Opening of the 33rd JFFM

As I mentioned before, the 33rd Japanese Film Festival of Montreal was held at the Cinémathèque Québécoise on October 27th and 29th. This free annual event is co-organized by the Japan Foundation (Toronto) and the Consulate General of Japan in Montreal.

Before the screening of the first movie, A Tale of Samurai Cooking, the attendees were treated with a few canapé and a degustation of sake. There was a presentation by the a staff member of the Japanese consulate in Montreal, followed by allocutions of the Cinémathèque general director, Marcel Jean, and the Consul General in Montreal, Hideaki KURAMITSU.

Here's a video of the opening allocutions (available on Vimeo):


You can also check our comments on two of the three movies presented at the festival: A Tale of Samurai Cooking and Sue, Mai & Sawa: Righting the Girl Ship.


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A Tale of Samurai Cooking

“Haru has an excellent sense of taste and unsurpassed skill in the kitchen, but her impetuous character leads to her husband asking for a divorce after only a year of marriage. One day, she is approached by Dennai Funaki, a samurai chef from Kaga, to marry his son and heir, Yasunobu.”

“Serving the Lord of Kaga not with the sword, but with the kitchen knife, the Funaki family has been known as “Kitchen Samurai” for generations. However, Yasunobu’s lack of culinary skills has placed the Funaki name in peril. To save her new family and its status as “Kitchen Samurai”, Haru decides to teach her new husband the refined art of Kaga cuisine from her point of view. Inspired by a true story.”

(Text from the Cinémathèque website)

Sue, Mai and Sawa

“A heartwarming drama based on Miri Masuda's comic strip series, Sue, Mai & Sawa: Righting the Girl Ship offers a warm and tender depiction of the lives of three women, former colleagues whose friendship has endured over the course of 10 years. Now in their thirties, the three friends each harbor anxieties about their future, their professional paths, their love lives, and their family ties.”

(Text from the Cinémathèque website)

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Caramel endormi

(iPhone 6s, 2016-10-14)

Toulouse-Lautrec: Affiche la Belle Époque

Mercredi après le travail je me suis dépêché d'aller visiter l'exposition sur les affiches de Toulouse-Lautrec au Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal qui se termine dimanche.

“Cette exposition présente une collection particulière d’exception qui comprend plus de quatre-vingt-dix estampes et affiches, couvrant presque toute la période de la production lithographique de Toulouse-Lautrec, de 1891 (…) à 1899.”

Même si on y retrouve que les affiches de Toulouse-Lautrec (pas de peintures), c'est tout de même très intéressant. Lautrec était vraiment un illustrateur de talent. Toutefois, c'est une petite exposition qui ne comprend que quelques salles et j'en ai donc fait le tour assez rapidement (en un peu plus d'une heure). Comme à mon habitude, j'ai photographié les pièces de l'exposition qui m'interpellaient le plus afin de garder un petit souvenir de ma visite.

Voici un bref diaporama des mes photos que j'ai converti en video sur Vimeo:


Voir aussi mon album photo sur Flickr (avec titres et détails des affiches):


(iPhone 6s, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, 2016-10-26)
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Image du mer-fleuri

(iPhone 6s, 2016-10-02)

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Chat accueillant



(Nikon D3300, Ile-de-la-Visitation, 2016-10-09)

Image du mer-fleuri

(iPhone 6s, 2016-10-02)

Weekly notable news (W42)

Not much happened this week. Same old, same old, as we say. Some aberrations at work keep exasperating me (but there's only 552 more weeks to endure). On the way back from a doctor's appointment, my wife and I walked through the mountain to admire the colours of fall. It was superb and I wonder why we don't do this kind of walk more often. We've also spent time watching more of the American presidential insanities, two excellent animated features (Miss Hokusai and Osamu Tezuka's Buddha Movie 1: The Red Desert! It's Beautiful) as well as a new episode of Poldark. For my part, I've also started a promising new series (Westworld) and watched the season finale of Halt and Catch Fire. And I probably did a zillion other things (like updating my anime & manga bibliography) that I can't even remember. But, does it really matter?

However, I do remember that I managed to find some time to stay acquainted with the affairs of the world. I therefore share with you a few notable news & links that I came across lately (in no particular order):

Couleurs sur la montagne

Couleurs d'automne sur le Lac aux Castors








Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges avec l'Oratoire St-Joseph en arrière-plan



(iPhone 6s, Parc du Mont-Royal, 2016-10-12)
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(iPhone 6s, 2016-10-14)

Nouvelle bibliothèque dans Villeray

Le 4 octobre dernier, le conseil d'arrondissement de Villeray/Saint-Michel/Parc-Extension (VSP), s'est réuni pour une réunion extraordinaire afin d'adopter un budget de $57,707,800 pour 2017.

En utilisant le surplus libre disponible ($1,25M), l'arrondissement dit pouvoir maintenir le niveau actuel de service à la population sans augmenter le fardeau fiscal au-delà du taux de l'inflation. Il affirme même avoir réduit à la baisse le taux de la taxe locale d'arrondissement (de $0,0006 par $100 d'évaluation foncière).

Si l'on consulte la présentation budgétaire, on constate que l'arrondissement entend donner priorité à la circulation en toute sécurité, au développement durable, soutien au développement économique local de même que le maintien et la bonification des services offerts en culture, sports, loisirs, parcs et développement social.

$24,414,100 du budjet (42.3%) est d'ailleurs consacré à la culture, sports, loisirs, parcs et développement social, incluant $7,098,900 (12.3%) spécifiquement pour la culture et les bibliothèques.

