JANUARY 24 - THE OVERNIGHTERS

 

 

 

JANUARY 24: THE OVERNIGHTERS

Director: Jesse Moss Documentary

With: Pastor Jay Reinke, Andrea Reinke  

Year: 2013 100 mins. USA NR

Filmmaker Jesse Moss spent 18 months in North Dakota as a one-man-documentary-crew intimately capturing extraordinary portraits of broken men and examining the tension between the moral imperative to "love thy neighbor," and the response of one small town congregation and community when confronted by an influx of desperate strangers. In the midst of the struggling economic climate of the United States, the oil business in small town Williston, North Dakota is booming. Thousands of desperate men and women are flocking to the region in search of work with little more than the clothes on their backs or the cars they arrived in. The great demand for housing has overwhelmed the community with many of those who have found employment without a place to live. Pastor Jay Reinke of Concordia Lutheran Church is under fire from the City Council, his community and the local newspapers for his heartfelt desire to open the church's doors to allow the "overnighters" - as he calls them - to stay for a night, a week or sometimes even longer, sleeping on the floor, in the pews and in their cars in the Church parking lot. When the town learns that Reinke is housing men with criminal records, and a mounting controversy peaks within the pastor's personal life, even his diehard quest for humanity can't stop things from spiraling vastly out of control. 

 

 

The trailer:

 

 

FEB 7 - FORCE MAJEURE - rescheduled... it is on!

Feb. 7:

JANUARY 17: FORCE MAJEURE

Dir: Ruben Östlund Sweden/Norway/Denmark/France

2014 Swedish/English/French 118 minutes 14A 

Principal Cast: Johannes Bah Kuhnke, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Clara Wettergren, Vincent Wettergren, Kristofer Hivju, Fanni Metelius 

A Swedish family travels to the French Alps to enjoy a few days of skiing and spend some precious time with each other. The sun is shining and the slopes are spectacular but, during a lunch at a mountainside restaurant, an avalanche turns everything upside down. With diners fleeing in all directions, mother Ebba calls for her husband Tomas as she tries to protect their children. Tomas, meanwhile, is running for his life... Reality returns to embarrassed laughter, the anticipated disaster having failed to occur, and yet the family’s world has been shaken to its core. Tomas’ unexpected action leads them to evaluate their roles and assumptions, a question mark hanging over their father in particular. With the end of the holiday approaching, 

Tomas and Ebba’s marriage hangs in the balance as Tomas struggles desperately to reclaim his role as family patriarch. FORCE MAJEURE is an observational comedy about the role of the male in modern family life. A critical hit at this year's Cannes, winning the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize, this new film from Ruben Östlund (Play) confirms the Swedish director as one of the most daring and audacious filmmakers to emerge in the last decade. 

The trailer:

JANUARY 31 - WE ARE THE BEST!

 JANUARY 31: WE ARE THE  BEST!

Dir: Lukas Moodysson SWEDEN, 2013

Swedish with English subtitles 102 minutes

Principal Cast: Mira Barkhammar, Mira Grosin, Liv LeMoyne

PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGED DATE... THIS MOVIE WILL BE SHOWN ON JANUARY 31ST

Ebullient, raucous and irresistible, this film is set in early 1980s Stockholm, and focuses on three young girls on the verge of puberty who decide to embrace their outcast status by forming an all-girl punk band. The film’s heroines, Bobo, Klara, and Hedvig, don’t have it easy either at home or at school. The adults in their lives are uniformly useless: Bobo’s mother is a serial dater and overaged party girl who seldom knows where her daughter is; Klara’s parents are almost gruesomely happy, except when they’re arguing over ridiculous trivia; and Hedvig’s mom is a devout Christian completely out of touch with the realities of her daughter’s life. At school, the trio’s fierce independence, punk-influenced style and in-your-face bravado make them persona non grata. Mocked for being “different,” the girls defiantly take that difference to centre stage when they start their own three-piece punk band, challenging the unspoken rule that only boys are allowed to play rock ’n’ roll. Based on the semi-autobiographical graphic novel by Moodysson’s wife Coco, this film shows an understanding of how kids behave, the desires and pressures that motivate them, and the strategies they develop for dealing with the oppressions of parents, peers, and social norms. Propelled by winning performances from its three charismatic young leads, We are the Best! is an energetic and affectionate tribute to adolescent rebels who refuse to hide their discontent.

