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EXPERIENCE ESSENTIAL CINEMA
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CERTAIN WOMEN
MAY
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JUNE 2017
1131 Howe Street | Vancouver | theCinematheque.ca
CREATIVE VISIONS: HONG KONG CINEMA 1997 – 2017 24 HOUR MOVIE MARATHON ERIC ROHMER'S COMEDIES AND PROVERBS MARCEL PAGNOL'S MARSEILLE TRILOGY CANADA ON SCREEN
Hong Kong Cinema 1997 – 2017
Creative Visions y MAY + JUNE 2017
Creative Visions Hong Kong Cinema 1997 – 2017
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his year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region (HKSAR). To celebrate, the HKSAR Government takes great pleasure in presenting a number of specially curated film programs on Hong Kong cinema in 10 cities across Europe, North America, and South Korea, in addition to four cities in Mainland China and in Hong Kong. For us, it is a timely occasion for introspection.
Indeed, such programming is particularly significant as the past two decades have seen major changes in Hong Kong cinema, brought about by digital evolution and related technological advancement, regional financial shifts and market changes, and by a new generation of young Hong Kong filmmakers and audiences exploring the boundaries of cinema. If pre-1997 Hong Kong cinema excelled in its genre diversity and auteur elements wrapped in easily approachable and exportable commercialism, then post-1997 Hong Kong cinema has built on its past legacies with an increasingly personal style of filmmaking by established talents from the 1980s and early 1990s. Added to them is an entourage of fresh talents emerging from the new millennium to rework or subvert the older traditions, in Hong Kong and in Mainland China. For Hong Kong cinema, two generations of filmmakers are converging and expanding in creativity in 2017. Against such background, we present Creative Visions: Hong Kong Cinema 1997 – 2017. Our heartfelt thanks go to the various film organizations in the featured cities for hosting the film programs, our Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices, and the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society for its tremendous efforts as project manager in making these film programs a reality.
FAR EAST FILM FESTIVA 21 - 29 April 2017 | UDINE, ITALY
We wish audiences a wonderful time.
FAR EAST FILM FESTIVAL
Jerry Liu Head of Create Hong Kong
21 - 29 April 2017 | UDINE, ITALY
Creative Visions: Hong Kong Cinema 1997-2017 is an accredited event celebrating the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
R EAST FILM FESTIVAL Co-presented by:
1 - 29 April 2017 | UDINE, ITALY SUPPORTED by: project manager:
6:30 PM - RECEPTION WITH REFRESHMENTS 7:30 PM - ECHOES OF A RAINBOW INTRODUCED BY HONG KONG FILMMAKERS ALEX LAW AND MABEL CHEUNG
Opening Night Thursday, June 1
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In Person: Alex Law and Mabel Cheung
歲月神偷
Echoes of a Rainbow (Sui yuet san tau)
Hong Kong 2010. Dir: Alex Law. 117 min. 35mm
Reinventing his own childhood experiences for the film, writer-director Alex Law’s affecting third feature - produced by his frequent collaborator, director Mabel Cheung - is a love letter to Hong Kong of the 1960s. “Big Ears,” the film’s eccentric, eight-year-old hero, runs around his neighbourhood with a goldfish bowl on his head for an astronaut’s helmet. He has a hard-working shoemaker for a father, an easy-going mother, and an athletic older brother he looks up to. With measured sentimentality, we see the closeknit family weather the storms of the rocky ’60s. Shot mainly on set – a nod to the Hong Kong studio pictures of the era it warmly recreates – Law’s deeply-personal film evokes a charmed nostalgia for a bygone innocence. Winner of the Crystal Bear for Best Film in the children and youth section at Berlin. Print: Mei Ah Entertainment Group Co., Ltd THURSDAY, JUNE 1 OPENING NIGHT 6:30 PM - RECEPTION 7:30 PM - SCREENING OF ECHOES OF A RAINBOW INTRODUCED BY ALEX LAW AND MABEL CHEUNG SATURDAY, JUNE 3 - 6:30 PM Q&A WITH ALEX LAW AND MABEL CHEUNG FOLLOWING SCREENING
功夫
Kung Fu Hustle (Gong fu)
Hong Kong 2004. Dir: Stephen Chow. 95 min. 35mm
One-man band Stephen Chow co-wrote, produced, directed, and starred in the boxoffice behemoth Kung Fu Hustle, a film that knocked Chow’s own Shaolin Soccer (2001) off the podium for the highest grossing domestically-made movie in Hong Kong history. None of its commercial success would be possible were the film not guffawing in its satire and spectacularly madcap in its action… which of course it is! Most indelible are the playful homages to a roll call of cinema classics, from Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining to King Hu’s Dragon Inn, and its heart-on-sleeve tribute to the kung fu “hustlers” of yesteryear (industry veterans Yuen Qiu, Yuen Wah, and Leung Siu all feature). “Like Jackie Chan and Buster Keaton meet Quentin Tarantino and Bugs Bunny” (Roger Ebert). Print courtesy TIFF’s Film Reference Library. SATURDAY, JUNE 3 – 4:30 PM & 9:10 PM
香港製造
Made in Hong Kong (Heung Gong jai jo)
Hong Kong 1997. Dir: Fruit Chan. 109 min. DCP
The Hong Kong depicted in no-budget director Fruit Chan’s landmark film is rougher, and realer, than the Hong Kong of countryman John Woo’s higher-profile cinema. Made in Hong Kong chronicles the exploits of three lower-class teenagers looking to escape their dead-end lives. There are no seductive nightscapes or cathartic gun battles here, just menacing housing projects and a dirty harbour full of broken dreams. Shot on a miniscule budget using leftover film stock, Made in Hong Kong is a true independent film that channels the rebellious, resilient spirit of its namesake city. “Possibly Hong Kong’s most acclaimed indie feature ever . . . A striking achievement” (Edmund Lee, Time Out). FRIDAY, JUNE 9 - 6:30 PM SATURDAY, JUNE 10 - 8:20 PM
餃子
Dumplings (Jiao zi)
Hong Kong 2004. Dir: Fruit Chan. 87 min. 35mm
Prolific Hong Kong auteur Fruit Chan delivers a gourmet helping of horror with Dumplings, a feature-length expansion of his segment for the New Asian Horror omnibus Three… Extremes (2004). Sumptuously shot by Wong Kar-wai collaborator Christopher Doyle, this stomach-turning satire centres on a former abortion doctor (Bai Ling), newly arrived in Hong Kong from the Mainland, whose black-market dumplings offer eaters rejuvenating gifts. For an aging actress (Miriam Yeung), in fear of losing her skirtchasing husband (Tony Leung Ka Fai), the curious contents of the dumplings are revolting… but not unpalatable. “A claustrophobic, queasy piece of work, relying less on supernatural horror, gross-out effects, or even narrative suspense, than on slowly curdling human relationships and heightened social realism” (Ben Walters, Time Out). FRIDAY, JUNE 9 - 8:40 PM SATURDAY, JUNE 10 - 6:30 PM
天水圍的日與夜
The Way We Are (Tin shui wai dik yat yu ye) Hong Kong 2008. Dir: Ann Hui. 90 min. HDCAM
The New Territories town of Tin Shui Wai witnessed several small tragedies in the mid2000s, causing the Hong Kong media to dub it “the City of Sadness.” New Wave stalwart Ann Hui offers a gentle rebuke to that hysteria with this artful, slice-of-life drama about a widow (Paw Hee-Ching) and her teenage son (Leung Chun-lung) who live in a Tin Shui Wai housing estate. Quietly and subtly, their lives unfold. The Way We Are is an ode to the salt of the earth, and the simple poetry of everyday life. “Ann Hui depicts a warm world situated between Yasujiro Ozu and Ken Loach in a film that blends kitchen-sink drama with poetic minutiae” (Russell Edwards, Variety). Print: Mega-Vision Pictures Limited THURSDAY, JUNE 15 - 6:30 PM FRIDAY, JUNE 16 - 8:45 PM
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桃姐
A Simple Life (Tou ze)
Hong Kong 2011. Dir: Ann Hui. 118 min. DCP
International awards, universal acclaim, exceptional box-office receipts: veteran auteur Ann Hui’s A Simple Life has proven itself to be the little Hong Kong film that could. This deceptively simple story about Ah Tao (Deanie Ip, crowned Best Actress at Venice), longtime family servant to the film’s real-life producer Roger Lee (Andy Lau), is raised to remarkable heights by its rich cultural detail and Ann Hui’s perceptive, low-key direction. One of the year’s top domestic hits, A Simple Life collected statuettes at the Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Picture, Director, Actress, Actor, and Screenplay. “An exquisite and wise moment of celluloid portraiture” (Trevor Johnston, Time Out). “Venice was right to name Ip Best Actress – her performance here is one of the best by any actress in 2011, Hollywood included” (Roger Clarke, Sight & Sound). Screening courtesy of Distribution Workshop Limited. THURSDAY, JUNE 15 - 8:20 PM FRIDAY, JUNE 16 - 6:30 PM
In Person: Heiward Mak
烈日當空
High Noon (Lit yat dong hung)
Hong Kong 2008. Dir: Heiward Mak. 100 min. 35mm
Heiward Mak’s harrowing and provocative directorial debut bears testimony to the saying: “The kindness of the gods is manifested in allowing young people to embark on life unprepared.” Shot on DVCAM and released when Mak was still in her early twenties, High Noon spins a web of vignettes around seven idle high school students (with names like Soy Sauce and Smoothie) about to take a major public exam. Clever, humorous, angry, and dangerous, this is Oshima’s Cruel Story of Youth (1960) for the “Me Generation.” “Adopts a touch of Wong Kar-wai’s trademark neon-smeared impressionism . . . Young Mak is one to watch” (Rob Nelson, Variety). Print and screening courtesy of Mei Ah Entertainment Group Co., Ltd THURSDAY, JUNE 22 - 6:30 PM
Q&A WITH HEIWARD MAK FOLLOWING SCREENING FRIDAY, JUNE 23 - 6:30 PM
INTRODUCED BY HEIWARD MAK
踏血尋梅
Port of Call (Daap hyut cam mui)
Hong Kong 2015. Dir: Philip Yung. 98 min. DCP
A teenage prostitute is murdered and her body disposed of in grisly fashion. Director Philip Yung (Glamorous Youth) chooses to focus not on the crime or the investigation, but on the dead girl and her family, the cop and his family, and the killer, who is without family. The result, evocatively lensed by Wong Kar-wai DP Christopher Doyle, is a genre-bender that progresses as it digresses, an atmospheric mosaic of complicated, chaotic human lives and actions, with the characters firmly grounded in gritty and unforgiving reality. “Yung’s talents take a confident step forward, shoring up his position as one of the most distinctive voices in Hong Kong cinema today” (James Marsh, Screen Daily). Screening courtesy of Mei Ah Entertainment Group Co., Ltd THURSDAY, JUNE 22 - 8:45 PM FRIDAY, JUNE 23 - 8:45 PM
KUNG FU HUSTLE
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24MOVIE HOUR MARATHON SATURDAY, MAY 27 – SUNDAY, MAY 28 10:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Want to earn your stripes as one of the city’s most diehard cinephiles? Test your mettle with 24 consecutive hours of essential cinema? It’s back! After a two-year hiatus – and overwhelming demand! – The Cinematheque is once again serving up a sleepdepriving cinematic feast for adventurous Vancouver film fans. Up on the screen: a carefully-curated lineup of (top-secret) movies from a variety of genres, eras, and places. Under your bum: our new, comfy, more-marathon-friendly seats. There will be prizes, special guests, craft beer happy hour, tasty treats, a power nap zone, and more! Blankets and pillows recommended! Tickets: $45 Secure your spot online. Seating is limited.
