Montreal World Film Festival 2016

On Tuesday August 16, 2016, the Montreal World Film Festival broke its silence and revealed through a couple of press releases the line-up of the World Competition and First Feature Competition as well as their Jurys' members. The programmation of other sections will be unveiled later on.

In a Le Devoir article (August 5th: Mystères entourant la 40e édition du FFM), we learned that less than a month before the beginning of the festival, it was suffering from lack of financing and no venue had been booked yet to hold the screenings. However, a more recent article (August 16th: Le Festival des films du monde à minuit moins cinq) told us that the usual venue of Cineplex Quartier Latin would be replaced this year by the Cineplex Cinema Forum, because road works are blocking the access to the Quartier Latin.


The 40th edition of the Montreal World Film Festival will take place from August 25th to September 5th 2016, at the Imperial (1430 Bleury - Metro Place des Arts) and Cineplex Cinema Forum (2313 St. Catherine St. West Suite 101 - Metro Atwater) theatres. For more details you can check the festival website: www.ffm-montreal.org.

Saturday the festival has released the screenings’ complete schedule [PDF]. They have also posted the screening schedule for each section of the festival: World Competition, First Films World Competition, Focus on the World Cinema, Documentaries, Turkish Film Tribute, Hangzhou Film Week, and the Special Chinese Film Festival. (But what about the “World Great” section?). [updated 2016-08-20]

You can also check our festival coverage of the previous years:

WARNING: The festival is in jeopardy. Please read this report for details. [updated: 2016/08/24]

WARNING: The movies will be shown ONLY at the Imperial Cinema, but the schedule has CHANGED! A new schedule has been posted on the festival website. [updated: 2016/08/25]

WARNING: The schedule keeps changing so please check it day by day ! [updated: 2016/08/26]

You can also check our daily updates of the festival: Day 1, Day 1.2, Day 2, Day 3, Extra update (Day off), Day 4 and our festival wrap-up.

I have also added some of the video I've filmed at the festival: FFM Video 1 (also available on Vimeo: Tatara Samurai Red carpet, Tatara Samurai Intro and Q&A, Isabelle Adjani red carpet).

Finally, you can read the comments about the FFM's Japanese movies from my esteemed colleague Claude R. Blouin on Shomingeki.

You will find, after the jump, a list of all Japanese movies announced so far (of course, more details and links will be added as the information become available).

[Updated: 2016/08/18, 2016/08/20, 2016/08/24, 2016/08/25, 2016/08/26, 2016-08-30, 2016-08-31, 2016-09-04, 2016-09-09, 2016-09-19]

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Image du mer-fleurie

(Nikon D3300, 2016-08-14)

Dear Deer

“A woman stares at a deserted exhibition in the local museum, a place said to be haunted by the phantom of a deer, “Ryomo-Shika”... Twenty-five years earlier three siblings reported seeing the deer, becoming first famous, then infamous when their claim was debunked. The fallout was devastating. The second son, Yoshio, is now living in a psychiatric institution; Akiko, the unsociable youngest daughter, lives in the country with an older man; and the eldest son, Fujio, who has remained in town, is burdened with debt from the family’s failing business. Now, with their father dying, the three siblings along with their respective partners and friends, have returned home, their first reunion in many years. But time hasn’t dulled their rivalries and or their rancour. They find themselves once again at a crossroads in life.”

(Text from the Festival's program)

Haïku sonore

Haman

“A tragic story of a girl who becomes a monster. Deeply in love, Haruka decides to have sex with her boyfriend. But the results are catastrophic: she accidentally kills him. Traumatized, she flees the scene. Her cursed life has begun. Does she have any hope of escaping the malediction? A dark fantasy about life, sex and love. ”

(Text from the Festival's program)

Weekly notable news (week 33)

Here are twenty-five notable news & links that I found interesting, amazing or plain weird (in no particular order & some in French) / Voici vingt-cinq nouvelles et liens notables que j'ai trouvé intéressant, étonnant ou tout simplement bizarre (sans ordre particulier et la plupart en anglais):

