This Magazine's Film Club: February 2006 Archives

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February 24, 2006

THIS Magazine's Film Club

Show your support for Film Club and subscribe to THIS Magazine: http://www.thismagazine.ca/subscribe/.

1st Rule of Film Club: Tell Everyone About Film Club!

Please forward to your friends, acquaintances and just about anyone else you can think of. Show your support of our national cinema by checking out a Canadian film.

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Film Club Newsletter - February 24, 2006

1. Special Events - Allan King at Cinematheque Ontario!
2. Now Playing
3. Coming Soon - New Spring Festival Listings!

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1. Special Events

a) CINEMATHEQUE ONTARIO LECTURE SERIES: ALLAN KING ON FREEDOM AND AUTHORITY
Wednesday, March 1st at 8:30 p.m.
Cinematheque Ontario, Art Gallery of Ontario's Jackman Hall, 317 Dundas St. West, Toronto
http://www.bell.ca/cinematheque

"Allan King brings us to contemplate, individually, what we, as a society, dare not watch."
-Martin Bilodeau

Cinematheque Ontario presents an evening with filmmaker Allan King, including screenings of two of his earlier films. SKIDROW and RICKSHAW are the first two films in the recently assembled Allan King DVD Collection; the first film deals with dereliction, the second with poverty. All his films explore the question that has obsessed King since the beginning of his career: "Why do people have such difficulty doing what they say they want to do?" The screenings will be preceded by a talk by Allan King on freedom and authority, the central theme of his work. A question-and-answer session will follow the films.

Allan King (born in Vancouver, BC) is a pioneer of the cinéma-vérité documentary style, developing the genre of "actuality dramas" with such widely acclaimed films as WARRENDALE (1967), A MARRIED COUPLE (1969), WHO'S IN CHARGE? (1983), THE DRAGON'S EGG (1999) and DYING AT GRACE (2003). He was the subject of the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival's Canadian Retrospective, which featured selections from his five decades of filmmaking. MEMORY FOR MAX, CLAIRE, IDA AND COMPANY (2005) is a documentary investigation into mortality and the effects aging has on the mind.

SKIDROW (1956), Allan King's powerful first film, produced for the CBC, looks at down-and-outers in Vancouver. SKIDROW alternates between a near-exhaustive record of the men's daily routines - cadging money during rush hour, hustling sailors and loggers for drinks, visiting the local missions for food - and startlingly frank interviews. Unapologetic and upfront, these men consider their lives in matter-of-fact terms, with few discernible regrets. It's simultaneously distant, strangely beautiful, and suffused with anger - heightened by the sense of powerlessness that runs through the film, Ben Maartman's biting, despairing voice-over, and the almost archaic, timeless feel of cinematographer Jack V. Long's images. A seminal example of West Coast filmmaking, SKIDROW also prefigures King's later, best known work in its emphasis on objectivity and life as performance, its intimacy with its subjects, and King's particular visual style.

RICKSHAW (1960) is one of King's most celebrated early works, RICKSHAW is in many ways more heart-wrenching than his first film, partly because its subjects lacked even the meagre opportunities offered the drifters in SKIDROW. King focuses on a sixty-year-old-man who has spent his life pulling a rickshaw on the streets of Calcutta. The film captures his last few days at work; he's about to leave the city to rejoin his family in the country. It's a rather Pyrrhic victory, however, as his young son will be taking over for him. Like SKIDROW, RICKSHAW is driven by an intense voice-over (this time provided by George Robertson) which never shies away from the dilemmas facing its protagonists and refuses any easy, glib comfort.

All Cinematheque Ontario screenings are held at the Art Gallery of Ontario's Jackman Hall, 317 Dundas St. West, Toronto (McCaul Street entrance).

Cinematheque Ontario Lecture Series tickets are $10.25 for Members and $15.50 for non-members. All screenings are restricted to individuals 18 years of age or older, unless noted otherwise.

For ticket information, visit the Official website, http://www.bell.ca/cinematheque, the year-round Box Office at Manulife Centre (55 Bloor Street West, main floor, north entrance), or call 416-968-FILM.

Allan King: Filmmaker (2002, Toronto International Film Festival) is available at Jackman Hall and at our year round Box Office at the Manulife Centre. Please visit the Publications section of our website, http://www.bell.ca/cinematheque. Distributed in Canada by Wilfrid Laurier University Press and worldwide by Indiana University Press.

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2. Now Playing

FILM CIRCUIT: Visit the new website at http://www.filmcircuit.ca/ to see which Canadian films are playing near you.

You can also check out http://www.cinemaclock.com/ to see what other films may be playing in your town.

a) Escape To Canada
QC
http://www.escapetocanada.ca/

b) Eve and the Firehorse
BC, ON
http://www.eveandthefirehorse.com/

c) A Simple Curve
AB
http://www.asimplecurve.com/

d) Water
ON
http://water.mahiram.com
http://www.mongrelmedia.com/films/Water.html

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3. Coming Soon - New Spring Festival Listings!

