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Bulletin CulturelApril 2009
Editorial
Tonight:
Opening of the exhibitionof the artist Zhenchen Liu
(From March 27to April 19)
Le LaboDistillery District55 Mill Street
Toronto
FOCUS
Festival - PAGE 3
Music - PAGE 5
Theatre - PAGE 8
Conferences - PAGE 9
Exhibitions - PAGE 11
Cinema - PAGE 12
DVDs - PAGE 14
Danse - PAGE 15
Television - PAGE 16
Content
YANN TIERSEN(author of Amélie soundtracks)
« …on the curtains migrating birds straight frozen above yellow and blue sky.Here and there, holes let the sun rays dim onto the kilim faded stripes ».
Did you ever notice how our perception of hours, days, months and yearschanges? For Atiq Rahimi, there is no other issue towards the idea ofhappiness for the closeted condamned couple than the curtain fabric – or thepeacock feather. That’s not much, that a whole World. For us, the absence ofour bedroom writer, the young or delivering ultimate farewell musician, thehang on the walls show are opportunities for happiness.
Let’s go out for music with long and sunny days back: Charles Aznavour,Sebastien Tellier, Yann Tiersen, Philippe Lejeune and Samarabalouf. Note thatTiersen gave to cinema the famous Amelie sound-track. Samarabalouf toursthe GTA at large : communities and clubs to discover ; how about experi-encing new restaurants ?For playrights, twice « Molière » for your to choose, or go to the TheatreFrançais with English subtitles.
One after the other or at the same time, bloom many Festivals: CineFranco,Jewish -TJFF- , Hot Docs, ReelWorld. Between stills and moving images «Images Festival » brings in amazing discoveries. The lenses of Liu andJoreige/Hadjithomas depict mutating and upside-down Worlds. Spring foreverybody, positive mutations.
(*) « Syngué sabour », Atiq Rahimi, P.O.L. publisher, Goncourt Prize 2008, written in French byan Farsi-born speaker.
Joël Savary, Attaché Culturel
Cultural Calendar - April 2009
2
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
1
Cinéfranco
2DanceBalletCreoleUntil April
4th
Cinéfranco
3ExhibitionsSurani-malismeUntil Ap.
30
Cinéfranco
4
Theatre
The
Misan-thrope
Cinéfranco
5ConferenceL’artet lesartistes
danslaso-ciétémaro-
caine
Cinéfranco
6
Cinema
Paris
-
Le premiervenu
7
Cinema
Lady Jane
MusicPhilippeLeJeune
8Music
SébastienTellier
-PhilippeLeJeune
9 10
Cinema
Shall wekiss?
11 12
13
Television
Flandres
14
Music
Samara-balouf
Television
Stavisky
15
Music
Samara-balouf
ReelWorld
16ConferenceContesetrécitsmer-veilleuxMusic
Samara-balouf
ReelWorld
17
TheatreLe bour-geoisgentil-homme(alsoAp18)ReelWorld
18
Music
Samara-balouf
TJFF
ReelWorld
19
Music
YannTiersen
TJFF
ReelWorld
20
Television
Jardinsd’automne
TJFF
21
TJFF
22ConferenceJeanCalvin
et lesfemmesTheatreThe
DinnerGame
TJFF
23
TJFF
24
TJFF
25
TJFF
26
Music
Charles
Aznavour
27 28CinemaLes Lutinsdu Court-métrage
Television
Sous lesable
29 30
Images Fest. Images Fest. Images Fest. Images Fest.
Images Fest. Images Fest. Images Fest. Images Fest. Images Fest. Images Fest.
The Toronto French film festi-val Cinéfranco is still running!Like each and every year youare offered to enjoy the bestrecent Francophone films.Share the achievements ofmany directors and actors co-ming from all around theworld. The Consulate Generalof France in Toronto is veryproud to support this uniqueprogramme!
These great franco-phone films of the year werenever released in Toronto,Cinefranco is the last catchup opportunity to see themon a big screen. Come andsee the Cédric Klapish film,"Paris" .
Also in the program: verysuccessful comedies inFrance like Tonie Marshal"Off And Running" , andstrong features like "Sur-viving With Wolves" in at-tendance of director VeraBelmont , and the amazingdocumentary "It's HardBeing Loved By Jerks" to
be screened at the closingnight!Thanks to the energy ofMarcelle Lean and her team,this festival is a real party! Solet's join them!
Cinéfranco also opensan artistic program called"Marseille –Toronto Mix” to“ bridge creative communitiesthrough a rare mix of indiefilms, videos, music and exhi-bitions.” Two productionsfrom Marseille are beingscreened in this framework,"Lady Jane" by RobertGuédiguian with Jean-PierreDarroussin and Ariane Asca-ride as well as "Khamsa" byKarim Dridi.
Cinéfranco still running! Until April 5
FFeessttiivvaallssFFeessttiivvaallss
3
Every spring, in the heart ofdowntown Toronto, ReelWorldbrings together filmmakers,cineastes, industry profes-sionals, and local and inter-national media for five daysof cinema. The festival wasestablished in response to theneed for increased represen-tation of Canada’s mosaic ofcultures in film, video andnew media. ReelWorld FilmFestival embodies the truespirit of multiculturalism byencouraging the sharing ofstories across cultures andcreeds.
Discover the French-speakingshort-film of the Festival:
Les Jumelles (The binoculars)A Canadian film by MustaphaTouilWith William Beauchamp,Maryse Beauchamp...