The trailer:

NOVEMBER 29 - LIFE ITSELF

NOVEMBER 29: LIFE ITSELF

Dir: Steve James Documentary

USA 2014    115 mins   With: Roger Ebert, Chaz Ebert, Martin Scorsese, Werner Herzog, Errol Morris

Adapted from his memoir of the same name, Life Itself chronicles the life of legendary film critic Roger Ebert, from his early years in Urbana, Illinois, through his long career in print and television and through the courageous and painful struggles of his final months. Acclaimed documentarian and fellow Chicagoan Steve James began the project with Ebert’s participation, and completed the film after his death in 2013. Ebert’s infectious enthusiasm and the deep, abiding love of movies that emanated from every one of his reviews won him the admiration and respect of everyone from casual moviegoers to dedicated cinephiles to members of the film industry itself. Through archival footage and interviews with many of Ebert’s closest friends and collaborators—as well as such major filmmakers as Errol Morris, Werner Herzog and Martin Scorsese (who served as one of the film’s executive producers)—Life Itself chronicles the many phases of Ebert’s career: his honouring with the Pulitzer Prize (the first ever awarded for film criticism), his television career with long-time friend and sparring partner Gene Siskel, his devoted relationship with his wife Chaz, and the serious health problems that plagued him in his later years, which resulted in the loss of his voice and led him to embrace new technologies in order to communicate, blogging and tweeting constantly until his death. Throughout, Ebert retained his love of film, writing, and life itself.

 

 

The trailer:

 

 

NOVEMBER 22 - IDA

 

 

 

NOVEMBER 22: IDA

Dir: Pawel Pawlikowski POLAND, 2013

Polish with English subtitles 80 minutes

Principal Cast: Agata Kulesza, Agata Trzebuchowska

In Poland, few subjects are as controversial and emotionally charged as the relations between Catholics and Jews during the Nazi occupation. Following his success in England with films like Last Resort and My Summer of Love, director Pawel Pawlikowski has returned to his native country for the first time in his career to address one of his homeland’s most sensitive topics. The result is one of the year’s most powerful and affecting films. In 1960s Poland, Anna is a novitiate nun about to take her vows. Instructed by her Mother Superior to visit her aunt prior to withdrawing into the religious life, the prim Anna meets her mother’s sister Wanda, a raven-haired sensualist and former state prosecutor, who reveals some heretofore unknown information about Anna’s past— including her real name, Ida. 

This launches a remarkable journey into the countryside, where secrets both familial and national are darkly, inextricably intertwined. Shooting in black and white and using the 1.37:1 Academy ratio (the almost-square frame of classic cinema), Pawlikowski crafts a masterful drama which balances the intimate and personal with the world-historical. As the two women unearth ever more details about their family’s painful past, their search illuminates some of the darkest corners of Poland’s history.

 

 

The trailer:

 

 

NOVEMBER 15 - PRIDE

 

 

 

 

NOVEMBER 15: PRIDE

Dir: Matthew Warchus  UK  2014 120 mins 14A 

Principal Cast: Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Paddy Considine, George MacKay, Faye Marsay, Ben Schnetzer, Dominic West

In 1984 Britain, a ragtag band of activists from London’s queer community form an unlikely, anti-Thatcherite alliance with striking Welsh miners, in this hilarious and inspirational comedy-drama. By 1984, new-wave music had taken over the clubs, Thatcher's government was battling mining unions, and London's queer communities were perfecting artful activism. Into that mix walks Mark. Out, proud, and always ready for a righteous battle, he can't accept that any one form of oppression should outrank another. Overcoming the reluctance of his ragtag band of friends — who would mostly rather party than protest — he brings them together to form Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners. But do the miners want this kind of support? Pride is at its most outrageously funny when the LGSM activists crash into small-town South Wales in their brightly painted communal bus. Imelda Staunton is wonderful here as the hard-working Welsh woman whose support group holds the community together, while Paddy Considine plays a forward-thinking union organizer and the inimitable Bill Nighy takes a subtle role as the local pub historian. Their encounters with the misfits and rabble-rousers who make up the LGSM give Pride its comedy and its heart. Some in the mining village have to get over their homophobia. Some of the gay activists have to get over themselves.

