Film Critic of FFDPM

The 2nd Annual Montreal Human Rights Films Festival

(Festival de films sur les droits de la personne de Montreal FFDPM) will run from March 23 to 29, 2007, at the Cinema du Parc in Montreal, during Action Week
Against Racism (AWAR).

LE PORTEUR D’EAU

Canada, 2006, 52 min, doc, v.o. français, s.-t. anglais
Réal./Dir., Mont./Ed., Camera : Pascal Gélinas
Prod. : Office National du Film du Canada
Musique/Music : Jean Saint-Onge
Narration : Jacques Languirand

While the West is battling it out with Islam, as bombs and killings break a fragile peace, this film follows the efforts made by the men and women of Florès Island in
Indonesia, to re-invent their daily lives after 32 years of dictatorship. Amongst them, we find a Canadian, Gilles Raymond, in search of a code of ethics where action coincides with words. Through the simple quest for clean running water, Catholics and Muslims work together to instill a direct democracy and sustainable autonomy. Beyond money, beyond religion and politics, this film reminds us that all men are born brothers.Ok, I’m a documentary filmmaker myself and as I always said, for those of you who know me, documentary doesn’t have to be boring when it explores serious subject matters. In fact, a good documentary has to hock its’ audience with more than just delivering the concern of the information or the message that is trying to get cross. Unfortunately this doc is too boring. The subject matter is interesting but the way the filmmaker has explore the story is far from attractive, not only visually but also the pasting of the story telling. The beauty of documentary filmmaking is to bring the attention of the mass to a subject matter that is being neglected by the mass media. It is about the lives of ordinary people and their extraordinary journey. However, the challenge is to tell it in away that would be interesting enough to sit down and watch it from the beginning to the end. I watch most movies from the beginning to the end just to make sure that I don’t judge it too soon.  But, this doc was too painfully boring for me to watch it till the end. So, my final verdict is run away from this doc unless you want to take a nap at the theatre.   

However, what I recommend to you as must see is the short films at the FFDPM.  Some of my favorites:

EXIT

[France, 2005, 8 min 28, animation, v.o. français , s.-t. anglais]

Réal./Dir. : Xavier Aliot, Florian Bestel, Nicolas Chombart et Guillaume Roux

Compétition Prix court-métrage

A doctor and an insane patient give their points of view on the world during a drawing exercise. In the end, who makes more sense?

Projection : VENDREDI 23 MARS : 19H00 SALLE (THEATRE) 1 & MERCREDI 28 MARS SALLE (THEATRE) 1

SUR LA LIGNE (Border Shop)
Canada, 2006, 15 min, fiction, v.o. français, anglais, s.-t. français
Réal./Dir.,Scén./Scr. :FrédéricDesagerCompétition Prixcourt-métrage End of summer 2000, somewhere in
Quebec. Two young native brothers are watching a gripping report on television about the conflict that opposes fishermen from the native community to federal agents from the Fisheries and Oceans Department. Furious, the older brother decides to install a barricade on the road leading to the entrance to the reservation. The first car that shows up is one with two young French tourists who want to spend part of their honeymoon in immersion in a First Nation community. The Natives speak English, the French speak French and what seems at the beginning to be a funny misunderstanding will rapidly degenerate, especially after the arrival on the scene of a native policewoman and a
Quebec provincial agent.

DON QUICHOTTE À JÉRUSALEM (Don Quixote Be’Yerushalayim)

[Israël, 2005, 5 min, fiction, sans dialogue]

Réal./Dir., Scén./Scr. : Dani Rosenberg

Compétition Prix court-métrage

Don Quixote and Sancho Pancha arrive in Israel in the year 2005. They reach a hill on the Jerusalem , by-pass a road overlooking the wall which divides Israel and the Palestinian Authority. They inspect their target. The two men are already in their 70′s. Quixote is having difficulties mounting his horse and Sancho struggles with his tools. But Don Quixote is determined to attack.

Projection : LUNDI 26 MARS : 21H30 SALLE (THEATRE) 1

Montreal Human Rights Film Festival

The 2nd Montreal Human Rights Film Festival (Festival de films 

sur les droits de la personne de Montreal (FFDPM) runs from 

March 23 to 29, 2007, at the Cinema du Parc. 