Simon is intrigued by theeating habits of his newMoroccan neighbours. Do barbarians eat with theirfingers? Through his innocentobservation and questioning,Simon teaches his parents alesson that they will neverforget. Les Jumelles is a winkto cultural diversity as seen
by a child. It was a finalistCBC Radio’s digital diversitycontest in Montreal.
ReelWorld Festival From April 15 to 19
ReelWorld Film Festival From April 15 to 19 At Carlton Cinemas20 College Street
Ticket: $10Ticket students and senoirs $5Opening and closure: $20
($25 film + party)
www.reelworld.ca
Discover the French artists pre-sented at Images Festival 2009:
Des nuages aux fêlures de laterreBy Philippe CotePHILIPPE COTE has made morethan a dozen films since 1998which were screened at nume-rous festivals and venuesaround the world including theCentre Georges Pompidou,VideoEx (Zurich), Image Forum(Tokyo) and Media City 11. He isa founding member of the filmco-operative L'Etna, and of arti-sanal lab formed in 1997 inParis, where he lives. Cote willbe in attendance for this screen-ing.
Thursday April 9 at 11:00pm Theatre Centre (1087 Queen Street West)
ŒKempinski¹, By Neïl BeloufaKempinski is a mystical andanimist place. People emergefrom the dark, holding fluores-
cent lamps; they speak about amagical world.The scenario of ŒKempinski¹,filmed in various towns in Mali,is defined by specific rules: in-terviewed people imagine thefuture and speak about it in thepresent tense. Their hopeful,poetic, spiritual stories and fan-tasies are recorded and edited ina melodic way. ŒKempinski¹thus cleverly challenges our ex-otic expectations and stereo-types about Africa.
Sunday 5 Apr at 6:00pm JosephWorkman Theatre (1001 QueenStreet West)
Five short videosBy Thierry GeoffroyThierry Geoffroy (aka Colonel),interviews immigrants and in-digenous Danes on the streetsof Denmark, making himselfunderstood in his very imperfectEnglish. The interviews in all hisprojects presented here includ-ing Borders test (version com-plet), The Walraff Method, Iwant to look like you and Cul-
tural Exchanges manifest a di-rectness that dispenses with so-cial niceties. The briefencounters he arrangesbetween individuals result invery forthright vox popexchanges.
Sunday 5 Apr at 2:00pm JosephWorkman Theatre (1001 QueenStreet West)
And also the unique conference,offered by the Consulate Ge-neral of France in Toronto, inpartnership with Images Festi-val, at A Space Gallery, by theartist and director Halil Joreige,on Saturday, April 4, at 3:30pm. SEE ON PAGE 11
Images Festival From April 2 to 11
Images Festival
From April 2 to 11
-To learn more about
the conference Halil Joreige,see on page 11
4
For nine days in April, the TorontoJewish Film Festival provides theopportunity for everyone to travelthe Jewish world through films. The Consulate General of France isproud to support this fantastic fes-tival which is one of the biggestJewish film festival in the world –and there are more than 100 es-tablished around the globe! So do not miss it and join this cele-bration of Jewish culture!
The Festival screens at three the-atres – the Bloor Cinema (506 BloorSt. W. at Bathurst St.), the Al GreenTheatre, Miles Nadal JCC (750Spadina Ave. at Bloor St. W.) andthe Sheppard Grande (4861 YongeSt. at Sheppard Ave.).
For more details about the filmschedule please visit : www.tjff.com
Toronto Jewish Film Festival From April 18 to 26
Toronto Jewish Film Festival
From April 18 to 26
For more details, visit:
www.tjff.com
MMuussiiccMMuussiicc
Tiersen was born in Brittany,France, in 1970 and received clas-sical training at several musicalacademies, including those inRennes, Nantes, and Boulogne. Be-fore releasing scores under his ownname, Tiersen recorded back-ground music for a number of playsand short films, such as La VieRêvée des Anges (1998, ErickZonca), Alice et Martin (1998,André Téchiné), Qui Plume la Lune?(Christine Carrière, 1999).He rose to domestic fame upon therelease of his third album, LePhare, but remained relativelyunknown outside France until therelease of his score for Le fabuleuxdestin d'Amélie Poulain in 2001,which was a mixture of both newand previously released materials.Tiersen favors the piano, accordion,and violin, but is also known for hisexperimentations and uses ofobscure and found instruments likethe ondes martenot and the type-
writer.Yann Tiersen's list of collaboratorscontinues to grow album afteralbum. While composing his fifthalbum, L'absente, Tiersen lent hismusical talent to Françoiz Breut andLes Têtes Raides for their ownalbum. His 2005 album, LesRetrouvailles, featured vocals fromStuart Staples of Tindersticks, JaneBirkin, and Elizabeth Fraser, for-merly of Cocteau Twins. Tiersenalso played piano on Staples' solo
album, Lucky Dog Recordings 03-04.His live performances vary greatly.Sometimes he is accompanied byan orchestra and many guest col-laborators, like Dominique A. Oth-ers, he offers the more frequentminimalistic sessions, usually ac-companied only by adrummer/bassist and a guitarist,with Tiersen switching seamlesslybetween piano, accordion, and vio-lin for his lighter songs, and electricguitar for his louder pieces (wherehis Avant-Garde Music meet somerock sonorities).