• Une série télé dirigée par Woody Allen cet automne (La Presse)
• Apple Pay comes to Canadian vending machines through PayRange app (Apple Insider)
• The life of Japan’s ‘god of manga’ (The Japan Times)
• Food Manga: Where Culture, Conflict And Cooking All Collide (NPR)
• Ulysses 2.6 for iPad (iPad Insight)
• George R.R. Martin's 'Wild Cards' Optioned for Cable (ICv2)
• A new four-part animated adaptation of Richard Adams’ Watership Down to come in 2017 (Slate)
• Athena, the Book Explorer shares her adventures (The Gazette, link)
• Elon Musk is working on a roof made of solar panels (Engadget, CNN)
• How to Tell if Someone Is Stealing Your Wi-Fi (Digital Trends)
• Rio 2016: The Olympics on BBC Sport (link)
• Cavemen were much smarter than we thought (CNN)
• En ce 11 août, le Japon fête son 16e jour férié de l’année (Le Monde)
• Japan boy band SMAP to break up (BBC, ANN)
• Grèce: 80 squelettes exhumés d’un cimetière antique (Le Monde)
• Naoki Urasawa, le stakhanoviste du manga (Le Monde)
• Comment expliquer le retour des tensions en Crimée entre la Russie et l’Ukraine ? (Le Monde)
• Monkey selfie: Animal charity Peta challenges ruling ! (BBC)
• Mystery object in weird orbit beyond Neptune cannot be explained (New Scientist)
• 10 things we didn't know last week (BBC)
• Nice court upholds burkinis ban, but appeal planned (BBC)
• Egypt’s Oldest Papyri Detail Great Pyramid Construction (History)
• Who was Leonidas of Rhodes? (BBC)
• Star Wars: Rogue One New trailer released (BBC)
• TV thriller Homeland gets three more seasons (BBC)

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Image du chat-medi

(iPhone 6s, 2016-08-07)

The Next Generation Patlabor — Tokyo War

“Over the years since 1988, the "Mobile Police PATLABOR" franchise in Japan has become a pioneer in multimedia, combining anime comics, videograms, films and novels. Until now the films have been animated. The story has now gone live-action... Labor is a robot specifically designed for heavy industry work. The rise of Labors has sparked a revolution in industry, but also an increase in crime. To combat these new Labor crime wave, the police have created a special unit: The Patrol Labor known as the Special Vehicles Section 2 (SV2). This is the birth of "Patlabor". We are now in the 21st century and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s SV2 so-called Patlabor still looks out for misbehaving Labors, but Patlabor is no longer considered necessary because of its cost and care. When Tokyo is attacked by an organization of terrorists using stealth helicopters, SV2 is called in to neutralize the threat.”

(Text from the Festival's program)

Early Spring, Sakurajima

“Takashi Arimura had been working in Kyoto. Now that he’s reached the age of retirement he’s returned to his hometown, Kagoshima. A beautiful city with a volcano overlooking it, but the vista can’t make up for the fact that life in retirement is depressing. With the encouragement of his wife, Kyoko, he takes up a new hobby -- drawing. He picks a paintbrush for the first time. The world now looks very different. He now has a goal in life. Can he reach it?”

(Text from the Festival's program)

Image du mer-fleurie

Abeille sur un soleil

(Nikon D3300, 2016-08-08)

Blowing in the winds of Vietnam

“Misao Sasho teaches Japanese in Hanoi, Vietnam. One day she receives a phone call from Japan informing her of her father’s passing. Upon returning to Japan for her father’s funeral, she realizes that her mother has deteriorated and is becoming senile. She decides to take her back to Vietnam. The new environment works wonders. Misao’s mother enjoys the company of Misao’s acquaintances. She is suddenly the centre of attention...”

(Text from the Festival's program)

Japanese Emperor Addresses the people

In his second-ever televised speech to the nation, the Emperor of Japan (now 82-year-old) announced that his age makes it difficult to perform his duties in a satisfactory manner, hinting that he would wish to abdicate his ceremonial role in favor of the Crown Prince (his son Naruhito).

He addressed his concern directly to the Japanese people because his symbolic role prevents him to intervene in the political system (meaning he cannot ask the Prime Minister or the Diet) and the Constitution does not include any provision in case of abdication. He is concerned that his diminished capacity could affect the Nation and doesn't want his death (as well as all required mourning and passation of power rituals) to burden his successor. I guess he is also afraid that any (constitutional) talks of abdication could bring up the delicate subject of the relevance of the Imperial system. He seems to think that a gradual succession through a Regency would be the best solution.