NEW CINEMA
“Arguably the most precise expression of Reichardt’s vision to date.” – Alice Gregory, New York Times “In the pantheon of Reichardt, Certain Women ranks up there with her most complete and captivating work.” – April Wolfe, Village Voice “Kelly Reichardt fashions a minor miracle . . . An unassuming masterpiece.” – Wendy Ide, The Guardian One of the top five films of 2016 – Film Comment, Sight & Sound Vancouver Premiere! Exclusive First Run!
Certain Women USA 2016. Dir: Kelly Reichardt. 107 min. DCP
The remarkable new feature by Kelly Reichardt (Old Joy, Wendy and Lucy), America’s indispensable indie auteur, is another masterpiece of intimate, understated cinema from the criminally-consistent filmmaker. Based on a trio of Montana-set short stories by Maile Meloy (a departure from the Oregon-set source material of Jon Raymond, who collaborated with Reichardt on her previous four films), Certain Women weaves, with tenderness and dramatic restraint, the intersecting tales of four women over a winter season. Laura Dern is an attorney embroiled in a client’s crisis; Michele Williams (Reichardt’s regular thesp) is a wife, mother, and boss reclaiming sandstone for a second home; and Kristen Stewart is a newly-barred lawyer teaching part-time in a small town, with Lily Gladstone (a revelation) as a lonely, local farmhand attending her class. Though the plot points are few, Reichardt’s brilliance comes from her ability to elicit poetry from the moments in between – from the quiet labours of everyday life. Unavailable for last year's Reichardt retrospective at The Cinematheque, this rich, deeply-rewarding film, one of the best of 2016, is finally receiving its Vancouver premiere. FRIDAY, MAY 19 – 6:30 PM SATURDAY, MAY 20 – 4:00 PM & 6:30 PM SUNDAY, MAY 21 – 4:00 PM & 6:30 PM MONDAY, MAY 22 – 8:30 PM WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 – 6:30 PM THURSDAY, MAY 25 – 8:30 PM
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Canada on Screen
Canada à l’écran
A year-long program celebrating Canada’s 150th birthday and its rich cinematic heritage
Une année complète de programmation célébrant le 150e anniversaire du Canada et la richesse de son patrimoine cinématographique
The Cinematheque is proud to celebrate Canada’s 2017 sesquicentennial with Canada on Screen, an exciting national initiative co-produced by TIFF, The Cinematheque, Library and Archives Canada, and the Cinémathèque québécoise. Canada on Screen is the most ambitious retrospective of Canada’s moving-image heritage ever mounted. In honour of Canada’s 150th birthday, a list of Canada’s 150 essential moving-image works, based on a countrywide poll of critics, scholars, and industry professionals, has been compiled across nine categories: feature films, documentaries, shorts, animation, experimental film and video, moving-image installations, music videos, commercials, and television shows. These 150 masterworks, many of them newly restored, will made available to Canadians everywhere in 2017. A full list of the essential 150 is available at tiff.net/canadaonscreen Throughout the year, The Cinematheque will be presenting special free screenings showcasing many of these 150 works. Please join us and discover – or rediscover – the breadth, boldness, and wealth of Canada’s cinema history, a remarkable cultural legacy.
The Cinematheque est fière de célébrer en 2017 les 150 ans du Canada avec Canada à l’écran, une initiative nationale stimulante coproduite par le TIFF, The Cinématheque, Bibliothèque et Archives Canada et la Cinémathèque québécoise. Canada à l’écran est la rétrospective consacrée au patrimoine cinématographique et vidéographique canadien la plus ambitieuse jamais organisée. En l’honneur du 150e anniversaire du pays, une liste de 150 œuvres canadiennes essentielles a été établie selon un groupe pancanadien de critiques, de chercheurs et de membres de l’industrie. Elles sont présentées en neuf catégories : longs métrages de fiction, documentaires, courts métrages, films et vidéos expérimentaux, installations vidéo, vidéoclips, films publicitaires et émissions de télévision. Ces 150 œuvres, dont plusieurs ont fait l’objet d’une restauration récente, seront présentées aux Canadiens partout au pays en 2017. Une liste complète des 150 œuvres essentielles est disponible ici : tiff.net/canadaonscreen. Tout au long de l’année, The Cinematheque présentera gratuitement des séances de projection spéciales mettant en vedette plusieurs de ces 150 œuvres. Venez découvrir – ou redécouvrir – avec nous la portée, l’audace et la richesse de l’histoire cinématographique canadienne et de son héritage culturel.
Acknowledgment As we commemorate Canada 150, The Cinematheque acknowledges that Vancouver is located on the unceded lands of the Coast Salish peoples, including the traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Reconnaissance Tandis que nous soulignons le 150e anniversaire du Canada, The Cinematheque reconnaît que Vancouver est située sur les terres ancestrales des Salish du littoral, y compris les territoires traditionnels des nationsdes nations Musqueam, Squamish, et Tsleil-Waututh.
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MOURIR À TUE-TÊTE
THE HAT
Free Admission!
Entrée gratuite!
Mourir à tue-tête
Mourir à tue-tête
(A Scream from Silence)
(A Scream from Silence)
Canada 1979. Dir: Anne Claire Poirier. 96 min. DCP
Canada 1979. Réal. : Anne Claire Poirier. 96 min. DCP
A key work of feminist cinema in Canada, Anne Claire Poirier’s frank, forceful drama about the personal experience and wider political meaning of rape is a film of radical style and structure and, at times, harrowing imagery. Suzanne (Julie Vincent), a nurse, is violently assaulted one night after leaving work. Severely traumatized, she has difficulty coping with life in the aftermath. In a parallel story, two filmmakers (Monique Miller and Micheline Lanctôt) make a documentary about Suzanne; their debate about how to present these events is used for a broader social, cultural, and political inquiry into violence against women. The film was shot by Michel Brault. “Uncompromising . . . One of the most innovative and challenging fiction films ever produced at the NFB” (André Loiselle, Canadian Journal of Film Studies). Warning: Contains scenes of disturbing violence.
Cette œuvre-clé du cinéma féministe canadien est un drame direct et percutant qui fait appel à une structure et à un style radicaux, de même qu’à des images parfois déchirantes. La réalisatrice Anne Claire Poirier y aborde le viol selon son expérience personnelle, mais aussi selon une perspective politique plus élargie. Une nuit, en quittant son lieu de travail, une infirmière dénommée Suzanne (Julie Vincent) subit une agression brutale dont les séquelles affectent par la suite son rapport à la vie. En parallèle, les réalisatrices Monique Miller et Micheline Lanctôt créent un documentaire sur Suzanne : leur discours sur la manière de présenter les événements introduit une réflexion globale sur les répercussions sociales, culturelles et politiques de la violence faite aux femmes. Cette œuvre a été filmée par Michel Brault. « Un film sans compromis… L’une des œuvres de fiction les plus innovatrices et exigeantes produites à l’ONF. » (André Loiselle, Canadian Journal of Film Studies). Avertissement : Contient des scènes de violence pouvant choquer.
preceded by
précédé de
The Hat (Le chapeau) Canada 1999. Dir: Michèle Cournoyer. 6 min. DCP
In Montreal animator Michèle Cournoyer’s raw, troubling film, rendered in stark, fluid, black-ink-on-paper drawings, an exotic dancer recalls a childhood incident in which she was sexually abused by a man. The film’s numerous national and international honours include the Best Canadian Short award at TIFF in 2000. THURSDAY, MAY 4 – 7:00 PM
Le Chapeau (The Hat)
Canada 1999. Réal. : Michèle Cournoyer. 6 min. DCP
La cinéaste d’animation montréalaise Michèle Cournoyer livre un film troublant et cru basé sur des dessins frappants et fluides tracés à l’encre noire sur du papier. Elle y présente une danseuse exotique qui évoque l’agression sexuelle survenue durant son enfance. Ce film a remporté de nombreux prix nationaux et internationaux, parmi lesquels le Prix du meilleur court métrage canadien au TIFF (2000). JEUDI, 4 MAI – 19 H
VIDEODROME
FRANK'S COCK
Free Admission! Director’s Cut!
Entrée gratuite! Version de réalisateur!
Videodrome
Videodrome
Long live the new flesh! Long live David Cronenberg’s most influential and conceptually ingenious film! James Woods stars as Max Renn, owner of a sleazy Toronto cable-TV channel. Discovering mysterious satellite transmissions of graphic, plotless sexual violence, Max figures it’s the perfect thing to boost his station’s ratings – and soon finds himself enmeshed in a sinister global conspiracy to control minds. Deborah Harry co-stars as a sadomasochistic psychiatrist. Max’s transformation into a flesh-and-blood VCR is one of the quintessential representations of body horror, and of the fusion of man and machine, in Cronenberg. Andy Warhol described Videodrome as “A Clockwork Orange of the ’80s.” Truly visionary!
«Vive la nouvelle chair»! Et longue vie à ce film qui figure parmi les plus innovateurs et influents de David Cronenberg! James Wood incarne Max Renn, un propriétaire de chaîne de télévision qui se met progressivement à recevoir de mystérieuses transmissions par satellite chargées de violence sexuelle. Croyant que celles-ci augmenteront ses cotes d’écoute, Max se trouve plutôt mêlé malgré lui à une sinistre conspiration visant à contrôler l’esprit des gens. L’actrice Deborah Harry interprète une psychiatre sadomasochiste dans ce film où l’on assiste à la transformation de Max en lecteur VHS, soit à la fusion de l’homme et de la machine telle que vue par Cronenberg. Andy Warhol a ainsi décrit Videodrome : « L’orange mécanique des années 80. » Une œuvre visionnaire!