Yann Tiersen April 19
Yann Tiersen
Sunday, April 19 At 8:00 PM
At Mod Club722 College street
Toronto416 588 4668
Until a short time ago, SébastienTellier was unknown to most Frenchpeople. His participation at Eurovi-sion 2008, despite being unsuc-cessfull, helped him become morefamiliar to the broader public.His musical career began sevenyears ago, with his first electroalbum, entitled l’Incroyable vérité,released in 2001. Subsequently, heperformed with the band Air at thefirst shows of their tour that year.He released his second album,
Politics, in 2004. The song, La Ri-tournelle, on the album became abig hit, and shot Sébastien Tellierrelative fame.
His talents were further recognizedwhen the song, Fantino, from hisfirst album, was chosen to be a partof the soundtrack from Sofia Cop-pola’s Lost in Translation and alsoTristan Arouet’s movie Narco only ayear later.For the two next years, SébastienTellier devoted his efforts to remix-ing particular songs from previous
albums acoustically, such as theremixing of the French singerChristophe’s song ‘La Dolce Vita‘. His third album, entitled Session, isinfluenced by this work, and ismore mature and accomplishedthan his previous albums. It waswarmly received by critics.The sounds from his latest albumSexuality, released in early 2008,were played constantly on theFrench airwaves.
Sébastien Tellier April 8
Sébastien Tellier
Wednesday, April 8
At Mod Club722 College street
Toronto416 588 4668
5
The French pianist Philippe LeJeuneis a perfect example of the mixtureof jazz and blues which has espe-cially an important strain in the jazztradition.A French man who loves and playsAmerican Jazz is not entirely un-usual, but what sets Philippe apartfrom his contemporaries is his soul-ful feel for the music. His reper-toire ranges from classicbarrelhouse boogie woogie piano toDuke Ellington and Horace Silvertunes as well those of Milt Jacksonand George Gershwin. Philippe LeJeune has released fiveCd’s in the United States; oneamong them is live at the BlueMoon, in Houston, Texas. He alsomade numerous appearances, invarious American Jazz and BluesClubs and festivals: Detroit JazzFestival, Toledo Art Tatum Jazz Her-itage Festival… Living in Toulouse, France, LeJeunehas performed for many yearsthroughout Europe in the Jazz Fes-tival and clubs circuit (France,Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Czech
Republic…), and in Africa (Tunisia,Senegal).As an educator and clinician, he hastaught piano workshops in musicschools, and has lead symposiumsat jazz and blues festival through-out France. Philippe LeJeune’sname was introduced into the fa-mous New Grove Dictionary of Jazzin 2001.Philippe LeJeune has found a rolenot only as an interpreter of con-temporary numbers, but as tradi-tionalists bringing back to today’s
audience important music from avariety of older sources and melt-ing it all together into a highly per-sonal style and repertoire. TheFrenchman’s natural instinct forblues, jazz, and boogie is food forthe soul.
Philippe LeJeune April 7 and 8
Philippe LeJeune
Monday, April 7At 6:30 pm
At The Rex194 Queen Street West
Toronto416 598 2475
Tuesday, April 8 At 5:00 pm
At Gate 403403 Roncesvalles
Toronto416 588 2930
6
With Emerald Doyle, SooziSchlanger, Philippe Flahaut andAmélie Lefebvre.
It’s well known that songs tran-scend time and borders, requiringno passport other than their combi-nation of words and melodies tothrow the doors of our hearts wideopen. But, over the course of theirwanderings, songs undergo unpre-dictable transformations. Occasion-ally the original impulse is indeedretained in another language (for
example, “La Complainte deMackie”, which is the Frenchversion of “Mack the Knife”, inwhich Vian brilliantly recreates theworld of Weill and Brecht); but itsometimes turns out that a songtells us a completely different story.Arlo Guthrie’s “Spirit of NewOrleans” is an ode to the end of away of life while Joe Dassin’sFrench version, “Salut lesamoureux”, becomes an ode tothe end of love. These parallel existences are ex-
plored by Franco-Ontarian per-former Emerald Doyle and herguests (Soozi Schlanger, PhilippeFlahaut and Amélie Lefebvre) in“Baisers volés” [Stolen Kisses], acabaret-chanson in which memo-ries and surprises become inter-twined in the listener’s ear.
- Dominique Denis, Artistic Director
Baisers volés Friday, April 24
Baisers volés
Friday, April 24At 7:00 pm
In French
AFT Spadina24 Spadina Road
7
Under the artistic directorship ofFrançois Petit, SAMARABALOUF is adelightfully crazy string trio nu-rtured on the music by world fa-mous gypsy jazz star DjangoReinhardt.Accompanied by a rhythmic guitar(played by Pierre Margerin), a dou-ble bass (played by Luc Ambry) andworking with Django’s music tonesand rhythms, Francois has devel-oped a repertoire of works stretchingfrom the Boogie-Blues to FlamencoRock and rockabilly, integratingpopular themes such as the Waltz,Tango, Rumba and the Slow. On
stage, the group’s energy cohesionand virtuosity bring the audienceon trips made of roaming reverie,festive delights and a good dose ofhumor.Since then, the group has beentouring extensively throughoutNorth America, from Anchorage toNew York’s GlobalFEST via Vancou-ver, Seattle, Los Angeles, Montana,Idaho, the Mid West, Louisiana andTexas with breaking CD salerecords at their concerts…bringingthem back to this continent duringearly Fall 08 and April 2009.SAMARABALOUF has also per-formed on stage with Frenchgroups such as Trio Rosenberg, LesYeux Noirs, Bratch and Mickey 3D.Their discography includes 3 CD’sreleased by L’Autre Distribution inFrance: Samarabalouf (2000), LaValche Folle (2002) and Profitez en!(May 04). Their 4th CD entitledBababa, was released in January2008!