 

The trailer:

 

 

FILMS FOR NOVEMBER AND JANUARY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We will have three films in November and three films in January... together they form a series. 

All shows will be in 1-306 at CNC, 7 + 9:30

Passes are $42 for 6 films: they are available at Books and Company and the CNC Bookstore

Single tickets will be at the door: $8 regular; $7 student, senior, and unemployed

April 26th: FINDING VIVIAN MAIER        Showtimes: 7 and 9:30  at 1-306 at CNC
Directors: John Maloof, Charlie Siskel        Documentary        USA     2013    84 minutes

This intriguing documentary shuttles from New York to France to Chicago as it traces the life story of the late Vivian Maier, a career nanny who has earned a posthumous reputation as one of America’s most accomplished and insightful street photographers.

When Maier died in 2009 at age eighty-three, she left behind more than 100,000 negatives of her street photography — images that she'd scarcely shared with anyone. She had spent most of her adult life as a nanny with no spouse, no children of her own and no close ties. Her photographs and belongings were hidden in storage, until the rent came overdue and the facility auctioned them off. They might have vanished into obscurity were it not for the intervention of John Maloof, a twenty six- year-old amateur historian in Chicago, who purchased a box of her unidentified photographs and became obsessed by what he discovered.

In Finding Vivian Maier, Maloof teams with producer Charlie Siskel to uncover this mystery. Following clues, they trace Maier's history through New York City, France, and Chicago. Maier was an inveterate wanderer and self-taught photographer, favouring a Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex camera, with an uncanny ability to get close to people from all walks of life. Her artful and comic eye calls to mind the photography of Berenice Abbott and Weegee. Thanks to Maloof's efforts, critics and galleries have now rallied behind Maier's work, and The New York Times recognized her as "one of America's more insightful street photographers."

But as Maloof meets people who knew Vivian, new questions arise about her life and work. The families who employed her as a nanny have mixed memories, and hint at her dark side. Would she have even wanted this attention? Answering that question depends on how you interpret different bits of evidence. Regardless, it's a wonder to behold the world through Vivan Maier's eyes.

TICKETS: $8 regular; $7 student, senior, unemployed... available at the door

The Trailer:

The 18th Annual Cinema CNC Film Festival – March 7,8,9, 2014

We are pleased to announce that the 18th Annual Cinema CNC Film Festival will take place March 7 to 9, 2014 at the Prince George Playhouse.

As in past years, we have 8 great Canadian films for you over three days. We'll show you short films. We'll sell you popcorn and other treats. There will be prizes. You will have a whole heck of a lot of fun.

Passes will be available at Books and Company, the CNC Bookstore, and the UNBC Bookstore.

Fest Passes: $56 [8 films]
Friday Passes: $14 [2 films]
Saturday Passes: $21 [3 films]
Sunday Passes: $21 [3 films]

Single Tickets: $8 and will be available at the door.

Here's our TV spot:

Check out our blog posts for each film for more information, including trailers!

CAS & DYLAN Friday, March 7: 7pm

Friday, March 7: 7pm:    CAS & DYLAN    Director: Jason Priestley
Canada, 2013    English 90 minutes    Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, Tatiana Maslany

Life on the road has been the subject of some of the most honoured works in Canadian cinema
history, from Goin’ Down the Road to Highway 61 to One Week. Smart, funny and heartfelt, Cas & Dylan, the feature directorial debut from actor-turned-filmmaker Jason Priestley can now be added to that collection of memorable films.

Screen legend Richard Dreyfuss stars as Dr. Cas Pepper, a curmudgeonly surgeon whose only
companion in life is his small dog. Faced with some unexpected news, Cas makes the abrupt
decision to leave Winnipeg and drive west to British Columbia—and to an uncertain future. Before
departing, he meets an aspiring young writer named Dylan who possesses a life-altering secret of her own, and wouldn’t mind coming along for the ride. The two unlikely companions hit the road,
encountering a series of bizarre twists and turns along their cross-country journey. And it isn’t long
before they realize that, in searching for an escape route, they may have found their place in the world.

Beautifully shot against the visually stunning backdrop of the Canadian Prairies and Rocky
Mountains, Cas & Dylan is a breath-taking voyage of discovery. Priestley’s wealth of experience as an actor is obvious in the performances he extracts from his two leads. Boasting a terrific soundtrack featuring Canadian artists such as Jenn Grant and Old Man Luedecke, Cas & Dylan will appeal to
audiences young and old.