Canada 1983. Dir: David Cronenberg. 87 min. 35mm
Canada 1983. Réal. : David Cronenberg. 87 min. 35 mm
Print courtesy TIFF’s Film Reference Library La copie est une gracieuseté de TIFF Film Reference Library preceded by précédé de
Frank’s Cock
Canada 1993. Dir: Mike Hoolboom. 8 min. 16mm
Produced through Vancouver’s Cineworks co-op, Canadian experimenter Mike Hoolboom’s dazzling, dangerous splitscreen assault on love and AIDS juxtaposes Madonna’s “Erotica,” sex-ed films, and gay porn with a tour de force monologue by actor Callum Keith Rennie (Hard Core Logo, Due South), then an unknown. Best Canadian Short, TIFF 1994. Frank’s Cock is co-presented by Cineworks Independent Filmmakers Society THURSDAY, MAY 18 – 7:00 PM
Frank’s Cock
Canada 1993. Réal. : Mike Hoolboom. 8 min. 16 mm
Produit Cineworks, une coopérative de Vancouver, cet impressionnant film du cinéaste expérimental Mike Hoolbloom fait appel à la technique de l’écran partagé pour raconter l’amour et le SIDA. Il emploie « Erotica » de Madonna, des vidéos d’éducation à la sexualité et de la pornographie homosexuelle tout en présentant un saisissant monologue de l’acteur Callum Keith Rennie (Hard Core Logo, Due South), qui n’était pas encore connu à l’époque. Prix du meilleur court métrage canadien, TIFF 1994. Frank’s Cock est coprésenté par la Cineworks Independent Filmmakers Society JEUDI, 18 MAI – 19 H
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CALENDAR
NOAH
Free Admission!
Entrée gratuite!
Calendar
Calendar
Atom Egoyan’s low-budget marvel, made between The Adjuster and Exotica, is simultaneously one of his most playful and most rigorous films. Egoyan himself, in a rare onscreen role, is a Toronto photographer travelling with his wife (Arsinée Khanjian, Egoyan’s wife) in Armenia. He’s there to shoot a series of historic churches for a calendar; he soon begins to suspect that he may also be documenting the disintegration of his marriage. Egoyan’s wry film, structured in Peter Greenaway-like fashion (12 months, 12 churches, 12 dinner dates, 12 phone messages) makes characteristically complex use of time and space and film and video, and has a warm, intimate, improvisational feel. “A flat-out masterpiece” (Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader).
Réalisée avec un faible budget, entre The Adjuster et Exotica, cette merveille d’Atom Egoyan est à la fois très ludique et extrêmement rigoureuse. Fait rare, le cinéaste incarne lui-même le rôle principal, soit un photographe torontois en voyage en Arménie avec son épouse (l’actrice Arsinée Khanjian, qui est aussi la femme d’Egoyan). Sur place afin de préparer une série sur des églises historiques destinée à un calendrier, il commence progressivement à se douter qu’il documente également la désintégration de son mariage. Ironique et structurée à la manière de Peter Greenaway (12 mois, 12 églises, 12 rendez-vous et 12 messages téléphoniques), l’œuvre d’Egoyan s’amuse habilement avec le temps et l’espace, la vidéo et la pellicule. Son ton est chaleureux, intimiste et près de l’improvisation. « Un chefd’œuvre complet », selon Jonathan Rosenbaum, du Chicago Reader.
Canada/Armenia/Germany 1993. Dir: Atom Egoyan. 75 min. DCP
preceded by
Canada/Arménie/Allemagne 1993. Réal. : Atom Egoyan. 75 min. DCP
précédé de
Noah
Canada 2013. Dir: Walter Woodman, Patrick Cederberg. 17 min. DCP
Made on a micro-budget by two Ryerson University film students, this innovative tale of life and love in our digital age unfolds entirely on a teen’s computer screen (and inspired a 2015 episode of Modern Family). Best Canadian Short, TIFF 2013. Canadian Screen Award, Best Live Action Short, 2014. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14 – 7:00 PM
Noah
Canada 2013. Réal. : Walter Woodman, Patrick Cederberg. 17 min. DCP
Créée avec très peu de moyens par deux étudiants en cinéma de Ryerson University, cette fable innovatrice se déroulant entièrement sur l’écran d’ordinateur d’un adolescent porte sur la vie et l’amour à l’ère numérique (et s’inspire d’un épisode de Modern Family de 2015). Prix du meilleur court métrage canadien, TIFF 2013. Prix Écrans canadiens du meilleur court métrage de fiction, 2014. MERCREDI, 14 JUIN – 19 H
WAVELENGTH
TRAPLINE
Free Admission!
Entrée gratuite!
Wavelength
Wavelength
Canadian master Michael Snow’s 1967 milestone is one of avantgarde cinema’s most celebrated and influential works. The film consists of a single, continuous, 45-minute zoom shot across a room (the artist’s New York loft), set to a steadily increasing sine wave of sound. There are several episodes of human “drama” and various structuralist elements (superimpositions, splicey jumps, variations in light, colour, and film stock) disrupting things along the way. “Wavelength is without precedent in the purity of its confrontation with the essence of cinema: the relationships between illusion and fact, space and time, subject and object. It is the first post-Warhol, post-Minimal movie” (Gene Youngblood).
Signé par Michael Snow en 1967, Wavelength figure parmi les œuvres les plus marquantes et les plus célébrées du cinéma d’avant-garde. Le film est constitué d’un plan unique et continu : un zoom de 45 minutes dans une pièce (le loft de l’artiste à New York) accompagné d’une onde sinusoïdale qui augmente progressivement. Il contient plusieurs « drames » humains et éléments structuralistes (surimpressions, ruptures et variations de lumière, de couleur ou de pellicule) qui perturbent le cours des choses. « Wavelength se démarque par la pureté avec laquelle il confronte la nature même du cinéma : les rapports entre l’illusion et les faits réels, l’espace et le temps, le sujet et l’objet. Il s’agit du premier film post-Warhol et post-minimal. » (Gene Youngblood)
followed by
suivi de
Trapline
Trapline
The debut film of Alberta-born, B.C.-based artist and poet Ellie Epp is a work of unparalleled lyricism in Canadian cinema, experimental or otherwise. Shot on 16mm in London (but completed in Vancouver), the film consists of twelve elegant, elliptical scenes at a public bath house, separated by lengths of blank leader that underscore the images’ material substrate. A self-acknowledged “battle between structuralism and beauty,” Trapline distinguished Epp as an artist of uncommon tenderness and intellectual quietude. In Person: Ellie Epp (to be confirmed)
Le premier film d’Ellie Epp, une poète née en Alberta et maintenant basée en Colombie-Britannique, est caractérisé par un lyrisme sans égal dans le cinéma canadien, le cinéma expérimental et l’histoire du cinéma en général. Tournée en 16 mm dans des bains publics à Londres (mais achevée à Vancouver), l’œuvre se divise en 12 scènes élégantes et elliptiques entre lesquelles sont insérées des bandesamorces vierges qui soulignent le support matériel de l’image. Décrit par l’artiste comme une « lutte entre le structuralisme et la beauté », Trapline a mis de l’avant la tendresse et la quiétude intellectuelle extraordinaires qui ont assuré la renommée d’Epp.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28 – 7:30 PM
En présence de : Ellie Epp (à confirmer)
This special Canada on Screen presentation of Wavelength and Trapline screens in conjunction with The Cinematheque’s monthly DIM Cinema program. See page 17 for more details.
MERCREDI, 28 JUIN – 19 H 30
Canada 1967. Dir: Michael Snow. 45 min. 16mm
Canada 1976. Dir: Ellie Epp. 18 min. 16mm
Canada 1967. Réal. : Michael Snow. 45 min. 16 mm
Canada 1976. Réal. : Ellie Epp. 18 min. 16 mm
Cette projection spéciale Canada à l’écran de Wavelength et Trapline est présentée en collaboration avec le programme mensuel DIM Cinema de The Cinematheque. Pour plus de renseignements, veuillez consulter la page 17.
KANEHSATAKE: 270 YEARS OF RESISTANCE
HUNGER
Free Admission!
Entrée gratuite!
Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance
Kanehsatake, 270 ans de résistance
This landmark film by Abenaki filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin, one of Canada’s most respected documentarians, provides a powerful, passionate, behind-the-barricades look at Canada’s Oka crisis of 1990, in which Quebec Mohawks faced provincial police and the Canadian military in an armed stand-off lasting 78 nerve-wracking days and nights. The conflict was triggered by the planned expansion of a golf-course development onto traditional Mohawk lands. The film, which situates the conflict within the larger historical context of a centuries-long struggle, won the prizes for Best Canadian Feature at TIFF and Best Documentary at VIFF.
La réalisatrice abénaquise Alanis Obomsawin figure parmi les plus importants documentaristes du Canada. Dans ce film-choc, elle pose son puissant regard sur les coulisses de la crise d’Oka (1990). Déclenché par l’expansion territoriale potentielle d’un club de golf sur leurs terres ancestrales, ce conflit armé a opposé les Mohawks du Québec aux autorités québécoises et canadiennes pendant 78 jours et nuits. Procédant à la contextualisation historique de cet affrontement au sein d’une lutte qui dure depuis des siècles, ce documentaire a remporté le Prix du meilleur long métrage au TIFF et le Prix du meilleur documentaire au VIFF.
preceded by
précédé de
Hunger
La faim
Canada 1993. Dir: Alanis Obomsawin. 119 min. DCP
Canada 1993. Réal. : Alanis Obomsawin. 119 min. DCP
(La faim)
(Hunger)
Canada 1974. Dir: Peter Foldès. 11 min. DCP
Canada 1974. Réal. : Peter Foldès. 11 min. DCP
A pioneering work of computer animation, Hungarian-born Peter Foldès’s wordless tale of gluttony in a world of widespread hunger was produced by the National Film Board of Canada and made with technology developed at the National Research Council. The film won a Jury Prize at Cannes and was nominated for an Oscar.
Le cinéaste d’origine hongroise Peter Foldès, un pionnier de l’animation par ordinateur, a réalisé cette fable sans paroles sur la gourmandise dans un contexte de famine généralisée. Produit par l’Office national du film, le court métrage a été créé avec une technologie développée par le Conseil national de recherches du Canada. Il a remporté le Prix du jury du Festival de Cannes et été mis en nomination pour un Oscar.
THURSDAY, JUNE 29 – 7:00 PM
JEUDI, 29 JUIN – 19 H
CONTEMPORARY CROATIAN CINEMA
EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA TO CANADA
The cinema of Croatia – an independent republic since 1991 and a member of the European Union since 2013 – is spotlighted in this three-film series presented in Vancouver by the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia to Canada (Ottawa) and The Cinematheque.
