Writer-director Simon Reynolds will fly to Sydney to present the Australian Premiere of Only on December 2nd 2008 at Dendy Opera Quays. The film has been a critical darling on the festival circuit, winning over audiences at the Toronto, Vancouver and Rome international film festivals.
Possible Worlds is thrilled to welcome director Simon Reynolds to present this cinematic treasure, a charming and fresh boy-meets-girl movie set in Northern Ontario.
Co-directed with Reynold’s partner Ingrid Veninger, who also stars in the film, the film is a true family affair, with young Jacob Switzer, Veninger’s son, playing the lead.
Daniel lives in his parents’ motel in northern Ontario. His life is uneventful until one day a girl arrives and changes his world. Only is an inspired glimpse into the impressions and dreams of two unlikely 12-yearolds. Over the course of a single day, they venture on a spontaneous journey, exploring and sharing their secrets and fears about the world and their uncertain place within it.
What makes Only so engaging as a lyrical snapshot of youth is its honesty and unaffected charm. Perfectly capturing what it feels like to reach the end of childhood and the dawn of independence, the film benefits from convincing, naturalistic performances from its talented leads, Elena Hudgins Lyle and Jacob Switzer. There's also an awesome soundtrack featuring music by such bands as The Bebop Cowboys, High Places, Blackblack, Menomena and The Envelopes. In a word, magical.
Only screens at Dendy Opera Quays on Tuesday 2 December at 6:30pm followed by a Q&A with director Simon Reynolds.
The Rouge Balloon has just been confirmed for Opening Night. The Sydney-based band, comprised of singer-songwriter Rosie Catalano and guitarist Nikola Kovac, will play from 6pm at Dendy Opera Quays, before the Australian premiere of Days of Darkness.
The pair have only been playing together for a little over a year, and already they are making their mark on the local music scene with songs inspired by everything from epic poems to lost love and new beginnings.
Check'em out on MySpace and on Facebook.
Book your tickets today!
Kenton Vaughan will fly to Sydney to present the Australian premiere of The Museum December 1st 2008 at the Australian Museum.
It's tough running a museum in the 21st century, competing with all the flashy distractions of the digital age. So when William Thorsell assumes command of Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum, he envisions an iconic public building, a bold gesture that will transform the entire city. Enter celebrity architect Daniel Libeskind, a global brand behind some of the world's most prestigious landmarks, including Ground Zero in New York.
Budgets are blown, egos are trampled, and citizens are outraged. Does Thorsell’s gamble pay off? Is Libeskind flying by the seat of his well-tailored pants? Informed by the current debate on architecture’s role in society, The Museum is a fascinating portrait of visionary men and their daring quest to reinvent public architecture.
“I wasn’t interested in simply making a documentary about the construction of a very unconventional and expensive new building,” explains director Kenton Vaughan. “I really wanted to capture both the personalities and politics that make a complex public project like this so fascinating…it’s a story about the future of our cultural institutions,” he continues. “This is the story of a man and his ambition—for a museum, for a city, and, ultimately, for himself.”
The Museum screens at the Australian Museum on Monday 1 December at 6:30pm, followed by a Q&A with director Kenton Vaughan. Free wine will be served from 6:00pm.
Below is a 4.5 year time lapse of the construction.
Andrea Thiel has worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for over 30 years, beginning with the groundbreaking newsmagazine program The Journal with legendary broadcaster Barbara Frum. It was there that Andrea first cut her teeth on documentary making. Since that time she’s made dozens.The job has taken her to Spain during the dispute over turbot which resulted in the impounding of the Spanish ship the Estai; she’s gone to Belgium to talk about the anger there towards General Romeo Dallaire. He was in charge of the UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda (fictionalized in Shake Hands With The Devil) when the genocide broke out and ten Belgian paratroopers were killed; and of course, the job took her to Afghanistan.
Several of Andrea’s documentaries have won awards. Breaking Point, a four-part documentary about the 1995 Quebec referendum received three Geminis, and Afghanistan Between Hope and Fear has just won a bronze medal at the Columbia film festival.
Andrea will fly to Sydney to present the Australian premiere of Afghanistan Between Hope and Fear at Possible Worlds.
