New York Asian Film Festival Delivers Excitement, Depth and Variety with Jaw-Dropping Appeal

                                 The festival runs from June 28th to July 14th

Tzu-Hsuan Hung Directs The Scoundrels ***

What a complicated gangster-good-guy plot! Hard to follow. In fact the many fight scenes almost steal the climactic effect of the whole film. Rui is a ticket car giver; but it wasn’t always that way. He was a star basketball player, but got dismissed due to a big fight he started on the court. He ends up working for a gang to pay the bills for the guy he had beaten up. But things go really bad for Rui when he sees a bloody body when he is issuing a ticket and feel a gun at his back. Rui is forced to comply with the raincoat robber – as he is called when he steals money from the private delivery  bank cars.

The guy ends up manipulating Rui and though Rui wants to escape,  but he can’t. The tables turn though when Rui decides not to be a patsy or loser anymore. He ends up following him to the finish. Bad guys don’t win in the end. This is Tzu-Hsuan Hung’s first feature and though terrible complex and hard to follow, he proves the Taiwanese are a force to contend with when it comes to film making.

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 MAGGIE (Directed by Yi ok-seop)




No oen shows up at the hospital after a compromising sex x-ray that hows no faces seems to embarrass the staff. Docotors fall sick and a lay boy friend fall thorugh one of the sink holes he himself is repariing. 



These holes are appearing everywhere. Nothing much ahppnes in this obtuse absurdist Korean film. Not one of their best, for sure.

THE FABLE (Directed by Kab Eguchi) **

He's a trained killer/assassin, and he's put to good use to rescue  a friend who helped him once when he was pretending that a gang really was getting the upper hand while beating him up. The Fable finds a way to rescue her but not without hurting a whole lot of people. he is not supposed to kill people though; his boss has told him to lay low for a year.


He's got a tender sweet side; he loves his new bird, and he not only draws his gun, but cartoons too.

This slam-bang action thriller with yakuza melodrama hits the mark when it comes to confusing us and even the characters in the film. But all the elements are there for high entertainment: a psychopath killer,  lots of great super-charged fight scenes, Osaka's underworld is as tense as a den of vipers.

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UNCLE AND HOUSE ***

A trio of loan sharks extract money from others, and things become bad for those owing. Against this, is a backdrop of laziness, fatigue and shop keepers who are not exactly as they seem. A quirky film for sure from Korea that sets quietude against the undercurrent of violence.

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Jinpa (Directed by Pema Tseden) ***

In the most barren frozen lands of  the Tibetan plains, a lorry driver travels. his delivery is cut short when he hits a big sheep and kills him. he feels terrible and spends most of his time trying to relieve his guilt. He is searching for a man eh picked up hitch-hiking who may hold the answer to meeting the man who can save his soul. Dreamy and out of this world, the slowness of the film and authentic feel works their magic over you. It's in Chinese and Tibetan language.

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MY FIRST FAREWELL (Directed  by Wang Lina) ****

They are Muslim children brimming with values of home, family, caring to their goats, cattle and chicken. But the pressure to learn mandarin (the village speaks Uighur)  is overbearing, and if a child  fails in this subject-- as the little girl did – she/he will be shamed along with the parents during teacher/parent meetings. Adives is sought from the elders.

 The time for picking cotton and trying to earn money is fast disappearing. City life is taking over their rural way of life. They must move to another city to improve their schooling. The film puts three children who ultimately have to leave their deaf. Mute mother behind in a home to make their own lives with their mom in a city. The lens gives us a touching day-to-day glimpse into one family whose conflicts and wise council come together in love and discord.  It is so authentic, one forgets this is a film. 

 The cinematography is stunning.The music by Xi Wen is mesmerizing. This is Ms. Lina’s first film. Bravo! The children are not actors, nor anyone else in this film. Amazing!

VUES D’ AFRIQUE FILM FESTIVAL 2019

Ushering in its 35^th year, this exotic international festival brings us all genres of films that tell their own riveting African stories.  156 films to stimulate, enlighten and tickle your funny bone, this international festival bravely shines the African sun into our own realm. And we learn more things under this sun.