The trailer:

THE ART OF THE STEAL Friday, March 7: 9:30

Friday, March 7: 9:30:    THE ART OF THE STEAL    Director: Jonathan Sobol
Canada, 2013 110 mins. Cast: Kurt Russell, Matt Dillon, Terence Stamp, Jay Baruchel

Following the success of his debut feature A Beginner’s Guide to Endings, writer-director Jonathan Sobol returns with the muchanticipated The Art of the Steal. Featuring an all-star cast that includes Kurt Russell, Matt Dillon, Terence Stamp, and Jay Baruchel, Sobol’s riotous crime caper keeps
audiences laughing and guessing until its clever finale.

Part-time art thief Crunch Calhoun (Russell) lands in prison after a major score goes awry and his brother Nicky (Dillon) double-crosses him. Hoping to start anew upon his release several years later, Crunch returns to his former career as a motorcycle daredevil. But it isn’t long before he’s in hot water once again due to Nicky, and Crunch must reunite with his brother and their old band of criminal
comrades for one final heist: to steal a priceless (and well-guarded) historical book. Tensions escalate as Crunch and Nicky each appear to possess their own agendas and loyalties are thrown into
question.

With The Art of the Steal, Sobol skillfully creates a layered, sophisticated crime comedy, which is
bolstered by its veteran cast. Sobol’s sophomore effort is a hilarious and fast-paced heist film
reminiscent of the Ocean’s Eleven franchise, and is certain to delight a wide range of audiences.


The trailer:

HI-HO MISTAHEY! Saturday, March 8: 1pm

Saturday, March 8: 1pm: HI-HO MISTAHEY!    Director: Alanis Obomsawin
Canada, 2013    English, Cree with English subtitles  100 minutes     Documentary       

For more than forty years, legendary documentary filmmaker and activist Alanis Obomsawin has given voice to Canada’s First Peoples, chronicling the dismantling of indigenous culture and battles with dominant society. Her new film addresses another pressing issue affecting this country’s First Nations communities: the shockingly low levels of school funding and basic maintenance from Canada’s federal and provincial governments.

The Attawapiskat First Nation closed their elementary school in 2000 due to toxic land contamination. Since then, students have been learning in chilly, rundown portables infested with rodents. This has led to high teacher turnover and a host of other problems. Frustrated by unfulfilled promises of a new school from the government, the late Shannen Koostachin began one of the largest ever youth-driven movements, now called “Shannen’s Dream,” which pressed for safe, comfortable schools and
culturally based equitable education for aboriginal students. Hi-Ho Mistahey! chronicles this
campaign, culminating in a delegation of six First Nations youth ambassadors presenting in Geneva to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

A master of capturing irony and injustice, Obomsawin reveals startling facts. For example,under Canada’s Federal Department of Aboriginal Affairs, school funding is not protected and can easily be redirected to pay for community roadwork, or litigation. Historically, Canada’s treatment of its
indigenous population has been shameful to say the least, and though there has been progress in
recent years, Hi-Ho Mistahey! is a testament to the amount of change still needed. Obomsawin’s
latest film is one of her best, a searing criticism of government oversight told compassionately and with an unyielding message: all children deserve the chance to succeed.


The trailer:

SIDDHARTH Saturday, March 8: 7pm

Saturday, March 8: 7pm:     SIDDHARTH        Director: Richie Mehta
Canada/India, 2013        Hindi with English subtitles 96 minutes
Principal Cast: Rajesh Tailang, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Khushi Mathur

Director Richie Mehta follows his 2008 Film Circuit People's Choice Award–winning and debut feature Amal with this powerful and heart-rending tale about a poor Delhi street merchant desperately searching for his missing young son.

A “chain wallah” who makes his meagre living mending zippers in the streets of New Delhi, Mahendra (newcomer Rajesh Tailang, in a superb performance) sends his 12-year-old son Siddharth to work in a factory in another province to help support their family, which includes his mother Suman and sister Pinky. Siddharth is supposed to come home for Diwali after a month away. When he fails to return or call, the guilt-ridden Mahendra takes swift action but faces obstacles at every turn: he has no money, or even a photograph of his son; the authorities scold him for putting his son to work and suggest Siddharth would be untraceable if kidnapped and trafficked in a population of a billion people.