This year’s official spokesperson is activist filmmaker Hugo Latulippe.

 The second annual FFDPM uses cinema to promote awareness and 

respect For human rights and fundamental freedoms. 

Short and feature-length fiction and documentary films will be 

shown on the big screen. 

The festival will open with Bamako, directed by Mauritanian 

filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako and distributed in Quebec by 

Remstar (Jury Prize at the 2006 Carthage Film Festival; 

Coup de Coeur du public at the 2006 Festival Lumieres d'Afrique  

in Besaneon; Grand prix du public at the 2006 Festival Paris Cinema;

Out-of-Competition Official Selection, 2006 Cannes Film Festival).

Founded by Images Interculturelles, the festival continues in the

same vein as the film program presented for six years during 

Action Week Against Racism (AWAR). 

For more info visite: http://www.ffdpm.com 

SARA’S FILM RECOMMENDATION

East is East (England, 1999) 

Directed by: Damien O’Donnell

Writing credits: Ayub Khan-Din (play), Ayub Khan-Din (screen play)                    

Staring: Om Puri, Linda Basset, Jordan Routledge   Genre:Comedy /Drama                                                                                                                      Plot Outline: In 1971Salford fish-and-chip shop owner George Khan expects his family to follow his strict Pakistani Muslim ways. But his children, with an English mother and having been born and brought up in Britain, increasingly see themselves as British and start to reject their father’s rules on dress, food, religion, and living in general.         

Documentary Film: What is INDIE?

After finishing off 2006 with the announcement that the film had been licensed to the National Film Board of Canada, Montreal-produced documentary film What is INDIE? will have its first local screening of 2007 on Thursday, April 5th at the famed Empress Cultural Centre (5560 Sherbrooke Street W.) in NDG. The evening will also feature live music performances by local NDG artists Scott MacLeod, Tristan Tondino and Josane Brunelle of MacLeod 9 and Rob Lutes. 

Entrance to the event will be free, and will be hosted by artist Scott MacLeod, who has been working as a professional artist since 1987 as a musician, photographer, painter and now filmmaker. Scott will join Dave Cool for a Q & A session and discussion following the screening to talk about the changing music industry and the opportunities for independentartists:  The free screening at the Empress will give local artists a chance to see a film that will hopefully inspire and empower them, as well as discuss how the music industry is changing and what affect it is havingon their own careers. – Dave Cool, Director,What is INDIE? The event will start at 8PM and is sponsored by the McAuslan Brewery, a local brewery with the same diy and indie philosophy that the evening hopes to encourage. What:Screening of documentary film What is INDIE? Performances By Scott MacLeod and Rob Lutes 

Where: Empress Cultural Centre (5560 Sherbrooke Street W.)  

http://www.empressndg.org  

514. 885. 2846 – 514. 481. 6277  

When:Thursday, April 5th, 8PM 

Cost:FREE!

25th INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF FILMS ON ART

The 25th International Festival of Films on Art runs until March 18th. 

The International Festival of Films on Art (FIFA) celebrates its 25th year honouring the world’s greatest artistic achievements, past and present. With works of photographer David Lachapelle; the tragic story of the Giant Buddhas of Afghanistan; the dark thrillers of James Ellroy; the Malian music of Habib Koité and narrative of puppet-master Yaya Coulibaly urging harmony between cultures; nude models, who finally have the chance to express themselves; the deeply moving poetry of Léo Ferré; the secrets of Marc Lévy, P.D. James, Mary Higgins Clark, Douglas Kennedy and Ken Follett, who write novels that people want to read; and the fabulous adaptation of Carmen by Czech choreographer Jiri Kyliàn for a group of dancers all past the age of 40. 

Take the opportunity to Watch some of the best art movies by both Canadian and foreign filmmakers, Choose from over 275 films from 25 countries,  and Participate in Exchanges and networking forums. 

