Wednesday, April 17th, 2024
Showtimes: 6:30pm & 9pm (Filmmaker Q&A after each screening)
Location: Silvercity Thunder Bay
​Runtime: 97-minutes

SHORT SYNOPSIS: 
Unveiling the harsh reality of substance use in Thunder Bay, Ontario, this universally themed documentary, told through personal narratives and expert insights, exposes a lack of resources while aiming to shatter stigmas and ignite compassion for those grappling with addiction.

DIRECTOR STATEMENT: 
Embarking on the journey of creating this documentary was a plunge into the unknown. Initially, I had no connection to the main subjects grappling with addiction in Thunder Bay, Ontario, or any understanding that addiction can be a disease. Their stories were unfamiliar, and as a filmmaker, I entered their world with an open heart and an unbiased lens, eager to shed light on the challenges they faced.
What began as a professional endeavour transformed into a personal exploration, forging unexpected connections with the people at the heart of the narrative.
In the end, my journey as a filmmaker not only captured the struggles and triumphs of some of those facing addiction but also became a testament to the transformative power of human connection. From my inception into this venture, I strived not merely to shed light on a local predicament but aspired to bestow a voice upon the often-overlooked community of individuals who are, essentially, voiceless.

Wednesday, April 3, 2024
Suze      Canada
Location: SilverCity
Showtimes: 6:30 & 8:30 pm

Directors: Linsey Stewart, Dane Clark
Cast: Michaela Watkins, Aaron Ashmore, Sara Waisglass, Charlie Gillespiens, Aaron As
Running time: 93 minutes
Language: English 

Awards: Calgary International Film Festival: Best Canadian Narrative Feature

“This is a breezy, enormously amiable film.”—Debanjan Dhar, High on Films

“Suze” is an enjoyable comedy-drama that deals with an unlikely inter-generational friendship. Stage and screen actress and improv comic Michaela Watkins plays an empty-nest single mother who loses one parental responsibility only to be saddled with another. It is a combination comedy of manners and a personal growth story, as touching as it is genuinely amusing.

Single mother Susan (Michaela Watkins) aka ‘Suze’, divorced from her unfaithful husband, is bracing herself to send her daughter, Brooke (Sara Waisglass), off to university. Susan is finding the idea of her only child growing up and leaving home difficult, despite her offspring’s indifference. 

One day, Suze’s brooding is interrupted by the appearance of Brooke’s former boyfriend, Gage (Charlie Gillespie), who is heartbroken over being summarily dumped by Brooke.

Gage is as hilarious as he is annoying, full of youthful energy and awkwardness, lacking any kind of filter, and given to the worst of adolescent speech mannerisms. Susan takes pity on his obvious distress and reluctantly befriends him. 

Things take a turn when Gage is injured and his macho father finds an excuse to leave Gage with Susan while he recuperates.

Much of the humour comes from the interaction between the mature, sensible Susan and young Gage, who is erratic, emotional, and full of uninformed enthusiasm. 

The two leads have wonderful chemistry, bouncing off each other in a lively and funny first act. Their relationship evolves during Gage’s extended recuperation. Susan takes a more maternal attitude toward him, trying to offer help and encouragement.

Not only does Susan manage to direct Gage away from the negative direction his life has taken, but Gage also helps Susan come to some realizations about her life, her daughter, and herself that mercifully avoids mawkish sentimentality.

In finding both the humour and the dramatic potential in personal and generational differences, “Suze” recreates the buddy movie in a new and surprisingly successful way.

Wednesday, March 20, 2024
Perfect Days  Japan
Location: SilverCity
Showtimes: 6:30 & 8:45 pm

Director: Wim Wenders 
Principal Cast: Kôji Yakusho, Min Tanaka, Tokio Emoto, Aoi Yamada, Sayuri Ishikawa, Arisa Nakano, Yumi Aso, Tomokazu Miura
Running Time: 124 minutes
Language: English, Japanese with English subtitles

Awards: Cannes Film Festival: Best Actor (Kôji Yakusho); Prize of the Ecumenical Jury: Wim Wenders; Asia Pacific Screen Awards: Best Film; Montclair Film Festival: Junior Jury, Wim Wenders; 24 other nominations

“The director has crafted a film of deceptive simplicity, observing the tiny details of a routine existence with such clarity, soulfulness and empathy that they build a cumulative emotional power almost without you noticing.”—David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

After several years away from the silver screen, Wim Wenders is back with “Perfect Days,” a poignant character study and emotionally charged journey into the soul of Tokyo. Radiating charm and embracing all his best work, this unique mix of fiction and ordinary life finds an unusual, poetic angle to guide us: the architectural marvels of some of Tokyo’s public toilets. 

