ALFF FILMS

REVIVAL69: THE CONCERT THAT ROCKED THE WORLD

DIR. RON CHAPMAN, 2022, CANADA | 97 MIN

SCREENING SPONSOR: MUSIC YUKON

“The second most important event in rock & roll history” was a one-day event held at the University of Toronto’s Varsity Stadium called the Toronto Rock & Roll Revival. An incredible back-door story of how a life-changing concert came together. Director Ron Chapman reveals a series of colourful characters, murky deals and broken promises, culminating in John Brower, a young struggling promoter, putting his life on the line (literally) in order to achieve his goal. Included in the lineup were Chuck Berry, The Doors and Alice Cooper among many. Told with engaging animation, graphics, actual audio footage from John Lennon’s personal Apple office phone recordings and many interviews.

Riceboy Sleeps

DIR. ANTHONY SHIM, 2022, BRITISH COLUMBIA | 117 MIN

SCREENING SPONSOR: DIRECTORS GUILD OF CANADA - BC DISTRICT

Raising her young son Dong-hyun in Vancouver’s suburbs in the 90s, So-young, a South Korean immigrant and single mom, desperately wants to instill a sense of pride in the boy. In turn, he only wants to be considered “Canadian” in hopes of avoiding bullying at school. Wedding autobiographical elements with more universal concerns, Shim achieves an exquisite balance in this gorgeous coming-of-age drama. The film’s even pacing and gorgeous score carry the audience through both heart-breaking and uplifting drama.

In English and Korean with English subtitles.

Content advisory: themes of racism, mental illness and drug use.

Rosie

DIR. GAIL MAURICE, 2022, QUEBEC | 92 MIN

SCREENING SPONSOR: YUKON PROVISIONS

A film about family, love, and misfits, Rosie tells the story of a young, orphaned, Indigenous girl who is forced to live with her reluctant, street-smart Aunty Fred (Frédérique). Rosie is thrust into the fringes of 1980’s Montréal into the care of Fred, who just lost her job, is on the verge of eviction, and who looks and sounds nothing like her. Fred introduces Rosie to her two best friends who are glamorous, gender-bending street workers. In the end, Rosie transforms the lives of these characters and finds love, acceptance, and a true Home with her new chosen family of glittering outsiders.

In English, French and Cree with English subtitles.

Content advisory: themes of Sixties Scoop and homelessness.

Saint Omer

DIR. ALICE DIOP, 2022, FRA | 122 MIN

This progressively claustrophobic courtroom drama of a woman accused of infanticide is told through the stoic point of view of a young novelist, pregnant herself and increasingly uneasy. Her own family history, doubts, and fears about motherhood are steadily dislodged as the life story of the accused woman is gradually revealed. From a stern upbringing in Senegal to gradual isolation from family and society on her arrival in Europe, the accused’s experiences expose the traumas of racism and emotional manipulation that can remain unspoken while insidiously and irrevocably corroding a person’s well-being.

In French with English subtitles.

Content advisory: racism, themes of violence, anxiety and mental distress.