> Full schedule

Theatre/ Dance/ Art-Rium

L’Affaire Porc-Épic / Theatre

 L’Affaire Porc-Épic with François Brochu, Jeanne Dompierre, Leïla Louchem and Edith Fanny Morin. Text by Geneviève Baril, produced by Stéphane Jaques, stage design by Sonia Léontieff. March 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, and 21 at 8:30 pm. $12. O Patro Výš. 356 Mont-Royal E.

 

 

Uu homme et une femme / Dance

 

A two-person show featuring Dominique Porte and Alain Francoeur, choreographed to the vibrant musical landscape of Bluebeard’s Castle by Béla Bartók. From March 20 to March 24 at the Agora de la danse. Agora de la danse. 840 Cherrier.  

***************************************************************** 

 

Pepin’s “ART-RIUM”

 

Hotel Nelligan presents an exposition of works by
Montreal artist Lysanne Pepin as part of its “ART-RIUM” series. This exclusive vernissage, Criollos, is based on the movement of horses and pays tribute to its namesake, a breed of noble Patagonian horses. Hotel Nelligan. 106 St-Paul W.

Fred A. Reed on “American Fugitive: The Truth About Hassan”

Interviewed in French by FMA’s Sara Sajedi

International journalist and award-winning literary translator Fred A. Reed is also a respected specialist on politics in the Middle East.  After several years as a librarian and trade union activist at the Montreal Gazette, Reed began reporting from Islamic Iran in 1984, visiting the Islamic Republic twenty-eight times since then. He has also reported extensively on Middle Eastern affairs for La Presse, CBC Radio-Canada and Le Devoir.Reed worked with documentarist Jean-Daniel Lafond on the films Salam Iran, a Persian Letter and American Fugitive.
American Fugitive: The Truth About Hassan tells the story of this wanted man, an American—known in Iran as Hassan Abdulrahman—who says: “There is life after America.” Through this story of an unrepentant assassin who openly accuses “the real culprits,” another tale emerges: that of covert networks, international political manipulation, and state-sponsored violence.
For more info go to:   http://www.informactionfilms.com/en/productions/hassan/

mp3 of Interview with Sara Sajedi (in french) HERE

Les Refusées:Affiches du cinéma québécois

Foyer Luce-Guilbeault
Entrée libre

Jusqu’ au 29 avril

30 affiches que vous n’avez failli ne jamais voir, réalisées par Yvan Adam, Annie Lachapelle/Atelier Chinotto, LINO (Alain Lebrun), Mario Mercier/Orangetango, Alexandre Renzo, Martin Villeneuve et Tomasz Walenta.

Une exposition coproduite par le Centre de design de l’UQÀM, la Cinémathèque québécoise et les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois.

WORLD WATER DAY calendar event

watercountry screenings & panel discussions“Of all the social and natural crises we humans face, the water crisisis the one that lies at the heart of our survival and that of our planet Earth.”-UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura, 2006 

To celebrate WORLD WATER DAY,the National Film Board of Canada’s CitizenShift , the Council of Canadians, Canadian Public Interest Research Groups & several regionally based organizations, are presenting a series of 11 short films on the subject of WATER.Films will be in English or in French (w/English sub-titles)A panel discussion will follow with Special Guests.MONDAY, MARCH 19TH - 7:30 PM

Concordia
University

Hall
Building

1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W.

Room H-110Admission is FREEhttp://www.citizen.nfb.ca/waterpressgallery

The Super Reel Dames film festival

After a very successful first year, the SRDF
invited filmmakers of the female persuasion to make short films that were inspired by music. Local, classic, your own band… the point was to pick a song and go wild with it.

New or pre-screened films will be shown by amateur or professional filmmakers.
A woman had to be at the forefront in their creation (as director, camera person, producer, or sound tech).

featuring the work of / en vedette:
Brigitte Henry, Vanya Rose, Amber Goodwyn, Sarah Spring, Mary
Williamson and more / et plus!

http://www.myspace.com/reeldames
**Tickets are 5$**

Date: Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Time: 8:00pm – 11:00pm
Location: Sala Rossa
Street: 4848 St-Laurent

FIFA

Citizen Lambert / FIFA

Opening the 25th International Festival of Films on Art is Citizen Lambert: Joan of ARChitecture, a film by Teri Wehn-Damish, coproduced by Philia Films, the National Film Board of Canada and Les Films de la Perrine. The Festival runs from March 8th to March 18th. March 8 at 8 pm at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. > Full schedule