Kôji Yakusho, in one of his best performances to date, plays Hirayama, a cleaner of these toilets. (He is named after the protagonist of Yasujiro Ozu’s last film, “An Autumn Afternoon” — a quiet tribute to the great master of Japanese cinema, an auteur beloved by Wenders.) 

Hirayama lives alone in a small house full of plants, his days going by according to quiet rhythms that never seem to change. His is a neighbourhood of tiny cafés frequented.
by the same people, of bookshops that sell works by Patricia Highsmith or young, contemporary Japanese writers. 

Hirayama speaks very little and has a great passion for music, books, and the trees he loves to photograph. He drives to work in his minivan, fully equipped with his cleaning gear, while The Rolling Stones, Patti Smith, or Lou Reed ring in ageless, husky hums from a tape player. 

As if in search of a new cinema on the road, Wenders follows his protagonist and instead discovers new places of the heart. Through Yakusho/Hirayama, Wenders captures the poetry of the everyday with intimacy and stunning simplicity. 

Wednesday, March 6, 2024
The Zone of Interest   Poland, United Kingdom
Location: SilverCity
Showtimes: 6:30 & 8:30 pm

Director: Jonathan Glazer
Cast: Sandra Huller, Christian Friedel
Running time: 106 minutes
Language: German, Polish; English subtitles

Awards: Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, International Film, Direction, Adapted Screenplay, Sound; Cannes: Grand Prize Winner, FIPRESCI Prize (Jonathan Glazer) 
Technician Prize, Soundtrack Composer (Mica Levi); Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Picture, Director, Actress, Music Score, National Society of Film Critics Awards: Best Director, Actress; Toronto Film Critics Association Awards: Best Picture, Director. 29 other wins, 159 nominations. 

“The Zone of Interest is possibly the least overtly traumatic film about the Holocaust ever made, yet it’s devastating in the quietest way.”—Stephanie Zacharek, TIME Magazine

Master of portraiture Jonathan Glazer (“Under the Skin”) was awarded the Grand Prix at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival for “The Zone of Interest,” adapted from a 2014 novel of the same title by Martin Amis. 

The film centres on the domestic life of Hedwig (Sandra Hüller, “Anatomy of a Fall”) and Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel), beneficiaries of lebensraum, whose family home — nestled between train tracks and gas chambers — is spitting distance from Auschwitz, the infamous German concentration camp located in occupied Poland, where Rudolf serves as commandant.

Towards the final days of the Holocaust, Hedwig is fixated on self-preservation, while Rudolf is increasingly burdened by his duties. We reside inside the family’s encampment, with background voices of ghost-like prisoners muffled by the perpetrator’s quotidian musings. 

At one point, Hedwig and her atrocious friends joke about their new luxury goods, received from Canada — the nickname of the storage facilities where such items, after being confiscated, were stored — at the demise of their former neighbours.

Shot on location, “The Zone of Interest” weds banal and overt acts of evil with unforgettable reminders of resistance (it was shot in monochrome by thermal-imaging cameras). 

And just as we can't take any more, the film gives a crushing nod to Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The Act of Killing” (2012). Hauntingly scored by Mica Levi and shot by Łukasz Żal (“Cold War”), this film will stay with you for a lifetime, for better or for worse.

Wednesday, February 28, 2024
Monster    Japan
Location: SilverCity
Showtimes: 6:30 & 8:45 pm

Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu 
Principal Cast: Andô Sakura, Nagayama Eita, Soya Kurokawa
Run Time: 127 minutes
Language: Japanese with English subtitles

Awards: Cannes Film Festival: Queer Palm (Kore-eda Hirokazu), Best Screenplay Yûji Sakamoto; Chicago International Film Festival: Gold Q-Hugo Award Kore-eda Hirokazu;
Stockholm Film Festival: Best Film; Vancouver International Film Festival:  Audience Award; 12 other nominations

““Monster” is one of the finest films of the year, and its structure — like its circle of characters — carries secrets that can only be unraveled through patience and empathy.”             —Natalia Winkleman, New York Times

After a detour in France (“The Truth,” TIFF ’19) and South Korea (“Broker,” TIFF ’22), Kore-eda Hirokazu returns to his homeland to reconnect with the roots that nourished the deepest spirit of his cinema. His art thrives on subtle, delicate emotions, disregards the obvious, and explores the ordinariness and variables of the human experience. 

