4 new films are capsule revuewed here. The festival runs from Feb 12th- 15th and free for youth. Check website.
COCOON (KOKON)(Germany 2020) ***1/2
Directed by Leonie Krippendorff
Girls just want to have fun… as the Madonna song goes.German director Krippendorff’s new film takes her protagonist Nora out of her cocoon to experience life as this coming-of-age story shows. Nora, a Berlin teen is bored.A silent observer most of the time, she is always tagging along instead of participating— at parties, at school, at the pool, on rooftops.She drifts around the housing blocks of Berlin’s Kreuzberg district with her big sister and her friends, where everything she sees seems to fade in the summer light.Nora has her own way of looking at the world, and when she meets Romy, she realizes why. Director Krippendorff’s use of the cocoon is also hilarious.In one scene a caterpillar escapes from the jar Nora’s collection.“If another escapes, I will kill it,”says Nora’s sister as they share the same bedroom.Nora comes off her and transforms into a beautiful butterfly, metaphorically speaking.Krippendorff’s breezy film is an honest ode to the joy of youth and self-discovery.The film also bravely deals with the issue of discovering one’s sexual orientation.
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DEATH OF NINTENDO (USA/Philippines 2019) *** Directed by Raya Martin
Raya Martin’s warm homage to puberty and adolescence, set in 1990s Manila, follows a quartet of teens as their relationships, lives and bodies change.Director Martin chooses Paulo, the cutest one among the teens as his lead character.Paulo is interested in the new girl in town Shiara, who he tries to get more information from with the help of Mimaw, the girl in his group.Trouble is that Mimaw is herself interested in Paulo while always dressing up as a tomboy.Director Martin includes other factors that influence the lives of the kids like the frequent earthquakes. ghost hunting in the local cemetery, basketball, and of course video games like Nintendo.The film also gives the audience a good look at suburban Philippine life.The film is breezy, light and easy going, reflecting the joy and exuberance of youth.
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MY NAME IS BAGHDAD (Meu Nome e Bagda)(Brazil 2020) *** Directed by Cars Alves de Souza
A teen film about female abuse as seen from the eye of an independent female teen.The film begins with her, her name is Baghdad, at a party she attends with her sister.While accompanying her to the toilet, a boy covers her mouth to prevent her from screaming, and pushes his body on her, against a wall.The film goes back to the events that lead up to the party.It turns out that both are skaters at the local skater park.The film follows Baghdad who lives in Freguesia do Ó, a working-class neighbourhood in the city of São Paulo, Brazil.Baghdad skateboards with a group of male friends and spends a lot of time with her family and with her mother's friends.Together, the women around her form a network of people who are out of the ordinary. When Baghdad meets a group of female skateboarders, her life suddenly changes.She and her new group of skater female friends confront her attacker at the park.Director de Sousa’s film freely moves among the characters though the female abuse part, though central to the film’s theme seems to come out of the blue.Grace Orsato gives a fresh look to her main character which makes the movie.
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THE NIGHT OF THE BEAST (LA NOCHE DE LA BESTIA) (Colombia/Mexico 2020) ***
Directed by Mauricio Leiva Cock
This low budget teen film, NIGHT OF THE BEAST, set in Bogota, Colombia follows two young teens friends.Awkward that they are as heavy metal fans, they are good buddies, going about in the film wearing an AC/DC and the other an iron Maiden T-shirt.Nothing much happens as the camera follows the two on their unexciting routines around their lives.But the spark comes one evening, the night of their lives of the NIGHT OF THE BEAST when they plan to attend a heavy metal concert, with a live performance by Iron Maiden. But something happens to make their evening more exciting.But not in a good way.They get robbed of their tickets.They desperately try to reclaim their stolen Iron Maiden concert tickets, in Mauricio Leiva-Cock’s heartwarming film that shows friendship, youth and obsession.
The site will not be covering the DOC NYC 2020 this year.However, one film will be mentioned and reviewed.
DOC NYC 2020 Film Festival (Special Review)
BARE (Belgium 2020) ***1/2
Directed by Aleksandr M. Vinogradov
This eye-opening dance documentary begins with shots of parts of the male human body.With close ups, its takes time to distinguish which part of the body the camera is focussing on.When the image of a hairy penis appears, it would seem that one should be comfortable with male nudity to watch this doc - just as one should be comfortable with male nudity in order to appreciate the choreography of Belgian dance Master Thierry Smits.
The doc continues with a short clip of the auction process where the dancers are selected and the unsuccessful ones sent off.Practices ensue.During the process Smits, speaking in a blend of French and English is totally respectful and polite to the dancers.One would envision some friction between Smits and his dancers, but none are shown.