Montreal All-Nighter at the Musée

March 1, 2007

New exhibitions and live performances No doubt about it: The Musée d’art contemporain will be one of the hottest spots at the Montreal All-Nighter, part of the MONTREAL HIGH LIGHTS Festival. For this fourth edition, the museum will be open free of charge all evening, from 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 3, and on through the night till 5 a.m. 3 new exhibitions Take advantage of this nocturnal outing to see some of today’s happening art, created by living artists using contemporary media. Jean-Pierre Gauthier: Visual and acoustic installations that bring together the notions of order and chaos, permanence and fragility, featuring objects that have been salvaged and then transformed. Jérôme Fortin: A brand-new series of remarkable assemblages made out of found, recycled paper. Fascinating, ephemeral works. Guy Ben-Ner: This work, consisting of a modular, tree-like wood sculpture and a video, offers an ironic take on education and ecology. The artist appears in it as a Robinson Crusoe figure. Live performances Artist Milutin Gubash, whose video work since 2004 is the subject of a presentation now on view in Beverley Webster Rolph Hall, will give an innovative performance at the Musée, together with Women With Kitchen Appliances, at 9 p.m. WWKA describe themselves as a collective of three, four or five or six, with a variable geometry, who are: “Identical. Interchangeable. Disposable. And dead serious.” And who, as their name indicates, play on a “drum” set of kitchen appliances. Hilarious and most entertaining! Midnight is the time set for the next Imprudanses competition, to be held in the museum’s main foyer. Modelled after theatre improv matches, Imprudanses is a dance competition in which two teams of professional dancers improvise according to themes and instructions provided by a referee. The dancers must perform solos, duets and group numbers in original series of movements that are then judged by audience vote. To the immense pleasure of the spectators, they alone decide which team earns the coveted points.  Another must-see: a screening of a report presented on the Radio-Canada television program Prochaine Sortie on the making of the Jérôme Fortin exhibition at the museum (directed by: François Méthée; production: Bubbles Projets inc., 2007).

PALMARÈS : RVCQ

Le prix Pierre et Yolande Perrault DU MEILLEUR ESPOIR DOCUMENTAIRE

·         Décerné à Migration amoureuse, d’Annie Saint-Pierre

·         Une mention spéciale est attribuée à Irène au cœur de lion, de Josephine Mackay

LE PRIX À LA CRÉATION ARTISTIQUE DU CONSEIL DES ARTS ET des LETTRES DU QUÉBEC POUR LA MEILLEURE œuvre D’ART ET D’EXPÉRIMENTATION:

·         Décerné à Actions (9), de Manon Labrecque et Martin Tétraul

LE PRIX OFQJ / Rendez-vous POUR LA MEILLEURE œuvre ÉTUDIANTE

·         Décerné à A Troublesome Desire, d’Anna Sikorski

LE PRIX ANNUEL DE LA FONDATION ALEX ET RUTH DWORKIN POUR

LA PROMOTION DE LA TOLÉRANCE À TRAVERS LE CINÉMA :

·         Décerné à Notre Père, de Marie-Julie Dallaire

LE Prix du public coup de cœur Super Écran :

·         Le Coup de cœur Super Écran (Prix du public) est décerné ex aequo à  Congorama, de Philippe Falardeau, et Le cèdre penché, de Rafaël Ouellet

PRIX DE L’ASSOCIATION QUÉBÉCOISE DES CRITIQUES DE CINÉMA:

Prix AQCC/ Meilleur court et moyen métrag 

·         Terreur au 3918, de Mathieu Fontaine

·         Mention spéciale décernée à Screen Test : Karen Elkin, de Mathieu Grond

Prix AQCC/ Meilleur court et moyen métrage documentaire

·         Portrait de dame par un groupe, de Bashir Bensaddek

·         Mention spéciale décernée à Caporal Mark, de Danic ChampouxLe jury était composé de Francine Laurendeau (Radio Centre-Ville, Séquences), Pierre Pageau (Radio Centre-Ville), Pierre Barrette (24 Images) 

Prix AQCC/ Meilleur long métrage québécois 2006

·         Congorama, de Philippe Falardeau

Birth Life Death: A film festival in 3 parts

Screening on Friday, March 16 

In Concordia’s H-110 Auditorium

As part of Art Matters 2007, Concordia University

Television presents Birth Life Death, a film festival in three parts.
 