Quiet and reserved Minato (Soya Kurokawa) — no longer a kid, but not yet an adolescent — lost his father when he was a young child and lives with his mother (Sakura Ando). When he starts behaving strangely, obsessed with the idea his brain has been switched with a pig’s, his mother suspects his teacher Hori (Eita Nagayama) and calls a meeting with the school principal (Tanaka Yuko) only to face a wall of silence and stiff apologies. 

Someone must have put that idea in Minato’s head, but something doesn’t add up. Is Minato telling the truth or is his professor innocent? Looking at the story from various points of view, in a “Rashomon”-inspired structure, reality changes and the actual subject becomes the hidden friendship between Minato and one of his schoolmates, often bullied by other kids. 

A great storyteller of family dynamics, Kore-eda shows once again his unique ability to depict the inner world of children, unveiling uncomfortable realities with a natural and necessary tenderness. 

A milestone in his impressive body of work, “Monster” is marked by two major collaborations: one with co-screenwriter Sakamoto Yûji; and the other with the legendary musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, who died last March, “Monster” being his last soundtrack.

Wednesday, February 21, 2024
The Persian Version   USA
Location: SilverCity
Showtimes: 6:30 & 8:30 pm

Director: Maryam Keshavarz
Cast: Layla Mohammadi, Niousha Noo
Running time: 107 minutes
Language: English, Persian with English subtitles

Awards: National Board of Review: Top Ten Independent Films; Sundance 2023: Audience Award; Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award (Maryam Keshavarz); Calgary International Film Festival: Audience Award-Best International Feature. Six other nominations. 

“Braids comedy and tragedy, vibrant aplomb and thoughtful soberness...”—Lisa Kennedy, Variety

Writer-director Maryam Keshavarz, who previously won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival for her debut film, “Circumstance,” returns with this uproarious, genre-blurring crowd pleaser about identity, belonging, and secrets — those that tie families together and pull them apart, perhaps at the same time. 

Just as brash as she is introspective, Leila (Layla Mohammadi, “The Sex Lives of College Girls”) defies expectation at every turn: those of her parents, and in particular her mother, Shireen (Niousha Noor, “Kaleidoscope”), who disapproves of Leila’s disregard for tradition and cultural norms; and those of her romantic partners, who are perplexed by the fondness that Leila has for her family (and Iranian heritage) despite their differences, simmering just beneath the surface of her feigned nonchalance. 

But it becomes harder for Leila to keep her opposing lives separate when she discovers she is pregnant just as her family convenes in New York for her father’s heart transplant surgery.

It’s here that the film takes a beautiful and unexpected turn, as we are transported back in time to Shireen’s childhood in Iran through to her initial experiences in America, understanding the level of loss and personal sacrifice that has come to inform her rocky relationship with Leila. 

As past and present continue to collide, the film balances the somber weight of its generations-spanning ambition with a quirky dynamism in the form of “Fleabag-esque”, fourth-wall-breaking monologues and intricately choreographed dance sequences as Leila’s love for retro pop music bleeds onto the screen. 

“The Persian Version” is undeniably full of heart and with it, heartache — one that beats to its own drum and will bring audiences to their feet

Wednesday, January 31, 2024
Anatomy of a Fall (France) 
Location: SilverCity
Showtimes: 6:30 & 9:15 pm

Director: Justine Triet
Cast:  Sandra Hüller, Samuel Theis, Swann Arlaud, Milo Machado Graner
Running time: 151 minutes
Language: French, German, with English Subtitles 

Awards: Golden Globes: Best Screenplay; Best Non English Language Film; British Independent Film Awards: Best International Independent Film; Gotham Awards: Best International Film, Best Screenplay; National Board of Review: Best Film; Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Non-English Language Film, Best Actress, Best Editing; New York Film Critics Circle Awards: Best International Film; Toronto Film Critics Association: Best Director, Outstanding Lead Performance; 37 other wins, 115  nominations. 