Eleven naked men audition, rehearse and perform for the premiere of master Belgian choreographer Thierry Smits’s new contemporary dance piece called Anima Ardens.Mixing intimate rehearsal footage with extensive and breathtaking dance sequences, BARE follows the choreographer and his team as they work (from audition to premiere) to explore difficult, often taboo subjects through nudity and dance.It is a bold and enlightening exploration, erotic no doubt, with BARE skin on display, of artistic conflict, gender, and sexuality the one constant is the conceit that the body is the last bastion of personal freedom.
In the words of Smits, it is erotic nudity not obscene nudity but beautiful nudity on display.
Russian director Aleksandr M. Vinogradov is also of dance background.Together with Thierry Smits, they provide an unforgettable experience, with yet another insightful view of the art of dance.
The climax of the film is the premiere performance.This is reserved for the doc’s last 5 minutes which only short clips of the dance are shown.
The virtual 11th edition of America’s largest documentary festival, DOC NYC runs from November 11th to 19th and will be available online throughout the US.
DEUX (TWO OF US) (France/Luxembourg/Belgium 2019) ***** Top 10
Directed byFilippo Meneghetti
DEUX (TWO OF US) has already gone around the festival circuit winning accolades and dozens of awards, hard to believe as this is writer/director Filippo Meneghetti’s first narrative feature.The film is also France’s entry for the 93 Academy Awards for Best International Feature.
It is the story of two pensioners who live across each other in an apartment building.Their two decade clandestine love affair is challenged when an unexpected event changes their lives.
The film's best and brilliant segment occurs at the start when two young girls play hide and seek and Mado disappears from her hidng place to the astonishment of Nina - the dream-like sequence a metaphor of what will happen later when Mado gets lost suffering a stroke and Nina has to find her hiding place.
The above summary of the film makes it all sound boring - a romantic story of two aged lesbians with their love put to the test.Far from it.DEUX turns out to be a perfect little gem proving that love conquers all - not to sound so cliched.But this film, written and directed by Filippo Meneghetti has a plot even Hitchcock could be proud of.There are moments of intense suspense, emotions and mystery together with characters of questionable background and an ending with a twist to boot.
Nina (Barbara Sukowa) and Madeleine or Mado (Martine Chevallier) have hidden their deep and passionate love for many decades. From the point of view of those surrounding them, including Madeleine's meddling daughter (Léa Drucker), they are simply two neighbours sharing a hallway during their sunset years.The ultimate test of their love occurs when Mado has a stroke (that could have been caused by Nina in her outburst) and Nina not allowed to visit Made due to the interfering daughter and the caregiver nurse from hell, Muriel (Muriel Bénazéra).
German actress Sukowa (known for her Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Margarethe von Trotta films) is simply marvellous as the chain smoking widow who decides to take meddling to a new level.Martine Chevallier (de la Comédie-Française) is equally good, acting with the limited ability of a character who has suffered a stroke. Director Meneghetti centres the film on Madeleine for the first third before switching the protagonist to Nina after Madeleine’s stroke.The script offers more background for Mado but Nina’s is kept out of the picture.This makes her more mysterious.The audience cannot guess what is on her mind or what she would do next. She tells Mado’s daughter a bit about her past, but keeps it private.The introduction of the caregiver Muriel into the story is a touch of sinister genius.
The Italian version of the 1963 Ricky Nelson song “I will Follow You” is used in the soundtrack a number of times. The English lyrics which include “I will follow you… no matter wherever you may go… there isn’t an ocean so deep……a mountain so high it can keep, keepme away, away from my love…”tells of their love.The two had met in Rome and had planned to retire there and hence this is their Italian love song.
DEUX really arouses the emotions of the audience.It is simply not right that two lovers are prevented from spending the rest of their twilight years together because of prejudice.Clearly something needs to be done.And when Nina takes charge, everyone cheers.
If it all seems that director Meneghetti has taken too much on his plate, he actually brings all the elements neatly together - the suspense, the romance, the mystery and the excitement without making any part of the material too forced.The film also promotes LGBT relationships that they should be accepted and treated as normal for the benefit of all.
This one gets my vote for both Best International Feature as well as Best First Feature.
Cinéfranco 23rd annual festival of International and Canadian Francophone cinema will be held online from Friday, November 20 – Saturday, November 28 with 17 features, 2 shorts programs, post-screening Conversations, and Panels, using the Eventine festival platform, accessed at www.cinefranco.com Two new films will be added daily with 48 hr for a household to view once a stream is activated. Closing Night on November 28 will see three new films on the platform.
