LUNARCY! ... MARCH 3, 9:30 PM

Sunday, March 3: 9:30 pm    LUNARCY!
DIR: Simon Ennis 80 mins. Documentary

From the late 1950s to the end of the 1960s, the thrill of space exploration captivated a world witnessing truly cosmic achievements. It was a time when anything seemed possible — Pan Am Airlines even began to take reservations from regular citizens for the first prospective commercial flight to the lunar surface. By the time the 1986 Challenger disaster and the close of the Cold War ended the Space Race, the utopian dreams that had fuelled the Space Age had already faded from the public's imagination — but for a few true believers, those dreams only intensified. This irresistibly zany, sharp-witted documentary from director Simon Ennis shuttles entertainingly from the ridiculous to the sublime as it introduces us to an unforgettable group of characters whose years-long obsession with the moon has reached truly galactic proportions.

Among the lunar-fixated interviewees is Peter Kokh, who has been publishing The Moon Miners' Manifesto since 1986, which speculates on what homes, gardens, malls, even musical instruments will look like once we live on the moon. Then there is Dennis Hope, who in 1980 found a loophole in the United Nations Outer Space Treaty which prohibits nations from owning the moon, but not individuals — which led him to declare himself the owner of the moon and to make a fortune selling plots of land to hopeful future lunar colonizers (including some former U.S. presidents). At the heart of the film, however, is an eccentric young man named Christopher Carson, who is determined to be the first person to live on the moon. With humour and more than a little sympathy, Ennis follows Carson's often misfired efforts as he travels from place to place trying to convince people to help him reach his goal.

Energetic, illuminating and often hilarious, Lunarcy! achieves the difficult feat of pointedly depicting the humour inherent in its subjects' endeavours without condescending to them — and it also raises larger questions about the human capacity to make dreams a reality. Are Carson's ambitions any more outrageous than explorers setting sail to discover new lands, amateur inventors trying to take to the skies, or two mighty nations racing to put the first human being in space?

As Lunarcy! reminds us, some of the most startling achievements in human history began with a seemingly impossible dream.

STORIES WE TELL: MARCH 3, 7 PM

Sunday, March 3: 7 pm        STORIES WE TELL
DIR: Sarah Polley        Documentary    108 minutes
With: Sarah Polley, Michael Polley, Harry Gulkin

Stories We Tell is the acclaimed feature documentary debut from award-winning Canadian actor and filmmaker Sarah Polley. In the few short years since Polley first revealed her remarkable talents as a writer and director, audiences have already come to expect the aesthetic rigour and reserved yet deeply felt emotion she brings to her studies of human relationships.

In her first two features, Away From Her and Take This Waltz, she rendered the complexities of intimacy and desire with the eloquence and control of filmmakers with far more experience. Away From Her in particular asked questions about how we can know ourselves or assess our lives if we can’t agree on the events of the past. Memory is truth — at least emotional truth. And nowhere in life are shared memories more fiercely contested than in the family.

Stories We Tell is at heart a personal essay on the intractable subjects of truth and memory. Using a combination of archival footage, still photos and testimonials in a captivating visual assemblage, Polley examines the disagreements and varying narratives of a single family as they look back on decades-old events.

The responses from the “storytellers” chosen to share their version of things are heartfelt, revealing and even charmingly funny. The result is a lively and richly textured documentary that seamlessly blends past and present, the real and the imagined.

Devoid of sensationalism and filled with tender and powerful moments, the film also serves as a loving homage to one key player who is no longer here to share her version.

Sarah Polley’s portrait of her parents’ marriage is a gripping tale, full of richness, tenderness and emotional complexity. It’s difficult to tell what making this movie must have entailed, and with what diplomacy and skill she must have marshalled its participants — but the result is a great pleasure to watch. —PETER BRADSHAW, The Guardian

REBELLE [WAR WITCH]: MARCH 3, 2 PM

Sunday, March 3: 2 pm        REBELLE [WAR WITCH]
DIR: Kim Nguyen
French with English subtitles 90 minutes
Cast: Rachel Mwanza, Serge Kanyinda

Canada’s submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Rebelle is an extraordinary portrait of survival. Director Kim Nguyen spent ten years bringing this story to the screen, basing his script on the stories of actual child soldiers and shooting entirely on location in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The film is narrated by fourteen-year-old Komona, who recounts the past two years of her life to her unborn child. Abducted by a rebel army that invades her small village, Komona is forced to commit an unthinkable act — shooting her own parents — before being dragged off into the jungle. Over the next several months, she is inducted into the brutal lifestyle of the child soldier: she is beaten repeatedly, taught to fire an AK-47, and kept in a drugged state by the administration of “magic milk.” One day, Komona has a vision of her parents, who warn her of danger ahead; heeding the apparitions’ advice, she is the only person to escape unscathed from a ferocious firefight.