Sonja and the Bull (Sonja i bik)
Croatia 2012. Dir: Vlatka Vorkapić. 103 min. DCP
A young animal-rights activist in Zagreb and a rural community in Croatia’s Dalmatia region are at odds in writer-director Vlatka Vorkapić’s good-natured romantic comedy (her debut feature), a major box-office hit at home. After Sonja (Judita Franković, who also appears in Children of the Fall) raises a ruckus in the city about traditional bullfighting (which in Dalmatia pits bull against bull), angry villagers dispatch handsome salesman Ante (Goran Bogdan) to bring her back to their community and test her mettle. “This film gives a sensitive look at old-world tradition versus modern-day values, providing insights and approaches that should stimulate debate. Strong performances from both leads anchor the film, along with a solid turn from Garonja the bull. Funny, charming, undeniably beautiful, Sonja and The Bull is a highlight of Croatian filmmaking” (Astrid Bulmer, Raindance Film Festival). TUESDAY, MAY 16 – 7:00 PM
Lea and Darija (Lea i Darija)
Croatia 2011. Dir: Branko Ivanda. 101 min. DCP
The magical world of musical theatre is invaded by the terrible realities of war in veteran filmmaker Branko Ivanda’s captivating and polished Croatian drama, based on the true story of two 13-year-olds who were stars of the stage in late-1930s Zagreb. Lea Deutsch (Klara Naka), a young Jewish girl known as the “Croatian Shirley Temple,” and Darija Gasteiger (Tamy Zajec), an ethnic German who was her friend, rival, and dancing partner, were headliners in the “Children’s Realm” of the Croatian National Theatre. The two gained fame across Europe for their irresistible talents. Their popularity provides only so much protection with the coming of war and Nazi domination, which tests the girls’ friendship and sees them resorting to ever-more desperate measures in order to survive. TUESDAY, MAY 23 – 7:00 PM
Children of the Fall (Djeca jeseni)
Croatia 2013. Dir: Goran Rukavina. 100 min. DCP
Popular Croatian actor Leon Lučev plays a forensic analyst who refuses to accept the reality of an apparent personal tragedy in Goran Rukavina’s moody psychological drama, the director’s feature debut. “Three years ago, Marko’s wife disappeared on a mountaineering expedition. Her body has never been found. Family friend Lidija [Sonja and the Bull star Judita Franković] helps Marko raise his 11-yearold daughter, Marija. Marko is trying a little too hard to keep his life exactly as it was when his wife vanished. Marija and Lidija are ready to move on, but can’t ignore the emotional burden left by the missing woman. Mysterious letters begin arriving each month, ostensibly from Marko’s wife, and an unpredictable turn of events reveals that Marko may know more about the vanished woman’s fate than he’s been letting on” (Croatian Audiovisual Centre). TUESDAY, MAY 30 – 7:00 PM
9
SUN
1
TICKETS
HOW TO BUY TICKETS
MON
7
MAY
Bruno Dumont
P’tit Quinquin – 7:00 pm
TUES
2
3
For May 1 film description, please consult our previous program guide or visit theCinematheque.ca
9
8
ALL SCREENINGS ARE RESTRICTED TO 18+
THURS
4
DIM Cinema
Olivia Boudreau: Intervals – 7:30 pm
10
FRI
Canada on Screen
Mourir à tue-tête + The Hat – 7:00 pm
11
DOXA DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL
Day–of tickets go on sale at the Box Office 30 minutes before the first show of the evening. Advance tickets are available for credit card purchase at theCinematheque.ca ($1 service charge applies). Events, times, and prices are subject to change without notice.
The Cinematheque is recognized as an exempt non–profit film society under the B.C. Motion Picture Act, and as such is able to screen films that have not been reviewed by the B.C. Film Classification Office. Under the act, all persons attending cinematheque screenings must be members of the Pacific Cinémathèque Pacifique Society and be 18 years of age or older, unless otherwise indicated.
WED
5
6
12
13
MAY 5–14 DOXAFESTIVAL.CA
14
16
15
Contemporary Croatian Cinema
17
GUEST
18
Frames of Mind
Mad World – 7:30 pm
Sonja and the Bull – 7:00 pm
21
Cinema Sunday An Afternoon with Animator Marv Newland – 1:00 pm
UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED
New Cinema Certain Women – 4:00 pm
$3 ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP
Certain Women – 6:30 pm
REQUIRED FOR THOSE 18+
22
28
Essential Cinema
Beat the Devil – 4:00 pm
23
Contemporary Croatian Cinema
24
Lea and Darija – 7:00 pm
New Cinema
New Cinema
Certain Women – 6:30 pm
25
19
Canada on Screen
Videodrome + Frank’s Cock – 7:00 pm
26
Essential Cinema
Beat the Devil – 6:30 pm
Marius – 6:00 pm
29
Essential Cinema
30
All That Jazz – 6:30 pm
Contemporary Croatian Cinema
31
Children of the Fall – 7:00 pm
And the Ship Sails On – 8:50 pm
Sails On – 6:30 pm All That Jazz – 9:00 pm
Ed Ruscha + Pierre Bismuth
The Films of Ed Ruscha – 7:00 pm
1
Where is Rocky II? – 9:00 pm
GUEST
Hong Kong Cinema
Opening Night
2
5
Marseille Trilogy
César – 7:00 pm
7
6
Eric Rohmer
The Aviator’s Wife – 6:30 pm
Eric Rohmer
Pauline at the Beach – 6:30 pm
8
24 Hour Movie Marathon - 10:00 am
Eric Rohmer
Pauline at the Beach – 6:30 pm
9
GUEST
Hong Kong Cinema
Kung Fu Hustle – 4:30 pm Echoes of a Rainbow with Q&A - 6:30 pm
JUNE
The Aviator’s Wife – 8:25 pm
Pauline at the Beach – 8:30 pm
3
The Aviator’s Wife – 8:25 pm
Reception – 6:30 pm Echoes of a Rainbow with introduction – 7:30 pm
Fanny – 8:30 pm
CONTEMPORARY CROATIAN CINEMA 9
27
And the Ship
Certain Women – 8:30 pm
MOVIE MARATHON 5 Marseille Trilogy
Essential Cinema What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? – 8:40 pm
Essential Cinema
New Cinema
New Cinema Certain Women – 4:00 pm
Certain Women – 6:30 pm
Essential Cinema Beat the Devil – 8:40 pm
All That Jazz – 8:40 pm
HONG KONG CINEMA 2–4
4
Certain Women – 6:30 pm
Essential Cinema
All That Jazz – 6:30 pm
CANADA ON SCREEN 6–9
20
New Cinema
Certain Women – 8:30 pm
And the Ship Sails On – 4:00 pm
IN THIS ISSUE
Essential Cinema
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? – 6:00 pm
Essential Cinema What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? – 8:40 pm
theCinematheque.ca
NEW CINEMA 5
SAT
Kung Fu Hustle – 9:10 pm
Hong Kong Cinema
Made in Hong Kong - 6:30 pm
10
Hong Kong Cinema Dumplings - 6:30 pm
Made in Hong Kong - 8:20 pm
Dumplings - 8:40 pm
ERIC ROHMER 12–13 ESSENTIAL CINEMA 14-15 ED RUSCHA + PIERRE BISMUTH 14-15 MARSEILLE TRILOGY 16
11
Marseille Trilogy
Marius – 3:30 pm
12
Fanny – 6:00 pm
DIM CINEMA 17
Marseille Trilogy
Marius – 6:30 pm
13
Marseille Trilogy
César – 7:00 pm
14
Canada on Screen
Calendar + Noah – 7:00 pm
15
Hong Kong Cinema
The Way We Are - 6:30 pm
16
A Simple Life - 8:20 pm
Fanny – 9:00 pm
Hong Kong Cinema
A Simple Life - 6:30 pm
17
The Way We Are - 8:45 pm
Eric Rohmer
Full Moon in Paris – 6:30 pm A Good Marriage – 8:30 pm
César – 8:30 pm
FRAMES OF MIND 17 CINEMA SUNDAY 18 7 FOIS CHRIS MARKER 19 EDUCATION + OUTREACH SHOWCASE 19
18
Cinema Sunday
Kaj Pindal: An Animated Retrospective – 1:00 pm
19
21
Frames of Mind
Call Me Dad – 7:30 pm
GUEST
Hong Kong Cinema
23
GUEST
Hong Kong Cinema
24
Eric Rohmer
High Noon - 6:30 pm
High Noon - 6:30 pm
The Green Ray – 6:30 pm
Port of Call - 8:45 pm
Port of Call - 8:45 pm
My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend – 8:25 pm
A Good Marriage – 6:30 pm
Rated PG
Full Moon in Paris – 8:25 pm
Rated 14A
Sonja and the Bull
The Cinematheque Education + Outreach Showcase – 6:30 pm
22
Full Moon in Paris – 4:30 pm
Rated G
BACKGROUND IMAGE:
Full Moon in Paris – 6:30 pm
20
A Good Marriage – 8:30 pm
Eric Rohmer
Rated 18A
Eric Rohmer
GUEST
25
Eric Rohmer
The Green Ray – 4:30 pm My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend – 6:30 pm The Green Ray – 8:30 pm
26
27
28
GUEST
DIM Cinema / Canada on Screen
Wavelength + Trapline – 7:30 pm
29
Canada on Screen
Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance + Hunger – 7:00 pm
30
Eric Rohmer
The Green Ray – 6:30 pm My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend – 8:25 pm
DISCOVER MUSQUEAM’S ANCIENT LANDSCAPE AND LIVING CULTURE.
ON VIEW NOW
SUN
1
TICKETS
HOW TO BUY TICKETS
MON
7
MAY
Bruno Dumont
P’tit Quinquin – 7:00 pm
TUES
2
3
For May 1 film description, please consult our previous program guide or visit theCinematheque.ca
9
8
ALL SCREENINGS ARE RESTRICTED TO 18+
THURS
4
DIM Cinema
Olivia Boudreau: Intervals – 7:30 pm
10
FRI
Canada on Screen
Mourir à tue-tête + The Hat – 7:00 pm
11
DOXA DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL
Day–of tickets go on sale at the Box Office 30 minutes before the first show of the evening. Advance tickets are available for credit card purchase at theCinematheque.ca ($1 service charge applies). Events, times, and prices are subject to change without notice.
The Cinematheque is recognized as an exempt non–profit film society under the B.C. Motion Picture Act, and as such is able to screen films that have not been reviewed by the B.C. Film Classification Office. Under the act, all persons attending cinematheque screenings must be members of the Pacific Cinémathèque Pacifique Society and be 18 years of age or older, unless otherwise indicated.