Films that explore these topics, both literally and
metaphorically. They are thinking beginnings, 
middles and ends, transitions and commencements, 
things that start and things that stop. 

				
                

             

Norway celebrates Oscar animated short victory for Montrealer Torill Kove

OSLO, Norway (AP) – Norway celebrated Torill Kove’s Oscar victory for her animated short film “The Danish Poet,” the story of a young poet who travels to Norway to find inspiration by meeting Norwegian writer and Nobel Prize winner Sigrid Undset. Although Kove, 48, lives in Montreal and her project was backed by the National Film Board of Canada, the story “could not have been more Norwegian,” she said. “I am Norwegian, and there is not a trace of doubt in my soul that this film is 100 per cent Norwegian,” Kove said. Her animated short film “My Grandmother Ironed the King’s Shirts” was nominated for an Oscar in 1999. “The Danish Poet” is narrated by Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann, who received Oscar nominations for her roles in “The Emigrants” and “Face to Face.”  Jan Erik Holst of the Norwegian Film Institute said the Academy Award victory “puts Norway on the map,” especially for its small, scattered teams of animators. Thor Heyerdahl’s “Kon-Tiki,” which tells the story of the Norwegian adventurer’s harrowing 101-day voyage from Peru to Polynesia in a balsa-log raft, won a documentary Oscar in 1952.  

the Seventh Annual Art Matters Festival

 from March 2-18 2007

Bigger and better than ever and yours to enjoy! Art Art and more art

This festival is a clear declaration that what Concordia students are exploring, creating and contributing is relevant and very much matters.  Students in the arts,  are often faced with uncertainty of how to negotiate their way around the larger art scene as well as their personal art practice. Gaining experience and being able to test how they might position themselves in this structure is invaluable. Art Matters offers a unique opportunity to gain direct experience with every aspect of arts organizing; applying, writing, jurying, selecting, curating, meeting, cooperating, promoting, directing, installing and hosting.

MONTREAL HIGH LIGHTS Festival!

Three festivals in one! From Féb. 22 to March  4 2007

Thursday, February 22, will kick off the 8th edition of the MONTREAL HIGH LIGHTS Festival! For more than 10 days, Montrealers and tourists will have the privilege to witness stunning artistic performances and make delicious discoveries by being a part of the cultural and culinary segments of the Festival. For two long weekends, you will also have the chance to participate in many free activities of the Celebration of Light, that will punctuate at the very start and end of the Festival, the Montreal Downtown & Underground Event followed by the Montreal All-Nighter, which, for its 4th edition, will feature no less than 86 activities as well as a new circuit to explore in the Plateau-Mont-Royal district! This unique urban winter festival truly reflects
Montreal with all its openness. A variety of shows and activities are yours for the taking, from Thursday, February 22 to Sunday, March 4. It’s all for you! Enjoy!

FREE PROGRAMS

1.      Performing Arts; dance, theatre, music 

2.      Wine and Dine Experience; good food   

3.      The Hydro-Québec Celebration of Light; in Old
Montreal;

( MAP OF ALL ACTIVITIES IS  AVAILABLE ON LINE)

4.      Montreal All-Nighter/ Nuit Blanc; For those of you who like to party all night   

5.      Montreal Downtown & Underground Event.

Download the free schedule online at montrealenlumiere.com • montrealhighlights.com

 

 

The Link presents: Women in Publishing workshop series

Leading up to International Women's Day, 
The Link Concordia's independent student newspaper — is 
offering a series of workshops intended to empower 
self-identifying women in the means of production.
Women may make up 60 per cent of students enrolled in 
universities,but in the media workplace women still make up 
a little over 10 percent of the Editors-in-Chief. Numbers 
are similarly low in other areas of power including 
production managers, desk editors as well as in broadcast 
media. 
UNESCO encourages media outlets to hand over the means of 
production to women on International Women's Day, something 
The Link has done for years. 
Please join us in our workshop series, which continues 
(tomorrow) Friday Feb. 16. Workshops take place in 
The Link's newsroom, Concordia's Hall building, room H-649. 
If you'd like to submit writing, photography or graphics to 
the women's issue, the deadline is Friday March 2. 
Please pitch ideas to thelink.specials@gmail.com. 
Principles of Editing
  