Impressed by her premonitory powers, the warlord Great Tiger bestows Komona with the title of “War Witch,” which earns her both privileges in the camp and the threat of harsh punishment if her powers fail. When Komona befriends fellow soldier Magicien, she seems to have found an escape. The two soon run away together and eventually fall in love — but the war is never far away, and their romantic idyll is cut short when they are recaptured by the rebels. Returned to the tyranny of her former life and still haunted by the ghosts of her parents, Komona soon becomes pregnant and struggles to find a ray of hope in her desperate situation.

This is undeniably grim material, but Nguyen leavens it with delicacy and tact, conveying violence by implication and atmosphere rather than through direct depiction. The performances from the mostly non-professional cast are vivid and authentic, particularly the extraordinary Mwanza’s portrayal of Komona, which won her the Best Actress prize at both the Berlin and Tribeca film festivals.

Heartfelt and helplessly moving, Rebelle guides us through the harsh world of a young girl whose circumstances are tragic, yet whose story is one of formidable courage and unquenchable hope.

THE END OF TIME: MARCH 2, 9:30 PM

Saturday, March 2: 9:30 pm THE END OF TIME
DIR: Peter Mettler. 114 mins. Documentary.

Peter Mettler’s The End of Time is a visually stunning tour de force, as one might expect from one of Canada’s greatest cinematographers. It’s also a rich, deeply rewarding and rigorous meditation on the nature of time. Mettler begins the film with archival footage of US Air Force pilot Joe Kittiger, who flew a balloon to the unprecendented height of 102,800 feet, then parachutes out. Watching these images of Kittinger in free fall suspends our notion of time .

The film argues that time itself is, in part, a notion we impose on ourselves — and that there may be other ways to view, measure and experience time than the Western artifices of the clock and the stock market bell. Travelling the globe, Mettler explores a dizzying range of perspectives on time: from scientists working with a particle accelerator, who try to examine time by smashing protons together in an immense, twenty-seven-kilometre long concrete structure miles beneath the surface; from Buddhists visiting the tree where Buddha was enlightened; from DJ and electronic musician Richie Hawtin, who locates a new frontier in his work with machines; from squatters in an abandoned area of Detroit near where Henry Ford built his first factory, now a derelict behemoth that evokes the broken statue of Shelley’s "Ozymandias"; from the lone remaining resident in an area being consumed by lava pouring forth from an active volcano.

En route, Mettler draws eerie connections between the most disparate places and events (the patterns on the ceiling of a Buddhist temple echo the multi-coloured circles in the tunnels of the particle accelerator) and locates parables of renewal and destruction in an astonishing sequence where a grasshopper is transported by an army of ants. Establishing a mood which oscillates between rumination and trance, Mettler relentlessly pushes at the limits of our understanding of time, and the ultimate fragility of the structures we have constructed atop it.

Charting the links between primordial mysticism and the furthest conceptual reaches of modern science, The End of Time is both mind-expanding and oddly familiar, as if reminding us of truths we forgot long ago.

MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN: MARCH 2, 7 PM

Saturday, March 2: 7 pm        MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN
Dir: Deepa Mehta
English, Hindi with English subtitles 148 minutes
Principal Cast: Satya Bhabha, Shahana Goswami, Rajat Kapoor

A Gala Presentation at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival®, this momentous collaboration between Academy Award®–nominated director Deepa Mehta (the trilogy Fire, Earth and Water, Heaven on Earth) and celebrated novelist Salman Rushdie is an epic saga that spans borders, generations, wars and fragile peace as it chronicles a pivotal time in India’s history.

    Rushdie’s inspired adaptation of his own Booker Prize–winning novel follows the destinies of a pair of children born at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, the very instant that India claimed its independence from Great Britain—and which, in Rushdie’s brilliant magic realist conceit, endows the children born on the same night as their country’s liberation with supernatural abilities ranging from flight to invisibility, with those born closest to midnight possessing the most powerful gift.

“Handcuffed to history,” and switched at birth by a nurse in a Bombay hospital, Saleem Sinai (Satya Bhabha), the son of a poor single mother, and Shiva (Siddharth), scion of a wealthy family, are condemned to live out the fate intended for the other. Imbued with mysterious telepathic powers, their lives become strangely intertwined and inextricably linked to their country’s careening journey through the tumultuous twentieth century.

