The film industry is changing - or are the audiences evolving? Deborah Proby of the Raven's Cry Theatre in Sechelt points out that just a few years ago what would once be considered an art film, such as the homespun New Zealand film Whale Rider of 2002, would have been shown in smaller cinemas. Now, this type of film has found a wider market niche. Many art films have become mainstream and will appear at a city's Cineplex, making it difficult for smaller, independent cinemas to acquire a copy. In fact, at least five of the films that Proby hopes to obtain for this season's Coast Cinematheque series have received critical acclaim and were up for awards at last Monday's industry gala, the Golden Globes.
There's an upside to this: many excellent films will have better word of mouth recognition, and may draw larger audiences and run longer. When the Cinematheque opens their season on Jan. 25, they will likely show many of the films more than two or three times, on the traditional evenings of Wednesdays and Thursdays, and also as the second feature on Fridays and Sundays. Although all the following titles will be screened, in some cases the run dates are not known. The list is exciting.
The series opens on Jan. 25/26/29 with Pride and Prejudice, directed by Joe Wright and drawn from the Jane Austen novel. Set in Georgian England, the film stars Keira Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean) as Elizabeth Bennet and Donald Sutherland as Mr. Bennet. Relative unknown Matthew Macfadyen plays Mr. Darcy.
This period piece is followed by something completely different: Capote. While the author Truman Capote researched his book, In Cold Blood, the graphic story of a murder of a Kansas family, he developed a relationship with Perry Smith, one of the killers. Philip Seymour Hoffman (Cold Mountain) picked up a recent Golden Globe award for best actor by portraying the eccentric author.
Other films on the play list are: Mrs. Henderson Presents, a charming film starring Dame Judi Dench; Water, the latest in the excellent series from director Deepa Mehta (Fire, Earth); and the controversial Brokeback Mountain. The latter film, by director Ang Lee, is based on an Annie Proulx short story and features Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as two cowboys overwhelmed by their mutual attraction. Several states, among them Utah and West Virginia, have reportedly refused to show the film because of its homosexual theme, but the Golden Globes honoured it with best picture.
The series continues with Good Night and Good Luck, The History of Violence, Memoirs of a Geisha, Squid and the Whale and Matchpoint. There are no foreign language films to be shown this year.Dark, edgy, serious - that's the tone for the Sunshine Coast Film Society's winter line-up of mostly documentary films to be screened at the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons on Tuesday evenings.
Judith Hammill of the society's three-member programming committee says that most of the films to be screened this winter may have their dark side but they also inspire with stories of redemption.
On Tuesday, Jan. 24, in a special presentation, the society will bring director David Vaisbord to the Coast to talk about Drawing Out the Demons, a film about the artist Attila Richard Lukacs. This gifted artist who studied at Emily Carr in Vancouver has been described as invariably provocative. His meteoric rise to fame after moving to Berlin in 1986 where he explored themes of nude males, primates and neo Nazi skinheads, faltered when he attempted to crack the tough New York art scene. He spiralled into depression and drug addiction before resurfacing in the early 1990s with a totally different style of exhibit called Varieties of Love. He has since returned to his earlier themes.Director Vaisbord describes the film as raw and uncensored.
"It's hard to look at in places," says Vaisbord. "I've done no editing of his paintings."
Hammill describes it as an interesting account that shows the artist's eventual redemption and also some darkly humorous aspects of his life such as his relationship with his parents.
"I don't think it will shock," she says. "Fascinate? Yes."
Vaisbord agrees. "It's an uplifting movie in the end, once you get past the hard edge." The director attended Emily Carr at the same time as Lukacs. The two never met, though Vaisbord was inspired by Lukacs' work. Meanwhile, Vaisbord went on to make documentary films including one about his wunderkind musician uncle called Mischa and a cult performer film, Juicy Danger Meets Burning Man. In 1998, when Vaisbord realized Lukacs had dropped from the headlines, he went to New York to film him.
Before the Tuesday show, the director will give a brief talk to put the film into context and will be available afterwards for questions.Continuing in the series, the double bill on Feb. 7, Exiles in Lotus Land along with Traplines in Vancouver, is definitely an edgy event that describes the gritty story of homeless kids. "You really get to know these kids," Hammill says. "The film humanizes them." A film about a young man trying to earn cash from Thailand's kickboxing industry on Feb. 21 is more uplifting than you'd imagine, focusing on choreographed scenes of the discipline.
A double bill on March 7 gives the audience another chance to see Vendetta Song, a true story of a Kurdish film-maker who journeys to Turkey to discover the truth about a family feud. This time it runs with On the Objection Front, about Israeli soldiers who refuse to participate in the so-called war of the settlements.
The SCFS tends toward documentary and some drama, in keeping with audience requests. In Sechelt, the long-running film series at the Raven's Cry Theatre tends toward fewer documentaries and shows films that appeal to a middle-aged audience. Both series try not to compete with one another but rather to offer a wider selection.A third film and discussion series that ran last autumn at the Gumboot in Roberts Creek will not start up until next April.
David Barbarash of Black Cat Productions has left for Venezuela to attend a world social forum and hopes to restart the series along the same themes: political documentaries, food and environmental issues, spiritual and metaphysical subjects and perhaps a docu-drama or two. He also hopes to return with some cutting-edge films from Venezuela, in addition to making a presentation to the community about what they have learned in that country.
Again, in brief: Coast Cinematheque series at the Raven's Cry Theatre in Sechelt is usually on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m. with weekend matinées at 4 p.m. Film passes are at Talewind Books and Coast Books. The cost is $50 for any eight of at least 10 films. Check listings at www.ravenscrytheatre.com.
S.C. Film Society shows are at the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons on Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 for members or $7.50 for non-members. Listings are posted on www.scfs.ca. This season, the society offers refreshments before and after the movie, and they invite viewers to stay afterwards todiscuss the movie in the lobby while enjoying a hot drink.
