Jimmy's Hall

Jimmy's Hall
La salle de danse

Drama

England, Irland, France, 2015, 109 min.

Director: Ken Loach
Writers: Paul Laverty (screenplay), Donal O'Kelly (play)

Actors:  Barry ward, Francis Magee, Alleen Henry

Distribution:  Métropole Films Distribution

This film is based on a true story of Jimmy (James) Gralton, the only Irish citizen who was ever deported from Ireland in 1933 and was permanently banned from returning back to his country. He died in New York after the end of World War II, in December 1945. The film recounts events leading to his deportation.

The film shows the Ireland's political and social tensions, as well as the general moral and power issues in the late 20th early 30th of the last century. Jimmy returns from America and opens a Hall where people dance, learn Irish-Gaelic language, recite poetry and discuss various issues. Do come and see the film and decide for yourself whether his deportation was justified. The fim has a very touching and quite innocent love story. Whether true to life or invented, it plays a major part in the film.

The film is presently shown at the Montreal's Cinema Excentris. To find more about the scheduling, visit the cinema's website.

Jimmy's Hall Official Trailer 1 (2015) - Barry Ward, Simone Kirby Movie HD

Top photo courtesy of Cinema Excentris.
Film Review © 2015 Nadia Slejskova

Le Sel de la Terre - The Salt of the World

The Salt of the World
Le Sel de la Terre

Documentary
Brasil, Italy, France, 2015, 110 min.

Realisation: Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado
Distribution: Métropole Films Distribution

This is a remarkable film, a tribute to life and work of the Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado. The scope of the film is truly epic. It covers 40 years of the photographer's life and takes the spectators through all the major recent events in history, trough international conflicts, starvation, involuntary exodus-migrations and mass death. Salgado's photography reveals the extend of misery millions of people were made to suffer, most of it largely not in the vision-focus of the prosperous nations' populace. The film makes a statement that all the people, each individual person is the salt of the world of this Earth, each equally deserving life, respect, dignity and basic means and conditions for peaceful living.

Salvado's constant work on documenting extreme human suffering, of creating his visual stories of it, caused him to become ill in his body and spirit. He stopped taking pictures for quite a while. What helped him to come back to his art was changing his focus from portraying human misery to concentrating instead on the beauty and power of nature, its ability to regenerate itself, especially when helped by a carrying human hand which rebuilds what was previously destroyed. His latest photographic project is called Genesis. It documents those parts of the world which look like they did at the times of the biblical Genesis, with its pristine vistas, wild flora and fauna, and grandiose landscapes. 

Salvado's photographs are black and white. He works masterfully with many shades of greys to brings depth and expression to his images. His photographs are true works of art with many layers of meaning. I highly recommend everybody to see this film.

Film's trailer

The film is presently shown at the Montreal's Cinema Excentris. To find more about the scheduling, visit the cinema's website.

Film Review © 2015 Nadia Slejskova

Le bruit des arbres - The Sound of Trees

Le Bruit des Arbres
The Sound of Trees
Drama
Québec, 2015, 78 min.

Director: François Péloquin
Actors:  Roy Dupuis, Antoine L’Écuyer, Rémi Goulet
Distribution: K-Films Amérique

This Quebec film is presently in competition at the Karlovy Vary film festival in the Czech Republic. Its contemporary North American setting only intensifies the ages-long universal themes of a father-son relationship, and of a young man coming of age, as well as portraying the general existential dilemma. The conflicts presented are specific to this family and their way of life, but the turmoil the young man feels and the intensity of his feelings and reactions are clearly recognizable as an adolescent's angst, as is his solution out of it - to leave his parents home and to go into the "big" world. And although one might conclude that at the end the young man rejects his father's way of life, not wishing to continue in his footsteps, this might be a precipitated opinion. The son does not burn his bridges with is father just before leaving the town, but rather, with a grand gesture, rebuilds their relationship by placing it on a solid ground. Since he is only 17 years old, his life and experiences might still one day bring him right back to his native town, when the perspective of owning and running a family business and being one's own boss might be much better appreciated. At his present young and rebellious age, he simply is not able to work for his father.

The name of the film Le bruit des arbres, which literally translates as "The Noise of the Trees",  does not refer to the sounds the trees make when swayed by the winds, but rather to the noise produced when they are cut down and processed in the family lamber business. The father hears this noise, the son does not. His ears are plugged with earphones as he listens to a very loud music instead. The word "noise"  most likely also refers to all the external and internal "noise" one creates in one's life and in others who surround him.

