RICHARD’S WEEKEND MOVIE REVIEWS FROM CP24! FRIDAY DECEMBER 06, 2019.
Richard joins CP24 to have a look at the weekend’s new movies including Antigone,” “She Never Died,” “Code 8” and the survivalist story “Brotherhood.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Richard joins CP24 to have a look at the weekend’s new movies including Antigone,” “She Never Died,” “Code 8” and the survivalist story “Brotherhood.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Richard sits in on the CTV NewsChannel with news anchor Angie Seth to have a look at the weekend’s big releases including Canada’s entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, “Antigone,” the gloriously gory horror flick “She Never Died” and the sci fi thriller “Code 8.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Richard sits in on the CFRA Montreal morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk the new movies coming to theatres including Canada’s entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, “Antigone,” the feminist horror flick “She Never Died” and the sci fi thriller “Code 8.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
A weekly feature from ctvnews.ca! The Crouse Review is a quick, hot take on the weekend’s biggest and most interesting movies! This week Richard looks at Canada’s entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, “Antigone,” the \gloriously gory horror flick “She Never Died” and the sci fi thriller “Code 8.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Richard sits in on the CJAD Montreal morning show with guest host Ken Connors to talk the new movies coming to theatres including Canada’s entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, “Antigone,” the gloriously gory horror flick “She Never Died” and the sci fi thriller “Code 8.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
In Sophocles’ Greek tragedy “Antigone” the title character is sentenced to be buried alive for not following the laws of the gods. A new, twenty-first century retelling of the story from director Sophie Deraspe recontextualizes the story to comment on the plight of Algerian immigrants in modern day Montreal. In this retelling it’s the legal system that threatens to bury the title character.
Antigone Hipponome (Nahema Ricci), along with brothers Étéocle (Hakim Brahimi) and Polynice (Rawad El-Zein), sister Ismene (Nour Belkhiria) and grandmother Meni (Rachida Oussaada) fled Alegeria after the death of her parents. Settling in Montreal the displaced family creates a new life, ripe with opportunity with Antigone the glue that holds the family together. A straight-a student and hard worker, she puts her own future at risk when Étéocle is gunned down by police as they arrest repeat offender Polynice on drug charges. Not wanting to lose both brothers— Polynice may be subject to extradition if convicted—Antigone concocts a wild plan that places her in jeopardy.
Canada’s entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, “Antigone” is a raw, electrifying study of race, poverty and indifference in the judicial system. Exploring the ancient author’s themes of sacrifice for family, exile, state power, it puts a timely and human face on the hot button topic of how society treats immigrants.
Ricci holds the center of the film, sporting a close-cropped Jean Seberg hairdo that conjures up images of Joan of Arc. Like Joan, Antigone becomes a symbol, a woman who defies the law for something greater. Ricci brings considerable conviction to the role, especially as the legal system’s failures leave her with a growing sense of betrayal.
From its opening images of the title character as a deer-in-the-headlights to its impactful, devastating final shot, “Antigone” is an emotional journey that puts a very human face on the kind of story that plays out in real life almost every day.
For the third year in a row, Telefilm Canada and Birks have partnered to celebrate Canadian women in film during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Nine Canadian women, film directors and actors who have made their mark this year have been selected by a pan-Canadian jury of arts, culture and entertainment journalists. The 2015 honourees of the Birks Diamond Tribute to the Year’s Women in Film are directors Sophie Deraspe; Anne Émond; Patricia Rozema; Kari Skogland; and Ingrid Veninger, as well as actors Katie Boland; Suzanne Clément; Catherine O’Hara; and Karine Vanasse. The recipients will be honoured on September 15 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Toronto.
“2015 is another great year for Canadian women in film! These are remarkable individuals with major talent, who are much admired and who bring honour to our country,” said Carolle Brabant, Executive Director of Telefilm. “They have greatly distinguished themselves across the country and around the world in a variety of genres. We are proud to continue our partnership with Birks in order to spotlight the important contribution of Canadian women to the film industry.”
“It is an honour for Birks to highlight the talent and important contribution of Canadian women in film again this year,” said Eva Hartling, Vice President, Marketing & Communications of Birks Group Inc. “Much like Canadian diamonds who allow our country to shine beyond its borders, the nine women we recognize this year are a great example of Canada’s talent and leadership in the arts.”
Katie Boland, actor, was one of four Canadian actors named a TIFF Rising Star at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2011. In 2013, she appeared in Gerontophilia by Bruce LaBruce, which had its world premiere at the opening night of Venice Days (Venice Film Festival), and in the award-winning comedy Sex After Kids by Jeremy LaLonde. In 2015, Katie most notably appears in Born to Be Blue by Robert Budreau, which has its premiere at TIFF.
Suzanne Clément, actor, won Best Actress for her role in Laurence Anyways by Xavier Dolan at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. In 2015, she received a Jutra and a Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Mommy. She appears in Guibord s’en va-t-en guerre by Philippe Falardeau, which is screening at TIFF following its world premiere on the Locarno International Film Festival’s Piazza Grande, and in Early Winter by Michael Rowe, which will have its world premiere at Venice Days in September 2015.
Sophie Deraspe, director, recently completed The Amina Profile, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015. It has since screened at more than 10 film festivals, including Hot Docs, where it won the Special Jury Prize for Canadian Feature Documentary. The filmmaker also directed Missing Victor Pellerin (2006) and Les Signes Vitaux (2009), which won 15 prizes from around the world.