If you know of any upcoming film festivals or events happening across the country, please be sure to email the details to filmclub@thismagazine.ca.

a) Escape to Canada
March 10th, 2006 - Toronto, Bloor Cinema
http://www.escapetocanada.ca/

b) Rhinoceros Eyes
March 10th, 2006
http://www.rhinoceroseyes.com/

c) Beowulf & Grendel
March 10th, 2006
http://www.beowulfandgrendel.com/

d) Fetching Cody
March 10th, 2006 - Toronto
March 17th, 2006 - Vancouver
http://www.cheapanddirty.ca/

e) Lucid
March 17th, 2006 - Toronto, Vancouver, & Winnipeg
http://www.lucidthemovie.com

f) Canadian Filmmakers Festival, Toronto
March 23rd to March 26th, 2006
http://www.canfilmfest.ca

g) Niagara Motel
March 24th, 2006
http://www.muse.ca/4105/fiche.asp?id=107

h) Cinéfranco, Toronto
March 31st to April 9th, 2006
http://www.cinefranco.com

i) ReelWorld Film Festival, Toronto
April 19th to April 23rd, 2006
http://www.reelworld.ca

j) Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival for Children
April 21st to April 30th, 2006
http://www.e.bell.ca/filmfest/sprockets

k) Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival, Toronto
April 28th to May 7th, 2006
http://www.hotdocs.ca

l) Digifest, Toronto
May 10th to May 14th, 2006
http://www.dx.org/digifest

m) North by Northeast Music & Film Conference and Festival, Toronto
June 8th to June 10th, 2006
http://www.nxne.com

n) Canadian Film Centre's Worldwide Short Film Festival, Toronto
June 13th to June 18th, 2006
http://www.worldwideshortfilmfest.com

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ATTENTION Academy Members and Canadian Film Enthusiasts: Check out http://www.aflick.ca/ for regular updates of Canadian Film Listings, and to get links to official film websites and distributor sites! Information will be updated on a weekly basis. Note that listings are subject to change at any time.

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Visit the award-winning Northern Stars® website, devoted to Canadian actors and actresses, directors and films: http://www.northernstars.ca/nowplaying_2.html.

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Please let us know about any other Canadian screenings going on anywhere and everywhere and we will do our best to include the details in our postings.

Film Club is a member of MyMediaBiz.com (http://mymediabiz.com), Canada's only multi-tiered, multi-purpose entertainment portal dedicated to promoting and enhancing interactivity in the Canadian media industry.

If you would like to volunteer or subscribe to THIS Magazine's Film Club newsletter, please send an email to filmclub@thismagazine.ca.

Remember...1st Rule of Film Club: Tell Everyone About Film Club!

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Posted by annette FC at 12:05 PM

February 17, 2006

THIS Magazine's Film Club

Show your support for Film Club and subscribe to THIS Magazine: http://www.thismagazine.ca/subscribe/.

1st Rule of Film Club: Tell Everyone About Film Club!

Please forward to your friends, acquaintances and just about anyone else you can think of. Show your support of our national cinema by checking out a Canadian film.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Film Club Newsletter - February 17, 2006

Thank you to everyone who entered our ticket give-away for RHINOCEROS EYES. The 20 winners will receive notification via email from the organizers of the preview screening.

1. Opening - ESCAPE TO CANADA in Montreal with director Albert Nerenberg in attendance!
2. Now Playing
3. Coming Soon

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1. Opening - ESCAPE TO CANADA

a) ESCAPE TO CANADA
Friday, February 17th - Montreal
http://www.escapetocanada.ca/

ESCAPE TO CANADA, a new high energy feature documentary, unveils the pot-smoking, gay marrying, freedom loving Canada, Harper notwithstanding. The film opens in Montreal on February 17th, followed by a cross-Canada roll out in the coming weeks.

"You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll love your country"
-THE MONTREAL MIRROR

ESCAPE TO CANADA will premiere in Montreal on Friday February 17th at le Cinema du Parc at 7:15pm and play for at least two weeks.

Director Albert Nerenberg will be in attendance at the 7:15pm and 9:00pm shows on February 17th. Visit http://www.cinemaduparc.com for more information.

ESCAPE TO CANADA opens March 10th in Toronto at the Bloor Cinema and will play for at least a week.

Some screenings in "Stonervision."

"Escape to Canada is an altogether winning portrait of a country."
-VARIETY

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2. Now Playing

FILM CIRCUIT: Visit the new website at http://www.filmcircuit.ca/ to see which Canadian films are playing near you.

You can also check out http://www.cinemaclock.com/ to see what other films may be playing in your town.

a) Eve and the Firehorse
BC, ON
http://www.eveandthefirehorse.com/

b) A Simple Curve
BC, MB
http://www.asimplecurve.com/

c) Water
BC, AB, ON
http://water.mahiram.com
http://www.mongrelmedia.com/films/Water.html

d) Whole New Thing
NS
http://www.wholenewthing.com/

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3. Coming Soon