Samarabalouf April 14, 15, 16 and 18
Tuesday, April 14At 8:00pm
Markham Theatre 171 Town Centre Blvd,
Markham
Wednesday, April 15At 8:00 pm
Oakville Centre for the Per-forming Arts, 130 Navy St.
Oakville
Thursday, April 16At 8:00 pm
Rose Theatre/Brampton Perf.Arts Centre
150 Central Park Dr. Brampton
Saturday, April 18At 7:30 pm
Centre for Arts at Brock Uni-versity, 500 Glenridge Av.
Saint Catherine
Widely regarded as the “FrenchFrank Sinatra”, Charles Az-navour is without a doubt themost famous French singer thathas ever lived. A legend whomaintains an international cultfollowing, the Paris-born crooneris credited with reinventing theFrench chanson, and for pen-ning more than 800 songs thathave been covered by artistsuch as Edith Piaf, Bing Crosby,
Ray Charles, Elvis Costello,Bobby Darin and Sting.Besides being one of France'smost popular and enduringsingers, he is also one of themost well-known singers in theworld. He is known for his char-acteristic short figure and
unique tenor voice; clear andringing in its upper reaches,with gravely and profound lownotes. He has appeared in morethan 60 movies, composedabout 1,000 songs (including atleast 150 in English, 100 in Ital-ian, 70 in Spanish, and 50 inGerman), and sold well over 100million records.
Best of Charles Aznavour April 26
Best of Charles Aznavour
Sunday, April 26 At 8:00 PM
At Roy Thomson Hall60 Simcoe St. (corner ofKing St. and Simcoe St.)
TThheeaattrreeTThheeaattrree
This piece, a cult hit onstage and infilm, has become synonymous withscathing comedy that denouncesthe excesses of today’s society. Itspremise begins with some charac-ters tracking down a complete idiotand inviting him to dinner with theintention of mocking him the entireevening without him ever realizingit. But what happens when thegame does not unfold as planned,when nothing seems to stop the in-vited idiot from making thingsworse? The result, much to ouramusement, is one of the most hi-larious and intelligent comedies ofour age. Nothing is left to chance.Between continuous mistaken iden-tity, ongoing word games, andtable-turning situations, it is impos-sible for us to avoid both a seriouscase of the giggles and a critical
look at society. We are sure to seehumor displayed in all its forms associety’s excess is gleefully de-nounced.
The Dinner Game From April 22 to May 9
The Dinner GameBy Francis Veber
From April 22 to May 9
Directed by Guy MignaultWith Stéphanie Broschar,Paul Essiembre, MarianneLambert, Jean-Michel LeGal, René Lemieux, Pierre
Simpson
From Ap 22 to May2, andfrom May 6 to 9: 8:00 PMAp 26, MAy 2, 3, and 9, at2:30 PM
26 Berkeley StreetToronto
416.534.6604
8
M. Jourdain is a middle-aged bour-geois whose father grew rich as acloth-merchant. The rather foolishJourdain now has one aim in life -to rise above this middle-classbackground and be accepted as anaristocratic gentleman. To this end,he orders splendid new clothes(and is naively delighted when thetailor''s boy mockingly addresseshim as "my Lord") and applies him-self to learning the gentlemanlyarts of fencing, dancing, music andphilosophy, despite his age; indoing so he continually manages tomake a fool of himself, to the dis-gust of his hired teachers. Most fa-mously, his philosophy lessondegenerates into a basic lesson onlanguage in which he is surprisedand delighted to learn that he hasbeen speaking prose all his lifewithout knowing it. Mme Jourdain, his sensible wife,sees that he is making himself
ridiculous and urges him to returnto his previous unpretentious mid-dle-class life, but to no avail. A par-asitic, cash-strapped noblemancalled Dorante has attached himselfto M. Jourdain; he secretly despisesJourdain but flatters his aristocraticdreams (e.g. by telling Jourdainthat he mentioned his name to theKing at Versailles) so as to get Jour-dain to pay his debts. Jourdain''sdreams of social-climbing mounthigher and higher: he dreams ofmarrying a Marchioness, Dorimene,and having his daughter Lucillemarry a nobleman. But Lucille is inlove with the middle-class Cléonte.Of course, M. Jourdain refuses hispermission for Lucille to marryCléonte.This play is an hilarious master-piece of French theatre written bythe most famous French playwrightJean-Baptiste Poquelin ( Molière).
Le bourgeois gentilhomme April 17 and 18
Le Bourgeois gentilhommeBy Molière
Music by Lully
Presented by “La Troupe des Anciens” of University of Toronto
Friday, April 17 and Saturday, April 18
At 8:00 pm
George Ignatieff Theatre15, Devonshire Place
In French
The red light district theatre com-pany is excited to announce the re-turn of German director JohannaSchall to Toronto to direct a newproduction of Molière’s classic com-edy THE MISANTHROPE.
Schall, the granddaughter of BertoltBrecht and a formidable force in thetheatre in her own right, spent ayear in Toronto from 2007-2008teaching at the University Collegedrama program at the University ofToronto, where she directed an ex-citing and acclaimed production ofSchiller’s early work, The Robbers.