OPENING NIGHT
The Festival will open with the Australian premiere of Denys Arcand's DAYS OF DARKNESS (L'AGE DES TENEBRES). Days of Darkness is a cerebral comedy brimming with keen and caustic observations on Western Society. It stars Marc Labreche, Rufus Wainwright, Diane Kruger and Emma de Caunes. Denys Arcand, arguably Quebec's most famous filmmaker, is best known for The Barbarian Invasions which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2004. Arcand is also the director of such classics as Jesus of Montreal and The Decline of the American Empire.
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
Audiences can look forward to films in both French and English, some of which will be presented by visiting filmmakers. “Canadian cinema is enjoying a renaissance right now as a hip, authentic alternative to Hollywood cinema” says artistic director Matt Ravier. “From hilarious comedies to thought-provoking drama, from action blockbusters to political documentaries, the red hot line-up includes something for everyone.”
Two site specific screenings will be followed by raucous parties. The Sydney premiere of irreverent comedy YOUNG PEOPLE F***ING will take place at Bobbi’s Pole Studio and will also feature silent naughty films, international DJ’s and pole dancing performances. Ambitious heavy metal documentary GLOBAL METAL will screen at Utopia Records, followed by an after-party featuring live metal bands.
Those looking for serious, thought-provoking fiction will look no further than EMOTIONAL ARITHMETIC, a powerful ensemble drama starring Susan Sarandon, Gabriel Byrne, Max Von Sydow and Christopher Plummer. In the style of Paris Je T’Aime, TORONTO STORIES brings together four thirtysomething directors to create a culturally diverse cinematic mythology for a city which rarely gets a chance to play itself..
Toronto filmmaker Kenton Vaughan will fly to Sydney to present his documentary THE MUSEUM to fans of design and architecture. The film charts Royal Ontario Museum director William Thorsell’s tumultuous attempt to build an iconic, transformative landmark in partnership with celebrity architect Daniel Libeskind, the global brand behind Ground Zero in New York. The film will have its Australian premiere at Sydney’s Australian Museum.
This year, four French-Canadian films join Days of Darkness with Australian debuts at the Festival. Taking a page from Hollywood, box-office hit NITRO brings fast and furious action to our screens. Last seen in the award-winning C.R.A.Z.Y, Michel Côté once again gives a superb performance in family melodrama MY DAUGHTER MY ANGEL (MA FILLE MON ANGE), as a father desperate to save his daughter from a descent into the underbelly of Montreal’s porn industry. THE BANQUET (LE BANQUET) is an incendiary ensemble piece about the ripple effects of student protests in a large Quebec university.
The Festival will close on December 2nd with EVERYTHING IS FINE (TOUT EST PARFAIT), an accomplished debut drama about teenagers caught in the aftermath of a brutal tragedy, which is currently taking the Festival circuit by storm.
This year’s Sydney Canadian Film Festival runs from November 27th to December 2nd 2008. Running alongside the film premieres will be filmmaker Q&A’s, photo exhibitions, wine tastings and of course, parties.
Tickets will be available from November 10th at www.moshtix.com.au, 1300 GET TIX (438 849) and all Moshtix outlets.
We are thrilled to reveal that the Festival will open with the Australian premiere of Denys Arcand's DAYS OF DARKNESS (L'AGE DES TENEBRES).
Denys Arcand, arguably Quebec's most famous filmmaker, is best known for The Barbarian Invasions which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2004. The film, which was also nominated in the Best Screenplay category, was a huge hit in Australia and around the world. Arcand is also the director of such classics as Jesus of Montreal and The Decline of the American Empire.
Days of Darkness is a cerebral comedy brimming with keen and caustic observations on Western Society. It stars Marc Labrech, Rufus Wainwright, Diane Kruger and Emma de Caunes.
The film had its world premiere in Cannes last year and will be showing in Australia for the first time at Dendy Opera Quays on November 27th following our Opening Night reception. The full program will be online November 3rd.
Marianne and myself have just returned from the Toronto International Film Festival, scouting for films to bring to Australia for Possible Worlds. It was a bumper year for Canadian cinema, with new films from Atom Egoyan and Deepa Mehta, Canada's most expensive film ever made: Passchaendaele, a zombie flick from enfant terrible Bruce McDonald and some very good coming-of-age movies from Quebec.
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