Anne Émond, director, filmed Les Êtres chers, which recently premiered at Locarno. For her first film, Nuit #1 (2011), she took home the Claude-Jutra Award for best debut feature. It premiered at TIFF, where it received a Special Mention from the jury for Best First Canadian Feature Film, and was named Best Canadian Feature Film at the Vancouver International Film Festival.
Catherine O’Hara, actor, started her comedy career in 1974 as a cast member of Second City Television. An Emmy Award winner (1982), she has more than 90 TV and film credits to her name—including After Hours, Home Alone and Beetlejuice. In 2007, she was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame. In 2015, she appears in Schitt’s Creek and What Lives Inside.
Patricia Rozema, director, has directed some 20 films. This year she is presenting Into the Forest at TIFF. Her feature film debut, I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987), won the Prix de la Jeunesse at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight. The film was released worldwide becoming one of Canada’s most successful films, both critically and commercially. Her award-winning films include Mansfield Park (1999), When Night Is Falling (1995) and White Room (1990).
Kari Skogland, director, has more than 40 directing credits, among them the feature films Stone Angel (2007) and 50 Dead Men Walking (2008). Her impressive TV credits include major international coproductions such as Vikings and The Borgias. This year she directed the mini-series The Sons of Liberty and episodes for the Tyrant and Penny Dreadful series.
Karine Vanasse, actor, is popular on both sides of the border. In 2015, she appeared in Forbidden Room by Guy Maddin, which had its world premiere at Sundance. Her award-winning film roles include Polytechnique (2009), which she also produced; Séraphin: Heart of Stone (2002); and Set Me Free (1998). On television, she is well known for roles in the U.S. series Pan Am and Revenge.
Ingrid Veninger, director, began her career as an actor before writing and directing her own shorts and features. Ingrid most notably directed The Animal Project (2013), which screened at some 20 international festivals and won the EDA Award at the Whistler Film Festival; i am a good person/i am a bad person (2011), which won the Toronto Film Critics Association’s Jay Scott Prize; and Modra (2010), which was selected to TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten for the year.
Jury
The pan-Canadian jury is made up of renowned journalists covering arts, culture and entertainment: Jason Anderson (Cinema Scope), Katie Bailey (Playback), Linda Barnard (Toronto Star), Richard Crouse (Metro), Maxime Demers (Le Journal de Montréal), Manon Dumais (freelance journalist), Noreen Flanagan (Elle Canada), Teri Hart (Entertainment City), Tanya Lapointe (Radio-Canada), Marc-André Lussier (La Presse), Bernadette Mora (Fashion Magazine), Katherine Monk (The Ex-Press), Herby Moreau (herby.tv), Andrea Nemetz (The Chronicle Herald), Ingrid Randoja (Cineplex Magazine), Kiva Reardon (freelance journalist), Johanna Schneller (The Globe and Mail), Cassandra Szklarski (The Canadian Press) and Odile Tremblay (Le Devoir).
The jury selected the women to be honoured based on the impact of their work and their talent, the recognition they have received from respected organizations and their peers, and the visibility they generated for Canada this past year. Nominees were also required to have either directed or appeared in a production during that year.
By Richard Crouse – Metro Canada
Filmmaker Ingrid Veninger says the pitch for the script writing initiative Femmes Lab, “could have back-fired badly.”
The actor-turned-director-turned-Renaissance-woman was on stage at the Whistler Film Festival in December receiving an EDA award from the Alliance of Women Film Journalists for her latest film, The Animal Project, when a notion struck her.
“I started to talk about the Femmes Lab at the podium,” says Veninger. “Six Canadian women will write six screenplays in six months. Then I took the leap to invite someone to step up for $6,000. At first the room was silent. So, I started counting down: 6, 5 … and before I hit 4, a women shot her arms in the air and said, ‘I’ll do it!’ My heart was racing and it was only later I realized it was Melissa Leo. Melissa approached me quietly and said, ‘This is going to happen. I will get you a cheque before the end of the year.’ And, she did.”
For her donation, the Frozen River Academy Award winner Leo gets a first look at six scripts written by a hand-picked group of female Canadian writers and directors including Veninger, Danishka Esterhazy, Michelle Latimer, Sophie Deraspe, Anais Granofsky and Mars Horodyski.
“It’s not your traditional kind of script development,” says Veninger, “that’s for sure. It’s almost more like a coven. We’re not actually casting spells, as we conjure these new screenplays, but sort of. The nuts and bolts is that we meet in person once a month from January until June, mostly in Toronto. And, month to month we each have to move our screenplays forward, so that by the end of June, we have six completed scripts. But what happens in the actual lab session is a secret. I can say that in my past 20 years of making movies, I have not experienced anything like this. First off, the six of us are very different and we bring a diverse range of experiences and perspectives to the table. Our sessions are minimally nine hours, but can also last the whole weekend.”
One of the participants, Mars Horodyski, said, “For me the pUNK Films Femmes Lab offers a supportive creative space where you are encouraged to do something different, brave and representative of who you really are.
Something really special happens when you get a group of women together to collaborate in this way. It’s different from anything I’ve ever been a part of and I’m excited to see the outcome.”
Veninger says this edition of pUNK Films Femme Lab is likely to be “a one time thing. I’m happy to spark the fire, but it’s most exciting to see how others keep it going.”
It seems that spark is about to ignite.
“After Whistler, I received a message from a filmmaker in L.A. saying, “we should do a Femmes Lab in Los Angeles”, and my response was, ‘go ahead and do it. Make it happen. We have nothing to lose. Now is the time.’”