WED
5
6
12
13
MAY 5–14 DOXAFESTIVAL.CA
14
16
15
Contemporary Croatian Cinema
17
GUEST
18
Frames of Mind
Mad World – 7:30 pm
Sonja and the Bull – 7:00 pm
21
Cinema Sunday An Afternoon with Animator Marv Newland – 1:00 pm
UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED
New Cinema Certain Women – 4:00 pm
$3 ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP
Certain Women – 6:30 pm
REQUIRED FOR THOSE 18+
22
28
Essential Cinema
Beat the Devil – 4:00 pm
23
Contemporary Croatian Cinema
24
Lea and Darija – 7:00 pm
New Cinema
New Cinema
Certain Women – 6:30 pm
25
19
Canada on Screen
Videodrome + Frank’s Cock – 7:00 pm
26
Essential Cinema
Beat the Devil – 6:30 pm
Marius – 6:00 pm
29
Essential Cinema
30
All That Jazz – 6:30 pm
Contemporary Croatian Cinema
31
Children of the Fall – 7:00 pm
And the Ship Sails On – 8:50 pm
Sails On – 6:30 pm All That Jazz – 9:00 pm
Ed Ruscha + Pierre Bismuth
The Films of Ed Ruscha – 7:00 pm
1
Where is Rocky II? – 9:00 pm
GUEST
Hong Kong Cinema
Opening Night
2
5
Marseille Trilogy
César – 7:00 pm
7
6
Eric Rohmer
The Aviator’s Wife – 6:30 pm
Eric Rohmer
Pauline at the Beach – 6:30 pm
8
24 Hour Movie Marathon - 10:00 am
Eric Rohmer
Pauline at the Beach – 6:30 pm
9
GUEST
Hong Kong Cinema
Kung Fu Hustle – 4:30 pm Echoes of a Rainbow with Q&A - 6:30 pm
JUNE
The Aviator’s Wife – 8:25 pm
Pauline at the Beach – 8:30 pm
3
The Aviator’s Wife – 8:25 pm
Reception – 6:30 pm Echoes of a Rainbow with introduction – 7:30 pm
Fanny – 8:30 pm
CONTEMPORARY CROATIAN CINEMA 9
27
And the Ship
Certain Women – 8:30 pm
MOVIE MARATHON 5 Marseille Trilogy
Essential Cinema What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? – 8:40 pm
Essential Cinema
New Cinema
New Cinema Certain Women – 4:00 pm
Certain Women – 6:30 pm
Essential Cinema Beat the Devil – 8:40 pm
All That Jazz – 8:40 pm
HONG KONG CINEMA 2–4
4
Certain Women – 6:30 pm
Essential Cinema
All That Jazz – 6:30 pm
CANADA ON SCREEN 6–9
20
New Cinema
Certain Women – 8:30 pm
And the Ship Sails On – 4:00 pm
IN THIS ISSUE
Essential Cinema
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? – 6:00 pm
Essential Cinema What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? – 8:40 pm
theCinematheque.ca
NEW CINEMA 5
SAT
Kung Fu Hustle – 9:10 pm
Hong Kong Cinema
Made in Hong Kong - 6:30 pm
10
Hong Kong Cinema Dumplings - 6:30 pm
Made in Hong Kong - 8:20 pm
Dumplings - 8:40 pm
ERIC ROHMER 12–13 ESSENTIAL CINEMA 14-15 ED RUSCHA + PIERRE BISMUTH 14-15 MARSEILLE TRILOGY 16
11
Marseille Trilogy
Marius – 3:30 pm
12
Fanny – 6:00 pm
DIM CINEMA 17
Marseille Trilogy
Marius – 6:30 pm
13
Marseille Trilogy
César – 7:00 pm
14
Canada on Screen
Calendar + Noah – 7:00 pm
15
Hong Kong Cinema
The Way We Are - 6:30 pm
16
A Simple Life - 8:20 pm
Fanny – 9:00 pm
Hong Kong Cinema
A Simple Life - 6:30 pm
17
The Way We Are - 8:45 pm
Eric Rohmer
Full Moon in Paris – 6:30 pm A Good Marriage – 8:30 pm
César – 8:30 pm
FRAMES OF MIND 17 CINEMA SUNDAY 18 7 FOIS CHRIS MARKER 19 EDUCATION + OUTREACH SHOWCASE 19
18
Cinema Sunday
Kaj Pindal: An Animated Retrospective – 1:00 pm
19
21
Frames of Mind
Call Me Dad – 7:30 pm
GUEST
Hong Kong Cinema
23
GUEST
Hong Kong Cinema
24
Eric Rohmer
High Noon - 6:30 pm
High Noon - 6:30 pm
The Green Ray – 6:30 pm
Port of Call - 8:45 pm
Port of Call - 8:45 pm
My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend – 8:25 pm
A Good Marriage – 6:30 pm
Rated PG
Full Moon in Paris – 8:25 pm
Rated 14A
Sonja and the Bull
The Cinematheque Education + Outreach Showcase – 6:30 pm
22
Full Moon in Paris – 4:30 pm
Rated G
BACKGROUND IMAGE:
Full Moon in Paris – 6:30 pm
20
A Good Marriage – 8:30 pm
Eric Rohmer
Rated 18A
Eric Rohmer
GUEST
25
Eric Rohmer
The Green Ray – 4:30 pm My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend – 6:30 pm The Green Ray – 8:30 pm
26
27
28
GUEST
DIM Cinema / Canada on Screen
Wavelength + Trapline – 7:30 pm
29
Canada on Screen
Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance + Hunger – 7:00 pm
30
Eric Rohmer
The Green Ray – 6:30 pm My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend – 8:25 pm
DISCOVER MUSQUEAM’S ANCIENT LANDSCAPE AND LIVING CULTURE.
ON VIEW NOW
MY GIRLFRIEND'S BOYFRIEND
erhaps no other filmmaker has mined the interior life with more success — and more wit, irony, and intelligence — than Eric Rohmer. His sublime cinema navigates the gaps that exist between our thoughts, our feelings, and our actions — the differences between what we think and what we feel, between what we say and what we do. It is an intimate, literate, and remarkably nuanced cinema, revealing an artist with the deftness and depth of a great novelist, an artist more than worthy of the impressive literary comparisons (Stendhal, Balzac, Pascal, Jane Austen, Henry James et al.) so often invoked to describe his work. In 1981, following his exquisite Six Moral Tales and a pair of period dramas (including 1976’s The Marquise of O, to screen later this year), Rohmer embarked on a new six-film cycle entitled Comedies and Proverbs (Comédies et proverbes), with each installment framed by a well-known – or in one case, made-up – aphorism. Imbued with what Rohmer called “the spirit of social games,” the series, completed in 1987, continued the director’s fascination with romantic pursuits and beach vacations, bien sûr. But it distinguished itself from his previous cycle by adopting a more distanced, ironic point of view, subtly shifting the perspective away from its protagonists. It also, notably, centred mainly on female characters, a deliberate departure from the male-centric world of the Moral Tales. Anchored by commanding, career-best turns from Béatrice Romand, Marie Rivière, and Pascale Ogier (in her final screen role), Comedies and Proverbs demonstrated Rohmer’s almost preternatural ability to create dynamic, complex, and sympathetically-flawed film heroines, driven by desires that most often go unattained.
ROHMER IN RETROSPECT!
This exhibition of Eric Rohmer’s Comedies and Proverbs is part of an ongoing Rohmer retrospective being presented at The Cinematheque in 2017. Rohmer’s Six Moral Tales screened in our March/April program.
Pauline at the Beach
(Pauline à la plage) France 1982. Dir: Eric Rohmer. 95 min. 35mm
“A wagging tongue bites itself.” This sensuous, sun-drenched roundelay, chronologically the third film in Rohmer’s Comedies and Proverbs cycle, is set on the beaches of Normandy, and earned Rohmer Best Director honours at Berlin in 1983. Young Pauline (Amanda Langlet) and older cousin Marion (Arielle Dombasle) arrive for a two-week holiday at the family cottage, and become entangled in various romantic complications with men. For the 15-year-old title character, the summer becomes an education in the messy adult world of love, lust, and deception. The Matisse-inspired visuals are by master cinematographer Nestor Almendros, in his final work with Rohmer. The film, characteristically witty, nuanced, and literate, was Rohmer’s biggest North American hit. “A brilliant erotic comedy . . . It’s the perfect summer art-house movie” (David Denby, New York magazine). FRIDAY, JUNE 2 – 6:30 PM WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7 – 8:30 PM THURSDAY, JUNE 8 – 6:30 PM
12
The Aviator’s Wife (La femme de l’aviateur)
France 1980. Dir: Eric Rohmer. 104 min. DCP
“It is impossible to think of nothing.” The first of Eric Rohmer’s six-film series Comedies and Proverbs is a droll and delightful comedy of manners. A jealous law student (Philippe Marlaud, who died tragically shortly after the film’s release) enlists the help of a vivacious schoolgirl (Anne-Laure Meury) in spying on his girlfriend (The Green Ray’s Marie Rivière), whom he believes has resumed a love affair with a married pilot (Mathieu Carrière). The director renders this Parisset tale of romantic intrigue and misunderstanding with his customary wit, irony, and warmth, and elicits touching performances from his young cast. “A hilarious, wonderfully bittersweet acknowledgement of the chasms between people trying to understand and be understood” (Geoff Andrew, Time Out). “A perfect film . . . Charming, languorous, piercing, discreet – quintessential Rohmer and more” (Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader). FRIDAY, JUNE 2 – 8:25 PM WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7 – 6:30 PM THURSDAY, JUNE 8 – 8:25 PM
ERIC ROHMER’S Comedies and Proverbs
New Restoration!
Full Moon in Paris
(Les nuits de la pleine lune) France 1984. Dir: Eric Rohmer. 103 min. DCP
Rohmer invented his own pithy proverb – “He who has two women loses his soul; he who has two houses loses him mind” – for the superb fourth entry in his Comedies and Proverbs cycle, a wry, rather downbeat look at youth in (and out of) love set amid Paris’s chic, nocturnal social scene of the mid-1980s. In a scenario easily suited to a Moral Tale – save for the gender reversal – Full Moon centres on a young, restless art-school graduate (Pascale Ogier), who, feeling stifled by the suburbs and her doting, live-in boyfriend, decides to set up a posh pied-à-terre in downtown Paris where she can entertain her independence. Twenty-five-year-old Ogier, crowned Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival, is utterly captivating in the role, tragically her last (she died of a drug overdose shortly after the film’s release). “A small masterpiece . . . Ranks with the very best of Rohmer” (Vincent Canby, New York Times). SATURDAY, JUNE 17 – 6:30 PM SUNDAY, JUNE 18 – 4:30 PM & 8:25 PM MONDAY, JUNE 19 – 6:30 PM
A Good Marriage (Le beau mariage)
France 1982. Dir: Eric Rohmer. 97 min. DCP
Béatrice Romand, once the adolescent ingénue of Rohmer’s Claire’s Knee, is now a sophisticated young woman with matrimony on the mind in A Good Marriage, Rohmer’s charming second chapter in the Comedies and Proverbs cycle. Twentysomething art-history student Sabine (Romand), fed up with being the mistress to a married Parisian painter, shocks her paramour – and then her best friend (peppy Arielle Dombasle) and family – with news of her impending marriage. To whom? She doesn’t yet know. But her friend’s lawyer cousin, met briefly at a party, seems to satisfy the knot-tying criteria. Operating under the idiom “Can any of us refrain from building castles in Spain?”, Rohmer fashions in the character of Sabine one of his most endearing, contradictory comic heroines: impulsive yet pragmatic, naïve yet acutely self-aware. Romand’s tightrope performance deservedly won acclaim and a prize at Venice. “The best film of the year” (Andrew Sarris, Village Voice). SATURDAY, JUNE 17 – 8:30 PM SUNDAY, JUNE 18 – 6:30 PM MONDAY, JUNE 19 – 8:30 PM
The Green Ray aka Summer (Le rayon vert)
France 1986. Dir: Eric Rohmer. 96 min. DCP
Summer à la Eric Rohmer is a guarantee of brilliance. Made three years after Pauline at the Beach (and originally released in North America as Summer), The Green Ray epitomizes the wondrous talents of the late, great director. Rohmer’s tale, the fifth in his Comedies and Proverbs cycle, takes its operative aphorism from Rimbaud: “Ah, for the days/That set our hearts ablaze.” Rohmer regular Marie Rivière, who co-wrote, is entrancing as shy Parisian secretary Delphine, unexpectedly companionless just as she’s about to embark on August vacation. Her dispirited travels in search of romance leads to a fascination with the elusive, allegedly magical optical phenomenon – the last flash of sunset – of the title. Rohmer’s radiant film won the Golden Lion at Venice. “Rohmer’s ultimate masterwork . . . This beauty has simply walked out of the water and onto the beach like a Botticelli Venus” (Andrew Sarris, Village Voice). SATURDAY, JUNE 24 – 6:30 PM SUNDAY, JUNE 25 – 4:30 PM & 8:30 PM FRIDAY, JUNE 30 – 6:30 PM
My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend
aka Boyfriends and Girlfriends (L’ami de mon amie) France 1987. Dir: Eric Rohmer. 102 min. DCP
The most delightful chapter in Rohmer’s Comedies and Proverbs cycle is also the last, bringing the acclaimed series to a close with a playful dose of jeu d’esprit that would surely make the French filmmaker’s idol, Hollywood screwball-comedy king Howard Hawks, proud. Set in the insular, ultra-modern Paris suburb of CergyPontoise, this cool, clever comedy of manners concerns a group of young, amorously-obedient professionals who harbour mismatched emotions for each other’s significant others. “My friend’s friend is my friend” is the fim's ironic proverb, although “All’s fair in love and war” would easily suffice. As in Full Moon in Paris, Rohmer fills the frame with vapid, postmodern décors to underscore the era’s consumerism, with each character colour-coded to match the mise-en-scène. A light, compactly-crafted charmer from the veteran auteur, My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend is “full of unexpected delights … It’s 102 minutes; they are all wonderful” (Vincent Canby, New York Times). SATURDAY, JUNE 24 – 8:25 PM SUNDAY, JUNE 25 – 6:30 PM FRIDAY, JUNE 30 – 8:25 PM
13
RESTORATIONS REVIVALS ESSENTIAL CINEMA
New Restoration! Complete, Uncut, Uncensored Version!
