Peace By Chocolate

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Paid Attendance 519

$1000 will donated to the Hamilton Out of the Cold from the January 9/10 screenings.

After the bombing of his family's chocolate factory, Tareq Hadhad, a charming young Syrian refugee, struggles to settle into small-town life in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Despite moving to a new country, he's intent on pursuing his dream to become a doctor. But when his father, Issam, insists that he must focus on survival, Tareq and his family move towards a different, but familiar path: Rebuilding Issam's chocolate business. As father and son both struggle to find common ground and navigate the complexities of family duty, the heightening tension between them threatens to tear the family apart. Based on the internationally recognized true story.

All proceeds to Hamilton Out of the Cold.

Thanks to our Season Sponsor: Rastin's Wilson Street PharmaChoice Pharmacy

Time: 96 min

BUY TICKETS HERE: https://www.memorialarts.ca/events?category=Film

Reviews

 "A heartwarming tale of triumph over adversity” NATIONAL POST / Chris Knight

“Wonderfully made, beautifully acted, and completely engaging film”  THE INDEPENDENT CRITIC/ Richard Propes

“When all of the serious dramas and urgent documentaries have faded from your mind, odds are Peace By Chocolate is going to be the film that you not only remember but revisit.”

UNSEEN FILMS // Steve Kopian

“…it’s like Frank Capra came back from the dead to make a movie in Canada.”

LETTERBOXD // Michael O’Keefe

“...Jonathan Keijser and Abdul Malik’s screenplay about a refugee looking to accomplish his dreams is told as a drama-comedy hybrid. This dual-tone takes a potentially heartbreaking yet inspiring story and gives it a different layer by adding humor, making it more watchable to the common viewer.”

FILM THREAT // Chris Salce

“...Peace by Chocolate transcends the expected, sneaking up on you, guiding you toward emotional devastation and reconciliation.”  ELEMENTS OF MADNESS // Douglas Davidson

“Ammar is magnificent in his performance as Tareq Hadhad. We laugh with joy as he succeeds, and we feel the punches when he faces setbacks". CULTURED VULTURES // Grady Bolding

“The psychological struggle between father and son to find common ground and navigate the complexities of family duty, assimilating to a new country, and heartbreak and survival has the viewer white-knuckling at the edge of their seat, as they witness these obstacles nearly tear the family apart.”

 THE KNOCKTURNAL // Charlotte Kohlberg 

Awards

Atlantic Film Festival: Winner: Jury Prize-Best Editor
Canada China International Film Festival Winner: Festival AwardBest Actor: Ayham Abou Ammar

Cordillera International Film Festival Winner: Jury Award: Best Director-Jonathan Keijser

Heartland International Film Festival Winner: Audience Choice Award

Italian Contemporary Film Festival Winner:Jury Award

Loudoun Arts Film Festival Winner: Spotlight Feature Award

Naples International Film Festival Winner: Audience Award

Scottsdale International Film Festival Winner: Best Actor-Hafem Ali

Sedona International Film Festival Winner: Director's Choice Award

Woods Hole Film Festival Winner: Audience Award

 Peace by Chocolate - Rotten Tomatoes 

 About | Peace by Chocolate Film 

$1000 donated to the Hamilton Out of the Cold

Experience the story of the Oscar-winning Indigenous artist from her rise to prominence in New York’s Greenwich Village folk music scene through her six-decade groundbreaking career as a singer-songwriter, social activist, educator and artist. When the massive anti-war anthem UNIVERSAL SOLDIER made her one of the biggest rising stars of the 60s folk scene, as Billboard's best new artist, success was just around the corner. Alas, when she used her newfound platform to speak out about issues affecting Native Americans, she was blacklisted from American radio, curtailing her career overnight.

This remarkable film sheds light on an artist who, at 81, is still thriving, creating, and evolving in every area of her life, helping the world to ripen a little more every day. 

Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On features never-before-seen archival material, new performance footage and interviews with Buffy, Joni Mitchell (singer, songwriter, artist), Sonia Manzano (Maria on Sesame Street), John Kay (lead singer-songwriter of Steppenwolf), Robbie Robertson(singer-songwriter, The Band), Jackson Browne (musician), George Stroumboulopoulos (music journalist), Andrea Warner (author) and more.

Directed by Madison Thomas and written by Madison and Andrea Warner based on Warner's Authorized Biography of Buffy Sainte-Marie. 

Proceeds to Ancaster Food Drive.

Thanks to our Season Sponsor: Rastin's Wilson Street PharmaChoice Pharmacy

Thanks to our Film Date Sponsor: Ron Lancaster, International Math Consultant

Time: 90 min

BUY TICKETS HERE: https://www.memorialarts.ca/events?category=Film

Reviews

Buffy Sainte-Marie's presence on screen, just being herself, is the best part - her spirit shines, her wit and warmth blast through the screen and her many talents inspire. Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On is a must-see to learn and lift us up. Anne Brody/What She Said

A raw, searing portrait of an artist and activist who has been ahead of her time every step of the way. Alan Hudson/Exclaim!