The acting is superb. Both Roy Depuis as well as Antoine L’Écuyer who plays his son portray their characters exceptionally well. The scenery of the Gulf of St. Laurence river, where the town is located, is the perfect setting for this film.

The film is presently shown at the Montreal's Cinema Excentris. To find more about the scheduling, visit the cinema's website.

Film's trailer

Top photo courtesy of Cinema Excentris.
Film Review © 2015 Nadia Slejskova

FIFA 2015: AWARDS

The Awards of the 33rd FIFA

The international jury of the 33rd FIFA, presided by director Don Kent (Great Britain), rewarded thirteen films from nine countries. The jury was completed by producer and director Jennifer Alleyn (Canada), director and screenwriter Camille Guichard (France), Commissioning Editor at SRF Anita Hugi (Switzerland), as well as filmmaker and multimedia artist Raymond St-Jean (Canada).

Three Canadian works are among the award-winning films.

Awards – Prizewinners of the films in competition

Grand Prize:

BEFORE THE LAST CURTAIN FALLS
Thomas Wallner (Germany, Belgium)

Jury Award:
Ex æquo
CONCRETE LOVE
Maurizius Staerkle-Drux (Germany, Switzerland)
ART WAR
Marco Wilms (Germany)

Award for Best Educational Film:
THE SKIES OVER DRESDEN
Paul Cohen (The Netherlands)

Award for Creativity:
LA PART DE L’OMBRE
Olivier Smolders (Belgium, France)

Award for Best Canadian Film:
STRANGE AND FAMILIAR: HOME, HOPE AND ARCHITECTURE ON FOGO ISLAND
Marcia Connolly, Katherine Knight (Canada)

Award for Best Essay:
Sponsored by Le Devoir
LE RETOUR EST LE MOUVEMENT DU TAO : ZHU XIAO-MEI ET LES VARIATIONS GOLDBERG
Michel Mollard (France)

Award for Best Portrait:
I’M A CREATIVE ANIMAL
Barbara Seiler (Switzerland, Germany)

Award for Best Reportage:
BALLET BOYS
Kenneth Elvebakk (Norway)

Award for Best Film for Television:
Sponsored by Digital Cut
WRITE DOWN, I AM AN ARAB
Ibtisam Mara’Ana Menuhin (Israel, Palestine)

Liliane Stewart Award for Design Arts:
Sponsored by the MacDonald Stewart Foundation
NEON
Eric Bednarski (Poland) 

ICI ARTV Award for Best French Canadian Film:
UNE COURTE HISTOIRE DE LA FOLIE
Isabelle Hayeur (Canada)

ICI ARTV Springboard to the World Award:
BLACK AND TAN FANTASY / RÉPÉTITION
Mario Côté (Canada)

FIFA 2015: SHIPYARD SCULPTOR

SHIPYARD SCULPTOR

CROATIA / 2014 / COLOR / 30 MIN / CROATIAN S.T. ENGLISH

Production Team

Realisation: Branko Istvancic
Script: Damir Sirkovic, Branko Istvancic
Cinematography: Boris Poljak
Sound: Pere Istvancic
Editing: Branko Istvancic
Music: Dalibor Grubacevic
Narration: Niksa Kuselj
Participation(s): Niksa Kuselj
Producer(s): Irena Skoric
Production: Artizana
Distribution: Artizana

Official Synopsis

"Stanislav Bavcevic (1954-2009) was a mechanical engineer, who worked at the Split shipyard in Croatia, as well as a “naval sculptor.” For years, he made statues out of shipbuilding leftovers. Using cold, crude steel, he came up with an infinite number of shapes and figures. With simple tools and a piece of steel, he could create a bust in a few minutes, as well as undertaking more monumental works, such as a 50-metre crucifix from a construction crane. He found his job in the shipyard, but also his inspiration and the raw material for his art."

This film made me discover a great and unknown sculptor. His sculptures are expressive, meaningful, many of them overwhelming and monumental.

Although Bavcevic in his youth wanted to study art, his father forbade him. He considered his son's interest in art useless and impractical. In a strange and even an ironic way, this father's prohibition led Bavcevic to become a mechanical engineer, his "practical" profession providing him with all the means to be a sculptor. Had he gone to study at an art school, he would have never been able to create the impressive sculptural works that he did.

Bavcevic worked as an engineer in a shipyard. His work supplied him with all the tools and free scrap material he needed for his art, without which he would have never been able to crate his sculptures. He was aware of this, and his only and constant concern was that the shipyard should not close, as this would have been the end to his art creation.

I highly recommend to see this film. You will discover a remarkable sculptor who was somehow left out of the European contemporary art narrative, but who should definitely be included in it.

