Photo by Matt Ohara via Flickr

For the next two weeks, Ottawa audiences have the unique opportunity to sample some of the best independent films coming out of the EU. The European Union Film Festival is hosted by the Canadian Film Institute (the oldest film institution in Canada) and takes place at the Library and Archives on Wellington Street. The participating films are chosen by the CFI and many are credited as official selections for other big international film festivals such as Cannes, or have already won awards in their country of origin.

This is the 26th year for the Festival and in an interview, CFI Executive Director Tom McSorley told Ottawa Tonite that attendance and popularity grow steadily every year due to Ottawa’s “love of international cinema in general and European cinema in particular.” There are similarities between Canadian cinema and that of the EU, namely that filmmakers tend to generate “small, personal films with modest budgets and big ideas.”

Running now until December 4th, the EU Film Festival offers a diverse array of film styles and subjects, so there is something for every taste.

To highlight a few:

• The film “Stricken” comes from a first-time director in the Netherlands. It is about a married man who, when tragedy strikes, must decide between his current life and an intriguing new woman.    December 4, 7:00pm

• “Breathing” is the official Austrian selection for entry into the 84th Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film category. The protagonist is a nineteen year-old ex-con who is learning to rebuild his life after prison, and the film has received critical praise for its stunning visual style.
  December 3, 9:00pm

• A Canadian-Hungarian co-production, “The Maiden Danced to Death” was filmed right here in Ottawa. It is about two men and the woman who came between them; and how, 20 years after the fact, they try to make peace by reviving their dance company in Hungary with a performance of “The Maiden Danced to Death.”
  November 26, 7:00pm

More information on the Festival and the Canadian Film Institute can be found on their website: http://www.cfi-icf.ca/

‘With Glowing Hearts – The #van2010 Social Media Story’

The 25th European Union Film Festival takes place under the current EU Presidency of Belgium.

The Festival kicks off on Thursday, November 18, at 7:00pm with the Belgian drama, A PERFECT MATCH, starring legendary Belgian actor, Jan Decleir.  All films in the European Union Film Festival are National Capital premieres. 

All films will be screened at the Auditorium of the Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa, with free parking available on either side of the building. Admission is $8.00 for CFI members, senior citizens and students, and $12.00 for the general public. Annual CFI memberships are available at the door for $15.00.
For further information, call: 613-232-6727 or check the CFI website: www.cfi-icf.ca

The film’s an entertaining and insightful look at the ‘Hollywood Indian’, exploring the portrayal of First Nations & Original Peoples through the last century of US and Canadian film.

You can watch the trailer here:

For decades, the cinematic depiction of Aboriginal people represented in Hollywood films was almost always negative and wildly inaccurate. Worse still, as Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond’s feature documentary REEL INJUN carefully observes, this screen depiction and myth of “the Injun” has had a very real impact on Aboriginal people and on non-Aboriginal people’s ideas of who they were.

REEL INJUN takes us on a highly entertaining road journey through the heartland of America, and into the Canadian North, tracing the evolution of cinema’s depiction of Native people. In his interviews with a broad range of Native actors, directors, writers, academics and stand-up comics, Diamond focuses on how the stereotypical depictions of redskins affected the self-images of Native Americans and how key positive images inspired them.

REEL INJUN traces the evolution of cinema’s depiction of Native people from the silent film era to contemporary times, with clips from hundreds of classic and recent Hollywood movies, and candid interviews with celebrated Native and non-Native activists, film critics and historians.

Neil Diamond (writer/director) is a filmmaker from the Cree community of Waskaganish, on James Bay. His documentaries include One More River: The Deal That Split the Cree (2004) and Heavy Metal: A Mining Disaster in Northern Quebec (2004), which won the Rigoberta Menchú Tum Award at the First Peoples’ Festival in 2005. He has also directed Dab Iyiyuu, a series about Aboriginal elders. REEL INJUN (2009) is his latest documentary.

About Domino Film
Established in 1983 by President, Jeanne Ritter, Montreal-based Domino Film and Television International Ltd. distributes Canadian theatrical feature films across Canada and around the world. The Domino catalogue of award-winning productions includes Guy Maddin’s Dracula: Pages From A Virgin’s Diary; Rodrigue Jean’s Full Blast and Yellowknife; and Darrell Wasyk’s Mustard Bath. Upcoming releases include Wasyk’s latest feature, The Girl in the White Coat, and a first feature from Chester Sit, The Pharmacist.

Rezolution Pictures, in coproduction with the National Film Board of Canada and in association with CBC Newsworld, REEL INJUN was produced by Christina Fon, Catherine Bainbridge, Linda Ludwick, Adam Symanski and Executive producers Ernest Webb and Ravida Din.