Beat the Devil
USA/Great Britain/Italy 1954. Dir: John Huston. 93 min. DCP
Absolutely the oddest of the celebrated John Huston-Humphrey Bogart collaborations, the Truman Capote-penned Beat the Devil is an absurdist send-up of the type of atmospheric thriller (The Maltese Falcon, Key Largo et al.) for which director and star were renowned. Bogart leads a cast of colourful rogue characters who set sail from Italy for British East Africa, hoping to make a major uranium score. Gina Lollobrigida, Jennifer Jones (blond!), Peter Lorre, and Robert Morley co-star. The film, shot on location in Italy, abounds in in-jokes, bizarre characterizations, and giddy plot twists. The satire was so straight-faced that audiences didn’t get the joke; the studio re-cut the film in an attempt to salvage it. A cult classic even in its mangled version, Huston’s loose, loopy movie has now been restored to its original state! “It may be the funniest mess of all time” (Pauline Kael). “The birthplace of camp” (Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader). FRIDAY, MAY 19 – 8:40 PM MONDAY, MAY 22 – 4:00 PM THURSDAY, MAY 25 – 6:30 PM
Feud: Bette Davis and Joan Crawford!
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? USA 1962. Dir: Robert Aldrich. 133 min. DCP
Kiss Me Deadly director Robert Aldrich helmed this marvellously macabre set-inHollywood gothic melodrama, recently the subject of the FX cable series Feud: Bette and Joan (with Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon). Bette Davis and Joan Crawford are, respectively, Baby Jane Hudson and her sister Blanche, aging actresses holed up in a crumbling Hollywood mansion. Jane was a vaudeville star in childhood; Blanche eclipsed her in adulthood to become a Hollywood goddess. Jane is now unhinged; Blanche is now confined to a wheelchair – and at the mercy of her sister’s sadistic streak. Originally conceived as a B-movie chiller that might capitalize on the success of Hitchcock’s Psycho and revive the sagging careers of A-listers (and real-life rivals) Davis and Crawford, the film became an unexpected box-office hit, was nominated for five Oscars, and has become an enduring cult classic of psychological horror – and high camp! SATURDAY, MAY 20 – 8:40 PM SUNDAY, MAY 21 – 8:40 PM MONDAY, MAY 22 – 6:00 PM
MIRACLES AND MISSING PIECES: ED RUSCHA FILMS + PIERRE BISMUTH'S WHERE IS ROCKY II? Presented with Presentation House Gallery
The Films of Ed Ruscha Los Angeles artist Ed Ruscha has made only three (rarely-shown) films, all dating from near the start of his career. Recently unearthed and restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, The Books of Ed Ruscha features Ruscha’s childhood friend, musician and comedy writer Mason Williams, knocking back sundowners on a patio as he solemnly incants and irreverently manhandles the limited-edition art objects of the film’s title. Ruscha’s second film, Premium, a self-parody of the artist as a young man, starring L.A. artist Larry Bell, is a filmic adaptation of his photobook Crackers, based on a short story by Williams. The last film, Miracle, has artist Jim Ganzer playing an automechanic who undergoes a metamorphosis while repairing the carburetor of a ’65 Ford Mustang. The Books of Ed Ruscha | 1968-69. 38 min. 16mm Premium | 1971. 24 min. 16 mm. Miracle | 1975. 28 min. 16mm. WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 – 7:00 PM
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ALL THAT JAZZ
All That Jazz USA 1979. Dir: Bob Fosse. 123 min. DCP
Bob Fosse’s Fellini-inspired phantasmagoria is now routinely cited as one of cinema’s great musicals and remains a major-studio release of unusual daring and invention. Roy Scheider, in perhaps his greatest movie role, is libidinous Joe Gideon, a Fosselike Broadway choreographer and filmmaker whose hard-working, hard-living ways lead to cardiac arrest (and graphic open-heart surgery), encounters with an angel of death (played by Jessica Lange), and some of the most spectacular (and hallucinatory) song-and-dance sequences ever committed to the screen. Memorable musical numbers include “On Broadway,” “Take Off with Us,” and “Bye Bye Life.” The film was chastised by some for being morbid, self-indulgent, and sourly self-loathing. Photographed by Fellini regular Giuseppe Rutonno, Fosse’s audacious, blackly-comic marvel won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and was nominated for nine Oscars (winning four). WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 – 8:40 PM FRIDAY, MAY 26 – 9:00 PM SUNDAY, MAY 28 – 6:30 PM MONDAY, MAY 29 – 6:30 PM
Imported 35mm Print!
And the Ship Sails On (E la nave va)
Italy/France 1983. Dir: Federico Fellini. 132 min. 35mm
Artifice and eccentricity reign charmingly supreme in Fellini’s And the Ship Sails On, a loving elegy for a vanished era. Fellini and production designer Dante Ferretti built an enormous make-believe ocean liner on a Cinecittà soundstage to mount this episodic tale of a colourful group of passengers – aristocrats, impresarios, and music-world celebrities, all fond, Fellini-style grotesques – who set sail from Naples on a memorial voyage to scatter the ashes of a famous opera diva. The time is 1914; encounters with boatloads of refugees and a belligerent battleship are reminders of the war clouds gathering over Europe. Navigating a cellophane sea under painted skies, Fellini’s stylized Ship of Fools includes a love-sick rhinoceros, odes to silent cinema, and plenty of kinky hijinks. “Endearing . . . A gentle comedy that delights in its own artifice . . . Fellini glories in the clunky machinery of moviemaking” (Jay Scott, Globe and Mail).
Presenting Partner:
Print courtesy of:
FRIDAY, MAY 26 – 6:30 PM SUNDAY, MAY 28 – 4:00 PM MONDAY, MAY 29 – 8:50 PM
WHERE IS ROCKY II?
Where is Rocky II?
France/Germany/Belgium/Italy 2016. Dir: Pierre Bismuth. 93 min. DCP
"In 1979, artist Ed Ruscha allegedly made a fake rock out of resin and hid it among real ones somewhere in California’s vast Mojave Desert. Named Rocky II after the Sylvester Stallone film, the work is never spoken about publicly nor is it listed in any catalogue of Ruscha’s work. Obsessed with this mystery piece, French artist and Oscar-winner Pierre Bismuth (cowriter of Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) sets out to find it. It’s clear from the outset of this fantastical tale that Bismuth (in his directorial debut) won’t take a conventional approach. Instead, he hires a hard-boiled private investigator and two acclaimed Hollywood screenwriters to pick up the trail” (adapted from Hot Docs Documentary Festival). WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 – 9:00 PM
Organized by Presentation House Gallery in collaboration with The Cinematheque, as one of the gallery's last events before the inauguration of its new space, The Polygon Gallery, on the North Vancouver waterfront. Programmed by Michèle Smith. presentationhousegallery.org
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Marseille Trilogy MARCEL P A G N OL ’ S
NEW RES TO RATIONS
“I want to live in those films.”
U
– Alice Waters
nseen on Vancouver screens in almost three decades, and now brilliantly restored, Marcel Pagnol’s Marseille Trilogy is one of the most beloved achievements of the classical French cinema. Playwright Pagnol (1895-1974), a native of Provence and a chronicler of Provençal culture and life, was a significant figure in French theatre when, early in the sound era, he embraced the cinema as a means of wider exposure. The trilogy made him internationally famous and helped establish the reputation of French cinema in the English-speaking world. Marius (1931), Fanny (1932), and César (1936) – the first two adapted from popular Pagnol plays and directed by, respectively, Alexander Korda and Marc Allégret; the third written directly for the screen and directed by Pagnol himself – are warm, humorous. semi-naturalistic films set amongst a group of working-class characters on the Marseille waterfront. Acted by an ensemble cast of magnificent French performers – including the great Raimu, considered by Orson Welles (and others) “the greatest actor who ever lived” – they depict, in observant, lively, wonderfully unhurried fashion, a span of two decades in the lives of Fanny (Orane Demazis), a young woman who peddles shellfish in Marseille’s Old Port; Marius (Pierre Fresnay), Fanny’s seafaring former boyfriend; Panisse (Fernand Charpin), the much-older admirer who pursues Fanny in Marius’s absence; and César (Raimu), the bar owner who is Marius’s father. Pagnol’s plays and books, often adapted, and his original films, frequently remade, have spawned a wealth of cinema (including Claude Berri’s popular 1980s films Jean de Florette and Manon des sources, derived from Pagnol novels). The original Marseille Trilogy remains unsurpassed in translating Pagnol’s universe to the screen. Seeing it for the first time, the famed American chef and organic food champion Alice Waters, who would name her Berkeley restaurant Chez Panisse after the Pagnol character, declared, “I want to live in those films.”