She chose THE MISANTHROPE withwhich to make her professionalToronto debut because Molière’splay speaks of her experience ofthis city.
“Everybody (in Toronto) is fromsomewhere else and so the rulesfor social interaction are fluctua-ting, subtle and manifold,” sheexplains. “Individualism is highlypraised but only up to a certainpoint, where it is considered rude.So you encounter this strangepoliteness, coupled with an intenseanger and peppered with a sharpwit. The play is about the pressureto belong: we cannot live outsideof society, but the price for mem-bership is quite high.”
Molière’s famous 17th century co-medy of manners satirizes thehypocrisies of aristocratic society. Ittells the story of young man (themisanthrope) who rejects societyand its conventions, but paradoxi-cally has fallen head over heels inlove with a flirtatious young womanwho represents all the ‘dreadfulmodern ways’ he despises.
The Misanthrope From April 4 to 26
The MisanthropeA master-piece by
Molière
Directed by Johanna Schall
With: Marcel Dragonieri,Spencer Evoy, Kat Letwin,
Reid Linforth...
April 4 at 8 PM,April 8 at 10 PM
April 10, 13, 15 & 22 at 8 PMApril 23 at 10 PMApril 24 at 9 PMApril 26 at 8 PM
At Drake Hotel1150 Queen street west
Toronto
CCoonnffeerreenncceessCCoonnffeerreenncceess
Lahcen Zinoun (who directed LaBeauté éparpillée [The LostBeauty]) and Omar Chraïbi (whodirected Tissée de mains et d’étoffe[Hands and Cloth]) will discuss the
place of art and artist in Moroccansociety at a roundtable to be heldon Sunday, April 5. This discussionwill be facilitated by Marcelle Leandirector of Cinéfranco.
Come and discover the artisticpathways taken by these talentedfilm-makers who will be showingtheir works at the Royal (608 Col-lege Street) between 1:00 and5:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 4.
The Place of Art and Artist Sunday, April 5in Moroccan Society
The Place of Art and theArtist in Moroccan
Society
Sunday, April 5At 11:00 am
In French
AFT Spadina24 Spadina Road
9
With Mamadou Seck, DanièleVallée and Dan Yashinsky,and the artistic collaboration ofMarc Lemyre
Danièle Vallée is a recognized au-thor and storyteller living in Ot-tawa. She has published sevenbooks including five that were illus-trated by well-known visual artists.She has brought some of her worksto the stage, endowing them withan astounding artistic dimensionthat features various types ofmusic. Ms. Vallée will present a taletaken from her Racontars show.
Dan Yashinsky founded the TorontoFestival of Storytelling (in l979),and co-founded the StorytellersSchool of Toronto. A working story-
teller since l977, he has travelled tomany parts of Canada and aroundthe world telling and collecting sto-ries. As a teller for children andteens, Dan works mostly with gradeseven through high school.M. Yashinsky will speak about hisbook Suddenly They Heard Foot-steps.
Mamadou Seck has established hisown company, Talibé Communica-tions; its main services includetranslation in a variety of fieldssuch as education, the arts, etc. Hehas taken part in various artisticand cultural activities, e.g., apoetry/theatre recital at Laval Uni-versity and courses in dramatic artswith the Carousel Theatre School inVancouver. He has worked with
Danièle Caloz, the project directorat TVOntario, as a writer and an-nouncer for the program entitled“Le passé au présent”. Mr. Seck willpresent a story and poem.
Stories and Tales of the Fantastic Thursday, April 16
Stories and Tales of theFantastic
Thursday, April 16At 6:30 pm
In FrenchFree admission
AFT Spadina24 Spadina Road
10
Le génie du cinéma français pre-sented by film critic and program-mer Shlomo Schwartzberg.
He will be examining contemporaryFrench cinema, Le Nouvelle Vague,Love and Sex, Politics and Societyand the portrayal of minorities inFrench cinema.
Each film or lecture admission:
$8 for members, $6.50 for seniorsand children, and $12 for non-members
For more information:416 531 9959
Le génie du cinéma français Tuesday, April 7
Le génie du cinéma français
A lectureShlomo Schwartzberg
Tuesday, April 7A 7:00 pm
At Revue Cinema400 Roncesvalles Avenue,south of Dundas St. West
By Jane Couchman,Professor Emeritus, FrenchStudies, Multidisciplinary Stud-ies and Women’s Studies, Glen-don College
The 500th birthday of Jean Calvinwill be observed on July 10, 2009.A number of “celebrations” of hisbirth are being planned, notably inGeneva, where the reformer settledfollowing his exile from his nativecountry in 1534. Calvin was born inNoyon in Picardie.
We will be celebrating one specificaspect of Calvin’s thought and ac-tivities, i.e., what he had to sayabout women in his writings and
the connections he maintained witha number of women – not only withhis own wife, Idelette de Bure, butalso with such female reformers asMarie Dentière and with womenfrom the French nobility who were
invited by Calvin to take part in es-tablishing the Calvinist church inFrance.
