March 9th: THE DOCTOR'S CASE
Directors: James Douglas, Leonard Pearl
CANADA 65 minutes
Written by: James Douglas [screenplay]; Stephen King [short story]
Starring: William B. Davis, Denise Crosby, Michael Coleman, J.P. Winslow, Ian Case [and a whole host of others!]
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS!
Cinema CNC is proud to present this locally produced film.
The Master of Horror meets the Master Detective. When a diabolical
English lord is murdered, Sherlock Holmes and Watson must unexpectedly
exchange roles in order to solve 'the perfect locked room mystery.'
Based on the short story by Stephen King.
March 9th: 7 pm Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World Directors: Catherine Bainbridge, Alfonso Maiorana CANADA, 2017 English 103 minutes With: Robbie Robertson, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Martin Scorsese, George Clinton
Winner of the Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary at the 2017 Hot Docs Film Festival, Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World tells the fascinating and largely hidden history of Indigenous influence on, and contribution to, popular music of the last century. Primarily focused on rock ’n’ roll, blues, and jazz, Rumble gets its title from the infamous Link Wray instrumental hit of 1958 — a song so powerful in its musicality and so emotionally resonant that it was banned from radio play despite not having a single lyric.
Interviews from artists such as Robbie Robertson of The Band, Pat Vegas of Redbone, and Buffy Sainte-Marie illuminate how the cultural identity of Native American and Indigenous artists was obscured or deliberately under-reported, as part of a larger postcolonial effort to erase the cultural heritage of First Peoples. Robertson recalls being told as a budding musician to “be proud you’re an Indian, but be careful who you tell.” Connecting the musical histories of jazz, blues, folk, and rock ’n’ roll with the political and social movements that blossomed out of these genres, Rumble deftly displays the ways in which Indigenous artists in North America navigated activism through music, and went on to influence guitarists like Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and Pete Townsend. From Mildred Bailey, jazz singer of the 1930s and a favourite of Tony Bennett, to guitarist Jesse Ed Davis and his influence on The Beatles, to heavy metal drummer Randy Castillo’s iconic rhythms with Black Sabbath, the his- tory of Indigenous artists serves as a history of music itself.
Refusing to shy away from the ways in which Native American and Indigenous artists suffered from institutional racism, political persecution, and the lasting effects of cultural erasure, Rumble points to the incredible innovative spirit of these artists, and how their music served as expressions of frustration, resistance, and celebration — not only for Indigenous communities, but for generations of music lovers who found power through song.
“The influence of Native Americans on nearly a century of popular music is eloquently demon- strated in this engaging documentary.” – Justin Lowe, The Hollywood Reporter
All ticket at the door: $8 regular; $7 student, senior, unemployed
February 3rd: Faces, Places Directors: Agnès Varda, JR FRANCE, 2017 French w/ English subtitles 89 minutes With: Agnès Varda, JR
A
treasure of global cinema, Agnès Varda makes films alive with
curiosity and playful- ness. Now in her eighties, she remains the
world’s most youthful filmmaker. Her latest nonfiction film is an
inspired collaboration with JR, the mysterious French street artist.
Like many of Varda’s works, Faces Places is a kind of travelogue in
which the wonder of each locale visited is only as potent as the
populace whose existence affects it. Their plan is simple: Varda and
JR roam from place to place in JR’s truck, which is decorated to
resemble a camera. In each place they visit, they meet people — coal
miners, cheese makers, a Herculean farmer — and JR creates immense
monochromatic portraits of them. Our endearing duo then affixes these
portraits to various edifices all over town, quite literally, merging
faces with places. The landscape Varda and JR traverse becomes a visual
record of their encounters. Among Faces Places’ most amusing refrains
is Varda’s annoyance at JR’s refusal to remove his sunglasses, which
she says reminds her of Jean-Luc Godard in the ’60s. The contrast
between Varda’s French New Wave cohort, who represents her tremendous
six-decade legacy, and JR, who embodies her vibrant present, speaks
volumes about the scope of this amazing auteur’s durability and
persistence of vision. “What emerges from them, and from the
relation- ship between the 88-year-old filmmaker and the
thirty-something photographer, is a poignant meditation on everything
from self-revelation in the age of the selfie to change in rural France.