Marseille Trilogy TRIPLE BILL Sunday, June 11!
Triple Bill Price: $22 Adults / $20 Students & Seniors Regular single and double bill prices otherwise in effect. Annual $3 membership required
“A long-overdue revival . . . This trilogy will surprise you with its emotional and psychological complexities.” – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times “Richly textured . . . 2017’s first major (and highly impressive) restoration.” – Nicholas Bell, IonCinema.com “A classic of poetic French cinema . . . Often remade and remade, but never equaled.” – Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times
Marius
Fanny
César
The first instalment in Marcel Pagnol’s heartfelt, gently comic, warmly rendered Marseille Trilogy features the original cast of his hit stage play. Marius (Pierre Fresnay), who works in the dockside café of his irascible but lovable father César (Raimu), and Fanny, a local fishmonger, are childhood sweethearts, seemingly destined to be together forever. But restless Marius cannot resist the call of the sea, leading Fanny to make a life-altering decision so that the love of her life can follow his dreams. Hungarian-born Alexander Korda, soon to begin a lengthy career in Britain, directs from Pagnol’s script. “Vastly enjoyable . . . A fantastic cast; authentic, unpretentious dialogue peppered with richly provincial idioms; and fully-realized, unglamorous characters drawn with loving detail” (James Monaco, The Movie Guide).
In the second film of Marcel Pagnol’s great Marseille Trilogy, Fanny, grieving the departure of her beloved Marius, allows herself to be wooed and wed by the middle-aged widower Honoré Panisse (Fernand Charpin), a prosperous sailmaker. Unexpectedly, Marius returns home after a year at sea and seeks to resume his romance with Fanny. Directed, from Pagnol’s script, by the prolific Marc Allégret, who two years later made Zouzou with Josephine Baker. “Savour the finely-drawn character studies, the triumphant acting, the warmth, humanity, and tightly-reined sentimentality of Pagnol’s whole outlook” (Geoff Brown, Time Out). “The performances are a joy to behold and Pagnol’s dialogue displays supreme comic skill. The film’s success allowed him to build his own studio near Marseille” (Bloomsbury Foreign Film Guide).
Marcel Pagnol himself directed the third and most moving instalment of his marvelous Marseille Trilogy. César – unlike the first two films, written directly for the screen and only later adapted for the stage – is set twenty years after the events of Fanny. Fanny’s son Césariot (André Fouché) is now a young man; Fanny’s much-older husband Panisse is dying; the local priest is demanding that a long-buried family secret be revealed. Meanwhile, Marius, the true love of Fanny’s life, is working as a mechanic in Toulon. The superb Raimu again appears as César, Marius’s blustery father. “A poignant tale of shame, regret, and misunderstanding that is raised to the highest level by the fine ensemble acting” (Roger Bardon, The Rough Guide to Film). “Today the modest charms and graces of the Pagnol trilogy seem more precious than ever” (Geoff Brown, Time Out).
SUNDAY, JUNE 4 – 6:00 PM SUNDAY, JUNE 11 – 3:30 PM MONDAY, JUNE 12 – 6:30 PM
SUNDAY, JUNE 4 – 8:30 PM SUNDAY, JUNE 11 – 6:00 PM MONDAY, JUNE 12 – 9:00 PM
France 1931. Dir: Alexander Korda. 127 min. DCP
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France 1932. Dir: Marc Allégret. 127 min. DCP
France 1936. Dir: Marcel Pagnol. 142 min. DCP
MONDAY, JUNE 5 – 7:00 PM SUNDAY, JUNE 11 – 8:30 PM TUESDAY, JUNE 13 – 7:00 PM
TRAPLINE
Moving-image art in dialogue with cinema www.dimcinema.ca Programmed by Michèle Smith, co-editor of Drawing Room Confessions.
Olivia Boudreau: Intervals Olivia Boudreau’s videos, films, and performance works inspire reflections on the experience of time and the act of perception. The Montreal-based artist carefully choreographs precise shots of long duration in works such as L’étuve (2011), where a group of women appear and disappear as dense vaporous clouds slowly fill a steam room. Her more recent works, including Femme allongée (2014), make use of narrative structure and editing. A woman draped in a white sheet lies immobile on a table. Like a body prepared for dissection in an anatomical theatre, she becomes the focal point for a sequence of activities. Through exchanged glances and small gestures, Boudreau’s works invite us to rest in the intervals between stillness and movement. L’étuve | 2011. 20 min. Les petits | 2010. 13 min. La Brèche | 2012, 3 min. Femme allongée | 2014. 14 min. Olivia Boudreau’s practice combines video and performance in works that explore perception, temporality, and the visible through the long take and, more recently, narrative structure and editing. Her work has been exhibited across North America and Europe, including at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver, and Le Fresnoy in France, and in 2014 was the subject of a major solo exhibition at the Leonard and Bina Ellen Gallery in Montreal. She is a three-time long-list nominee for the Sobey Art Award and received Montreal’s Prix Pierre-Ayot in 2011. Programmed by Isabelle Lynch and Sophie Lynch WEDNESDAY, MAY 3 – 7:30 PM
Free Screening! Canada on Screen: Experimental Film and Video Wavelength and Trapline are presented as part of Canada on Screen, a celebration of Canada’s 150 essential moving-image works. Canada on Screen is a year-long, nation-wide program honouring Canada’s 150th birthday and its rich cinematic heritage. Screenings are free of charge. For more information, see page 8.
Almost Empty Rooms: Wavelength / Trapline In Person: Ellie Epp (to be confirmed) DIM Cinema presents a free screening pairing two canonic works of Canadian experimental film: Michael Snow’s single-take across a New York loft, perhaps “the most consequential zoom shot in the history of cinema” (Jonathan Rosenbaum, Monthly Film Bulletin), and Alberta-born, B.C.-based filmmaker Ellie Epp’s 12-shot study of a soon-to-be-demolished public bath in London, which “maps another way out of structural film toward a cinema of delicate implication” (Bart Testa, Canadian Encyclopedia). “If a room could speak about itself this would be the way it would go.” – Manny Farber on Wavelength “In a lovely, non-dogmatic way, we are introduced again to the wonders of watching cinema, not just through an assertion of the beautiful image, but also through an exploration of the image’s constituent elements.” – Chris Kennedy on Trapline Wavelength | Michael Snow/1967. 45 min. 16mm Trapline | Ellie Epp/1976. 18 min. 16mm WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28 – 7:30 PM
MAD WORLD
A Monthly Mental Health Film Series Presented by The Cinematheque and the Institute of Mental Health, UBC Department of Psychiatry
The Cinematheque is pleased to join with the Institute of Mental Health, UBC Department of Psychiatry in presenting “Frames of Mind,” a monthly event utilizing film and video to promote professional and community education on issues pertaining to mental health and illness. Screenings, accompanied by presentations and audience discussions, are held on the third Wednesday of each month. Series directed by Dr. Harry Karlinsky, Director of Public Education, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia. Programmed by Caroline Coutts, film curator, filmmaker, and programmer of “Frames of Mind” since its inception in September 2002.
Vancouver Premiere!
Vancouver Premiere!
Mad World
Call Me Dad
(Yat nim mou ming)
Hong Kong 2016. Dir: Wong Chun. 101 min. DCP
Hong Kong A-listers Shawn Yue and Eric Tsang star in Wong Chun’s gritty independent drama, which won the Golden Horse Award (Taiwan’s Oscar) for Best New Director. Made on a shoestring budget – the two stars took significant pay cuts to participate – the film portrays the difficult relationship between a mentally-ill former stockbroker and his estranged truck driver father, while also shedding light on the more unsavoury aspects of contemporary Hong Kong. As the film begins, Tung (Yue) is released into the grudging care of his father (Tsang) after several years in a mental hospital. In the cramped tenement his father shares with a multitude of judgmental and illinformed neighbours, Tung must begin the challenging task of facing up to his troubled past (including the tragic death of his mother) while embarking on an uncertain future. Post-screening discussion with Dr. Erin Michalak, Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia and founder and leader of the Collaborative RESearch Team to study psychosocial issues in Bipolar Disorder (CREST.BD). Co-sponsored by the Collaborative RESearch Team to study psychosocial issues in Bipolar Disorder (CREST.BD) WEDNESDAY, MAY 17 – 7:30 PM
Australia 2015. Dir: Sophie Wiesner. 80 min. DCP
In a Melbourne suburb, councillor David Nugent heads up the Heavy M.E.T.A.L. Group, a behavioural change program aimed at abusive fathers. (M.E.T.A.L. stands for Men’s Education Towards Anger and Life.) This documentary follows three men in the program who have perpetrated family violence, be it physical, emotional, or through words and manipulation. With their marriages over or hanging by a thread, and their roles as fathers slipping away, the men know they have to change. Nugent holds them accountable; he believes violence is a choice and that men can change if they have the will to do so. Initially concentrating on raw and rocky group therapy sessions (often rife with excuses and justification), the film’s focus eventually widens to include partners, children, and culture, deepening our understanding of what kind of change is required, both individually and societally, to address this complex problem. Post-screening discussion with Dr. John Oliffe, Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of British Columbia. Founder and lead investigator of UBC’s Men’s Health Research program, his work focuses on masculinities and their influence on men’s health, relationships, and quality of life. Co-sponsored by UBC’s Men’s Health Research, a suite of programs, projects, and resources to promote men’s mental and physical health. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21 – 7:30 PM
TÊTE À TÊTE À TÊTE
Cinema Sunday An Afternoon Film Program for Children and Their Families
$6 Children & Youths (under 18) $9 Adults (Cinematheque membership not required) In celebration of Canada’s big 150 (or sesquicentennial), Cinema Sunday patriotically presents “Made in Canada,” a yearlong engagement with family films hailing from the True North! Each month, we’ll screen an all-ages movie that showcases Canada’s extraordinary, diverse talents – both in front of and behind the camera – as well as the cities, landscapes, and cultures that make this country our home. Films will be introduced by Vancouver film history teacher and critic Michael van den Bos.
Marv Newland in Person!
An Afternoon with Animator Marv Newland Hosted by Michael van den Bos Marv Newland, cult director of Bambi Meets Godzilla (1969), is a sui generis talent and one of Canada's most celebrated animators. A graduate of the Art Center College of Design in California – where, as a student, he made his iconic, 90-second midnight-movie masterpiece! – Newland has been an integral part of our country’s enviable animation scene since the founding of his acclaimed Vancouver-based studio International Rocketship Limited in 1975. A stable not only for Newland’s own outré, director-driven works – including Sing Beast Sing (1980) and Black Hula (1988), both preserved by the Academy Film Archive – but also for other West Coast animators' pet projects, the indie studio has created oddball, award-winning cartoons featured on MTV, MuchMusic, Nickelodeon, HBO, BBC, and festival screens around the world! We’re honoured to have the great Marv Newland join us for an afternoon devoted to his work, featuring a selection of films hand-picked by the legendary animator. Bambi Meets Godzilla | 1969. 1 min. DCP Bill Miner Vignette | 1978. 1 min. 16mm Sing Beast Sing | 1980. 9 min. DCP Quick History (Dominion Building) | 198-. 1 min. 35mm Anijam | 1984. 10 min. DCP Hooray for Sandbox Land | 1985. 12 min. 35mm Rocketship Nicks | Marv Newland et al./1987. 1 min. 35mm Black Hula | 1988. 4 min. DCP Beijing Flipbook | 2003. 2 min. DCP Tête à Tête à Tête | 2005. 12 min. DCP Postalolio | 2008. 5 min. 35mm CMYK | 2011. 7 min. DCP Total running time: approx. 65 min. Please note: some content may be unsuitable for younger viewers.
