2009 Jutra Award Winners
Hardly a surprise and well deserving of the win, Ce qu’il faut pour vivre has been named the Best Film for the 11th edition of the Jutra Awards. Borderline also garnered itself a few main awards. While hardly nominated for any of the major categories, the nominee-leader Babine took away most of the artistic categories, including Best Sound Design … Continue reading
Jutra Awards 2009: Nominees, Thoughts, Predictions
The mecca of the Québecois film industry arrives this Sunday with the 11th edition of the homegrown awards ceremony that celebrates the films, actors, directors, writers, producers, editors, sound mixers, animators, documentarians it is comprised of. Continue reading for a full list of nominees, my thoughts on potential winners, blunders, and why this year beats … Continue reading
FIFA’09 Preview: Festival of Films on Art
Tomorrow begins a 10-day festival promises a dizzying array of artist close-ups, captivating biographies, gripping investigations, major tributes, visual experiments and animation treasures. Covering everything from music and painting to architecture, contemporary art, dance, literature and animation, the 27th FIFA will be celebrating the creativity and importance of artists in grand style. More than ever, … Continue reading
DVD Releases for the Week of Mar. 17, 2009
Before delving into this week’s home releases, I must admit an oversight from last week. Montreal-made English-language film Adam’s Wall is currently available on DVD. This story about a Jewish teen who falls in love with a girl with Lebanese roots made some waves at local film festivals and has even garnered itself a Jutra … Continue reading
Arcade Fire’s Miroir Noir @ Le National
A re-emerging trend among musicians seems to be making experimental films. The Flaming Lips recently found cult success with Christmas on Mars, a strange amalgam of B-movie science fiction and music. Montréal’s own Arcade Fire are now on the bandwagon with Miroir Noir, which is supposed to be about the band embarking on their Neon … Continue reading
FFDPM’09 Human Rights Film Festival Preview
Tomorrow, the FFDPM (Festival de films sur les droits de la personne de Montréal), or Montréal Human Rights Film Festival begins its 4th edition. The programming will be shown at Cinéma du Parc, NFB Cinérobotheque and Concordia University, and runs until March 22nd. The films from international filmmakers deal primarily with issues pertaining to human beings … Continue reading
DVD Releases for the Week of Mar. 10, 2009
What a great week for releases! Award nominated films, more than half decent comedies (this is rare), naturalistic filmmaking hits, a classic Disney re-release, and the Swedish vampire masterpiece Let the Right One In (Lat den ratte komma in). This twisted tale of a girl vampire who befriends a disturbed young boy should not be missed; … Continue reading
FIFEM’09 Review: Mia et le migou
The staple film at this year’s children’s film festival (playing numerous times daily from 9am to 5pm) is the animated Mia et le migou. It is directed by Jacques-Rémy Girerd and based on a series of books under the popular French label J’aime lire. The film itself is a straightforward and harmless adventure story backgrounded … Continue reading
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