues, especially how the big city life with its technically advanced but somewhat sterile, nature deprived ways that foster avant-guard theories and trends that tend to lead even to child-rearing or culinary disasters. It brings into focus the traditional ways of life values, the immediacy of feelings, freedoms, creativity, the family closeness and love. The open vistas and the ocean, the roaring waves and grass grazing sheep, become the cornerstone on which to recapture the basic human instincts and values, and to feel deeply at home. This is essentially the central message of the film.

The film has a number of interesting plot twists, as well as humour. The actor's acting is superb, and the intriguing story will not leave the audience indifferent. In fact, it is very easy to get involved with the reality that the film portrays, and even to start examining one's own life's circumstances and values.

Also, the technical aspects of the film are remarkable, as well as its photographic aspects. I highly recommend this film.

SYNOPSES

Due to a health problem, Rory, a gruff old man, reluctantly leaves his isolated island of Scotland to go to his son's home in San Francisco for medical treatment. His life takes on a new meaning when he meets his grandson with whom he develops a real bond.

PRODUCTION TEAM

Directors: Mihal Brezis, Oded  Binnun.

Script: Michael McGowan, Sarah Belwood, Michal Lali Kagan.

Photography: Javier Aguirresarobe.

Editing: Roberto Silvi.

Cast: Brian Cox, Rosanna Arquette, Thora Birch, JJ Feild.

Production / Sales: Arthur Cohn, Arthur Cohn Production,

Gellerstrasse 18, 4052 Bâle (Suisse), tél. : +41 613121242,

acohn@bluewin.ch

FILM TRAILER

For more information on the festival visit the Montreal World Film Festival's website.

FNC 2017: Salyut-7

SALYUT-7

Салют-7

TEMPS Ø

CANADIAN PREMIERE

RUSSIA | 119 MINUTES | 2017 | Russian with English Subtitles

The film is based on real events that took place at the height of the Cold War in 1985. In February 1985, the Soviet Flight Control Center (MCC) lost control of their Salyut-7 orbital station that has been unmanned for half a year. The station only had a short time before falling to Earth, causing the death of many people if it hit a populated area and especially a large city.

The Americans are concerned it would fall on the US territoriality and that some nuclear weapons might be aboard. The USSR authorities, in turn, fear that the destruction of the Salyut-7 will put the country outside the space race, and that the US will take advantage of the situation, steal the station and learn its scientific secrets. To prevent this from happening, two astronauts are sent into space, the commander of the ship Vladimir Fedorov (actor Vladimir Vdovichenkov) and the flight engineer Viktor Alyokhin (actor Pavel Derevyanko). For the first time in history, they will have to attempt a manual docking with an uncontrolled object and then find and fix the problems on Salyut-7.

The scenario is based on real events - the mission of Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Victor Savinykh. The names of the real people in this space drama film are changed to emphasize that it is not a documentary but an artistic interpretation of it. Details and action portrayed are dynamic and dramatic and keep viewers in suspense. The visual design and acting are very strong. The amount of problems the two astronauts face, the way they deal with them, their space walk, and their camaraderie are quite inspiring and impressive.

FNC OFFICIAL SYNPOSES

“In space, no one can hear you repair a Soyuz. This Russian blockbuster dramatizes one of the unsung heroic moments in the history of the space race.

True story: on February 11, 1985, Salyut-7 went quiet. The crown jewel of Soviet space technology was at risk of crashing to Earth with disastrous consequences. With the Cold War at its peak — on Earth and in space, in science and in politics — the situation was a complicated one. Two cosmonauts are sent on an apparently impossible mission to repair the craft and save the motherland’s honour. Can they do it ?”

DIRECTOR: Klim Shipenko

SCREENWRITER: Aleksey Chupov

ACTORS: Vladimir Vdovchenko, Pavel Derevyanko, Aleksandr Samoilenko, Lyubov Aksyonova, Ilya Andryukov 

FILM TRAILER

For more informations about the FNC, the program, film scheduling and various venues visit the FNC festival's website.

FNC 2017: Après coup

APRÈS COUP
FOCUS QUEBEC / CANADA

IN COMPETITION
WORLD PREMIER

CANADA | 94 MINUTES | 2017 | French with English Subtitles

The film is about a family in distress after a tragic accident that happened to their daughter's friend. Especially affected is the father who assumes a full personal responsibility for what had happened, though he did not cause the accident. In his mind, all is about the timing and him asking the girl to go home after the afternoon spent with his daughter playing. He becomes obsessed with his personal guilt to the extent he is not able to carry on with his regular daily responsibilities. This affects his professional and family life and his relationship with his wife and daughter. His wife forces him to see a psychiatrist. Yet the medication he is prescribed and that is supposed to help him has no effect on him and  after a while he refuses to take it. Threatened with by his wife that he will have to move out if he does not do anything about his condition that is destructive to her and their daughter, he finally unwillingly and reluctantly goes to see a psychologist.