“Triet has made a film that succeeds brilliantly — on terms that are as exacting, rigorous and precise as her unflappable heroine.”—Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

The much-lauded winner of this year’s Palme d’Or and Golden Globe winner for Best Screenplay, Justine Triet’s fourth feature has cemented her status as one of today’s great filmmaking talents. Unfolding over two-and-a-half hours like a compulsively readable novel, the riveting “Anatomy of a Fall” is both a dissection of an intimate relationship and of the judiciary process. 

Sandra (a ferocious, magnetic, and edgy Sandra Hüller; “Toni Erdmann,” “The Zone of Interest”) is a successful German writer who lives in the French Alps with her husband Samuel (Samuel Theis) and their visually-impaired son Daniel (Milo Machado Graner). 

A brilliant, decibel-bursting opening scene suggests tensions in their isolated chalet, so when Samuel is discovered dead in the snow beneath one of their windows, suspicion is quickly aroused. Did he take his own life, or was he pushed to his death? 

When the investigation proves to be inconclusive — its varying angles hinting at the microscopic examination to come — Sandra is ultimately indicted and put on trial.

A captivating and sharply directed, written, and acted courtroom procedural, “Anatomy of a Fall” functions like a trenchant autopsy of confirmation bias and ambiguity itself, with the court an operatic arena in which every gesture, word, and past interaction are ripe for judgment. 

As scrutiny turns to Sandra’s complex character and her tumultuous relationship with Samuel — their artistic rivalries, romantic jealousies, and contempt — the couple’s young son becomes the key witness. Taut, suspenseful, and thrilling until the final moment, “Anatomy of a Fall” progresses like a heady puzzle that tackles the messiness of existence and the often-elusive nature of truth itself.

Wednesday, January 24, 2024
Maestro USA
Location: SilverCity
Showtimes: 6:30 & 8:45 pm

Director: Bradley Cooper
Cast:  Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Matt Bomer, Maya Hawke
Running time:  129 minutes
Language: English 

Awards: Las Vegas Film Critics Society: Best Actor (Bradley Cooper), Best Screenplay: Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer; National Board of Review: Top Films 2023; Palm Springs International Film Festival: Best Actress (Carey Mulligan); AFI Awards: Movie of the Year; Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards: Top Ten Films 2023: Capri Hollywood: Visionary Award (Bradley Cooper), Best Actress: Carey Mulligan, Producer Award (Bradley Cooper); New York Film Critics Online: Top Ten Films 2023; Nevada Film Critics Society: Best Actor, Bradley Cooper. Six other wins, 108 nominations

“A movie that is as exhilarating as it is unconventional, a fitting portrait of a man who was determined to always live life on his own terms, no matter the consequences.”—Peter Howell, Toronto Star

“Maestro” follows the complex love story of renowned American composer Leonard Bernstein (Bradley Cooper) and actress Felicia Montealegre (Carrie Mulligan), spanning 30 years of their relationship from when they first met at a party in 1946, through their engagement, marriage, and children. 

This is the second feature film from Bradley Cooper as director, and he pulls out all the stops to present his auteur vision of Bernstein’s life. The film switches from bright colours to black and white, uses surrealist imagery next to grounded scenes, and contrasts the noise of arguments with the passionate music of Bernstein’s compositions. 

A change from the typical biographical drama, “Maestro” seeks to communicate the feeling of a life rather than focusing on the historical details. The film does not shy away from depicting the fights and hardships that permeated Leonard and Felicia’s long marriage, nor does it seek to conceal Bernstein’s sexuality and frequent affairs with young, handsome men. 