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LA MISÉRCORDE DE LA JUNGLE (Directed by Joel Karakezi) ****

The second war in Congo in 1988 pits Rwandans against Congolese. Sergeant Xavier and Faustin, a young soldier get cuts off from their unit. They must travel through the jungle to reach safety. But this is not an easy feat. They even disguise themselves as Congolese, and get taken in by a village that teats them like family. The lines of loyalty get blurred. Tragedy stalks them, but the jungle trek went on too long, and one wonders why they are not bitten alive. One also wonders why the sergeant’s fabulous watch is not stolen from him at the end which was not clear at all.

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 LE PROCES 2.0 (Directed by Nadia Zouaoui)

Nadia ZouaouiAdd caption

Bombarded with hate mail both digitally and in letters by Fascist Quebeckers who hate her head wear, her sex and her religion, Nadia has calmly and with great poise confronted it all. The film bombarded us with the same points shown in different ways, but it was far too long and as such her poignant doc was weakened. Quebec’s Charter of Values set forth by by Pauline Marois and her gang of cowards once again resurrected with the CAQ party. I honestly believe Quebec can’t change; choosing such appalling anti-humanist views is as old as the priests that once ran the schools and churches here.
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MANNO CHARLEMAGNE UN HOMME UNE VIE


A great Haitian singer/guitarist/actor who takes us through the history of music via great singers from Haiti and beyond. Ranna was the way of the people to express themselves via dance and singing. He exiled himself to Montreal as his anti-Duvalier songs became a threat to his own life. 
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FIG TREE (Directed by Alamork Davidian)

Confusing and chronologically hard to follow, the film makes 16-year-old Mina the central heroine of this Ethiopian tale involving love, sacrifice and the prospect of a new home in Israel. Mina loves her cousin, Eli, so she does everything to subvert the pending immigration to Israel if it means Eli is not coming along. kidnapping youths though is the way of war, and Eli's future is bad. it's the director's first feature film and it shows. She needs a better editor. Rodas Gizaw as Mina was outstanding.

FIFA INTO ITS 37TH YEAR OF INSPIRING DOCUMENTARIES

If you are a lover of all things cultural, artistic and visionary, FIFA is the finest film festival for you to attend. Each cinematic story holds a mirror up to the world’s finest artists in different fields. We learn intimate details about their personal and professional journeys.

Reviews follow 

BOTERO
 (Directed by Don Millar)
Canadian premiere

This compelling and inspiring documentary film brings to life one of the world;s most acclaimed living artists. In fact, he is the greatest artist ever viewed in museums, and books about him sell better than any other artist!

The film holds up a factual mirror to Fernando Botero, shining light on his personality and art. This Columbian visionary later became a sculptor, but he painted first off. His enormous figurative sculptures stand as monumental beacons for everyone to enjoy, even laugh at and climb over them. They are now in almost every country, standing in squares, outside buildings and along watery paths. With Botero, big is beautiful!


Born is 1932, he came into this world without a silver spoon. His father was a traveling salesman on a donkey, and the young Fernando sold his first painting for 2 pesos in a small store in Medellin.
His trips to Italy, Paris and New York further allowed him to grow as an artist, carving out his own unique style: the big  and distorted would be his signature way; yet he lived as a pauper in small unheated rooms. When later psychoanalysed, it was thought that this enormous size in his figures is attributed to his longing to have a father to protect him; his father died when he was four.
Most of his life is revealed though his two sons and daughter who candidly share many family moments along with explanations of his art
Tragedy and personal struggles entered his journey of life, yet he became the artist that everyone loves, never suspecting he suffered a grave personal loss.
Always believing in his own artistic vision and the goodness of humanity, he donated all the works of art he owned to a museum created in his name in Bogota.

To create something that is a work of art, it must be controversial
                                                                                                       Botero
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LE PLUS HAUT NIVEAU (THE HIGHEST LEVEL)

National Film Board Production

A fabulous up close and personal reveal of the emotions and doubts that often enter the psyches of these extraordinary musicians who play in the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. We see the different orchestra sections  being coached by professionals intent on helping each player understand  the emotions in the music they must perform – in this case: Death and Transfiguration opus 24 by Strauss. In their twenties, these emerging musicians are working in preparation for their cross Canada 12-city tour. They cover 17,000 kilometres with little sleep and time to practice “on the road”. The film has many of these young artists talking about their experience in the orchestra.

