RIDM’s Must-See Films Capture Life And People Around the Globe
the 50 year argument
Montreal annual documentary festival, RIDM, brings the best in documentary film to the city again and again and again. Montrealers love the documentary format too. Cinema Politica (see our interview HERE) fills in one’s thirst for documentaries on social justice and contemporary issues year round. But, a two week festival of just documentaries — and on the big screen at that — allows for some extraordinary cinematic experiences.
The festival is in its second week and we thought we’d highlight a few films not to miss this week.
THE WORK OF DAYS
Three Montreal artists share a studio. It sounds like the start of a joke, but it isn’t. Louis-Pierre Bougie, François Xavier Marange, and Denis Saint Pierre have a routine existence sharing the space until one of them falls ill. The friendship and its change over time, as well as the creative process are at the heart of this film by Bruno Baillargeon. The quiet, un-invasive camerawork gives a sense of intimate portraiture in this sensitive film about how small things create grandeur in life. Wednesday, November 19 at 6:15 p.m. at Cinema Excentris. Original French subtitled in English. Director will be in attendance.
GOODBYE CP
Japanese culture is both familiar and foreign. Add to that a film about how the Japanese react and respond to a young man with cerebral palsy. First time filmmaker Kazuo Hara’s Goodbye CP has no problem turning his lens on the mores of his own country with a brusque, harsh eye for truth. This film isn’t for the faint hearted, but will show the invisibility and cruelty Yokoto Hiroshi experiences as a man in his society. The film places on Wednesday November 19 at 9 p.m. at Cinematheque Quebecoise. Director in attendance.
ACTRESS
Considering a career in acting? Take a peek at the life of Brandy Burre, an actress from The Wire. She plays roles in every area of her life — housewife, mother, suburbanite. When this fails, actress. But what next now that her role in The Wire is over? This US film by Robert Greene gives a portrait of a woman whose ambitions and ideals conflict and the result might be meltdown. Premieres in Quebec on Thursday November 20 at 8 p.m. at Cinema du Parc 2. The director will be in attendance.
SOL
26-years-young Inuk Solomon Tapatsiaq Uyarasuk is an artist at heart: an acrobat, musician, and poet. He dies in an RCMP holding cell. Filmmakers Susan Avingaq and Marie-Helene Cousineau investigate the cause of his death to assess why this sad event transpires and how it impacts the Arctic community in which Solomon lived. Suicide The Quebec Premiere of Sol screens on November 21 at 7 p.m. at Concordia University (JA De Seve) with English subtitles.
The 50-YEAR ARGUMENT
Well who’d have thunk Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi would have a film at the RIDM, but there we are. Rather than making a film about a person, this film is about the New York Review of Books. The magazine sets the tone for literature and does so without pandering to the masses or allowing what was trendy to set their agenda. Get ready for interviews with a whose who of thinkers in this one. The Quebec Premere screens on November 22 at 5:30 p.m. at Cinema Excentris. In English.
For the rest of the incredible line-up at RIDM, check out the schedule HERE We reviewed the film Fennario: A Good Fight HERE.