Shipyard Sculptor (trailer) 2015

Visit the Art FIFA website for more information and film scheduling.
http://www.artfifa.com


Top photo courtesy of FIFA.
Film Review © 2015 Nadia Slejskova

FIFA 2015: LE RETOUR EST LE MOUVEMENT DU TAO

LE RETOUR EST LE MOUVEMENT DU TAO 
ZHU XIAO-MEI ET LES VARIATIONS GOLDBERG

FRANCE / 2014 / COLOR / 52 MIN / FRENCH S.T. ENGLISH

Production Team

Realisation: Michel Mollard
Script: Michel Mollard
Cinematography: Alan Guichaoua
Sound: Thomas Buet, Pablo Salaün
Editing: Nicolas Peltier
Music: Les Variations Goldberg, Johann Sebastian Bach
Participation(s): Zhu Xiao-Mei
Producer(s): Michel Mollard
Production: Michel Mollard Productions, ARTE
Distribution: Michel Mollard Productions

Official Synopsis

"Zhu Xiao-Mei (b. 1949) ranks among the greatest pianists of our time and is one of the most celebrated interpreters of Bach. The artist carefully selects her public performances, and limits her repertoire to the few works she describes as “mountains of the soul.” The Goldberg Variations represents the “greatest musical encounter” of her life, and launched her international career. How does she approach the Cantor’s masterpiece? What mysterious connections does it have with high Chinese culture? By what miracle can a work like Goldberg Variations resonate with people around the world? Shot in places that are dear to her, the film centres on music and its mystery, on the links between Bach and Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu, and the dialogue between cultures."

With great artistry, this film presents a portrait of the pianist Zhu Xiao-Mei and her relationship to Johann Sebastian Bach's music, namely, his Goldberg Variations.  She does not simply interpret the partition but creates in her soul a complex structure, a multi-dimensional understanding of how Bach music relates to nature, to the Chinese Tao philosophy, and to God. This global view of Bach makes her to find her personal and very unique way how to interpret the notes Bach put on paper. The vision she creates is very compelling, easily impacting and enriching a listener.

The director has chosen a sensitive and a precise approach how to portray Zhu Xiao-Mei's complex inner artistic world with which she comes on to a stage to deliver Bach's music. It is seen through the way the film is segmented into separate Goldberg Variations chapters, the way the nature is brought into the film with the magnificent shots of brooks and mountains, and how this ties up with Zhu Xiao-Mei's monologue and the way she lives, and especially with the way she plays Bach.

Although my own liking for Bach is not to such a degree meditative or ZEN as how Zhu Xiao-Mei's interprets his music, and although we will never know what exactly Bach felt in his heart and soul when he created the Goldberg Variations, what intensity and colour of sounds he precisely heard inside himself, each interpreter brings his or hers personal perspective and understanding into Bach's music. And this enriches our common music heritage.

Visit the Art FIFA website for more information and film scheduling.
http://www.artfifa.com

Top photo courtesy of FIFA.
Film Review © 2015 Nadia Slejskova

FIFA 2015: SILO 468

SILO 468

SPAIN, FINLAND / 2014 / COLOR, B & W / 35 MIN / ENGLISH, FINNISH S.T. ENGLISH

Production Team

Realisation: Antti Seppänen
Script: Antti Seppänen
Cinematography: Antti Seppänen
Sound: Antti Seppänen
Editing: Antti Seppänen
Music: Maija Saksman, Seppo Renvall, Antti Halonen, Inka Ritvanen
Narration: Tapio Rosenius
Participation(s): eppo Renvall, Antti Halonen, Inka Ritvanen (Lighting Design Collective)
Producer(s): Antti Seppänen
Production: Oiva-Filmi
Distribution: Oiva-Filmi

Official Synopsis

"Silo 468 recounts how a remnant of the industrial past, an oil silo by the sea near Helsinki, was turned into a permanent interactive light installation by the Madrid-based Lighting Design Collective. The walls were perforated with 2,012 holes, in reference to Helsinki’s designation as World Design Capital in 2012. The natural light, wind and movement of light on the water are the variables in the lighting concept. During the day, the holes in the steel structure allow the natural light to enter the bright red interior, creating undulating motifs. At night, the computer-controlled LED domes react to the weather. Customized software analyzes the prevailing winds and reconfigures them into a luminous, animated fresco. This spectacular modern lighthouse can be seen within a 5-km radius."

This film is about how to adapt old dilapidated industrial structures to creating works of art with a practical component to them. The film focuses on the design, production and implementation of this project. Only a small section of the film is devoted at the end to show the finished work and some aspects of this artistic accomplishment.

