Aki Kaurismäki’s Cannes 2011 favourite and winner of the FIPRESCI Prize . A political fairy tale that takes inspiration from the French cinema of the 1930s, Le Havre finds Kaurismäki working in France for the first time since his 1992 art house hit La Vie de Boheme.
In this warm-hearted portrait of the harbor city that gives the film its name, fate throws young African refugee Idrissa (newcomer Blondin Miguel) into the path of Marcel Marx (André Wilms, Europa Europa), a well-spoken bohemian who works as a shoe-shiner. With innate optimism and the unwavering solidarity of his community, Marcel stands up to officials doggedly pursuing the boy for deportation. In addition to Wilms and Miguel, Le Havre stars Kati Outinen (The Man Without a Past) and Jean-Pierre Darroussin (A Very Long Engagement). Le Havre was co-produced by Fabienne Vonier (The Barbarian Invasions) and Reinhard Brundig (Winged Migration).
Director & Screenplay: Thom Fitzgerald
images: Shaun Simpson
Friday Feb 3, 7:30 pm
From acclaimed Nova Scotia Director Thom Fitzgerald, this hilarious and profane comedy has swept the film festival circuit winning accolades from critics and audiences alike.
It stars Oscar®-winning actresses Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker as Stella and Dot, an aging couple who escape from a nursing home in Maine and drive to Nova Scotia on a quest to be legally married. Stella and Dot have been together for 31 years and have faithfully accompanied one another through life's ups and downs.
Now in their seventies, Stella is hard of hearing and Dot is legally blind. Dotty's prudish granddaughter, Molly (played by Genie Award-winner Kristin Booth), decides the best place for Dot is a nursing home that will provide all the necessities.
This forces Stella and Dot to make a bold decision: they will leave their hometown and make their way to Canada, where same-sex marriage is legal. It's a last-gap bid to stay together.
En route to Canada, they pick up a young hitchhiker, Prentice, played by newcomer Ryan Doucette. A small-town boy turned modern dancer, he is returning to Nova Scotia to visit his dying mother. Despite his bravado, Prentice is a confused and wounded soul who has much to learn from Stella and Dot as they wage their own unexpected battle – after three decades, can they keep their family together?
With equal parts humour and grace, Cloudburst explores the important themes of life, death and love through the eyes of this oddball trio.
93 minutes. R nudity and foul foul language.
FLIKS RATING - definitely 18yrs and those with even mildly delicate ears be warned - Stella is wincingly profane but hilarius. Also full frontal nudity can be had in this film.
(This is the tamest clip we could find)
“Oscar-winner Olympia Dukakis shines in this beautiful love story as the defiant and hilariously profane Stella." - Georgia Straight, Vancouver
"Olympia Dukakis' incendiary "Stella" exploded on the screen like a roadside bomb... This film was not just entertaining, it was liberating and redeeming." – FQ
"Hilarious, unpredictable and extremely moving, this new tour de force by the Canadian filmmaker Thom Fitzgerald features two actresses at the height of their talent: Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker. The two are irresistible..." – Image + Nation Film Festival
"Dukakis is brilliant as the charmingly vulgar, potty-mouthed Stella" – Michael Hawrysh, 2b Magazine
“Thom Fitzgerald has crafted a new Canadian movie classic, and he’s directed his actors to some of the finest performances you’ll see this year. Plus, this film is one heck of a crowd-pleaser!” – Edmonton International Film Festival website
"Canada comes out strong with this flick about 80-year-old lesbians forced to flee Maine for Nova Scotia after vulgar, fiery Stella (a feisty Dukakis) springs her lover of 30 years, sweet, blind Dot (Fricker), from an old-folks home. It’s funny, heartfelt and full of foul language — and indeed a story everyone needs to see." -Westender Weekly, Vancouver
Director & Writer: Phillipe Farlardeau
Cast: Mohamed Fellaq, Sophie Nelisse, Emilien Neron
Friday, March 19, 7:30 pm
Canada's entry to the Oscars, Phillipe Farlardeau's heartfelt and often humourous drama doesnt dissapoint.
This is the story of an Algerian immigrant substitute teacher who brings emotional stability to a Montreal middle school class shaken by the suicide of their well-liked teacher.
Surprisingly humorous, this is a luminous and tender tale about the lessons we learn from one another, regardless of age and features amazing performances by the child actors, verifying that director Philippe Farlardeau is one of Canada’s great filmic treasures. Winner of best film by Canadian Film Critics and Canada’s entry to the Oscars. PG
Principal Cast: Cory Monteith, Dustin Milligan, Amanda Crew, Gabrielle Miller, Kacey Rohl, Ben Ratner,
Friday Apr 13, 7:30 pm
The third installment in a hilarius trilogy on family dynamics - Mothers & Daughters (CFF 2010) and Fathers & Sons (CFF 2011). Carl Bessai's new film SISTER & BROTHERS doesnt dissapoint with its unique collaborative style and filmmaking process.
Carl Bessai’s third installment in his family trilogy is a bracingly funny look into the lives of four sets of siblings. Brimming with affection, hostility and a healthy dose of guilt, Sisters & Brothers cleverly tills the volatile territory of siblinghood.
Four scenarios are rife with comedy and drama : A Schizophrenic brother (Ben Ratner) is nursed back to health by his sister; A famous actor caught up in his own fame and his philanthropic brother try to relate; Two sisters are worlds apart in what they want from life - and finally a mother is faced with telling her daughter about a sister she never knew she had.
92 mins. PG - violence, sex, bums and swears ... the stuff families are made of!