Because of Covid-19, the films in Cinefranco this year will be screened virtually instead of in physical theatres. This allows for the first time, Cinéfranco to expand its reach across all of Canada, where lovers of French language cinema can also discover the Cinéfranco community.
Cinéfranco 2020’s program includes feature films from Belgium, Canada, France, Lebanon, Morocco, and Senegal reflecting the diversity of the Francophone world. The festival also celebrates filmmakers from Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick with the return of the popular Courts toujours (In Short) programs.
“In a year to remember, full of challenges for everyone, we at Cinéfranco are blessed and privileged to be able to continue bringing the best of International and Canadian francophone cinema to our audiences”, said Marcelle Lean, Artistic Director and Founder. “During the pandemic we’ve stayed in touch with our community online, presenting films and conversations and are looking forward to embracing new audiences across Canada during the festival. The pandemic has given us all reason to pause and reflect as well as witness amplified inequities. We’ve curated this year’s film selection with that, as well as a need for some levity, in mind.”
Marcelle Lean, I am proud to say, is a personal friend of mine, whom I known since the festival’s inception.She is always cheerful, helpful with an astonishing passion for film notably francophone films.
For complete information of the festival including descriptions of the films, please click the Link:
(Keep checking the article for more updated reviews)
AU NOM DE LA TERRE (In the Name of the Land) (France/Belgium2019) **** Directed by Edouard Bergeon
A modern JEAN DE FLORETTE tale of farming the land, AU NON DE LA TERRE tells the hardship of a farmer and his family.According to the film credits there is a farmer who commits suicide every 2 minutes in France.The film is based on a true story which will literally jolt you out of your seat at the film’s climax when reading the tombstone.The film begins with a young Pierre Jarjeau (Guillaume Canet) returning home from Wyoming at the age of 25 to marry his fiancee (Veerle Baetens) and take over the family farm, Les Grands Bois (the grand woods) which he purchases from his strict no-nonsense father (Rufus).Pierre and family work extremely hard with their hired help with crops and goat breeding.The goats and kids are extremely adorable and thank God the audience is spared from seeing these any of these creatures slaughtered.It is the human beings that do the suffering as the farm goes into debt, followed by a huge fire that destroys the farm buildings.Director Bergeon captures the beauty and hardships of farm life aided by superb performances all around with newcomer Anthony Bajon as the young son deserving mention.Not an easy watch, seeing human beings suffer so much but the Jarjeau family story is a story that needs to be told.
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BAAMUM NAFI (Nafi’s Father) (Senegal 2019) ***1/2
Directed ny Mamadou Dia
From theAfrican country of Senegal comes this Shakespearean ROMEO AND JULIET tragedy of a couple in love amidst warring families.The families in this case are two brothers, who live in a small town, one, Tierno, the acting imam and the other, his rich brother Ousmane who wishes to control the two by means of controlling the people by means of bribing them with money from who Tierno terms a terrorist.Nafi is Tierno’s only high spirited daughter who is engaged to be married against his wishes to Ousmane’s son.Tierno is totally against the marriage despite his wife and daughter’s wishes.Politics get ugly and everyone suffers especially the young couple. The two brothers have affiliations to two different forms of Islam.Director Dia’s drama is a slow burn but no less effective as he engages his audience to examine the detrimental effects of personal differences an personal and political gain.The film also provides a welcome change of an unfamiliar Senegal setting with a universal story with a strong message.
A high concept comedy that turns out too smart for its execution. This French comedy follows an old fashioned cartoonist, Victor (Daniel Auteuil) now out of work with print making way to websites that do not favour cartoons.To make matters worse, his wife, Marianne (Fanny Ardant) is totally modern with her self driving Tesla, virtual reality and artificial intelligence.She is bored with him.Victor engages in a service called ‘Time Travellers’ that takes clients to their desired past historical moments.Victor picks 1974 the time he had first met and fallen in love with his wife.Writer/director Bedos (MR. & MRS ADELMAN) creates an original premise blending modern technology with old-fashioned French romance.Bedos edits his film at quite the manic pace so that the audience has hardly any time to breathe, thus often missing the simplicity of comedy. Still this is Bedos’ unique style that is still entertaining, nevertheless.Auteuil and Ardant are a delight to watch on screen.