Mehta deftly brings to life Mahendra’s moving, tangled, and often seemingly futile journey with a
neorealist touch that transforms the film into a genuine human portrait, setting this quest against the backdrop of community that is poor in so many ways, yet rich in family and love. Riddled with
mysteries, Siddharth reminds us that sometimes there simply are no easy answers. A powerful story about the ramifications of a single decision and the limitations that result from poverty, it underscores that in the face of the unspeakable, one must keep moving forward.


The trailer:


SIDDHARTH ...click here

BURT’S BUZZ Saturday, March 8: 9:30

Saturday, March 8: 9:30: BURT’S BUZZ        Director: Jody Shapiro
Canada, 2013        English 88 minutes    Documentary    With: Burt Shavitz

Following his cheeky documentary How to Start Your Own Country, director Jody Shapiro returns with Burt’s Buzz, a vibrant and incisive portrait of Burt Shavitz. Famous for its all-natural personal care items, Burt’s Bees has become a household name in many parts of the world. The company built a mighty reputation as a producer of eco-friendly products made from simple ingredients, and in the process it has become a billion-dollar business. But less well- known is the eccentric man behind the brand, whose bearded face still graces many of its labels.

In Burt’s Buzz, Shapiro takes us into the reclusive backwoods world of beekeeper Shavitz, still
committed to living off the land in Maine, as he has since the 1970s, in a renovated turkey coop with no running water. Shapiro explores Shavitz’s peculiar relationship with the company he co-founded with Roxanne Quimby. The birth of Burt’s Bees and its emergence as a lucrative brand may be the stuff of legend, but it’s also contentious: Shavitz sold his shares decades ago, reaping virtually
nothing from the company’s financial success; yet he remains contracted to promote the brand,
travelling the world making public appearances. Wise and wry, absent-minded and unflappable, Shavitz is a fascinating subject.

With a steadfast, subtle hand, Shapiro exposes the contrasts and ironies that pepper Shavitz’s life—including the collision between business and personal values—and delicately mines the humour and emotion of his story. The result is a thoughtfully layered portrait of this highly idiosyncratic pioneer, and a revealing study of what it means to be a living icon.


The trailer:

GABRIELLE Sunday, March 9: 2pm

Sunday, March 9: 2pm: GABRIELLE        Director: Louise Archambault
Canada, 2013        French with English subtitles 104 minutes
Principal Cast: Gabrielle Marion-Rivard, Alexandre Landry, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin
Canada’s official submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2014 Academy Awards, and
produced by the team behind the Oscar-nominated Incendies and Monsieur Lazhar, Louise
Archambault’s Gabrielle is a stunning, tender film about a developmentally challenged young woman’s quest for independence and sexual freedom.

Living in a group home, musically talented Gabrielle has found love with Martin, a fellow member of her choir. They want to explore their feelings for one another physically, but are not allowed.
Convinced that living alone will allow her to have the intimate relationship she so desperately craves, Gabrielle tries valiantly to prove she can be independent.

As she did with Familia—which won Best Canadian First Feature at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival—Archambault displays her keen ability to distill the emotional currents of families at a crossroads. Gabrielle’s rock is her sister Sophie, who tries to help her but knows that full
independence will never be possible. Meanwhile, Sophie is facing her own life-altering decision.
Unlike the troubled relationship the women have with their mother, Sophie and Gabrielle find
immeasurable strength and inspiration in each other.
       
At the core of this film is the heartfelt performance by Marion-Rivard (who has Williams syndrome in real life). Gabrielle’s effusive giddiness is contagious, her drive unrelenting. As the choir works
towards its big performance with Quebec music legend Robert Charlebois, this turbulent, moving
journey is furthered by Mathieu Laverdière’s ethereal cinematography. Gabrielle is a captivating film about tolerance and finding happiness, but, above all, it is a story of love.


The trailer:

OUR MAN IN TEHRAN Sunday, March 9:7pm

Sunday, March 9:    7pm:    OUR MAN IN TEHRAN    Directors: Drew Taylor & Larry Weinstein    Canada, 2013        English 85 minutes        Documentary
With: Ken Taylor, Joe Clark, Flora Macdonald, Tony Mendez, Zena Sheardown, Carole Jerome, Joe Schlesinger, William Daugherty, Gary Sick, Bob Anders

Ben Affleck’s Academy Award–winning blockbuster Argo rekindled public awareness of Canada’s
pivotal role in the rescue of US embassy staffers during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. The film paid homage to the valiant efforts made by then-ambassador Ken Taylor, as well as his wife and
colleagues, to provide a safe haven and counterfeit docu- ments to the six Americans who made it out of Tehran unscathed.

