12 days, nearly 200 films, endless fun
PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE
(PORTRAIT DE LA JEUNE FILLE EN FEU)
Screening Sept 27 at 7PM and Sept 29 at 6PM
Céline Sciamma won Best Screenplay and the Queer Palme at the Cannes Film Festival for this sensuous tale about a painter and her subject.
In the late 19th century, Marianne is called to a remote island off the coast of France, where she is commissioned to paint the wedding portrait of Héloïse. Having just left the convent, Héloïse is a reluctant bride to be and has refused to sit for the portrait. This forces Marianne to work in disguise - pretending to be the lady's maid by day, while secretly working on the portrait by night. As the two circle one another with an intense curiosity, they form a bond that will challenge the world around them.
https://www.calgaryfilm.com/films/2019/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire/
CUNNINGHAM (3D) - Documentary
Screening Sept 22 at 3:15PM and Sept 25 at 6PM
Celebrating the centennial of the famed choreographer Merce Cunningham’s birth, this stunning 3D film blends biography with beautiful re-staging of his dances.
Over the span of his seven-decade career, the distinguished American artist Merce Cunningham created 180 repertory dances and more than 700 events that combined intense physicality with intellectual rigor. Focused on Cunningham’s early years starting out as a struggling dancer in post-war New York, director Alla Kovgan poetically traces his evolution as one of the most visionary and preeminent choreographers in the world.
https://www.calgaryfilm.com/films/2019/cunningham-3d
STANDING ON THE LINE
Screening Sept 21 at 4:15PM and Sept 23 at 4PM
Today, to be gay and an athlete remains taboo, even dangerous. When the desire to come out conflicts with the values of teammates, coach, and family, athletes are burdened with the weight of secrecy in an already mentally exhausting environment. STANDING ON THE LINE explores how Canadian athletes deal with homophobia at home and abroad, and how the new generation is taking action for inclusive competition.
Featuring candid interviews from soccer, hockey, and football athletes, Calgarian Speedskater Anastasia Bucsis is notably compelling. Bucsis chose to publicly come out for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, in opposition of Russia’s anti-LGBTQ laws.
Director Paul Emile D’Entremont will be in attendance for a Q&A.
https://www.calgaryfilm.com/films/2019/standing-on-the-line
MUSICAL ICONS ON SCREEN
JUDY: Follow legendary performer Judy Garland (Renée Zellweger) in this musical biopic as she arrives in London in 1968 to perform a series of sold-out concerts. This Alberta premiere screens first on Sept 20.
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MYSTIFY: MICHAEL HUTCHENCE: A portrait of the renowned INXS frontman will transport you through the looking glass to reveal a multifaceted, complex man. This Alberta premiere will screen first on Sept 21. GET TICKETS
MOTHER'S LITTLE HELPERS
Screening Sept 23 at 7:15PM and Sept 26 at 9PM
Sadie Pride finds out she’s pregnant the same day she gets a call that her mother, Joy Pride, has weeks to live. Sadie (a successful, happily married photographer) pulls her estranged siblings, Jude (a gay alcoholic Grindr addict living in Sadie’s house by court-order), Julia (an unhappily married born-again Christian housewife) and Lucy (an overachieving medical resident) together for a final act of reluctant goodwill. Side by side they are forced to confront their childhood past as well as the mother they’ve spent most of their lives avoiding.
Director Kestrin Pantera will be in attendance for a Q&A.
https://www.calgaryfilm.com/films/2019/mother%27s-little-helpers
BEFORE YOU KNOW IT
Screening Sept 26 at 6:30PM and Sept 29 at 2:15PM
Rachel and her sister, Jackie still live in their childhood apartment, above the tiny theatre owned and operated by her family. In the wake of a sudden tragedy, the sisters learn their presumed-deceased mother is actually alive and thriving as a soap-opera star!
Co-writer/director/star Hannah Pearl Utt is a triple threat of comedic splendor. With her impeccable sense of timing and a flair for juxtaposing unpredictable elements, she's ably supported by Jen Tullock, Mandy Patinkin, Alec Baldwin, and the irresistible Judith Light.
https://www.calgaryfilm.com/films/2019/before-you-know-it
TREMORS (TEMBLORES)
Screening Sept 22 at 2:45PM and Sept 25 at 9:15PM
An intense award-winning film about a man’s struggle to hold onto his career and family after being outed in a religious society.
Everyone is shocked to discover that Pablo, their beloved son, husband and devoted father, is in love with another man. This discovery goes against the family’s deeply religious beliefs and is also highly inconvenient for their social status. Soon Pablo finds the walls closing in and he is on the verge of losing his career and kids. The relatives are convinced they can still rescue Pablo and insist that he goes to a conversion camp where he will be "healed" and cleared of all his sins.
https://www.calgaryfilm.com/films/2019/tremors
SAINT FRANCES
Screening Sept 21 at 6:15PM and Sept 28 at 10:45AM
After ending her pregnancy at the start of the summer, Bridget reluctantly accepts a much-needed job nannying a six-year old in affluent Evanston, Illinois. With no time to recover, she clashes with the obstinate Frances and struggles to navigate a growing tension between Frances’ moms. As her personal relationships suffer, a reluctant friendship with Frances emerges, and Bridget contends with the inevitable joys and shit-shows of becoming a part of someone else’s family.
At turns hilarious, surprising and moving, Saint Frances forges new ground in a uniquely modern take on the "Summer Job" genre.
https://www.calgaryfilm.com/films/2019/saint-frances
FREE Retrospective Screening at the Library
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN: Sept 26 at 4PM
Set against the sweeping vistas of Alberta's Rocky Mountains, this film tells the story of two young men - a ranch-hand and a rodeo cowboy - who meet in the summer of 1963 and unexpectedly forge a lifelong connection. GET TICKETS