I personally would have preferred more editing of the first two thirds of the film and a much vaster elaboration on the aesthetics of the finished piece, examples how it interacts with the weather, the winds, the water, and the daylight at various times of the day. It is also a pity that the interior has not been made all-season, to be used for various events, art performances and exhibitions all year round. I hope that in time the city will undertake to winterise this space, SILO 468, without affecting negatively the outside and inside light effects.

Visit the Art FIFA website for more information and film scheduling.

http://www.artfifa.com


Top photo courtesy of FIFA.
Film Review © 2015 Nadia Slejskova

FIFA 2015: GRANDEUR DES PETITS MUSÉES

GRANDEUR DES PETITS MUSÉES

FRANCE / 2014 / COLOR / 47 MIN / FRENCH

Production Team

Realisation: Alain Fleischer
Cinematography: Sylvain Briend
Sound: Christian Cartier
Editing: Baptiste Évrard
Music: Siegfried Canto
Narration: Alain Fleischer
Producer(s): Alain Fleischer
Production: Le Fresnoy - studio national des arts contemporains, La Région des Musées, Conseil régional du Nord-Pas de Calais
Distribution: Le Fresnoy

Official Synopsis

"In addition to major museums such as Louvre-Lens and the Palais des beaux-arts de Lille, the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region in France is home to about 100 more modest museums. This film visits five typical museums in French Flanders, located in settings that themselves look like paintings. Each has one or more masterpieces, which goes to show there is really no such thing as a small museum."

This is a delightful film. For those who like going to museums when visiting Europe, in this case France, the film serves as a reminder that there is more to a country's artistic heritage and riches than what is shown in the renown large museums and galleries where often art displayed is well synchronized with the established art history timeline represented by a few carefully selected major representatives of the art history narrative. The film acquaints the spectator with five small museums in the northern France which possess some remarkable works of art. It helps to enrich one's understanding of the magnitude of art production in the past (and even present) of which the majority of the public is not aware. 

I highly recommend to see this film. In addition to discovering unknown works of art, with the help of the film one gets 'to travel' to those five small museums, as most of us just have no time or means to just take off and go to visit them in person.

Visit the Art FIFA website for more information and film scheduling.

http://www.artfifa.com

Top photo courtesy of FIFA.

Film Review © 2015 Nadia Slejskova

FIFA 2015: Gustav Courbet

LES PETITS SECRETS DES GRANDS TABLEAUX
COURBET, L’ATELIER DU PEINTRE

FRANCE / 2014 / COLOR / 26 MIN / FRENCH

Production Team

Realisation: Clément Cogitore
Script: Thomas Cheysson, Elisabeth Couturier
Editing: Erwann Chabot, Julien Ngo Trong
Music: Roque Rivas
Narration: Clémentine Célarié
Producer(s): Sophie Goupil, Daniel Khamdamov
Production: Les Poissons Volants, ARTE France, Les petits secrets des grands tableaux
Distribution: ARTE France

Official Synopsis

'Of all the paintings of Gustave Courbet (1819-1877), The Painter’s Studio is undoubtedly the most mysterious. In this complex allegorical work, Courbet portrays the French society of his time. He is offering his own vision, as suggested by his central position in the canvas. This socially engaged work can be seen as a manifesto. “It’s the people who come to me to be painted,” he declared. “On the right, all the shareholders, that is, friends, fellow workers, devotees of the art world. On the left are the other people from everyday life, the masses, misery, poverty, wealth, the exploited and the exploiters, people who make a living from death.” The painting transports us back to the Second Empire, a few years after the Revolution of July 1848.'

Although this film is only 26 minutes long, it succeeds extremely well in acquainting a spectator with the painter's life and aspirations, with his creative impulse and with his contemporaries. Above everything else, it deciphers the composition of Courbet's monumental painting The painter's Studio, the characters portrayed (they are all life-size), the inner meaning of the painting within its artistic form of expression, as well as the political reality of the painter's times.

For all those interested in the art history and in the majestic and renown paintings and painters from the past, this film is a must. Check this year's schedule of the Montreal's International Film of Festival on Art to see this and other films screened at the festival.

http://www.artfifa.com

Top photo courtesy of FIFA.
Film Review © 2015 Nadia Slejskova

FIFA 2015: Ai Weiwei - Evidence

Ai Weiwei - Evidence

GERMANY / 2014 / COLOR / 52 MIN / FRENCH

Production Team

Realisation: Grit Lederer
Script: Grit Lederer, Irene Höfer
Cinematography: Leif Karpe
Sound: Sirko Loschner
Editing: Gerrit Ohlsberg
Narration: C. Tartarin
Participation(s): Ai WeiWei
Producer(s): Irene Höfer
Production: Medea Film, ZDF-ARTE
Distribution: Medea Film