 Once a band member myself, and as a classical pianist, I related to their  their joy of making music with other talented peers. 
                                                     
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JEANNE MOREAU L’AFFRANCHIE (Directed by Virginie Linhar)

Jeanne Moreau was France’s iconic film star whose prolific cinematic career spanned the mid 20^h century. She was a woman who formed intense relationships with her directors. She married Louis Malle, Pierre Cardin; and other men, including Belmondo, Truffault and Orsen Wells fell under her spell. Later in life, her filmography included roles that emancipated the woman (A Man and a Woman; Jules et Jim). In reality she herself became totally liberated from stereotypes, and lived her golden years with ferocity freely. She was never without work.

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WHEN ARABS DANCED (Directed by Jawal Rhalib)

Morocco and Egypt, Algeria and Iran, the story is always the same. Before the Fatwa and before Islamic aggression.  Arab women danced in public and at home. Belly dancing is in fact the oldest form of dance. Now it is not only forbidden, a woman can lose her life for dancing. How pathetic that famous Arabic dancers of the past have been wiped from the annals of dance history by the government. Dance is done but in centres that the dancers call their own revolution.The film goes on for too long and repeats the same shot fo women dancing. The point is hammered in the same way no matter the country filmed.  Old black and white film clips and present day testimony tell the poignant tragic theme.

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UNE JOIE SECRÈTE (Directed by Jérôme Cassou)

Jérôme Cassou

On January 7, 2015, Charlie Hebdo was gun down. His important satirical magazine was the voice of reason against Fascism. Thus began the one minute dance project where dancers around the world dance for one minute. We see all kinds of dancers finding their own way to move in environments at home, outside in the rain, in squares and more places that the public sees and doesn't see. It is a strange but wonderful film that bucks the notion that dance belongs only on stage or in front of an audience outside.

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 TRUE WARRIORS (Directed by Ronja von Wurmb-Seibel & Niklas                        Schenckul

A theatre troupe is putting on a play about killings in Kabul. These fearless actors dare all to show the devastation of hatred Taliban-terror style. In the middle of their show an explosion rips through the audience. Chaos and killing converge. This compelling documentary about the actors and how they dealt with the aftermath of this murderous event is touching whilst showing the ongoing courage of some who decide to keep on living in Kabul. Others left to live in Europe. A must-see film that has close-up monologues of the main actors and director involved.

                                                                                                      

RIDM... Non-fiction films that boldly and artistically dive over the edge

Now in its 21^st year, this renown documentary film festival forges into truths behind the world’s beauty and horror. This year, many film makers are merging past with present in obtuse ways that challenge the movie goer. No other festival brings captivating stories that often linger long after the film is over.

Reviews follow:

SEGUNDA VEZ (Directed by Dora García)

Hard to follow this work which reveals at least three different occurrences and scenes in Argentina – all tied into the premise that seems to show blind obedience outweighing one’s instinct to leave a scene or situation that is as confusing and senseless as that exerted on the participants involved.  Oscar Mascotta, an icon of the pre-dictatorship Argentinian avant-garde, known for his weird happenings and interest in Lacanian philosophy has his ideas in this far-out film transported to the present via varying situations and locations. I found this film too obscure to make a point despite the settings involved. They included: people lined up on a wall having to endure a piercing sound and bright lights; a body in a white bag being set in a field; people watching a helicopter in a field; people sitting and talking about philosophy in a library and being observed; people being questioned in a government office for respond not revealed at all. I found this film awfully long and pointless to ponder any intended significance. Reference to Peron, disappearance and more were shadowed here. I needed no second chance to rewatch this film to realize an important truth: the film’s content deserved far more focus and drama on the bitter subject of Argentina’s miserable past and present.

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Gulyabani  (Directed by Gurcan Keltek)

 Turkish film maker injects stunning photography of water and leaves and sludge with voice-over that reads the diary of a woman suffering under the violent power of the Turkish state in the 1970’s and 80’s. Experimental in cinematography, sound and metaphysics, this film is a beautifully made to tell the horrific cruelty and abuse this woman and many others endured that must never be forgotten. 