Toutefois, le Journal de St-Michel (du mercredi 12 octobre 2016, p. 3 — malheureusement il n'y plus de page web où je pourrais vous référer) ajoute que selon le programme triennal d'immobilisation (PTI) 2017-1019 adopté le 6 septembre dernier, l'arrondissement investira $20.943M dans l'amélioration de ses installations et infrastructures, et que la ville-centre y investira plus de $90M, incluant $30M pour la réalisation de la nouvelle bibliothèque de Villeray et la mise aux normes des deux glaces de l'aréna de Saint-Michel.

Le remplacement de la bibliothèque Le Prévost par une bibliothèque plus grande et plus moderne avait déjà été annoncé en septembre 2013 (Tournesol vol. 6 #2, Journal Métro, Plateau Arts et Culture, Bibliothèques Montréal). En effet, dans le cadre du Programme de rénovation, d’aménagement et de construction des bibliothèques publiques de Montréal (RAC), la bibliothèque Le Prévost — renommée bibliothèque de Villeray — déménagera dans un tout nouvel immeuble de près de 3000 mètres carrés qui sera construit sur un terrain adjacent au Patro Le Prévost, sur l’avenue Christophe-Colomb. Le ministère de la Culture et la Ville de Montréal y investiront $14,5M et l'arrondissement y consacrera $4,2M.

Il semble donc que cette nouvelle bibliothèque de Villeray deviendra réalité dans les trois prochaines années.

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(iPhone 6s, 2016-10-01)

Otaku & other popular (sub)culture phenomenons

Many elements of the Japanese teens subculture are generated, influenced or more often simply expressed by anime & manga: otaku, enjo kōsai (teenage prostitution), hikikomori, karōshi (overwork death), idols, cosplay (as well as various fashion styles like gothic lolita, kogal or ganguro), hentai (including yaoi [“Boys' Love”, i.e. manga showing romantic relationships between male characters], yuri [“Girls' love”], lolicon [underage love], panchira [panties shots] and burusera [stores for panties & school uniforms fetishists]), manga café, kawaii, moe — just to name the few that quickly come to mind. Also, Japanese (pop)culture is having (as it often had in the past, i.e. “japonisme”) a great influence on our western culture (and particularly, lately, on the teen pop-culture, with the so-called Japanification).

Therefore, this is a subject particular enough to deserve a separate entry in my “Anime & Manga Bibliography”.

Index

The essentials
More anime & manga references
Otaku & other popular (sub)culture phenomenons
Japanese culture
Japanese drama & cinema
Japanese economy, geography & history
Japanese language
Japanese literature
Various others

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Otaku & other popular (sub)culture phenomenons

Automne au Parc de l'Île-de-la-Visitation

Rendons Grâce à la Terre
Pour tous les bienfaits qu’Elle procure
— Pourquoi abuser une Mère généreuse?



Give Thanks to Earth
For all the bounties She procures
— Why abuse a generous Mother?





Rhamnus cathartica / Moulin du Sault-au-Récollet


Voir photos de ma visite précédente

(Nikkon D3300 / iPhone 6s, Parc de l'Île-de-la-Visitation, 2016-10-09)
P.S. Bonne Action de Grâce à tous ! / Happy Thanksgiving for all (Canadians)

Weekly notable news (W40-41)

In the last couple of weeks I felt deprived of all my energy. I couldn't do or write much. All I did was updating my “Anime & manga bibliography” (and it's far from finished). Depressingly, the news were dominated by the US election mud slinging. However, I discovered by chance a new french pop singer named Zaz (iTunes, Wikipedia, Youtube) — a great scratchy voice — and, with my wife, I've finished watching the fourth season of Mr. Selfridge as well as the mini-series And Then There Were None (a recent British-american adaptation of the famous Agatha Christie's novel).

If the crazy pace at work (btw, only 553 weeks left!) can sometimes break my spirit (or, like now, my back!), there's always something to rejuvenate my soul. Earlier today I took, with my wife, a long walk through the park of the Île-de-la-Visitation, observing the nature, the river, the automnal colours, and visiting the Sault-au-Récollet mill as well as the maison du pressoir. It was beautiful. I took several nice pictures.

Finally, of course, I still found a little time to stay acquainted with the affairs of the world. I therefore share with you a few notable news & links that I came across lately (in no particular order):

Image du chat-medi

Vanille en balade

(iPhone 6s, 2016-09-18)

More Anime & Manga References

We continue our “Anime & Manga Bibliography” — started with the “Essential References” — with more useful anime & manga references.

The books we own are on a yellow background. We have added pertinent links for those who want further details about the listed references.

Index

The essentials
More anime & manga references
      general
      anime
      manga
      anime & manga-related merchandizing
Otaku & other popular (sub)culture phenomenons
Japanese culture
Japanese drama & cinema
Japanese economy, geography & history
Japanese language
Japanese literature
Various others

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More Anime & Manga References

Japanese Film Festival of Montreal

Each fall, the Japan Foundation (Toronto) and the Consulate General of Japan are pleased to offer free screenings of Japanese films. The films are in Japanese with English subtitles. Limited seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis, with no reservations. This is the 33rd edition.

The screenings will take place at the Cinémathèque québécoise (335 De Maisonneuve Blvd East, Montreal, QC — near métro Berri-UQAM).

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Fleurs d'automne

Quelques couleurs tardives
Couverture de feuillage morne
— Présages d’une longue torpeur


(iPhone 6s, 2016-10-02)

Japanese movies at FNC

The 45th Festival du Nouveau Cinéma (FNC) will be held from 5 to 16 October and will offer 340 films (including 138 feature films and 170 short films) from 62 countries, including 43 world premieres. That will include nine Japanese movies. For more information: nouveaucinema.ca.

Press coverage:

[ Coco Montreal ] [ Le Devoir ] [ The Gazette ] [ La Presse ] [ Shomingeki ]
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Image du chat-medi

(iPhone 6s, 2016-09-25)