    An irreverent epic of Shakespearean proportions, shot through with moments of arresting intimacy, Midnight’s Children is a production of truly impressive scope, featuring state-of-the-art computer graphics, impressive production design by the director’s brother Dilip Mehta, and sixty-two locations. A luxurious feast of a film brimming with romance, spectacle, intrigue, sly social commentary and uplifting optimism, Midnight’s Children is as vast and beguiling as the great country to which it pays homage.

PICTURE DAY: MARCH 2, 1 PM

Saturday, March 2: 1 pm        PICTURE DAY
DIR: Kate Melville.  93 mins. 
Cast: Tatiana Maslany, Spencer Van Wyck, Susan Coyne

One of the most charming and vibrant debut features by a Canadian filmmaker in recent memory, Kate Melville's Picture Day features rising star Tatiana Maslany as Claire Paxton, a teenage girl who has all the freedoms of adulthood but none of the responsibilities. Forced to repeat her last year of high school due to bad grades and absenteeism, Claire still prefers to cut class whenever feasible and spends her nights clubbing, living on the fringes of the adult world she's almost part of.

When two men enter Claire's life, things begin to change radically. Jame, the singer in a popular Toronto faux-funk band, is intrigued enough by Claire to pick her up from school the night after they sleep together. Claire is soon confronted by someone from her past: her former babysitting charge, Henry, a shy, geeky science whiz who keeps shoeboxes full of mementoes — most of them relating to Claire. After a chance meeting and a shared blunt, Claire is determined to help Henry get noticed at school — hardly difficult, since she's already infamous.

As Claire bounces back and forth between the teenage and adult worlds, the flaws of both become increasingly apparent. If her teenage friends judge her too much for her past, the adult world doesn't guarantee more maturity or understanding. The taunting and backstabbing at school are nothing compared to the casual insensitivity of James or her mother, who is too obsessed with her own tragedies — mostly involving her errant boyfriend — to worry about what Claire is going through. Rarely have the dynamics of a presented so honestly, as in a cutting scene when Claire finds her weeping mother on the phone, bemoaning her boyfriend's departure once again. Looking Claire in the eye, she sobs, "What else have I got left in my life?"

Smoothly directed by Melville, Picture Day sketches a scruffier, less upscale version of the world inhabited by Noah Baumbach's lost adolescents. The film is anchored by an extraordinary performance by Maslany, who more than delivers on the promise evident in Grown Up Movie Star. Together, Maslany and Melville have created a protagonist as unique, infuriating, complex and memorable as the heroines of New Waterford Girl, Emporte-moi or Double Happiness.

MY AWKWARD SEXUAL ADVENTURE: MARCH 1, 9:30 PM

Friday, March 1: 9:30 pm        MY AWKWARD SEXUAL ADVENTURE 
DIR: Sean Garrity. 98 mins.
Cast: Vik Sahay, Sarah Manninen, Emily Hampshire, Jonas Chernick

A hyper-repressed and schlubby accountant (Jonas Chernick) strikes a deal with a worldly but disorganized stripper (Emily Hampshire): he'll help her with her crushing debt if she helps him become a better lover. Sharp direction by the versatile Sean Garrity and a very funny script by Chernick ensure for an uproarious — and surprisingly educational — sex comedy.

After an almost perfunctory montage of Winnipeg night scenes, Sean Garrity’s My Awkward Sexual Adventure cuts to the chase: Accountant Jordan Abrams is having sex with his longtime girlfriend, Rachel. It’s not going well... Rachel — the woman Jordan plans to propose to on the weekend during a romantic getaway to Niagara Falls — has in fact dozed off. When she finally wakes up, she tells Jordan she’s had enough of his bedroom inadequacies and promptly dumps him. Decimated, he heads off to Toronto to stay with his best friend Dandak, a notorious player who throws Jordan an impromptu party packed with available women.

Unfortunately, our heartbroken hero can’t talk about anything else but Rachel. Kicked out of his own party, Jordan stumbles into a strip joint. There he continues to bemoan his fate until, after far too many drinks, he’s tossed into the alleyway where he’s rescued by one of the dancers, Julia. The next morning in Julie’s apartment, which is littered with unpaid bills, she and a somehow pantless Jordan strike a bargain. She’ll teach him how to be a better lover; he’ll help her deal with her crushing debt.