Gulyabani is a humongous ghoul with a long beard who wanders at night and scares people.

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THE DISAPPEARANCE OF GOYA (Directed by Toni Geitani)

The Mountain War of 1983 in Lebanon becomes a construed fragmentary collage of foggy landscapes, memories and images that have us questioning what really happened. At the center is a man whose face is seemingly so disfigured, but at the end of the film the mask comes off and nothing is really revealed. This eerie figure is an anonymous propaganda photographer who traverses the chilling landscape of a time that remains full of unanswered questions. Long, tedious and impregnated with overly-long stagnant stills, the film is painfully boring to watch. The point of the subject matter is fraught with pretension

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 SYMPHONIE IN AQUAMARINE (Directed by Dan Popa)

Filmed on four continents embracing such seas as the Baltic, Aegean, Atlantic and more, This films takes us on a journey showing the tedious and dangerous work of those working on big ships. We see ice being chopped in the Arctic and then it cuts to beach with swimmers and a family enjoying themselves. We even travel along the saint Laurence River.  Divided into four movements, this cinematic essay is accompanied with fantastic music and vocals. It gives us a great glimpse into sea culture and those living next to it. Sadly, it is in need of editing as some scenes go on far too long.
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This film was preceded by a darling Wapikoni mobile short with  the village of called Kuuijuaq, being introduced by a local. Humour and authenticity makes this film refreshing and informative. 

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 ZIVA POSTEC, LA MONTEUSE DERRIERE LE FILM SHOAH

                        BEHIND THE FILM SHOAH

                          Directed by Catherine Hébert

This monumentally important and supremely interesting film is truly a brilliant masterpiece by Catherine Hébert, and her focus here is on another brilliant film genius, Ziva Postec. 

Ziva Poste

She put in seven yeas of her life editing Shoah, the master mind of Claude Landmann. The film was made from 1979 to 1985; It was a monstrous task to assemble all the archive footage, testimonies and filming of concentration camps, now lying bare to show the brutality of  the mass genocide of the Jews.  The film focuses on Ziva’s life in Israel and in Paris. She is a humble highly intelligent warm woman who had to deal with the temperament of a highly strung Lanzmann. Ziva is honest in her failings with her daughter Sarah, and vulnerable when she tells about the drowning death of her beloved first husband in Israel. Shoa had a profound impact on her life. She had to stare every day at horrid photos and listen to testimonies. She worked insanely on editing 350 hours of footage that documented the extermination process. These seven years consumed her life at home and in the studio. She still is haunted in many ways by the film. Can you believe that at the première in Paris in 1985,  Lanzmann asked her why she was standing beside him as he went up the red carpet stairs. ”You are following me like a puppy, he said.

Such is the gratitude he showed her then and also while making the film.

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COUNTING TILES (Directed by Cynyhia Choucair) **

Lesvos, Greece is the desperate destination for Syrians
 to reach by boat. In 2015, Three clowns are admitted into the refuge camp to entertain the kids. But in 2016, it’s a no-go for the small little group. These clowns try to get in but end up basically posing aggressively at the police they encounter. At the end after waiting so many days, they finish by blowing bubbles at a little girl  who is with her parents at the port. They resort really to interacting with dogs and themselves. They have a great need to perform.

 Sabine is the main clown force behind persistence. She narrates the story and hers too about her mother who once left Lebanon for Greece during the war. In the end, despite shots of abandoned life jackets on land and more revealing shots of the plight, the film goes nowhere, though we have to admire the daring force of these Clowns without Borders whose persistence to penetrate the camp is admirable yet futile.

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DES HISTOIRES INVENTÉES (Di

rected by Jean-Marc E. Roy) 

André Forcier, the great Québécois filmmaker made several films. Many exerts are spliced in of his films along with the poetic narration and on camera figure of him reveals reality is not really reality.  His films were quintessential quirky Québécois as they shone a light on characters that were unique indeed. However, the film made no sense, and was in fact rather dull.
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MANUFACTURING CONSENT: NOAM CHOMSKY AND THE MEDIA

          (Directed by Mark Achbar & Peter Wintonick

Schooled in the Jewish traditions and belonging to a lower class family of which the father was a Hebraic scholar, Chomsky exerts the restraint and brilliant mind of an intellect deemed the most important mind of the century.

