Offscreen Notes
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Robert Altman [1925-2006]
Iconoclast maverick American filmmaker Robert Altman passed away on November 20, 2006 at the age of 81. I guess it was in the cards, when the Academy honored Altman with their honorary award this past March (it seems like the touch of death). Altman’s heyday was no doubt the 1970’s, when he directed a string of remarkably innovative and entertaining revisionist genre films: War satire, M*A*S*H*, 1970, Western, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, 1971, psychological horror, Images, film noir, The Long Goodbye, 1973 (the latter two also wonderful for their expressive use of the telephoto lens), crime film, Thieves Like Us, 1974, and epic drama, Nashville 1975. Altman had a late career comeback (not that he was ever inactive) in 1992 with the clever, reflexive The Player (with its playful opening rendition of A Touch of Evil) and once again in 2001 with his loosely veiled remake of Renoir’s Rules of the Game, Gosford Park, where he reminded everyone of how instrumental he was in refining the use of overlapping dialogue. One of the genuine foot soldiers of cinema is gone.
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Phone Sex
The documentary genre continues to be one of the hottest around, and its definition and meaning continually stretched and manipulated. A recent example is Phone Sex, directed by Steve Balderson, whose previous three films were two quirky and compelling indie narratives, Pep Squad and Firecracker and the documentary on the making of the latter film, Wamengo: Making Movies Anywhere. Phone Sex is a unique pop art styled collage of image and sound, structured around the question, “What is Sexy?” Phone recorded messages of people responding to Balderson’s open ended question are accompanied by images which range from literal to figurative. Can we say this film is sexy? One thing is certain, the documentary is. Phone Sex is slated for release on Dec. 5, 2006.
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6th Annual Accented Cinema Film Festival
A film festival focusing on diasporic films and filmmakers, with its festival title lifted from Hamid Naficy’s important critical study of diasporic and exilic cinema, An Accented Cinema.
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Danièle Huillet [1936-2006]
Sad to report the passing away of French born Danièle Huillet at age 70 on October 9, 2006. Known for her seamless collaboration on over 20 films with her partner Jean-Marie Straub, many of them classics of New German cinema (like The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach, 1968, History Lessons 1972). The film that struck me the most was their 1999 film Sicilia!, which I wrote about when it showed in Montreal at the 1999 Festival of New Film and Media. Some who know Straub well are speculating that Huillet’s death will signal the end of his filmmaking. If so, the world of cinema is a poorer place.
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On Screen! A Celebration of Canadian Cinema
A Canadian (out of Vancouver) documentary series of one hour programs celebrating classic and important Canadian films. The series is in its second season. Some of the films that already aired in season were Tales From the Gimli Hospital, Black Christmas, Goin’ Down the Road, and The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. Each episode features film clips and interviews with crew and cast members, critics, academics, and fans. Season two highlights include Nobody Waved Goodbye, Mon Onlce Antoine, and Roadkill.
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Film Pop
Unique cultural jam festival which combines the worlds of music and film and re-imagines the conventional theatre film space. Highlights include Live Music by guitar wizard Gary Lucas accompanying the German expressionist classic The Golem, Deco Dawson’s live re-interpretation (“re-filming and re-imagining”) of his film Dumb Angel, and much more. As much a social event as a cultural event.
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Touching Politics Film Series and Workshop
The Centre interuniversitaire des arts médiatiques (CIAM),
The Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema and the Goethe-Institute present:Touching Politics Film Series and Workshop
October 2 – 6, 2006, 7:30 pm.
Goethe-Institut Montreal
418, rue Sherbrooke Est
$ 7, $ 6 for students, free for Amis de Goethe
(514) 499-0159 info@montreal.goethe.orgA film series curated and presented by Florian Wüst thematically linked around groundbreaking, social and political documentary, experimental, and avant-garde short films. Series is broken up into five thematic programs:
Oct. 2 at 7:30 pm.: Program 1: Circumstances of Depiction
Oct. 3 at 7:30 pm.: Program 2: Radical Bodies
Oct. 4. at 7:30 pm.: Program 3: Education and Resistance
Oct. 5 at 7:30 pm.: Program 4: Beyond Words
Oct. 6 at 7:30 pm.: Program 5: Economy of the ModernRare opportunity to view such important films (projected on film) as Mass for the Dakota Sioux (Bruce Baillie), Report (Bruce Conner), Now! (Santiago Alvarez), Perfect Film (Ken Jacobs), T,O,U,C,H,I,N,G, (Paul Sharits), Lehrer Im Wandel (Alexander Kluge), and Critial Mass (Hollis Frampton).
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Sven Nykvist (1922-2006)
Sad day for lovers of light, with the passing of one of the world’s greatest ever cinematographers, Sven Nykvist. Best known for his groundbreaking work in both black and white and color with Ingmar Bergman, Nykvist also worked with Woody Allen and Andrei Tarkovsky. Click below for an Offscreen review of his son’s documentary, Light Keeps Me Company.
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Quand le cinéma d’animation rencontre le vivant
Launch of the book, Quand le cinéma d’animation rencontre le vivant [When Animation Cinema Meets the Living], edited by Marcel Jean, on September 14 at 5:00pm at the Cinematheque Quebecois in Montreal, followed by a screening of selected animated films at 6:30pm. The program will be introduced by Marcel Jean. Film schedule as follows:
Le Mobilier fidèle dir. Émile Cohl, Fr., 1910, 7 min à 18
Opening Speech McLaren dir. Norman McLaren, Qué., 1960, 7 min
À travers champs (Przez Pole) dir. Jerzy Kucia, Pol., 1992, 17 min
Une artiste dir. Michèle Cournoyer, Qué., 1994, 5 min
At One View dir. Menno et Paul de Nooijer, P.-B., 1989, 7 min
Les Colocs : La Rue principale dir. André Fortin, Qué., 1993, 3 min
Aphex Twin: Come to Daddy dir. Chris Cunningham, R.-U., 1997, 5 min
Jona Tomberryir. Rosto, P.-B., 2005, 12 min
Home Road Movies dir. Robert Bradbrook, R.-U., 2001, 12 min -
Mike Hoolboom: The Invisible Man
Exhibition of a four-part video installation and selected short films by Canadian experimental filmmaker and critic Mike Hoolboom. The exhibition takes place in the Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery located in the Concordia University Library building (J.A. De Seve Building). Vernissage is on the evening of Wednesday, August 30th 5:30pm-7:30pm and then the exhibit runs from August 31 to October 7, 2006.