About Rezolution Pictures
Rezolution Pictures International is a Montreal-based, award-winning Aboriginal-owned film and television production company that plays a vital role in bringing diversity to Canada’s cinematic mediums.

Video introduction by director George A. Romero!
Advance tickets now on sale at the Mayfair box office!

The Mayfair Theatre bills itself as Ottawa’s home of stuff you won’t see anywhere else. And we’re living up to that reputation with our upcoming presentation, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD LIVE.

The idea is simple. On Oct 29, the Mayfair will screen a pristine, 35 mm print of George A. Romero’s 1968 classic, Night of the Living Dead.

But we’ll screen it as a silent film.

While the film plays, members of the Ottawa Symphony and NAC orchestra, as well as members from HILOTRONS, will play an original score, adapted closely from the film’s existing soundtrack. A cast of local actors will perform the film’s dialogue in-synch with the onscreen performances, and sound effects will be created live, on-site.

The performances of  NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD LIVE takes place Friday, Oct. 29 at 9:30 PM (doors at 8:30 PM) at the Mayfair Theatre, 1074 Bank St. (at Sunnyside).

ADMISSION:
Special admission prices apply to this special screening:
$20 members, students and seniors | $25 non-members

Festival passes (members only): $70
Festival passes are on sale for Mayfair members only, and provide entry to all films. Members will
save $10 by purchasing a pass. Non-members will save $35, after purchasing a membership.
Advance tickets and limited festival passes are now on sale at the Mayfair box office.

BLESSED BY ROMERO (BY VIDEO)
Director George A. Romero would have attended the performances if he’d been able to.
Unfortunately, he’s busy promoting his newest film. So, he recorded a special video introduction
to NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD LIVE that we will screen before each performance.

WAIT, THERE’S MORE? YES! CHEAP BEER AND WINE!
The NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD LIVE performance is licensed for alcohol. We’re serving McAuslan beer and local Ontario wine. (We’ll also be serving the Mayfair’s regular selection of delectable popcorn, beverages and other treats.)

For more information, please contact:

Lee Demarbre
Mayfair Theatre Programmer
Office: 613-730-6552
Cell: 613-301-4728
lee@mayfairtheatre.ca

For trailers, schedules and more, visit the Mayfair Theatre’s official website at mayfairtheatre.ca

The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) is offering a variety of activities for all ages at this year’s festival, which runs from October 20 to 24, 2010.

We have the  Top Secret “CATCH” for this year’s DIGI60 Film Festival entries:

DIGI60 is Ottawa’s original Digital Film Festival.  Started in 2004 by Andrew Smith, the festival has been run four times: in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008. DIGI60 challenges Ottawa-area filmmakers to write and shoot a short digital film in 30 days.

And now you know the “catch”… and it changes every Festival.  All filmmakers are all given the same set of parameters for their films and it’s up to them to use their imaginations and creativity to base their films around this “catch”.   Previous catches have included the first and last lines of the film, specific subject matter, and specific locations.  How the filmmaker incorporates the “catch” into their film is entirely up to them.

The deadline for finished films is Monday, October 18, 2010.

The Digi60 Film Festival Gala Screening for top films in each category will be on Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at the Richcraft Theatre at the Shenkman Arts Centre, Orleans.

Every single video produced will be presented on the Digi60 website at www.digi60.org

Video courtesy of Kevin Burton

The Independent Filmmakers Co-operative of Ottawa Inc. (IFCO) announces its annual gala première screening of its filmmakers’ works on Saturday, March 20th at the National Library & Archives of Canada. IFCO’s filmmakers are rebelling against the norm with another batch of exciting short films, and Ottawans are invited to experience Ottawa’s REEL REBELS, as the Co-operative showcases all new film works from its incredibly talented filmmakers.

The Independent Filmmakers Co-operative of Ottawa Inc. (IFCO) is on the ‘cutting edge’ of indie filmmaking; encouraging and inspiring local artists to create celluloid based works; films which emphasize creative filmic approaches & processes; films which reflect the individual filmmaker’s personal vision, and films which don’t necessarily conform to any one definitive cinematic genre or style.

At IFCO the principle mode of production is (celluloid) film. IFCO continues to challenge its artists to think outside the box; push the boundaries of image making and reclaim the art of filmmaking. At IFCO we’re keeping it ‘reel’ by retaining the ‘film’ in filmmaking. Over the last 18 years The Independent Filmmakers Co-operative of Ottawa Inc. (IFCO), has supported the creation of well over 200 short length films.