His whole thesis is based on the fact that the masses are controlled by media and the media by the government. In East Timor, the government kept the genocide hush hush and did nothing when invaded by Indonesia; the Carter government was supplying arms to the country. Eat Timor is rich in oil. In Cambodia, bigger news hit the papers because the Americans were not complicity was Pol Pot. The point is, Chomsky who has written dozens of books and visited over 100 countries staunchly urges the common man and woman to think for themselves, and not to follow government and media. A brave quiet man who is attacked on all side, Chomsky is a freedom fighter, but urges us to know what is the truth and in community after community implement as fair place for free dialogue not based on media rhetoric. I67 minutes long, the documentary could have done with more editing.

 

CINEMANIA CREATES A SOPHISTICATED PROGRAM WITH A LINE-UP OF EXTRAORDINARY FILMS AND GUESTS

Celebrating its quarter century anniversary, Cinemania still keeps breathing new exhilarating life into its rich line-up of French language films that astound, delight and move the heart in ways no other film festival can. Diverse themes wander the emotional map to include love, criminality, family, war, religion, cultural taboo and more. These feature films provide close-up experiences in the human condition with plots that put you -- the viewer, in the thick of things – funny or otherwise.

Montrealers and those coming from far and wide can’t get enough of these unique films that feature English subtitles with each screening.

Maidy Teitelbaum
Recipient of prestigious awards

Maidy Teitelbaum, Founder and President of Cinemania was bestowed  the Officer de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la République Française.

Passionate about sleuthing for film variety that has superlative entertainment value, Mme Teitlebaum noted, “We search for films that “engage, challenge and entertain our audiences with wit, humanity and sensitivity.”

She has succeeded magnificently choosing 66 films – many of which are North American premières, including a strong focus on Swiss films and director, Ursula Meir. Another area on the festival's hot list is Normandy; it offers inspiring, and the region is shares a long and historic relationship with Quebec.
 Many films are featured from the French company, Gaumont – the longest running French film distribution company ever. 
The guest of honour is Olivier Gourmet. Four of his films in which he plays the leading role will be screened.

Olivier Gourmet

There will also be 21 invited guests whose contribution  in cinema is outstanding. These VIPS  from France, Switzerland, Belgium and Quebec will create a whirlwind of excitement with their artistic brilliance adding further glamour to the Cinemania craze.

For information on the program of films, schedules, tickets, events and venues, visit:

            www.festivalcinemania.com

Reviews follow

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DOUBLES VIES (Directed by Olivier Assayas) *

Quebec Première

                                                              opening film

Actor, Vincent Macaigne, will be at the festival from October 3rd to November 9th

Juliette Binoche

Olivier Assayas

It’s an interesting topic – the changing world of publishing and those publishers caught in the high-tech tangles of it; some just can’t wrap their head around digital options, entry codes to crack and all kinds of shifting tastes. One such publisher is Alain (Guillaume Canet) who won’t listen to his with-it wife (Juliette Binoche) who plays an actor and who is actually  having an affair with Alain’s good friend, Leonard, a writer who, despite their friendship, is unable to convince Alain to publish his new work. (Vincent Macaigne plays Leonard. He who also stars in 'Chien', another film screening at Cinemania. In this film, he transforms into a dog). 

Vincent Macaigne

His acting along with the almost improv-like dialogue is great, and collectively you witness the brilliance of all the cast as seen in their banter at dinner parties, discussions and pondering moments become big bores for us. This is a talking heads’ film that just doesn't have an arc of any kind. Maybe it’s writer’s block, publisher’s puzzlement or director’s dilemma, but despite the natural acting of the cast, the film does not exactly fly off the pages or the screen.

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LE GRAND BAIN (Directed by Gilles Lellouche) ****

(SINK OR SWIM)

  North American Première

Gilles Lellouche will be at the festival from November 5-9

Gilles Lellouche

This latest comedy from Gille Lellouche will make a big splash on November 5^th at 7 p.m. at the swimming pool of the MAA Sports Centre. Filmgoers can have their fun too; they are invited to use the changing rooms and lockers before taking their floating seats in the pool in front of the giant screen. Now how cool is that!!