But Argo was entertainment first and foremost—“based on a true story,” but not the whole story. In this gripping new docu- mentary, the “Canadian Caper” is told by the man who knows it best: Ken Taylor himself. Separating the historical facts from the liberties taken in Argo, Taylor offers a vivid, first-person account of the weeks of nerve-fraying tension as he and his collaborators put their
clandestine plan in motion, know- ing that the slightest slip-up could mean dire consequences for all. No detail is spared, from the risks taken in secretly sheltering the six Americans in the Canadian
embassy and helping them flee the country, to Operation Eagle Claw, the US’ failed attempt to rescue the other 52 Americans being held hostage inside the captured American embassy.

Also featuring interviews with the rescued Americans, former Prime Minister Joe Clark, and ex-CIA
officer Tony Mendez (Argo’s main protagonist), Our Man in Tehran chronicles the amazing true story behind the thrilling feature film. Awarded a US Congressional Gold Medal and an Officer of the Order of Canada, Taylor is a real-life hero—our hero.


The trailer:

THE HUSBAND Sunday, March 9: 9:30

Sunday, March 9:        9:30:    THE HUSBAND         Director: Bruce McDonald
Canada, 2013  80 mins. Cast: Maxwell McCabe-Lokos, August Diehl, Sarah Allen   

The latest from Canadian maverick Bruce McDonald, The Husband is a fresh, unique and gutsy black comedy about impotent male rage and the limits of compassion. Henry, the hero of McDonald’s film, is having a really bad year. His wife, Alyssa, a former teacher, is in jail for sleeping with a 14-year-old student, forcing Henry to raise their infant son alone. He loathes his ad agency job, and his co-workers even more. Moreover, the burden of single parenting has essentially cut him off from his friends and left him to stew. As Alyssa’s release looms, Henry finds it increasingly difficult to contain himself.

The Husband is defiantly unpredictable. We’re never quite sure where the film is headed, but we know there’s a strong chance it isn’t someplace good. Yet we watch, transfixed, as Henry approaches an undefined point of no return, primarily because it’s hard not to empathize with him on some level, but also because of the astonishing performance of co-writer and star Maxwell McCabe-Lokos. Hunched over, always infuriated and in a rush, Henry is part golem and part speed freak, furiously trying to escape his own anger. McCabe-Lokos is aided by Sarah Allen as the baffling yet sympathetic Alyssa; noted German actor August Iehl (Inglourious Basterds) as Henry’s lone remaining friend; and the iconic Stephen McHattie as Alyssa’s understanding father. Keeping all of these elements under control is McDonald, who turns in his most subtle job of direction to date.

With its sly humour and increasingly frenzied characters, The Husband borrows elements of Italian sex comedies from the 1960s while taking aim at more serious subjects. Guilt may be—as Susan Sontag once suggested—the most useless, unproductive emotion, but chances are that jealousy, leavened with macho rage, comes a close second.


The trailer:

MUSCLE SHOALS – FEBRUARY 8

Cinema CNC presents...

February 8: Muscle Shoals        Dir: Greg ‘Freddy’ Camalier
USA, 2013        Documentary     111 minutes

An Official Selection of the 2013 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, director Greg “Freddy” Camalier makes his documentary debut with this fascinating look at a legendary site in musical history: FAME Studios.

Tucked along the Tennessee River, the town of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, barely registers on a map. But thanks to one visionary record producer and a group of unknown session musicians, this tiny backwater served as a recording capital for rock, pop and rhythm and blues artists throughout the 1960s and seventies.

At the heart of this fascinating history lesson is Rick Hall, a dark horse who overcomes a troubled past to found FAME Studios. Together with a band of buddies know as The Swampers, he developed the deep, soulful “Muscle Shoals Sound” that forged the artistry of legends as varied as Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett, and Mick Jagger and Duane Allman.

More inspiring still, Hall and The Swampers created a space where black and white artists worked seamlessly together, just down the road from Alabama’s burning racial crisis.

