Pitch from the desk of Jason Asbell!
“There’s something for everyone with this week’s program at The Civic Theatre. From Indigenous film to Indo-Canadian film, from London’s swinging 60’s to a very different 60’s in New Jersey, from the world’s majestic mountain descents to another world’s imposing dunes. Read on.
Setting the beat for the week, local resident director, Zen Wang presents his short documentary, ‘The Drum Maker’, with a Q&A with himself and principal subjects from the film on Fri. Nov 12 @ 4pm. Why are drums important in the First Nation’s way of life? Who made the very first drum? What is the spiritual connection between man and nature? These and other topics are explored in this uplifting documentary about a Metis youth who escaped residential school and made a life for himself he can be proud of. Documentary filmmakers Zen Wang and Jocelyn Lernout follow Leon Fleury on his journey of heart aches, regrets, joys and tears. Serene natural vistas accompanied by original First Nation’s songs and music, this film reminds us of human resilience, hope and true love. This is a by donation screening with proceeds going to Residential Schools Victims Fund.
Later on that Friday, with more screenings on Sunday and Tuesday, we take a trip to 60’s London with Edgar Wright’s (Baby Driver, Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim), ‘Last Night in Soho’. Wright draws us into the orbit of Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie), a 1960s-obsessed young woman who ventures from the English countryside to study fashion at a prestigious London academy. Ostracized by her school’s chic cliques, Eloise retreats from her dormitory to a rented flat in Soho, where her life becomes psychically intertwined with that of Sandy (Anya Taylor-Joy), a singer living in 1966. Matt Smith (The Crown) turns up as Jack, a smooth night owl promising to help Sandy achieve stardom. But as Sandy’s descent into the demimonde and Eloise’s nocturnal wanderings intensify, overlapping traumas turn both present and past into a vivid swirl of danger.
No stranger to our Civic screen, Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ comes back for one more final engagement on Sat. Nov 16th. What is Nelson’s affinity with this story from Frank Herbert? Could it be that we, like Arrakis and its spice, are also known for a psychotropic seasoning? This is a big screen, big sound film, so take advantage before it’s gone.
Having visited the 60’s of Soho and the universe of Frank Herbert’s mind in the 60’s when he wrote ‘Dune’, we again touch down in that iconic decade, this time in New Jersey, with ‘The Many Saints of Newark’. Young Anthony Soprano is growing up in one of the most tumultuous eras in Newark history, becoming a man just as rival gangsters start to rise up and challenge the all-powerful DiMeo crime family. Caught up in the changing times is the uncle he idolizes, Dickie Moltisanti, whose influence over his nephew will help shape the impressionable teenager into the all-powerful mob boss, Tony Soprano.
Almost a whole page in, and I still have two more films to write about…
On Mon. Nov. 15th, South Asian Movie Club is back in action with the hit Punjabi comedy, ‘Honsla Rahk’, that takes place in Vancouver, BC of all places. For the West Kootenay Indian community, you know you’re in for a great film, and for everyone else, what a perfect way to get introduced to Punjabi cinema. What happens when a lovable, rooted, desi, Punjabi young man, who’s a single father with a seven year old boy attempts to find love again, find a mom for his son, crosses paths with his ex who comes back into the city after a seven year gap? Honsla Rakh, starring Diljit Dosanjh, Sonam Bajwa, Shehnaaz Gill and Shinda Grewal is a romantic comedy that has warmth at its center and deals with the emotional bonds between father and child, and love between men and women in modern times.
Last entry is from the wide old world, but is anchored right here in Nelson via its director Eric Crosland. ‘La Liste: Everything and Nothing’, is the latest from Sherpas Cinema. Fresh from its debut at Banff Mountain Film Festival, ‘La Liste’ graces The Civic screen with the most epic descents from around the world. In 2016, Jérémie Heitz made a list of The Alps’ most iconic descents and skied them faster than they’d ever been skied before. The feat represented a complete reimagining of classic ski descents and a progression into a whole other level of freeriding. But in the words of legendary ski mountaineer, Sylvain Saudan: “You’ve done it in Switzerland, now you must do it in the world”. The feature documentary follows Jérémie and his trusted mountain partner Sam Anthamatten as they seek out ski descents in the planet’s highest mountain ranges.”