For those not wishing to bring their bathing suits to enjoy this hilarious if not touching comedy can sit in the balcony overlooking the pool.

The second screening on November 8th will take place at Cinema Imperial.

The plot is delicious. Eight men who have been hit with hard times form a men’s synchronized swimming team whose two coaches have a lot cut out for them too, including their own hard knocks in life. Everyone seems to be treading water.

These men know little about the sport and have had no training.


The acting is super fantastic.

 This iconic cast/team deserves gold medals. 

As we get to know each man’s plight, we root for them. The film's feel-good ending plunges them into some notoriety, and we want to dive right in with them.

The film won the Cinemania's Prix du public Mel Hoppenheim

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UN AMOUR IMPOSSIBLE (Directed by Catherine Corsini) ****

 North American Première

In the 1950’s, in Chateauroux, Rachel (Virgine Efiral) a quiet government clerk meets  Philippe, a slick Norwegian man. Philippe ends up having a torrid sexual relationship with her. She becomes pregnant, and the cold, selfish man shows his ugly side; refuses to give her daughter Chantal  his last name. In fact he wants nothing to do with her. Periodically he visits Rachel, and as time passes he decides to spend time with Rachel alone. Philippe is married and refuses to have Rachel meet his family. But what he does to Chantal is tragic. Chantal becomes alienated from her mother and is mean to her. The ending is reconciliation and a revelation of the truth. Beautifully acted, this film carries its own lyrical sadness.

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CONTINUER (Directed by Joachim Lafosse) ****

         North American Première

A mesmerising film that merges the stunning mountainous and rocky terrain of Kyrgystan with the edgy brutally harsh character of Samuel – masterfully played by Kasey Mottet Klein. He is on a rough horseback ride “road trip” with his mother, Sybille - perfectly acted by Virginie Efira. The hostility towards his mother is so palpable; both simply do not get along. However, gradually they become close as both endure some dangerous experiences on their trip – each helping the other. The two horses in the film are Samuel’s love, but with utmost directorial and acting brilliance the mother and son begin to love one another. Sybille had abandoned her son when he was a baby. This is the source of her son’s anger, and it is only at the end of the film Sybille reveals why.  Moments of witnessing the son letting go of his anger and the mother also watching him, are priceless. I won’t forget their acting. It brings to life this unusual story that’s based on Laurent Mauvignier’s own eponymous novel.

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LES FILLES DU SOLEIL(Directed by Eva Hussan)****

GIRLS OF THE SUN

 Fact: over 7000 women of all ages have been kidnapped by Isis.  In the film, we travel their horrific journey with Bahar, (Golshifteh Farahani), commander of   Peshmerga women leading us  and her soldiers; she prepares her fighters to liberate an ISIS-controlled town in Kudestan. Her profoundly gripping motive is to find her son alive in an indoctrination school. that teaches kids to kill.Veteran French war reporter Mathilde, (Emmanuelle Bercot in a role patterned after eye-patched war correspondent Marie Colvin killed in Syria) is embedded with the troops. Several women are Yazidi whose families were massacred, they themselves kidnapped, raped, sold into slavery and miraculously escaped (as was activist Nadia Murad, 2018 Nobel Peace Prize) to join the Kurdish army. With fierce survival instincts, Bahar relinquishes her Parisian-education for law to become a Kalashnikov-wielding leader of an all-female squad. She herself was once captured too and led the group of women out of the house.

Based on real events, director-screenwriter Eva Husson,bravely brings a graphic, suspenseful story of sisterhood, earning a standing ovation at Cannes 2018. It's unfathomable to think this happened in real raw life.