Friday Feb. 16, 4 to 5 p.m.
The ways news stories are written tend to neglect women, 
people of colour and other minorities. As an editor 
(whether you're proofing your own work, or advising others)
, there are many things you can keep in mind as we strive 
to improve fairness in our publications. This workshop is 
open to everyone - women, men and everyone in between -and 
will touch on story structure, how to advise writers and 
how to edit with fairness in mind.

				
                

             

Musee d’Art Contemporain de Montreal

   

3 artists: most ingenious! February 14, 2007

Three exhibitions, a Projections series, meetings with artists, a Montreal All-Nighter – a winter season at the Musée d’art contemporain full of invention, playfulness and poetry. February 10 to April 22, 2007 Brilliantly inventive, they have a passion for the everyday and a talent for transformation: simultaneously, three separate exhibitions, three artists. Jean-Pierre Gauthier delves deep into the aural and metaphorical potential of found objects: pipe fittings, funnels and electric wires are metamorphosed in an extraordinary exploration of order and chaos, permanence and fragility, utility and uselessness. Jérôme Fortin’s work invokes oft-repeated gestures, patience and slowness. Using ordinary printed material (manga comics, Yellow Pages, maps), the artist meticulously and tirelessly folds and glues, creating murals out of paper screens and turning seriality into an object of fascination. Everything is designed to slow the spectator’s gaze. For his part, Guy Ben-Ner offers his comments on our readymade society in a hilarious re-reading of the story of Robinson Crusoe: thanks to an ingenious modular system, the shipwreck victim’s tree is taken apart and rebuilt as furniture! Projections – Milutin Gubash: Lots January 24 to March 4, 2007 The Projections series gets under way again with a program devoted to Milutin Gubash. Entitled Lots, it includes all the video works made by the artist since 2004. With disarming simplicity, Gubash explores the complexity of our relations with those around us, the places we inhabit and the strange events that sometimes occur there. Meetings with artists Jean-Pierre Gauthier will meet the public on Wednesday, February 14, at 6 p.m. (in French) and Jérôme Fortin will speak with the public on Wednesday, February 21, at 6 p.m. (in French). As part of the Point[s] of View series, which offers members of the public the chance to meet Musée curators, there will be a guided tour of the Jean-Pierre Gauthier exhibition by Pierre Landry on March 14, 2007 at 6 p.m., and of the Jérôme Fortin exhibition by Sandra Grant Marchand on March 28, 2007 at 6 p.m. Montreal All-Nighter during the Montreal High Lights Festival Night owls take note: the 2007 edition of the Montreal All-Nighter will be taking place at the Musée on March 3-4, from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. Visitors will be able to enjoy full Musée programming, as well as brand-new performances by Milutin Gubash and Women with Kitchen Appliances. Free admission. Finally, Jean-Pierre Gauthier and several former collaborators will be presenting a concert-performance on March 21 at 8 p.m. Hours Tuesday to Sunday: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday evening (free admission): 6 to 9 p.m. More details at www.macm.org/en

ONF à la maison — 14th season

 January 28 to April 30, 2007

Along with the City of Montreal, the National Film Board is proud to offer a new season of free screenings in various Maisons de la culture and around Montreal.

Screenings will take place at Ahuntsic, Côte-des-Neiges, Montréal-Nord, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Plateau Mont-Royal, Pointe-aux-Trembles, Rosemont, Saint-Laurent, Saint-Léonard, Verdun and at the NFB Cinema. The program: 23 documentaries followed by discussions with the filmmakers, artisans or special guests; and 10 family programs.

All screenings will be in French.

This 14th edition of ONF à la maison offers a varied program. For screenings near you, look for the flyer in your area or consult the attached flyer (Available only in French.)