IFCO’s filmmakers’ works have been broadcast locally and nationally on television, and have also screened nationally and internationally at various preeminent film festivals. I’ve often been asked the question why film? Why use film in a digital age? My response is always why not use film? Digital and film each possess their own intrinsic qualities, and it’s really a matter of personal artistic choice, which art form the artist chooses to employ.

At IFCO we’re demystifying the art of filmmaking, making film accessible to “every man” and “every woman.” Film is here, film is now, and film is ALIVE! “Film as dream, film as music. No form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight to our emotions, deep into the twilight room of the soul.” – Ingmar Bergman

So, if you’re looking for an alternative viewing experience, IFCO’s REEL REBELS will provide just that!

Join us at The National Library & Archives of Canada (395 Wellington @ Bay Street) on Saturday, March 20th at 7:00pm, in support of some of Ottawa’s best!

You’ll have a great opportunity to mix and mingle with the filmmakers at the after-mixer sponsored by D’Arcy McGees (44 Sparks St. at Elgin – downstairs).

Tickets are $12, and are now on sale at IFCO – located in Suite #140 – #2 Daly Avenue (Arts Court). The Independent Filmmakers Co-operative of Ottawa Inc. (IFCO) is a locally based charity, dedicated to the propagation of Super- 8/16mm and 35mm filmmaking in Ottawa.

You can visit IFCO online at www.ifco.ca for more information about the Co-operative and its amazing programming.

Contact: Patrice James, Executive Director Independent Filmmakers Co-operative of Ottawa Inc.

(IFCO) 613-569-1789

 director@ifco.ca

http://www.ifco.ca

Ottawa’s newest media artists’ collective, FILM FEMINA, is pleased to announce its first screening to mark International Women’s Day on March 8, 2010 at Club Saw at 7:00 p.m.

FILM FEMINA was established in February 2010 by Nena Toth, filmmaker and cinematographer. The objective of the collective is to bring communities together to increase awareness and understanding of women’s media art work. Members of the collective include local media independent artists: Kelly Ann Beaton, Tara Arnatsiaq-Barnes, and Liisa Rissanen. Bios on the collective members are attached.

“ The International Women’s Day is an excellent opportunity to celebrate and view contemporary and unique films and videos created by 17 women directors that had been produced in the last 15 years in Ottawa region,” said Nena Toth.

FILM FEMINA screening will feature contemporary short experimental, documentary, animation, and narrative films and videos independently produced for the last 15 years in by Ottawa filmmakers. A complete list of films is attached.

Some of the films and videos from FILM FEMINA program have been awarded prizes at national and international film festivals.  

Several of the films were previously selected from the Canadian Film Femina Festival, held in Podgorica, Montenegro (November 1-3, 2009). The cost of the screening is $5.00 Club SAW is located at 67 Nicolas Street, Ottawa, Ontario.

For information on FILM FEMINA, please contact: Nena Toth, Independent Media Arts curator and Nena Film Verite Productions and Academy 613-594-8458

nena_toth@rogers.com<http://ca.mc880.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=nena_toth@rogers.com>, www.graham.gs/nena_toth_filmmaker/index.html

Selected by the SAW Video Resolution Selection Committee*
Date: Thursday, January 28th, 2010
Location: Mayfair Theatre, 1074 Bank Street
Time: 7:00pm
Admission: $5

Come celebrate the New Year with RESOLUTION 2010, the anticipated annual screening of new works from SAW Video members.

Featuring independent works produced in 2009, the programme is comprised of eleven short videos. The range of styles and interests from dramas to documentaries to experimental videos make for an evening which pays tribute to the creativeness and rich diversity of Ottawa’s media arts community.

Join us after the screening at Patty’s Pub, 1186 Bank Street!

Programming

Izabel Barsive, Lustrale, 9 min.
Deniz Berkin, Late Nights and Green Lights, 4 min. 15 sec.
Phil Caron, Tammy Teardrop, 4 min. 17 sec.
Pixie Cram, Prometheus in Five Directions, 15 min.
Ed Folger, Water Light and Chaos: Art by Juan Geuer, 20 min. 9 sec.
John Graham, Hidden Cities, 2 min.
Penny McCann, The Professor and the Blind Girl, 7 min. 8 sec.
Rehab Nazzal, A Night at Home, 4 min.
Theo Pelmus, Liquid for the Fall, 10 min.
Tasha Waldron, La Petite Mort, 4 min.
Eric Walker, Up in Smoke, 1 min. 49 sec.

* The Selection Committee was comprised of Steve Loft, Heather Ritchie, Shannon Wenkoff, Line Dezainde, and Mireille Bourgeois.