Jean Calvin and the women Wednesday, April 22
Jean Calvin and the womenBy Jane Couchman
Wednesday, April 22at 6:30 pm
AFT SpadinaPierre-Léon Gallery24 Spadina Road
In FrenchFree admission
EExxhhiibbiittiioonnssEExxhhiibbiittiioonnssBorn in Beirut in 1969, and livingnow in Paris, Joana Hadjithomasand Khalil Joreige have worked to-gether as artists and filmmakers,shooting fictions films and docu-mentaries. In 1999, they wrote anddirected their first fiction featuredfilm “Al bayt el zaher”, (“Around thepink house”); a Franco-Canadian-Lebanese co-production. Then in2000, they made “Khiam”, a 52minute documentary, and in 2003,they presented a documentaryessay: “Le film al mafkoud.” (“TheLost Film”).These documentaries were shownat large number of film festivals, aswell as in numerous art centers andinternational museums. At the endof 2003, they returned to fictionwith a short film entitled: “Ramad”(“Ashes”) which was selected forthe 2005 Cesar Award. Together, they created numerousphotographic installations andvideos that were exhibited in gal-leries and institutions around theworld.
They are also university professorsin Beirut: Joana teaches screen-writing, Khalil esthetics and exper-imental videos. Their maininterrogation concern the emer-gence of an individual being in acommunity society, the relation to the image, to representation, thedifficulty of living the present, ofwriting history…
Recently, they invited CatherineDeneuve to play her own role intheir last film, entitled “Je veuxvoir” (Official Selection at the
Toronto International Film Festival08). Their work will be exhibited atthe A Space gallery, as part of Im-ages Festival 2009.
(SEE ON PAGE 4)
Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige Until April 18
OPENING RECEPTIONSATURDAY, APRIL 4
Artist talk: Khalil Joreige in conversation withTess Takahashi
Joana Hadjithomasand Khalil Joreige
Until April 18
At A Space Gallery401 Richmon Street West
Suite 110416 979 9633
Je veux voir
A self taught artist, Jérôme Couëllewas born in Aix en Provence in theSouth of France. For the pasttwenty years, Couëlle has beensolely devoting his time to painting
out of both his studios on theshores of Lake Champlain in NorthHero, Vermont and in theRosedale Valley in Toronto.
« My paintings are dedicated to theanimals whom I call « suranimals »for they are all knowing, to the chil-dren, to the artists, to the poets,the writers, the musicians who re-fuse to be chained to what used tobe, and do not accept the world astheir reason has taught them, buthave freed their eyes to be the truewindow to peer into infinity. ».
Jérôme Couëlle
Suranimalism, by Jérôme Couëlle From April 3 to 30
A unique conference of:Khalil Joreige (artistictalk with Tess Takahashi)
Saturday, April 4, at 3:30 pm
On the occasion ofthe exhibition of
Joana Hadjithomas etKhalil Joreige
Until April 18
At A Space Gallery401 Richmond Street West
Suite 110
Opening receptionSaturday, April 4, from2:00 pm to 5:00 pm
SuranimalismAn exhibition byJérôme Couëlle
From Friday, April 3to Thursday, April 30
AFT SpadinaGalerie Pierre-Léon24 Spadina Road
Free admission
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CCiinneemmaaCCiinneemmaa
Un baiser s’il vous plaitA film by Emmanuel MouretStarring Virginie Ledoyen, Em-manuel Mouret, Julie Gayet, Frédérique Bel, Stefano AccorsiFrance, 2007Running time : 100 min
While traveling to Nantes for oneevening, Emilie meets Gabriel.Equally seduced by one another,but both otherwise committed, theyknow they will probably never seeeach other again. He would like to kiss her. She aswell, but a story prevents her fromdoing so: that of a married womanand of her best friend who weresurprised by the effects of a kiss. Of a kiss that should have born noconsequences...
“A sexy, quintessentially Frenchdelicacy”- Stephen Holden, The NewYork Times
“Mouret marries Rohmer's visual lu-cidity and love of smart dialogue tothe sort of screwball-comedy anticsthat wouldn't have seemed out ofplace in the films of Lubitsch orHawks, and he does it all with a be-guiling lightness of touch.”– Scott Foundas, LA Weekly
Shall we kiss? In theatre since April 10
Shall we kiss?A film by
Emmanuel Mouret
In Toronto theaters,from Friday, April 10
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Celebrate the beginning of springwith three French films presentedin partnership with Cinéfranco2009, the Francophone Film Festi-val in Toronto, with:
Monday, April 6, at 7:00 pmJust anybody A film by Jacques DoillonWith Clémentine Beaugrand, GéraldThomassin, Guillaume SaurrelRunning time: 121 minutesFrench-belgium drama
Camille, a twenty something Parisi-enne, decides to love the first per-son who she thinks has need of her.This turns out to be Costa, a badson, bad father, bad husband and athug from Crotoy. Camille follows Costa back to hishome town, where she immediatelyimmerses herself in his life. En-counters, holdups, and misadven-tures are artfully embroidered, in arelation both strange and moving.
Monday, April 6, at 9:15 pmParisA film by Cedric KlapischWith Romain Duris, JulietteBinoche, Fabrice LuchiniRunning time: 130 minutesFrench drama
Pierre, a professional dancer, suf-fers from a serious heart disease.While he is waiting for a transplantwhich may (or may not) save hislife, he has nothing better to dothan look at the people around him,from the balcony of his Paris apart-ment. When Elise, his sister withthree kids and no husband, movesin to his place to care for him,Pierre does not change his newhabits. And instead of dancing him-self, it is Paris and the Parisianswho dance before his eyes.