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LA BONNE EPOUSE (HOW TO BE A GOOD WIFE)(France/Belgique 2020) ****
Directed by Martin Provost
French director Martin Provost returns with his SERAPHINE star Yolande Moreau in a more playful yet no less engrossing piece centred on the role of the female in society.The society here is set in the year 1969 when life in France expects females to be selfless, obedient and docile. These ‘ideal’ traits are taught to young girls in an institute founded by Van Der Beck (François Berléand) who has a keen eye for young flesh.L’ecole is run by his wife, Paulette (Juliette Binoche), sister (Moreau) and a ultra-strict disciplinarian nun (Noémie Lvovsky).The girls are less than thrilled and like most girls of their age are more interested in mischief and sex.Binoche, Moreau and Lvivsky are so entertaining to watch that they cloud any appearance of the students and their antics.The film also questions when a good wife can become her own woman when the husband dies from choking from his sister’s rabbit dish and she has to take control. Director Provost is here in lighter vein and in control of the subtle hilarity.
ÉNORME stars Jonathan Cohen and Marina Foïs s a couple expecting their first baby.Foïs plays the world famous concert pianist while Cohen plays her husband who also acts as her PR, assistant, manager.a baby is out of there question for the busy couple.But when the husband changes his mind after delivering a baby on board a plane, he tricks her into a pregnancy.She grew totally enormous as a result while he gains weight in the process.Sounds funny, and at times it is, especially for couples who have had a baby since they can relate to this kind of comedy.To her credit, Director Letourneur tries everything in her power to make her film funny, from gross jokes like smelling the water when the water is broken, to her actors hamming it out to the fullest.The camera angles showing the enormity of the wife’s pregnancy are at times overdone but funny.Sometimes the humour works, and at other times it does not.
NADIA, BUTTERFLY (Canada 2019) *** Directed by Pascal Plante
NADIA, BUTTERFLY begins with a lengthy 20 minute swimming session that introduces Olympic swimmer Nadia (Laterine Savard) ending with the race itself when her team of four win the bronze medal.The segment shows her doing laps, her arms plunging into the pool water, her arguments with her trainer and interview with the press.NADIA, BUTTERFLY has its setting in Tokyo 2020 where the Summer Olympics is held, according to the film.With all of Plante’s efforts to give his film the feel of authenticity, the efforts fall flat since the Olympics in Tokyo had been postponed indefinitely.Plante could have changed its setting to the Olympics to the 4 years prior.The heart of the film is Nadia dilemma’s of whether to continue or quit swimming.If she quits, she goes against the grain of her teammates and coach and if she continues, she will be untrue to herself.The success of the film also rests on the lead performance by Savard.Fortunately, being a Bronze medal swimmer herself, she looks the part and also must have given a lot of consideration to her role.
TOUT SIMPLEMENT NOIR (Simply Black) (France 2020) ***1/2 Directed by Jean-Pascal Zadi and John Wax
The funniest film screened at Cinefranco, the documentary has the protagonist, a black Parisien, JP organizing a “Black Lives Matter’ type protest in the heart of the city, at the Place de la Republique.There is one problem.He is not very bright and hence having lots of trouble trying to recruit anyone to show up for the protest.It does not help that he is not that good looking either, with his buck teeth that many insult him with, after her offends them with his personal views.Oddly he is himself racist only recognizing himself as black and others as not being black enough or mixed (black) raced.The film is extremely funny when he is filmed on camera or when he has altercations with those that do to agree with him.The film lags a little in the middle unable o keep up with the hilarious humour at the start.Omar Sy, the most famous back actor in France has a cameo at the end, though Sy’s scene does not match up to the build up to his appearance.Still, TOUT SIMPLEMENT NOIR is an entertaining film allowing audiences to laugh at themselves in this politically incorrect rendering of current black matters.Cinefranco’s Marcelle Lean told me she fought really hard to get this movie, so put this on your must-see list.
QUEBEXIT (Canada 2020) *** Directed by Joshua Demers
Hot on the heals of BREXIT news, comes director Joshua Demers ambitious comedy about Quebec trying to exit Canada as the province tried to in real life in many unsuccessful referendums.QUEBEXIT adds an additional element of the indigenous people.So there is the sovereign question of land as argued upon by the Quebecois, the Canadians (in this case New Brunswick) and the Cree indigenous people. The film requires the dialogue to be spoked in three different languages with actions that will show the diversity of Canada.All this takes place when the construction of an interprovincial pipeline results in a successful third Québec sovereignty referendum, a small road at the Québec-New Brunswick border becomes a lightning of conflict between the new Québec military, the Canadian Armed Forces and two indigenous women who cross the border frequently.The film is quite funny and relevant, typically for Canadians.In the film, the groups are loud and intolerant of each other, making cooperation an almost impossible task.
CAPSULE REVIEWS of Select Films will be posted once embargoes have lifted. Embargo dates listed.
DES PREUVRES A’AMOUR (Love Letters)(France 2025) ***½ Directed by Alice...