(Sources: BBC, BBC, NHK World, NHK World, YouTube/NHK World)

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The full text of the address after the jump:

Blood Bead

“Tokita, already into his middle age, has been teaching at a film school in Kyoto for a while. He would prefer to be directing films rather than teaching about them but it pays the bills and life isn’t bad. Indeed, he is having an affair with Yui, the pretty secretary of the film school. Still, the fact that he hasn’t been able to finish his script and find funding for his project nags him enormously. He is a filmmaker not a schoolteacher... Then, on the street, he runs into a striking young high school girl and his life changes. Not necessarily for the better. He is immediately smitten with Ritsuko. He begins to stalk her. He becomes delusional. His life itself becomes a film. And its ending has not been written.”

(Text from the Festival's program)

Weekly notable news (week 32)

First, on a personal note: the last few months have been quite trying for me (the summer has zipped past in no time). On top of having to adapt to a new job at an even crazier library, I undertook some (expensive) renovations at home and managing the various team of workers was quite a challenge. And not only I sprained my ankle (with a small fracture) so I had to wear a pneumatic cast for over a month (still do) but I also had to suffer another painful medical problem (won a free game in our pinball's medical system). And I broke my glasses this morning. It seems that I am in for another anus horribilis. All this left me exhausted physically, mentally and morally. I lost all patience I had left to deal with (stupid) people and the world (tired of Trump and all this violence). To quote Indiana Jones, I am really getting too old for this shit. Therefore, I didn't write much lately. Sorry.

However, all is not lost. The weather has been beautiful in the last few days and I am starting to feel better (hopefully it will keep improving; think positive: life is good). In the last week or so, I've been trying to remedy to this unfortunate neglect in my blogger's duty. And, since the film festivals season is at our doors, I am starting to put online my movie comments from last year's MWFF, in order to build up the interest and anticipation (whether the festival happens or not). I hope it's working.

As always, I also keep myself acquainted with the affairs of the world. So, here are a few notable news & links that I came across this week (in no particular order):

• Live-Action Yowamushi Pedal Show Posts On-Set Photos (ANN)
• Mystères entourant la 40e édition du FFM (Le Devoir, Huffington Post)
• Pas trop grosse, SVP! Controverse autour de l'adaptation de «Tamara» (Le Devoir)
• Top 10 Manga Franchises for Spring 2016 (ICv2)
• Apple Pay may come to Tangerine customers (Mobile Syrup, Financial Post)
• Fantasia 2016: TRAIN TO BUSAN Wins Audience And Jury Awards, Plus Many More Winners (Screen Anarchy, link)
• Le retour du vieillard fou de cinéma Films japonais à Fantasia 2016 (Shomingeki)
• Is the internet making us smarter than ever? (The New Indian Express / The Gazette)
• Ontario e-bike rider wins court battle (National Post / The Gazette)
• Here’s How Flowers Move—and Why (Time)
• NASA has released 1,035 new photos of Mars (Business Insider)
• Torrentz.eu quietly shuts down its torrent search engine (Engadget, CNET, IB Times)
• The London: Shipwreck collection to 'rival best in country' (BBC)
• Facebook to suppress clickbait stories (BBC)
• Disappointment for LHC physicists (BBC)
• Irish Libraries to avoid cuts to opening hours with extra £225k funding (BBC)
• Being overweight 'ages people's brains' (BBC)
• Former Ghibli Producer Details the Large Amount of Work That Goes Into Creating a Movie (io9)
• The So-Called Alien Megastructure Just Got Even More Mysterious (Gizmodo)
• Rocks tell story of China's great flood (BBC)

And some Funnies…

Image du chat-medi

Chaussette dort

(Nikon D3300, 2016-06-26)

Fantasia 2016 wrap-up

The 20th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival just concluded after three weeks with a total of 209 screenings (including 19 world premieres), over 100,000 spectators, and a near-record number of special guests (700 international guests, including some 400 film industry professionals like Guillermo Del Toro and Takashi Miike). This years’ awards are:

Kagura-me

“Akane, a young woman who lives in a small rural town in Japan, loses her mother when she is a child, and cannot overcome the loss. Akane’s father had left her mother’s side before she passed away because he went to perform kagura, a traditional ritual dance at Japanese festivals. Akane has never forgiven him and seldom talks to him. Not that he doesn’t regret his action. He too was deeply affected by his wife’s death and he never performed kagura again. Akane leaves home after high school graduation, and starts a new life far away in Tokyo. But life in the big city is overwhelming and Akane returns home after five years. Thirteen years after her mother’s death, Akane’s father has decided to come out of retirement, just to be able to dance in the big 60th anniversary festival. But he has aged. He has serious health problems. He collapses in rehearsal and it becomes clear that he won’t be able to perform. But Akane’s heart has softened. How can she help him? Perhaps by learning kagura?”

