It’s time to reel in your tickets for the Shuswap Film Society’s film festival.
The Reel Weekend Film Festival runs from Nov. 7 to 9 at the Salmar Classic and features six exceptional films, hot off the Toronto International Film Festival circuit.
• Pride – Friday at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Based on a true story, the politics of the Welsh miners’ strike of 1984-1985 versus Thatcher‘s politics form the backdrop to this film. A small community-based London gay and lesbian organization publicly supports and raises money to help one small Welsh town whose menfolk have been out of work for a long time. There is humour, panoramic Welsh landscapes, close harmonic singing, superb acting and even suspense, in this inspiring movie.
• Attila Marcel – Saturday at 10:30 a.m., Sunday at 7:30 p.m. – By the same director of The Triplets of Belleville, this charming, witty romance, features Paul, a sweet man-child, raised by his two eccentric aunts in Paris after the death of his parents when he was a toddler. Now 33, he still does not speak. Paul’s aunts have only one dream for him: to win piano competitions. He practises dutifully but remains unfulfilled until his neighbour intervenes with a concoction that unlocks repressed memories from his childhood. Filmed with great humour and imaginative quirkiness.
• Force Majeure – Saturday at 1:30 p.m., Sunday at 3:30 p.m. – A Swedish family travels to the French Alps for a few days of fine skiing. The sun is shining, the slopes spectacular, until an avalanche turns everything upside down. With diners fleeing in all directions, the mother Ebba calls out for her husband Tomas to help protect their children. Meanwhile Tomas is running for his life. The anticipated disaster fails to occur, yet the family’s world has been shaken to its core.
• Monsoon – Saturday at 3:45 – Part road movie, part spectacle, part drama, the documentary Monsoon is directed by Sturla Gunnarsson, one of Canada’s most prolific and eclectic filmmakers. It’s his meditation on chaos, creation and faith set in the land of believers. The subject is the monsoon, the vast weather system that permeates and unifies the varied cultures of India, shaping the conditions of existence for its billion inhabitants.
• Whiplash – Saturday at 7:30 p.m. – A promising young drummer, Andrew, enrolls at a cutthroat music conservatory where an instructor, Terence Fletcher, who will stop at nothing to realize a student’s potential, mentors his dreams of being the greatest jazz drummer ever. No matter what, Andrew wants a spot in Fletcher’s top jazz ensemble, a place where careers can be made. A number of classic jazz standards make for a rousing soundtrack.
• My Old Lady – Mathias Gold, a derelict alcoholic American with psychological issues, is a mess, but when he inherits an apartment in Paris from his deceased and emotionally distant father, perhaps he has a way out of his predicament. However, the home comes with an elderly woman, who may or may not have been his father’s mistress.
In this drama, Kristin Scott Thomas, as Maggie Smith’s daughter Chloe, becomes the salve for Gold’s emotional problems.
A special opening night celebration takes place at the Salmar Classic Friday, Nov. 7 when moviegoers are invited to dress up like a Welsh miner, author or celebrity, or in Welsh colours, to enjoy music, refreshments and door prizes. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Following Sunday’s 7:30 p.m. showing of Attila Marcel, moviegoers are invited to meet for coffee and conversation.
All festival movies will be shown at the Salmar Classic Theatre at 360 Alexander St.
Tickets are $7 for single admission, $30 for a five-film pass or $35 for all six films. They can be purchased at Wearabouts. Tickets are cash-only at the door.
Tickets may also be reserved on the 24-hour information line at 250-832-2294 with Visa or MasterCard.
And don’t forget the Reel Lunch, which is served Saturday and Sunday of the festival from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the art gallery.