Eva Hussan

                           __________________________  LA PRIÈRE (Directed by Cédric Kahn) *****

Canadian Première

 

 Twenty-two-year old Thomas, brilliantly acted by Anthony Bajon, is addicted to smack. Against his will, he is sent to an isolated community made up of former drug addicts in the mountainous Haute-Savois region of France. The young men’s commitment to prayer and hard work is the healing strategy here. Thomas is aggressive and even fights with others. He leaves and meets Sybil whose mother is connected to the community. Thomas really has a hard time believing in prayer, though he knows all the psalms off by heart.  He leaves the community in an aggressive manner and goes to Sybil who convinces him to return. He does. His revelation comes during a mountain climb accident that leaves his leg damaged. He is alone as he was unable to catch up ot the others who were climbing. Desperately, Thomas prays to God, and indeed it works. He can now walk. He decides he wishes to join the seminary. But doubt and Sybil fill his mind. What will he do? The ending is truly a guess for all watching this wonderful film.

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CEUX QUI  TRAVAILLENT (Directed by Antoine  Russbach) ***

 Frank (credibly portrayed by the supremely talented Olivier Gourmet)  is the executive of a Geneva-based cargo shipping company. Frank is as inflexible as a metal rod and and glum as a rotten egg. There seems to be no joy in his life, other than his darling young daughter, Mathilde. 

Frank believes the only salvation in life is to work hard. An error in judgement costs him his job and he begins to fall apart. Tension builds as his behaviour verges on insanity. This first-time feature film for the Swiss director shows great promise, but there was not enough energy in most of this story to match the strange tension that creates a near-deadly twist at the end.

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L’ORDRE DES MEDÉCINS

                                                     (BREATH OF LIFE

                                                    North American Première

You can tell this is the first feature directed by Mr. Roux. It just scatters its focus into too many areas of hospital strife and characters that have small bits to offset the real story. Simon (played by Jérémie Rénier) is a pulmonary specialist whose frenetic professional is pulling him down. Death is at his doorstep with almost all patients he sees, but this time, it’s his mother who is dying. His private and professional life are crashing into one another. Bravo to Mr. Rénier for his superb acting. The music and pace of the film certainly captures the scary world of the hospital, but the sex and party scenes do not fit in with the intensity of the plot. Perhaps the director packed in too much and this weakened the important thrust of the story. A mother dying in front of her doctor son.

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JOUEURS (Directed by Marie Monge) ****

TREAT ME LIKE FIRE

North American Première

Ella, (Stacy Martin) works as a waitress at her father’s restaurant. After closing time, Abel, miraculously played by the naturally talented Tahar Rahim, is a charming man who enters and persuades Stacy to take him on. One night later they are in bed and the gambling circuit becomes the magnet for both of them. They win and they lose. Things get really weird with Abel and he goes missing. A huge problem is revealed, and Stacy is afraid. Still, no matter what trouble Abel is in, she always is there to rescue him. She’s totally in love with him, and her passion knows she must have this man. But will she at the end? 

I can’t rave enough about the acting of Tahar Rahim. He goes from a lively captivating charmer with an adorable face full of expressiveness – to a depressed lost soul. He's the new James Bond and Benito del Toro rolled into one. The film is long, but he carries it with charisma and great energy.

                                             



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LES CONFINS DU MONDE (Directed by Guillaume  Nicloux)***

                                                    North American Première

  

          Robert Tassen (Gaspard Ulliel) is in the thick of the Indochina war. It  

          is March 1945 and the Japanese withdrawal spurs on the Ho Chi Minh to fight with the French army, he’s obsessed with capturing Viet Minh, the commander who engineered  the Japanese to slaughter his family. He falls for a young prostitute and finds his own father in the midst of the fighting. But he does not know the man is his father (Gérard Depardieu) The tension is off the charts but the story-line is ambiguous. The opening scene that mirrors the ending scene is an example of this. very realistic though in showing the chaos, torture, opium dens and whoring -- one of the worst wars ever.

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CLAIRE DARLING  La Dernière Folie de Claire Darling ****

Directed by Julie Bertuccelli

International Première

Catherine Deneuve is outstanding in her role as Claire which she plays with subtle comedic irony. This wealthy woman is divesting her estate mansion of all its possessions. Priceless antiques are put on the front lawn for which people are paying a pittance. We witness her dementia and how the past haunts her. Interweaving the past and the present creates a strategy to reveal a secret that Claire has been keeping for decades. A majestic performance with brilliant applications comprising time warps that slowly allow us to travel into Claire’s confused mind and tragic outcome.