Official Synopsis

"Evidence is the title of an exhibition that opened in April 2014 at Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin, the largest exhibition ever to be devoted to Ai Weiwei (born in 1957). Consisting of monumental works, photos and videos, it is yet another testimonial to his rebellion against a regime that is trying to stifle him. Imprisoned in 2011 and then put under house arrest, under continual surveillance, accused of tax fraud, relieved of his passport, prohibited from exhibiting, Ai Weiwei expresses himself primarily via his blog and tweets in his own country. He has decided to stay in China to “document” the repressive nature of its regime. He opens the doors of his studio on the outskirts of Beijing, where he is preparing for his big exhibition in Berlin."

Ai Weiwei, a Chinese artist who is well-accepted and valued in the western world, prepares for his new exhibition at the Berlin's Martin-Gropius-Bau contemporary art exhibition centre. The film unveils the artist's difficult position in his own country. He has been arrested in the past and kept in a prison, according to him - for opposing the mainstream dogmas in his country. Official China version is, he he was arrested for tax evasion. The film brings into focus Ai Weiwei's circumstances. He is by no means a struggling artist: his spacious studio, a large art production factory, a number of workers he employs, hundreds of old antic pieces he buys for his art creations from antic dealers, the golden status of the Chinese zodiac he makes, they all pose a question, how is he able to pay for all this? At some point, he is even asked a directly that buying all those huge number of antique stools, some even from ancient Chinese Emperor dynasties, must be quite expensive, and the artist agrees that it is. So where all the money comes from? Are Ai Weiwei's  monumental works bought in great numbers in the west (and stored somewhere out of sight) to provide him with his income? Somehow it is hard to imagine that Berlin's Martin-Gropius-Bau paid for producing all the pieces for the show and paid salaries for all the workers involved. If they did, are they the owners of those works now? Where do they keep them? This brings to question the word Evidence in the title of the film. Does it refer to the evidence Ai Weiwei obtained when he chased an undercover cop and took away the memory card from his camera? Or does the word refer to some other evidence that leaches through the film?

Although Ai Weiwei is presently out of jail, he is prohibited from travelling outside of China. He cannot exhibit his art works in China but is free to do so anywhere else in the world. Although the film focuses on the restrictive aspects of his life rather than on his creative processes, it does show some interesting aspects of his everyday reality: his spacious studio and the adjacent grounds, and the old factory he bought in an hour's drive from Beijing where he produces, with a help of workers, his monumental art pieces. Three pieces that were to be exhibited in Berlin are shown in the film, and the reasons for making them are elaborated upon with the main emphases on the historical and political aspects. Do not expect to discover Ai Weiwei's purely artistic or aesthetic aspirations and issues when watching this film, yet it does portray an artist of an international standing with many innovative and monumental installations that capture people's imagination.

Visit the Art FIFA website for more information and the scheduling.

http://www.artfifa.com

Some short excerpts from the film are also available on YouTube.

Three years ago, in 2012, Art FIFA presented another documentary film about Ai Weiwei called Ai Weiwei: Without Fear or Favour. You can read about it in my post here:

http://artframe.blogspot.ca/2012/04/fifa-30th-edition-ai-weiwei.html


Top photo courtesy of FIFA.
Film Review © 2015 Nadia Slejskova

ART FIFA 2015: 33rd Edition

The Paths of Creation: From Dreams to Reality

This year, it is the 33rd Edition of the prestigious International Festival of fFlms on Art held annually in Montreal in March. For those who love art, the attending of this festival is a must. This year there will be 243 films from 29 countries. They will touch on all forms of creations, expressing an array of styles and eras. In  addition, there will a number of Special events: exhibitions, round tables, and master-classes, as well as the International Market on Films on Art (MIFA) which is celebrating its 5th consecutive year with FIFA.

Quebec and Canadian films will be strongly presented, along with the vast international film selection. The film subjects will cover all areas of artistic expression and discoveries, such as: Animation, Architecture, Archaeology, Art History, Contemporary Art, Dance, Design, Fashion, Literature, Music, Opera, Painting, Photography, Politics and Art, Public Art, Sculpture, Theatre, and Video Art. The attending audience will find it easy to find films in the area of their special interests.

FIFA's opening film will be La Machine, La véritable histoire du radeau de la Méduse, by Herlé Jouon. You can see the film's trailer here
https://vimeo.com/98334036

For more information about the festival, program, film scheduling, and special activities, visit the FIFA website:
http://www.artfifa.com/en