Tuesday, April 7, at 9:15 pmLady JaneA film by Robert GuédiguianWith Ariane Ascaride, Jean-PierreDarroussin, Gérard MeylanRunning time: 102 minutesFrench thriller
Muriel, owner of a perfume store,learns that her son, Martin, hasbeen abducted, and that she willonly get him back for a ransom of200,000 Euros. Distraught, sheturns to her friends François andRené, whom she has not seen forthe last 15 years. They had formeda gang of expert thieves. François,who repairs boats, and René, acon-artist, decide to help her getthe money together. But at whatcost?
Three French films at the Revue Cinemas April 6 and 7
Three French films!
April 6 and 7
At The Revue Cinema400 Roncesvalles Avenue,south of Dundas St. West
The program can be subject to changePlease call: 416 531 9959
Les Lutins du court-métrage hasbeen actively promoting the publicdistribution of short films since1998.
It has participated in the emer-gence of such directors and actorsas François Ozon, Jérémie Rénier,Ludivine Sagnier, Sylvie Testud andmany others, thereby playing avital role in discovering the newcinematic talents of tomorrow. Theorganization’s objective is to bringthe short film out into the openthrough a variety of initiatives;these include a festival and a tourof several French cities as well asoverseas initiatives.
Program of April 7:
Carlitopolis redux, by Nieto – An-imation (3’10)Deweneti, by Dyana Gaye – Fiction, with Abbas Ba (15’)Irinka et Sandrinka, by SandrineStoianov and Jean-Charles Finck –Animation (16’)Mic Jean-Louis, by Kathy Sebbah– Fiction / documentaire, withBirghit Chauveau and Jean-LouisMic (26’30)The outer limits child – Fiction byPascal Mieszala, and Valérie Blan-chon et Gautier Van Lieshout (15’)One voice one vote, by JeannePaturle and Cécile Rousset – Animation / documentary (13’30)
Total = 88 min
Program of April 28
Pick up, by Manuel Schapira – Fiction, with Laetita Spigarelli and-Jacky Iso (17’20)Intermission, by Yann Gonzalez –
Fiction, with Kate Moran, Pierre Vin-cent Chapus and Salvatore Viviano(15’)The memories of dog, by SimoneMassi – Animation (8’)The last day,by Olivier Bourbeillon– Documentary, (11’40)Heureux qui comme Edouard –Fiction by Vincent Burgevin andFranck Lebon, avec Jennifer Colinand Boris Vigneron (21’15)Manon on the asphalt, by Eliza-beth Marre and Olivier Pont Fiction, with Aude Léger and XavierBoiffier (15’)
Total = 87 min
Les Lutins du Court Métrage April 7 and 28
Les Lutins du Court-métrage
Wednesday, April 7 andWednesday, April 28
At 7:30 pm
At NFB Cinema150 John Street
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Work Hard, Play HardA film by Jean-Marc MoutoutWith Jérémie Rénier, Laurent Lucas,Cylia Malki, Olivier Perrier, SamirGuesmiFrance, 2004Running time: 93 min
Philippe (25) arrives from theprovinces in Paris to take up a jobin a large consulting firm. On themorning of his first day at work hemeets Eva, a young solo mother.They quickly become involved. He’senthusiastic about his first missionwhich is to audit a small factorywith view to a takeover by a largecorporation…
“The strength of Violence deséchanges… lies primarily in its ex-treme preciseness – the precise-ness of a dynamiter – seen in itsmeticulously rendered images, itsextraordinarily effective dialoguesand its carefully timed dramaticprogression.” - Télérama
Violence des échanges en milieu tempéré April 14, 15 and 22
Free admission
Tuesday, April 147:30 pm
AFT Spadina24 Spadina Road
Wednesday, April 157:30 pm
AFT Mississauga4261 Sherwoodtown Blvd
Mississauga
Wednesday, April 227:30 pm
AFT Spadina24 Spadina Road
DDVVDDssDDVVDDssLes InsoumisDirected by Claude-Michel RomeStarring Richard Berry, Pascal Elbé,Zabou Breitman Running time: 100 min. 2008 When a notorious gangland boss
escapes from police custody andgoes into hiding, it’s up to a toughbig-city cop - Vincent Drieu - totrack him down. Near the end of hiscareer, Drieu is hardened, disillu-sioned, and resents being assignedto a hellhole of a town where crimeis completely out of control. But un-like his demoralized colleagues,Drieu is determined to carry out hisassignment, using whatever meansnecessary…
Les Insoumis In stores since April 7
Les InsoumisA film by
Claude-Michel Rome
In stores since Tuesday, April 7
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A testament to the transcendentpower of drums, TRANS-formationis a graceful blend of contemporary
dance and polyrhythmic African andCaribbean music. Featuring worksby Artistic Director Patrick Parson,Canadian dance icon Danny Gross-man (former Alvin Ailey member)Milton Myers, and Associate Chore-ographer Gabby Kamino.
The Ballet Creole is active on theCanadian dance scene since August1990. Ballet Creole comprises botha professional ensemble of dancersand musicians and a School of Per-forming Arts. While focusing on thetraditional and contemporary per-forming arts of the Caribbean andAfrica, Ballet Creole aims to estab-lish a dynamic new artistic traditionin Canada through "creolization" or
fusion of diverse dance and musictraditions.