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 UN HOMME PRESSÉ  (Directed by Hervé Miman ****
A MAN IN A HURRY

North American Première

                              

Fabrice Luchini plays Alain, the CEO of a famous automobile 
company. He’s proud of his new design, but it’s a flop for the 
board. What makes this film so utterly delightful is how the story portrays Alain; he suffers a stroke, and upon recovering, he mixes up words. Alain is fired from the company and decides to set out on the Santiago de Compostela trek. He finds his slow-down pace and with it wins his daughter over who he has treated like a person in his company. Only the brilliance of this actor can turn a stroke into something amusing.

                     
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           PUPILLE (Directed by Jeanne Herry) ***

IN SAFE HANDS

North American Première

Alice is 41 years old, and has been waiting to adopt for ten years. In France, meticulous, prudent procedures are followed from the time the birth mother declares she doesn’t want to keep her baby to the final moment the adoptive mother can bring the baby home, and the intermittent phase involving fostering the baby until the mother is a by approved by the agency. Acting was overdone by Elodie Boucher as Alice. But Gilles Lellouche was outstanding as the foster father. The baby won our hearts, but not the movie.  

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          AU BOUT DES DES DOIGTS (Directed by Ludovic Bernard) *****

                                                IN YOUR HANDS

                                              North American Première

Gifted pianist Mathieu Malinski, admirably played by Jules Benchetrit, Was taught classical piano by an old man named Jacques. They were not formal lessons. One day, Mathieu is playing in a shopping mall on a Yamaha piano, and the director of Paris’s National Superior Conservatory of Music is so excited to head him, he hands the young man his card. But Mathieu shuns the man when urged to call him. Eventually he ends up in jail burglarizing a home, and desperate to get out, he calls the director for help. But there is a stipulation, he must do community service by cleaning floors in the Music Conservatory and take lesson from The Countess, played by Kristin Scott. Mathieu is full of stubbornness and his growing-up-in-the-projects background adds to his grudge. Soon he meets a cellist with whom he falls in love. The director enrols him in the most prestigious piano competition and the twists and turns that follow turn this movie into a nail biting yet cathartic journey for audience, teacher, director and Mathieu himself.

The music is stunning as is the story. The cast is divine. A must-see film!

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             PLAIRE, AIMER ET COURIR VITE  (Directed by Cristophe Honoré) ****
                                                              Sorry Angel   

                                                              Canadian Premièfe

                             

Jacques is a Parisian writer who lives with his best friend more or less, Mathieu. Jacques is gay and pounds the pavement in the right place to find one-night stands. In a movie theatre, he meets Breton-born, Arthur, may years his junior. They start a torridly sexual and loving relationship. Jacques has a young song name Louis, whom everyone calls Lulu. Only Mathieu and Marco, a long time lover, now turned roommate too – he needs care from Jacques as he has HIV. Sadly Marco dies and the fate of Jacques will be the same. A long movie that’s brilliantly crafted and poignantly acted by Pierre Deladonchamps and Vincent Lacoste. The sexual scenes were done tastefully and with superb editing.

                       
    

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            UN PEUPLE ET SON ROI (Directed by Pierre Schoeller) *

An epic recreation of the French Revolution. This saga covers the period from 1778 to 1793. Shot where actual events took place, the film is gloriously costumed to create the raw realities of the time. Despite star heroic characters, this historical film lacks focus and quite frankly, the suspense we should feel does not happen. Still, history buffs will enjoy the film, and watching Louis Garret in the role of the condescending Robespierre was captivating. 

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 SOPHIA (Meryem Benm'Barek-Aloïsi) **

Slow-moving, but poignantly thematic, this film tells the story of a young woman who finds a way to marry a man with whom she says she got pregnant. But this woman is a selfish liar, and the truth about her baby is far beyond the tales she weaves. In Morocco, so many women have babies out of wedlock, but this comes with a hefty price, jail and shame. Sophia’s nice cousin helps her out of every dilemma, but no thanks comes her way. You can tell this is the first feature for this director who sadly kept the same low-key mood and vocals throughout the whole film despite the anger and rage almost every character experiences in the story. The dynamics were so boring and unrealistic.

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