Well, I think it’s evident that I have a serious film… I just want to post a short note here to let you all know that besides going to the Cineplexes there are plenty of opportunities to explore a variety of other films.
Currently the Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival is playing at the Workman Theatre at Queen and Shaw right in the CAMH building. They showcase features and shorts addressing the facts and myths around addiction and mental health. Their theme this year is “Perspective is Relative.” The opening night film 4 Minutes was really well attended and well liked; it plays again Sat. Nov 15th at 1pm. On Thursday, Nov 13th they will be presenting the Queer Madness program. The feature is XXY; a film that played at TIFF in 2007 and this year at Inside Out. I wrote about it here earlier this year and found it interesting and well executed; especially because it doesn’t offer a typical ending where all questions get answered. The festival runs until this Saturday, Nov 15th. Go to their site for further information.
Another festival starting tomorrow night (Wed., Nov 13th) is the Reel Asian International Film Festival. This is “Canada’s premier pan-Asian international film festival, fostering the exchange of cultural and artistic ideals between east and west. It provides a public forum for homegrown Asian media artists and their work, and fuels the growing appreciation for Asian cinema in Canada.” They spotlight a Canadian artist every year. The selections include several short film produced/created by local talent and features from around Asia. This year’s opening film The Drummer stars Jackie Chan’s son, Jaycee Chan. Another feature that sounds interesting is Hansel and Gretel; another take on the Brothers Grimm tale from Korean director Yim Pil-sung. The festival ends Sunday, Nov 16th.
A fairly new film festival (in its 4th year) is the European Film Festival, which runs from Nov 16th to 30th. They are bringing us over 30 films from Europe for us to discover or see once again. There are features from France, Spain, Lithuania, Cyprus, Estonia and Slovenia just to name a few. The opening film is The Class (France) directed by Laurent Cantet, which presents a class in a multi-ethnic Parisian school. It is the French film submitted for the Oscars and was at Cannes earlier this year. From Ireland, comes Hunger by Steve McQueen; this film premiered at TIFF this September and won the Diesel Discovery Award for best debut film. McQueen brings us a detailed look at the 1981 IRA Hunger Strike. The poster for Lithuanian film Loss caught my attention (see insert here). It is the story of a mentally ill woman who believes her lost son lives in an orphanage in Ireland. Like I already mentioned, there quite a few films to choose from.
Hope you make it out to one of these festivals this and next weekend. There is plenty more to see besides the new Bond film, although I plan to check that one out too! Enjoy 🙂