“Animation begins where live-action gives up!” – Kaj Pindal
Kaj Pindal: An Animated Retrospective Danish-born Canadian animator and educator Kaj Pindal (b. 1927) is a gem of the National Film Board of Canada’s world-renowned animation department. With his strong, simple graphics, quirky humour, and whimsical handling of hefty social issues – PSAs were his specialty! – Pindal created, between 1957 and 1988, a body of short films for the Board that evinced a master animator (and satirist) at work. Today, Pindal is perhaps best known as the creator of the Emmy-winning PBS children’s program Peep and the Big Wide World – originally a 1962 NFB short, made from black-and-white drawings on adding-machine tape. But his most acclaimed and accomplished work is undoubtedly the Oscar-nominated What on Earth! (1966), a brilliant, biting commentary on urbanization and the automotive explosion, told from the perspective of a Martian field reporter who, quite rightly, assumes that our planet is inhabited by cars, with human beings their pesky parasites! To celebrate Kaj Pindal’s 90th birthday this year (Happy Birthday, Kaj!), we present a select retrospective of the animator’s eclectic work for the NFB, including his masterpiece What on Earth!, his jazzy art installation for Expo ’70, The City (Osaka) (1970), his imaginative antismoking announcement, King Size (1968), and more! Hors-d’oeuvre | 1960. Kaj Pindal et al./1960 7 min. I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly | Derek Lamb/1964. 5 min. What on Earth! | Les Drew, Kaj Pindal/1966. 9 min. King Size | Kaj Pindal/1968. 6 min. The City (Osaka) | Kaj Pindal/1970. 7 min. Caninabis | Kaj Pindal/1979. 9 min. Peep and the Big Wide World |Kaj Pindal/1988. 34 min Total program: approx. 77 min. SUNDAY, JUNE 18 – 1:00 PM
SUNDAY, MAY 21 – 1:00 PM
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HORS-D’OEUVRE
CHRIS MARKER, NEVER EXPLAIN, NEVER COMPLAIN
7 FOIS CHRIS MARKER Presented with The Cinematheque Chris Marker, long considered the inventor of the film essay, was both a world traveller and a time traveller. Throughout his peripatetic life, he remained largely a secret cinéaste, although his name and his films (La Jetée, or Sans soleil, ranked third in Sight & Sound’s poll of the greatest documentaries ever made) have influenced generations of filmmakers. Three years after the retrospective at Centre Pompidou, organized after his death (he died on his 91st birthday), and in advance of the Cinémathèque française’s encompassing multimedia event planned for May 2018, I am proud to present to Vancouver audiences 7 FOIS CHRIS MARKER, a selection of Marker’s rarely screened films. The timing is curious, and like so much of Chris’s work, serendipitously entwined with our current moment in history. – Thierry Garrel, Program Curator Chris Marker, Never Explain, Never Complain | Jean-Marie Barbe, Arnaud Lambert, 2016
Le Tombeau d’Alexandre (The Last Bolshevik) | Chris Marker, 1993
“Who is Chris Marker?” is the question posed by the directors/ interlocutors of this new documentary, every answer revealing a different reality. One thing is clear, over the length of his career the elusive auteur was never content to do or be only one thing. Writer, filmmaker, photographer, polymath, cat lover — there is no single term that quite suffices.
Chris Marker’s expansive, nay, insanely encompassing portrait of his friend and colleague Aleksandr Ivanovich Medvedkin is composed of six different letters, each corresponding to a period of Medvedkin’s life and work.
Le Fond de l’air est rouge (A Grin Without a Cat) | Chris Marker, 1977 Une Journée d’Andrei Arsenevitch (One Day In The Life Of Andrei Arsenevich) | Chris Marker, 1999 Marker’s portrait of his friend Andrei Tarkovsky, edited some twelve years after Tarkovsky’s death for the collection Cinéma, de notre temps (Cinema of Our Times), is an extraordinary love letter from one filmmaker to another, and a memento mori of the most profound kind.
Here is Chris Marker’s magnum opus in all its ferocious intelligence and scale. More relevant than it was even forty years earlier, this tour-de-force work is a guide, seemingly torn from the current moment, made up of the folly and greatness of the human experiment.
L’Héritage de la chouette (The Owl’s Legacy) | Chris Marker, 1989 Le Souvenir d’un avenir (Remembrance of Things to Come) | Chris Marker, Yannick Bellon, 2001 This vivid portrait of photographer Denise Bellon, who pioneered the art of photojournalism, is, like Marker’s most famous work (La Jetée), composed out of still images. Circuitous and discursive, the narrative is pinned in place by Bellon’s extraordinary eye.
The legendary 13-part series, commissioned by Arte and the Onassis Foundation (that kept Marker’s work unavailable for twenty years), alights at DOXA in its first three episodes: SYMPOSIUM or Accepted Ideas, OLYMPISM or Imaginary Greece, DEMOCRACY or The City of Dreams. Program notes adapted from texts provided by DOXA, written by Dorothy Woodend For screening dates, and to purchase tickets, please visit doxafestival.ca
Chats perchés (The Case of the Grinning Cat) | Chris Marker, 2004
Cinematheque members will receive a DOXA membership for all 7 FOIS CHRIS MARKER screenings.
A more fitting film for our electoral moment is hard to imagine than Chris Marker’s last long-form work. The film has the serendipitous timing that is the hallmark of great art: it is always relevant, and au courant — sometimes painfully so.
FREE EVENT
The Cinematheque’s Education and Outreach Showcase Join The Cinematheque’s Education and Outreach team for a special evening devoted to youth films, media literacy, and informed discussion about how today’s young connect with our complex and multi-faceted media landscape. Screenings of youth-made works from some of our 2016-17 programs – including Status Update: Critical Creations on Social Media; Canada on Screen: Youth Interpretations of Canada’s 150th; and the TREK Environmental Education Documentary Projects – will be accompanied by explorations of crucial topics for youth today: Social Media and the Self; and Dissecting Fake News: Media Literacy in the Post-Truth Era. We welcome you to learn more about The Cinematheque’s outreach programs and immerse yourself in the technology-mediated perspectives of today’s young people! TUESDAY, JUNE 20 - 6:30 PM
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TICKETS FROM
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$
Celebrating 40 years Kevin MacDonald & Amber Lewis – Much Ado About Nothing (2017)
Season Sponsor
2017
JULY 13.14.15.16 JERICHO BEACH PARK Over 60 amazing acts from around the world! including
wa Libète (Haiti) • Barenaked Ladies Billy Bragg • Chouk B ards • Mbongwana Star (Dem. Rep. of Congo) • Si Kahn Kathleen Edw in) • Nive Nielson and the Deer Children (Greenland) Korrontzi (Spa ms and the Yarra Benders (NZ) • Archie Roach (Australia) Marlon Willia lstar Band • Rura (Scotland) and many more! Ferron and her Al
Howard Family Stage
June 1 – September 23 • Vanier Park
bardonthebeach.org • 604-739-0559
Info and tickets : thefestival.bc.ca
Media Sponsors
Production Sponsors
ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE
VOLUNTEERS
200 – 1131 Howe Street Vancouver, BC V6Z 2L7 Phone: 604.688.8202 Fax: 604.688.8204 Email: info@theCinematheque.ca Web: theCinematheque.ca
Theatre Volunteers: Aya Alvarez, David Avelino, Mark Beley, Taylor Bishop, Eileen Brosnan, Jeremy Buhler, David Castillo, Nadia Chiu, Rob Danielson, Steve Devereux, Bill Dovhey, Yaz Ebrahi, Moana Fertig, Kevin Frew, Lesli Froeschner, Andrew Gable, Shokei Green, Paul Griffiths, Sam Herle, Savannah Kemp, Tash King, Michael Kling, Anqi La, Ray Lai, Christina Larabie, Sharon Lee, Britt MacDuff, Abbey Markowitz, Liam McClure, Dawn McCormick, Vit Mlcoch, Kelley Montgomery, Sean Murphy, Adrian Nickpour, Chahram Riazi, Will Ross, Tori Schepel, Sweta Shrestha, Raimondo Spano, Stephen Tweedale, Nathaniel Vossen
STAFF Executive + Artistic Director: Jim Sinclair Acting Managing Director: Lindsey Wasserman Managing Director: Kate Ladyshewsky (on leave) Operations + Programming Associate: Shaun Inouye Communications + Marketing Manager: Lizzie Brotherston Education Manager: Liz Schulze Education Coordinator: Hayley Gauvin Venue Operations Manager: Linton Murphy Assistant Theatre Managers: Sarah Bakke, Gabi Dao, Jessica Johnson, Aryo Khakpour, Justin Mah, Paige Smith Head Projectionist: Al Reid Relief Projectionists: Tim Fernandes, Ron Lacheur, Cassidy Penner, Helen Reed, Ryan Ermacora Film Archive Resident: Olivia Babler BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Distribution: Hazel Ackner, Horacio Bach, Kyle Bowman, Michael Demers, Gail Franko, Jeff Halladay, Alan Kollins, Martin Lohmann, Lynn Martin, Vincent Tao, Matthew Shields, Lora Tanaka, Vanessa Turner, Harry Wong Office: Jo B., Betty-Lou Phillips Education: Michael van den Bos, Tash King, Anqi La Archive: Charlotte Cavalié And a special thanks to all our spares!
Chair: Jim Bindon Vice Chair: David Legault Members: Moshe Mastai, Erin Mussolum, Wynford Owen, Tim Reeve, Eric Wyness
THE CINEMATHEQUE PROGRAM GUIDE Program Notes: Jim Sinclair, additional program notes by Shaun Inouye Advertising: Lizzie Brotherston Proofreading: Lizzie Brotherston Design: Marc Junker Published six times a year with a bi-monthly circulation of 10–15,000. Printed by Van Press Printers. ADVERTISING To advertise in this Program Guide or in our theatre before screenings, please email advertising@theCinematheque.ca or call 604.688.8202. SUPPORT The Cinematheque is a charitable not-forprofit arts society. We rely on financial support from public and private sources. Donations are gratefully accepted — a tax receipt will be issued for all donations of $50 or more. To make a donation or for more information, please call our administration office at 604.688.8202. The Cinematheque gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the following agencies:
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