KEMTIYU-SEEX ANTA (Directed by Ousmane William M’Baye) *

Archival stills and film clips attempt to reveal the genius of Cheikah Anita Diop. This brilliant Senrgalese man went to Paris’s Sorbonne to study philosophy as a young man, and also chemistry. He became an advocate for proving Egypt was not European , but a nation of blacks. In fact, it is African. He wrote volumes on African history, and upon returning to Senegal, opened up a carbon 14 laboratory. This wonderful man was arrested for his beliefs on Egypt, and only got his due after his death, when the University in Dakar’s name changed to take on his name.  He died in 1986 at the age of 63. What a loss! The film was far too long, and the assortment of people who were interviewed were so many that the film in trying to distil his life turned into a talking heads historical narration that did not truly capture this great man’s passion. (Screened at Vues d”Afrique)

LANAUDIÈRE FESTIVAL GETS NEW ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

It’s farewell to Alain Lefèvre – renown artistic director of Lanaudière Festival for decades, and hello to the highly gregarious Gregory Charles, a gifted man of superb artistic talents: a comedian, a pianist, owner of two celebrated radio stations and a passionate crusader for music. His career as an entertainer has spanned some 25 years. His popularity is second to none.

It’s a celebratory year for the festival as it enters its 40th season and new beginnings are afoot. M r. Charles expressed his determination to make the festival totally inclusive regarding classical music reaching far beyond Lanaudière’s pristine setting. 

Having grown up with music in his family, his global outlook is not surprising. After all, for ten years, he brought together more than 80,000 choristers from around the world as artistic director of Mondial choral de Laval, a musical event that reached over a million listeners, and his TV appearances are pretty much internationally broadcasted.

Kent Nagano

 The season’s opening concert fittingly presents Alain Lefèvre in an OSM concert with its music director Kent Nagano. The organ and orchestra will open this July1st evening program with a work by Samy Moussa performed by Jean-Willy Kunz . Ravel’s “Concerto in G” which is them followed with the final piece, Mahler’s mighty “Fifth Symphony”. Exciting music for sure.  

Also in the concert series are I Musici de Montréal and Les Violins du Roy. A banquet of timeless composers are being featured this summer, but it’s rare to hear Emily Oulousian, winner of the Virtose 2016 play “Grieg’s Piano Concerto”. That same night, (Saturday, July 15^th), Zhan Hong Xiao, winner of the Virtose 2017, will be playing Liszt’s “Piano Concerto No.1”. The final concert for the festival is Wagner’s 4-hour “Parsifal” – conducted by

Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Yannick Nézet-Séguin. This opera has not been heard in Quebec for a century. Now you have the chance to hear it. Wow!

Music will be spilling out of everywhere in the area, including chamber music and more inside four churches. The pickings, including jazz and Broadway musical numbers are so exciting, so please consult the website www.lanaudiere.org for the line up of concerts, ticket reservations and venues.  You can also call 1-800-245-7636 or 450-759-7636.The festival runs from July 1^st to August 6^th.

                               THE MIRACULOUS MATCH OF LEFÈVRE AND NAGANO

July 1^st – Canada’s 150th birthday celebrated two iconic artists at Lanaudiere’s sterling festival. Alan Lefèvre former president of the festival delivered a short but passionate reveal about what the festival meant for him: home. He pleaded for the world to uphold classical music festivals the world over and equated it with the highest values of democracy. 

 

       

His astounding performance of Ravel’s “Concerto for piano in G major” was so sublime.  Right hand trilling as the left hand took up the melody displayed such graceful, nuanced expression imbedded in an incomparable technique. A powerhouse of energy, his presto was breathlessly leviathan.

Kent Nagano brilliantly paired his majestic maestro conducting both with the pianist and his beloved Montreal Symphony Orchestra. So dedicated is he, he was pouring sweat by the end of the Mahler performance – a complex work in five movements of vigorous challenges:  5^th in C minor – a dazzling demanding  complex program number that never seemed to end. The Adagietto was so heartfelt, and evoked palpable awe from the audience.

The opening 11-minute work by Samy Moussa  “A Globe Itself Infolding” was like a chrysalis unfolding as a metaphor for the slow and beautiful birth of the world. The organ, played by Jean-Willy Kunz, was movingly incorporated at key moments and was most profound in its impact.

When rain broke out, Mahler had his story moment, yet nothing could dampen the outpouring of excitement and awe when the evening ended in thunderous applause. The concert was a long one – almost 3 hours. We got our money’s worth through divine music.

A RIDE IN THE COFFIN (Directed by Pluvio Benko) **

A cute film that brings two people hitchhiking at separate times together in the back of a pick-up truck in Rwanda. One hides in a coffin; the other is one her way to to meet the journalist who has

made an appointment with her. The guy in the coffin has a secret crush on her, and that’s why he made the appointment, but the greatest story occurs during the ride. An unusual little story for a shorat Vues Festival)

the two actors in the film

SANS REGRETS (Directed by Jacques Trabi)****

  

 In the Ivory Coast, Gaston works on the docs, but he needs 20,000$ to get his son into the police academy. His dock friends lend him the money, but he is mugged one night, and loses it all. He finds the guy who stole it, and this encounter leads to Gaston’s new life. The thug introduces him to Coffin, his boss, and soon Gaston has given up his duty to hard work and justice, and enters a violent life of easy money. Corruption is everywhere in the city at every level. Gaston gives his family riches, but in the end, he pays an exorbitant price. A good captivating film that provides a glimpse into a country in tatters.  (Screened at Vues d"Afrique Festival)        

RETOUR Á CUBA Á LA RECHERCHE DE LATINA (Directed by Didier Mauro) *

Desiderius loses Latina during a possession Tromba cult in Madagascar. Desiderius, a photographer, films parts of Cuba as he looks for Latina. In so doing, he talks to several people who attest to the magnificence of the Revolution.

 

 An annoying motif of Latina’s face, a young woman, is shown as silly music plays to mark several moments when the searcher travels in a car to another place rumoured to be where Latina is. Lines from Dali and Buňel pop up as supers. Life and death topics are touched upon as people tale to Desiderius. Latina is really Oshua, spirit God. Cuba never looked so dull. (The film was screened at Vues d’Afrique Festival) in Montreal)

HUGO PRATT: TRAIT POUR TRAIT (Directed by Tierry Thomas) *****

Acclaimed creator of the strong character, Corto Maltese, genius larger than life  comic book artist Hugo Pratt, this great black and white film presents his adventuring life, sexual antics and loves and his travels all over the world.

 A superb communicator, he instantly made friends; his passion for life was thrilling. His drawings are brilliant. Few men exist like him today. (Screened at FIFA).

DOCUMENTARY SERIES ON MODERN ART (Amélie Harrault, Pauline Gaillard, Vélerie Loiseleux)*****

A brilliant series of six films spanning the early 1900s to 1945 in France. Meet all those amazing artists, including Malraux, Matisse, Cocteau, Soutine, Picasso, Apolinaire, Max Jacobs, Gide, Modigliani, Stein and more. Witness the suffering, sacrifice, free thinking and commitment to freedom that cost several of them their lives. Did you know that Sartre and de Beauvoire cycled from Paris to Southern France to win supporters from their friends against the Nazis? Old black and white film clips with animations superimposed bring back to life the startling lives of these bohemian geniuses. Literati and painters left their inspiring mark on the world.  The series graphically brings to the lens the wars which devastated these Jewish artists. (Screened at FIFA)