Raucous, sexy, and frenetic, My Awkward Sexual Adventure charts two different quests: Jordan’s drive to become less of a hyper-repressed schlub and win back Rachel, and Julia’s struggle to gain control of her life. They aren’t mutually exclusive journeys, and neither plays out exactly how the characters envision. Ultimately, they are left with opposing choices: Jordan must give up his fantasy while Julia has to embrace hers. It’s hardly certain that either will have the courage necessary to do so. My Awkward Sexual Adventure is sharply directed by the versatile Garrity, with a very funny script by Chernick, who leads the exceptional cast while racing from one catastrophe to the next as if his hair’s about to catch fire. And, perhaps unusually for a sex comedy, it’s surprisingly educational.

INESCAPABLE... MARCH 1, 7 PM

Friday, March 1: 7:00 pm         INESCAPABLE
DIR: Ruba Nadda        English, Arabic with English subtitles 90 minutes
Cast: Alexander Siddig, Marisa Tomei, Joshua Jackson, Oded Fehr, Saad Siddiqui

Three years ago, director Ruba Nadda won over cinema-goers around the world with the touching romance Cairo Time. This year, she reteams with her Cairo Time star Alexander Siddig for the highly anticipated political thriller Inescapable.

Successful Syrian-Canadian businessman Adib lives a comfortable life in Toronto with his loving wife and two college-aged daughters. On a typical afternoon at work, he receives a devastating piece of news: while vacationing in Greece, his eldest daughter secretly took a detour to Damascus — and vanished. Frantic, Adib immediately makes plans to return to Syria after more than thirty years. As Adib places a series of covert phone calls and makes secret rendezvous with former contacts, it gradually becomes clear that he was once a major player in the Syrian resistance movement. Aided by the ex-fiancée he left behind, and a dubious Canadian embassy official, Adib wades through vague clues, government subterfuge, and a web of conspiracies that stand between him and his daughter. When the regime discovers his former identity and accuses his daughter of being a spy, Adib must once again take up arms and fight for what he holds most dear.

Nadda spent four years as a teenager living in Damascus, which surely informs her convincing evocation of the climate of paranoia that is cultivated by totalitarian regimes. Along with its chillingly authentic atmosphere, Inescapable poses a series of vital, ethically charged questions. What happens if the past won’t stay in the past? What desperate lengths could someone go to if their former life threatens the new life they’ve spent decades painstakingly building? Expertly building the tension to a fever pitch, Nadda withholds her answers until the final, nail-biting minutes.

THE TRAILER:

the 17th ANNUAL CINEMA CNC FILM FESTIVAL

We are presenting our 17th Festival, March 1st to 3rd, with 8 films over three days.

Featuring:
 INESCAPABLE
MY AWKWARD SEXUAL ADVENTURE
PICTURE DAY
MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN
THE END OF TIME REBELLE [WAR WITCH]
STORIES WE TELL
LUNARCY!

Passes:

Festival: $48 [8 films]
Friday: $14 [2 films]
Saturday: $21 [3 films]
Sunday: $21 [3 films]

available at Books and Company, the CNC Bookstore, and the UNBC Bookstore.

Single tickets: $8 available at the door

This festival presents the best of Canadian film for the Prince George audience. Come see what Canadians are up to on the big screen! This year, we are traveling to Syria, Toronto, India, Winnipeg, the Congo, Nova Scotia, and the Moon... among other locales! [the MOON, you say? Yes... take a look].

Searching for Sugarman

We are showing:

February 16: 7 + 9:30 pm SEARCHING FOR SUGARMAN

Director: Malik Bendjelloul Year: 2012

Runtime: 86 minutes

Country: Sweden, UK Language: English

Searching for Sugar Man tells the incredible true story of Rodriguez, the greatest '70s rock icon who never was. Discovered in a Detroit bar in the late '60s by two celebrated producers struck by his soulful melodies and prophetic lyrics, they recorded an album which they believed would secure his reputation as the greatest recording artist of his generation. In fact, the album bombed and the singer disappeared into obscurity amid rumors of a gruesome on-stage suicide. But a bootleg recording found its way into apartheid South Africa and, over the next two decades, he became a phenomenon. The film follows the story of two South African fans who set out to find out what really happened to their hero. Their investigation leads them to a story more extraordinary than any of the existing myths about the artist known as Rodriguez.

"Do NOT miss it. Astonishing." – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Showtime 7 and 9:30 in room 1-306

at the College of New Caledonia

Tickets $8, regular – $7 students, seniors, unemployed available at the door

Imdb.com link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2125608/?ref_=sr_1

The trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL5TffdOQ7g