(Text from the Festival's program)

Image du mer-fleurie

Soleil 2016

(iPhone 6s, 2016-07-03)

Ninja Hunter

“In 1581 during a bitter feud between 2 ninja clans, Tao, a ninja from the Iga Clan, wakes up with amnesia. Forty ninjas lie dead in front of him and off to one side lies a dead female ninja. He doesn't remember how and why he got there. His assignment is to retrieve a document that will reveal the traitor's identity. Who killed all the ninjas? Is one of them the traitor? Little by little Tao solves the mystery.”

(Text from the Festival's program)

Tokyo Fiancée / Ni d’Eve ni d’Adam

“La tête pleine de rêves, Amélie, 20 ans, revient dans le Japon de son enfance. Pour gagner sa vie, elle propose des cours particuliers de français et rencontre Rinri, son premier et unique élève, un jeune Japonais avec lequel elle noue une relation intime. Entre surprises, bonheurs et déboires d’un choc culturel à la fois amusant et poétique, elle découvre un Japon qu’elle ne connaissait pas…”

Tokyo Fiancée : Belgique/France/Canada, 2014, 84 min.; Dir./Scr.: Stefan Liberski (d’après le roman d’Amélie Nothomb); Ed.: Frédérique Broos; Phot.: Hichame Alaouie; Mus.: Casimir Liberski; Cast: Pauline Étienne, Taichi Inoue, Julie LeBreton.

« Stupeur et tremblements pourrait donner l'impression qu'au Japon, à l'âge adulte, j'ai seulement été la plus désastreuse des employés. Ni d'Ève ni d'Adam révélera qu'à la même époque et dans le même lieu, j'ai aussi été la fiancée d'un Tokyoïte très singulier. »
                         -Amélie Nothomb.

Ni d’Eve ni d’Adam, par Amélie Nothomb. Paris, Albin Michel, 2007. 252 p. 13.0 x 20.0 cm, 18.20 € / $11.95 Cnd. ISBN 9782226179647.



Tokyo Fiancée nous offre une intéressante réflexion sur la diversité culturelle, l’étrangeté de l’autre, et particulièrement sur la difficulté des couples mixtes à concilier cette différence qui les sépare.

Si le film en lui-même est assez bon, il est aussi une excellente adaptation du roman de Amélie Nothomb. Il y a bien sûr de nombreuses différences entre les deux (quelques scènes manquantes dans le film, la motivation des personnages expliquée plus en profondeur dans le roman) mais dans l’ensemble tout l’esprit du livre est présent dans le film. C’est non seulement agréable et divertissant à regarder mais aussi très intéressant.

Pour plus d'information vous pouvez consulter les sites suivants:

Cette histoire de couple, que ce soit dans le film ou le livre, est particulèrement intéressante lorsqu’on la remet dans le contexte de l’oeuvre (et de la vie) de l’auteur. Elle fait non seulement partie des titres de Nothomb qui sont en partie autobiographiques (mais ne le sont-ils pas tous un peu?) mais est également l’un des éléments de sa “trilogie japonaise”. Stupeur et tremblement raconte le retour de l’auteur au japon, où elle avait passé son enfance, mais traite surtout de ses mésaventures au sein d’une corporation japonaise et comment l’esprit collectif japonais du jeune travailleur y est façonné par des règles strictes et par l’humiliation afin de le conformer au modèle uniforme et docile auquel s’attend la société japonaise — ce qui est toujours pire dans le cas d’une femme. Dans Nostalgie Heureuse, l’auteur raconte son second retour au Japon dans le cadre d’un reportage tourné pour la télévision française. Ni d’Eve ni d’Adam lève le voile sur la partie de l’histoire à laquelle elle avait mainte fois fait allusion sans jamais donner de détails: la relation amoureuse qu’elle a entretenu au cours de son premier retour avec un jeune japonais.

Ayant grandit au Japon, elle s’était toujours considérée comme japonaise mais son expérience durant ce premier retour lui fera réaliser que la nature nippone est beaucoup plus complexe et profonde qu’elle ne se l’imaginait…

Le livre, quant à lui, offre une narration très fluide, parsemé de l’humour sarcastique et un peu déjanté si particulier à Nothomb. C’est une très bonne lecture (comme la plupart des Nothomb).

Pour plus d'information vous pouvez consulter les sites suivants:

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