This rich cross-generational exchange speaks to the persistence of
French cinematic culture – Varda’s relationship with the pioneering
filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard is a recurring theme – while the doc itself is
a delight, subtle, touching and entertaining.” – Kate Taylor, The Globe and Mail
All ticket at the door: $8 regular; $7 student, senior, unemployed
January 27th: Loving Vincent Directors: Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman UNITED KINGDOM/POLAND, 2017 English 94 minutes Principal Cast: Douglas Booth, Chris O’Dowd, Saoirse Ronan, Jerome Flynn
The
world's first fully oil-painted animated feature film, Loving Vincent
brings the art of Vincent van Gogh to life to recount the life story of
this most mysterious, mythical, and tragic of great painters. Shot first
as a live-action film, acted by a sterling cast — including Oscar
nominee Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn, The Grand Budapest Hotel), Chris O’Dowd
(Molly’s Game, The Sapphires), Jerome Flynn (Game of Thrones), and
stage actor Robert Gulaczyk as van Gogh — and then painted over frame by
frame with oils, Loving Vincent is simply an extraordinary cinematic
achievement. This unexpected murder mystery follows in the aftermath
of van Gogh’s death in July 1890. Armand Roulin (Douglas Booth; Mary
Shelley, The Limehouse Golem), the son of an Arles postman (O’Dowd), is
instructed by his father to deliver a newly discovered letter to
Vincent’s brother, Theo, who had supported the painter emotionally and
financially. Making his journey from Paris and then to Auvers-sur-Oise,
the northern French town where Vincent died, Armand encounters various
people (many subjects from famous van Gogh paintings) who provide
contradictory anecdotes about the painter's death, suggesting it may not
have been a suicide after all. The artist’s intoxicating colours and
thick, vibrant brushstrokes come to life in jaw-dropping detail, making
this a film best seen on the big screen. The film took more than six
years to complete, with about 125 artists diligently hand-painting over
65,000 frames. With the van Gogh Museum in the Netherlands, the ultimate
authority on the artist, officially endorsing the film, this will be
the most visually stunning and magical film your audiences will see this
year. “Loving Vincent may exist as a showcase for its technique, but
it’s the sensitivity the film shows toward its subject that ultimately
distinguishes this particular oeuvre from the countless bad copies that
already litter the world’s flea markets .” – Peter Debruge, Variety
All ticket at the door: $8 regular; $7 student, senior, unemployed
January 20th: Breathe Director: Andy Serkis USA, 2017 English Run time 118 minutes Principal Cast: Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Hugh Bonneville
After
years of critical success as an actor, Andy Serkis (Star Wars, The Lord
of the Rings) makes his directorial debut with Breathe, the inspiring
biopic portrait of Robin Cavendish. After being diagnosed with polio at
age 28, Cavendish served as a global advocate for people living with
disabilities and assisted in the development of medical technologies
that transformed the lives of paralyzed individuals everywhere. Andrew
Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge, 99 Homes) stars as Cavendish alongside Claire
Foy (The Lady in the Van, TV’s The Crown) as devoted wife Diana Blacker
in this heartwarming chronicle of a couple determined to break barriers
for families facing physical challenges. Completely paralyzed from the
neck down, Cavendish was put on a medical respirator but refused to be
confined by his hospital bed. Against his doctors’ advice, he and Diana
bravely set off on a worldwide quest with their son, Jonathan, to share
their story. Not only was Cavendish a miracle of science for being one
of the longest living polio survivors, but he was also a pioneer in the
medical community for his innovating efforts to enhance mobility for the
physically impaired. With the help of his friend, professor, and
inventor Teddy Hall (Hugh Bonneville, The Monuments Men; TV’s Downton
Abbey), Cavendish used himself as a guinea pig to test the first
wheelchair with a built-in respirator. While he and Diana faced unique
pressures in their relationship, their unwavering strength and spirit
lies at the heart of this story. Known for his performance capture
roles in films like the The Hobbit and The Dawn of the Planet of the
Apes, Serkis daringly steps into a new genre in this brilliant,
life-affirming love story about perseverance, courage, and human
connection. Garfield master- fully pulls off a challenging performance,
transforming physically and psychologically to capture Cavendish’s
optimistic and resilient spirit. Written by two-time Academy Award
nominee William Nicholson and pro- duced by Cavendish’s son, Breathe
shares one of the most hopeful and awe-inspiring tales of the season.
Dir: Petra Biondina Volpe
Switzerland, 2017 German/ w. subtitles 95 mins
Cast: Marie Leuenberger, Maximilian Simonischek
Switzerland, 1971: Nora is a young housewife and mother who lives with her husband and their two sons in a peaceful little village. Here, in the Swiss countryside, little or nothing is felt of the huge social upheavals that the movement of May 1968 has caused. Nora's life, too, has been unaffected; she is a retiring, quiet person, well liked by everyone - until she begins to campaign publicly and pugnaciously for women's right to vote, an issue that will be put before the male voters on February 7th, 1971.