Ballet Creole From April 2 to 4
DDaanncceeDDaannccee
Ballet CreoleTRANS-formation
From April 2 to 4At 8:00 PM
At Harbourfront CentreFleck Dance Theatre(formerly PremiereDance Theatre)
207 Queens Quay West ,Toronto ON
PLAY WITH US TO WIN A DVD OF:
LES INSOUMISOffered by Mongrel Media
Be among the first to answer correctly this question:
Send your answer to:[email protected]
Do not forget to mention your address!
In which animated film of Pascal Morinelli did Richard Berry give his voice to a famous
hero of a graphic-novel?
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Mes stars et moiDirected by Laetitia ColombaniStarring Kad Merad, CatherineDeneuve, Emmanuelle Béart,Melanie BernierRunning time: 88 min. 2008
Fascinated by actresses, Robert isundoubtedly the clingiest fan inFrench cinema. A handling agent bynight in a large artistic agency, hedevotes his days to "his" stars,whom he follows relentlessly, nothesitating to interfere in their lives.Working together on the same filmset, his three favorite actresses dis-cover one day that they have thesame problem--with the same fan.They all decide to join forces andsettle their score with him. Theywere his idols, but they become hisworst nightmare.
Mes Stars et moi In stores since April 7
Mes stars et moiA film by
Laetitia Colombani
In stores since Tuesday, April 7
TTeelleevviissiioonnTTeelleevviissiioonnMonday, April 6
Passe ton bac d’abord
1979Drama by Maurice Pialat
With Sabine Haudepin,Philippe Marlaud, AnnickAlane and Jean-FrançoisAdam.
Running time: 81 min
In this grim slice-of-life film, thedead-end future of a number ofyoung French teenagers living in anorthern mining town is closely ex-amined. Some lapse into debauch-ery, others enter into lovelessmarriages. A few even stay thecourse and get their diplomas, whichqualify them to do the same mean-ingless jobs they would be doingwithout diplomas. One or two flee toParis, and try their luck in that ratrace.
Tuesday, April 7
Pas sur la bouche
2003Musical by Alain Resnais
With Sabine Azéma, PierreArditi, Audrey Tautou
Running time : 111 min
Gilberte, in middle-age, flirts withmen but loves her husbandGeorges, wishing he were moredemonstrative. He's negotiating adeal with an American, Eric Thom-son, who turns out to be Gilberte'sfirst husband from an annulled andsecret stateside marriage. Alongwith her sister Arlette, Gilbertebegs Eric not to tell Georges aboutthe marriage…
Wednesday, April 8
A la verticale de l’été
2000Drama by Tran Anh HungWith Nguyen Nhu Quynh, LeKhanh and Tran Cuong.
Running time: 112 min
There are three sisters, two of whomare happily married (or so it ap-pears). The youngest sister is singleand living with her cute olderbrother, whom she is desperately inlove with.The other sister and herhusband are overjoyed to discovershe is pregnant, and though he istempted, her husband remains loyalto her.
Monday, April 13
Flandres
2005Drama by Bruno DumontWith Samuel Boidin, AdélaïdeLeroux, et Henri Cretel
Running time : 87 min
Andre Demester leaves his farm innorthern France to become a soldierin a far off land. On his last night offreedom, he witnesses Barbe, hischildhood friend and secret love,sleeping with another man. A twistof fate puts the two men side by sidein combat where their undeclaredpersonal war and the one they arefighting tragically merge. Left be-hind, Barbe, alone and wastingaway, faces misfortunes of her own,while awaiting the soldiers' return.
TFO PROGRAM (ALL AT 9:00 PM)
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Tuesday, April 14
Stavisky
1974Drama by Alain ResnaisWith Jean-Paul Belmondo,Gérard Depardieu, and FrançoisPérier
Running time: 115 min
Irresistible charm and talenthelps Serge Alexandre aliasStavisky, small-time swindler, tomake friends with even most in-fluential members of French in-dustrial and political elite duringthe early 30s. But nothing lastsforever and when his great scaminvolving hundreds millions offrancs gets exposed result is anunprecedented scandal that al-most caused a civil war.
Saturday, April 18
Touchez pas au grisbi
1954Polar by Jacques BeckerWith Jean Gabin, Lino Venturaand Jeanne Moreau
Running time : 92 min
Max, an old gangster, and his buddyRiton have got away with 50-millionfrancs in gold bars, who think theyought to retire now. But Riton's girl-friend is tired of him, and has a newprotector, Angelo, who is the bossof a rival gang. Through her, Angelolearns about his rival's "grisbi"(loot) and plots to get it. So he kid-naps Max's partner. Max asks someof his friends for help but then getsthe message he can exchange themoney for his partner.
Monday, March 20
Jardins d’automne
2006Comedy by Otar LosselianiWith Séverin Blanchet, Jacyn-the Jacquet, Michel Piccoli andPascal Vincent
Running time : 115 min
A minister is getting fired, looseshis apartment, his mistress, hispersonal properties… and finallydiscovers real life!
Tuesday, April 28
Sous le sable
2001Drama by François OzonWith Charlotte Rampling, BrunoCremer, Jacques Nolot, andAlexandra Stewart
Marie, a professor of English liter-ature in a Paris university, hasbeen happily married to Jean for25 years, although they have nochildren. During their summer va-cations in the southwest ofFrance, Jean leaves Marie sun-bathing on the beach and goes toswim in the sea. When Marie turnsback, she cannot find Jean. Hashe left her? Committed suicide?Drowned? With no clue and nobody to mourn over, Marie acts asher husband was still alive.
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