Featuring engrossing archival footage and in-depth interviews with countless icons, Camalier’s Muscle Shoals serves up one of America’s greatest untold music stories.

THE HUNT – FEBRUARY 1

Cinema CNC presents...

February 1: The Hunt        Dir: Thomas Vinterberg
Denmark, 2012        Danish with subtitles     111 minutes
Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Annika Wedderkopp

One of the most controversial films of the past year, The Hunt is an intelligent and disturbing dissection of Danish society, as ferocious as director Thomas Vinterberg’s international breakthrough The Celebration. Mads Mikkelsen stars as Lucas, a divorced daycare worker who is hoping to win custody of his estranged teenage son. Well-liked and easygoing, Lucas is an integral part of this tight-knit community, having lived in the small suburban town all his life and formed lifelong friendships with Theo and Bruun, who regularly organizes the men’s hunting trips.

Beloved by the children under his care, Lucas also has a special bond with Klara, the young daughter of Theo and his wife Agnes. Frequently finding Klara wandering the neighbourhood alone— her only respite from the constant rows between her parents—Lucas takes to escorting her home. When Klara kisses him on the lips one day, a shocked Lucas rebuffs her, telling her that only mommies and daddies should kiss in that way. Hurt and angry, the child tells the incompetent head of the day- care that she has seen things she shouldn’t have, sparking a modern-day witch hunt that targets Lucas and grows progressively uglier. Rumours, innuendo and lies spread through the town like a virus, transforming the once mild-mannered Lucas into a tormented and embittered pariah virtually overnight.

As in The Celebration, Vinterberg mercilessly reveals the hypocrisy behind some of his country’s most cherished social ideals, particularly the close bonds of community, the sanctity of domesticity, and the innocence of childhood. Directed with consummate skill and driven by exceptional performances from a stellar cast, especially Mikkelsen, The Hunt is one of the most troubling and powerful cinematic experiences of the year.

“Beautifully performed and tough as nails, Vinterberg’s social drama could not be any more timely.”    —David Hughes, Empire

KON TIKI – JANUARY 25

Cinema CNC presents... KON TIKI, January 25:


January 25:     Kon-Tiki    Dirs: Joachim Roenning, Espen Sandberg
Norway/Denmark/UK        English 119 minutes
Cast: Pål Sverre Hagen, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Gustaf Skarsgard, Odd Magnus Williamson, Jakob Oftebro, Agnes Kittelsen

Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 85th Academy Awards, Kon-Tiki is an epic retelling of Thor Heyerdahl’s 1947 expedition across the Pacific Ocean. It chronicles Heyerdahl’s bold journey from Peru to Polynesia, with breathtaking visual majesty.

A risk-taker since childhood, Heyerdahl is one of the last examples of the scientist as adventurer. Unable to find a publisher to print his thesis that the settlers of Polynesia could have arrived from South America rather than from Asia as commonly believed, he hatches a plan to cross the Pacific on raft, just like the ancient Incas before him. Undeterred by the obstacles he encounters—ridicule at his outlandish hypothesis, dire financial straits, and strained family relationships—Heyerdahl assembles an authentic replica of a balsa wood raft, along with a motley crew to join him on his journey. But the challenges involved in launching the voyage pale in comparison to the harsh conditions they face at sea—violent storms, encounters with sharks, and mounting tensions among the crew.

Roenning and Sandberg’s faithful retelling of Heyerdahl’s expedition is exciting, tense and, ultimately, triumphant. Featuring stunning cinematography of the wide open ocean, Kon-Tiki is an awe-inspiring film that begs to be seen on the big screen. A blockbuster in its home country that was shot simultaneously in Norwegian and English in anticipation of a broad English-language release, it is sure to enthrall audiences.

“A rousing and thoroughly enjoyable Old Hollywood-style adventure.”—Ian Buckwalter, NPR

WINTER FILMS 2014

Cinema CNC presents... WINTER FILMS 2014.

Showtimes: 7 + 9:30
All screenings in room 1-306 at the College of New Caledonia

Passes: [three films] $21
 Available at Books and Company and at the CNC Bookstore

Tickets:
$8 regular
$7 students, seniors, unemployed
Available at the door.

Jan. 25: KON TIKI
Feb. 1:  THE HUNT
Feb. 8: MUSCLE SHOALS