This film introduces to the audience two techniques used by some psychologists to help their clients to overcome the post traumatic stress and guilt. This information might prove useful for some viewers as it reveals methods that could alleviate either their personal or their loved ones issues.

- The first technique is EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) Therapy. This method has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of trauma and many other mental and emotional problems.

- The second technique is IADC (Induced After-Death Communication) Therapy which helps to heal deep sadness and guild associated with the death of a family member, a friend, or a loved one.

The film could most likely be used by the qualified psychologists as an additional tool to help introduce their clients to these techniques. It is sensitively enacted by the cast and illustrates how a family's harmony could be re-established after conflicts, shocks or traumas that a family member or members had endured.

FNC OFFICIAL TRAILER

"When his daughter’s best friend is killed in an accident, a father undergoes psychotherapy to cope with the emotional fallout. Family man Marc grapples with the post-traumatic stress that ensues when he witnesses his daughter’s best friend being fatally struck by a car just after leaving his house. Haunted by the images, torturing himself with blame, he agrees to undergo psychotherapy — a treatment that proves harrowing. Backed as always by his favourite lead (Laurent Lucas), Mitrani dissects the insidiousness of guilt as well as the unsuspected possibilities of survival."

PRODUCTION TEAM

DIRECTOR: Noël Mitrani

SCREENWRITER: Noël Mitrani

^{ACTORS: Laurent Lucas, Laurence Dauphinais, Mohsen El Gharbi, Pascale Bussières, Natacha Mitrani}

PRODUCER: Gapian Films

FILM TRAILER

SCREENING

THURSDAY OCTOBER 12, 2017

Program #241, 13:00, Cineplex Odeon Quartier SALLE 17

For more informations about the FNC, the program, film scheduling and various venues visit the FNC festival's website.

FNC 2017: Indian Horse

INDIAN HORSE

FOCUS   QUEBEC / CANADA

CANADA | 100 MINUTES | 2017

The film is based on the novel by a Canadian author and journalist Richard Wagamese who was an Ojibwe from the Wabaseemoong Independent Nations in northwestern Ontario.

The film deals with the dark past of the Canadian history for which in 2008 the Prime Minister of Canada Stephan Harper had apologized to the former students of the Indian residential school system. They were boarding schools for the Indigenous peoples' children, founded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by Christian churches. Its purpose was to remove children from the influence of their own culture to assimilate them into the dominant Canadian way of life. Over its more than hundred years of existence, about 150,000 (roughly 30%) of Indigenous children were placed in residential schools, and 6,000 of them (it is speculated more than that) have died while there.

The film portrays a story of an Ojibwee boy Saul Indian Horse who was removed from his community and his cultural roots at the age of eight and brought to a Residential school. It portrays the cold, strict and inhuman environment in those schools, and the hardships the native children had to endure. The only way Saul could bear his fate was to get involved with hockey. He had an uncanny skill to feel the spirit of the game inside himself, to become one with that spirit, to master the game to the highest level of proficiency with all its intricacies, strategies, moves and passes. It was hockey that helped him to endure the unbearable environment of the residential school that also brought him out of it earlier than required. He was destined for success, yet overwhelmed by the racist attitude he encountered even from his team mates, he began the painful journey to his own native roots and healing...  

FNC  FILM SYNOPSES

"Inheritance, family bonds and identity are at the heart of this coming-of-age story based on the novel by Richard Wagamese. Spanning several decades, the film follows the difficult journey of Saul Indian Horse, a young Ojibwa boy who grew up in 1960s Ontario. Scarred by the spirit-destroying effects of residential school, he battles racism while developing his outstanding talent for hockey. Indian Horse takes an ambitious approach, peeling back the layers of “official” Canadian history as it paints a moving portrait of resilience."

Director: Stephen S. Camplianel

Writer: Dennis Foon

Starring: Sladen Peltier, Forrest Goodluck, Ajuawak Kapashesit 

SCREENING

 

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 11, 2017

Program #214, 19:00, Cineplex Odeon Quartier SALLE 17

FRIDAY OCTOBER 13, 2017

Program #273, 17:00, Cineplex Odeon Quartier SALLE 17

The film's director Stephen S. Camplianel will be present at both screenings to answer the audience's questions.

For more informations about the FNC, the program, film scheduling and various venues visit the FNC festival's website.