An exploration of the complexities of a queer identity in a society that limits free expression, the film sympathizes with Bernstein’s struggles while also giving voice to the drama and resentment felt by Bernstein’s family. Cooper, who convincingly ages under Kazu Hiro’s award-winning make up, and Carey Mulligan deliver compelling performances that cut to the core. A symphony in its own right, this passionate tale is a vibrant portrait of love, heartbreak, family, and music

Wednesday, November 15, 2023
France  2022
Location: SilverCity
Showtimes: 6:30 & 9:00 pm

Director: Marie Castille Mention-Scharr
Cast:  Oulaya Amamra, Nina El Arabi, Niels, Arestrup
Running time:  110 minutes
Language: French with English Subtitles 

Awards: Stony Brook Film Festival: Special Recognition; Nomination: Odesa International Film Festival: Golden Duke Award, Marie Castille Mention-Scharr

Based on a true story, “Divertimento” tells the tale of how talented twin sisters, musical prodigies, challenged the norms of the French cultural society, to establish an orchestra for young musicians regardless of backgrounds in their home town of Stains, a working class district of Paris.

It’s 1995. Zahia, a viola player and Fettouma Ziouani, a cellist, are accepted in Lycée Racine in Paris where they are immediately confronted by class inequality and sexism. Having graduated from the Conservatoire de Pantin where their school mates were working class from diverse backgrounds, the girls encounter fellow students who are well off and Caucasian, sporting lineage of famous musicians. The girls don’t fit in easily.  

Zahia harbours ambitions of becoming a conductor, an unlikely goal for a working class female, creating her own hill to climb. Anything the girls do, including introducing diverse musical compositions, is met with derision, led by the taunting Lambert, the school’s star conductor. 

Zahia is relieved to be taken under of the wing of maestro Sergiu Celibidache, whom she’s dreamed of studying under. However, his socialist sympathies do not extend to women’s rights. In front of the class, he tells Zahia that conducting isn’t a profession for women. But seeing her potential and drive, he takes her in his private class, along with her sister.

The girls remain ostracized. In defiance of this, the 17-year-olds attempt to set up a symphony in Stains, despite the dismissive mayor. Several students from both the girls’ schools join up. Zahia cultivates a collaborative environment as opposed to the competitiveness of Lycée. 

An upcoming competition may determine the validity of Zahia’s vision, as they try to make a defining statement about race, gender and class in French culture.  

Wednesday, November 8, 2023
Canada  2022
Location: SilverCity
Showtimes: 6:30 & 8:30 pm

Director: Carly Stone
Cast:  Sarah Gadon, Amanda Fix, River Price-Maenpaa, Robert Carlyle, Janet Porter
Running time:  90 minutes
Language: English 

Nominations: Calgary International Film Festival: Emerging Artist, Carly Stone; The Joey Awards Vancouver: Best Leading Performer in a Feature Film, River Price-Maenpaa; Windsor International Film Festival: WIFF Prize in Canadian Film, Carly Stone; CAFTCAD Awards: Best Costume Design.

“A lovely and engaging film elevated by strong performances.”—Kim Hughes, Original Cin

Based on Cea Sunrise Person’s memoir, Carly Stone’s accomplished “North of Normal” recounts the author’s tumultuous, unconventional childhood. In the 1970s, Cea’s hippie grandparents, Grandpa Dick (Robert Carlyle) and Grandma Jeanne (Janet Porter), flee the repressive climes of the United States for the untrammeled wilds of Alberta and British Columbia with Cea and her teenage mother, Michelle (Sarah Gadon), in tow. 

Surrounded by perma-stoned adults acting with little regard for any conventions (especially sexual ones), Cea lives a blissfully ignorant, near idyllic life. But when Michelle tires of her father’s criticisms, mother and daughter find themselves living nomadically on the margins of society.

Caught between her desire to lead a more conventional life (possibly with heat and running water) and her deep but troubled attachments to her mother and grandparents, Cea struggles to relate to more hidebound human beings.

Michelle’s relationship with her parents has poisoned her romantic pursuits, and she’s often appallingly oblivious to how her bad romances impact Cea. Meanwhile, despite his anti-establishment rhetoric, Grandpa Dick doesn’t hold to the loftiest concepts. He hooks up with almost every woman who joins his commune, ostensibly to educate them in the group’s values. Still, the film observes the family members’ affection for one another, even when it’s marred by fully baked ideology, selfishness, insecurity, or psychological damage.

Stone directs with energy and compassion, eliciting fine performances from her excellent cast, especially Gadon, whose Michelle invariably and often perilously wears her heart on her sleeve, and River Price-Maenpaa and Amanda Fix who play Cea as child and teenager, respectively. Exuberant and empathetic, “North of Normal” explores how principles and family can lead you astray and can also provide long-lasting succor.