Despite all of the challenges of her life, Sainte-Marie’s infectiously hopeful energy and radiant smile seem impermeable to cynicism and despair. “I don’t like misery of any kind,” she said. “So if something starts bothering me, I either put up an umbrella or I go inside. I do something about it, because I’m really uncomfortable being unhappy. I try to keep my nose on the joy trail.” Lindsay Zoldatz/NY Times

With a mix of previously unseen archival footage, interviews with friends, family, and colleagues, as well as unprecedented access to the artist herself, Madison Thomas’ Buffy Saint-Marie: Carry It On, is an eye-opening look at the Saint-Marie’s personal life and professional career, from her early days as a folk artist in New York City, her turn as a mother and TV personality, her work as a composer and writer, but always – always – an activist. Marina Antunes/Alliance of Women Film Journalists

Carry It On shows an artist out of step and ahead of her time.  When it comes to the six-decade career of Sainte-Marie, we always heard her. Now we’re finally listening. Brad Wheeler/The Globe and Mail

Fearless and ahead of her time, a vibrant 80-year-old Buffy tells her own story as an abuse survivor, educator, and musical trailblazer. Canadian First Nation filmmaker Madison Thomas captures the power and beauty of this talented living legend in an informative, engaging piece of folk-music history. Karen McMullen/DocNYC

Awards

Director's Guild of Canada: Winner of the Allan King Award for Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking - Madison Thomas

Telus Audience Choice Award: Winner of music on screen award

2022 TIFF Tribute Awards: Buffy won the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media, recognizing leadership in creating a union between social impact and cinema.

A Message From Buffy Sainte-Marie

https://buffysainte-marie.com/?p=12606

Attendance: 201

$750 donated from the screenings of Broker and Viking to the Cancer Assistance Program

Five years after winning the Palme d’Or for Shoplifters, Academy Award nominated filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda returns with Broker, starring Cannes Best actor winner Song Kang Ho (Parasite). The film follows two brokers who sell orphaned infants, circumventing the bureaucracy of legal adoption, to affluent couples who can’t have children of their own. After an infant’s mother surprises the duo by returning to ensure her child finds a good home, the three embark on a journey to find the right couple, building an unlikely family of their own. Written and Directed by Kore-Eda Hirokazu (Shoplifters, Like Father Like Son

Korean with English Subtitles

Running Time: 129 min

Proceeds to the Canadian Cancer Assistance Program

Thanks to our Season Sponsor: Rastin's PharmaChoice Pharmacy

Thanks to our Film Date Sponsor: Alan Moffett

Awards

Asian Film Awards: Winner Best Director

Blue Dragon Awards: Winner - Ji-eun Lee (Popularity Star)

Cannes: Winner Best Actor - Sang Yang-Ho, Winner Best Director - Kore-Eda Hirokazu

Chunsa Film Art Awards: Winner - Best New Actor: Ji-eun Lee

Hawaii International Film Festival: Winner - Vision in Film Award - Kore-Eda Hirokazu

Korean Association of Film Critics: Winner - Best New Actress - Ji-eun Lee

Music Film Festival: Winner - Best International Film - ARRI/OSRAM Award

Norwegian International Film Festival: Winner - Bray of Sunshine Award - Kore-Eda Hirokazu

Time: 104 min

BUY TICKETS HERE(available by or before Monday March 20): https://www.memorialarts.ca/events?category=Film

Reviews

... the stage is set for a quietly eccentric road movie that appears to be about the nature of families (a perennial Koreeda theme) but is really about the yearning for intimacy in the modern world of alienation. Kevin Maher/Times (UK)

Broker is nothing if not a film of surprises... a swaddled-up mix of road movie, social realism, crime cliffhanger and even knockabout comedy. Genres collide. A little like life. Danny Leigh/Financial Times

The production feeds both the intellectual and emotional appetites of those who appreciate intimate motion picture experiences and that seems almost as foreign in today’s American cinematic climate as the language spoken by the characters. James Berardinelli/Reel Views

The charm of Kore-eda’s films is the layering of complex characters, and he puts a lot of heart and time into each of them, sculpting intricate emotions and relationships that connect with the viewer. Jenny Nulf/Austin Chronicle

What could have been a train wreck if it were an American comedy/drama turns into a funny, sad, brittle, beautiful and absolutely strange odyssey wherein the image of family gets distorted and reimagined in the most touching way imaginable. Randy Myers/San Jose Mercury News

“Broker” doesn’t feel overplotted, overly cute or excessively melodramatic. Kore-Eda has an emotionally direct style, a way of fusing naturalism and fable that recalls the neorealist magic of Vittorio De Sica. A.O. Scott/NY Times

Bittersweet and beautiful, Broker sits easily amongst Kore-eda’s finest films, and as one of the best filmmakers working today that is surely saying something. Alexandra Hellwe-Nicholas/AWXF.org

Awards

Canadian Screen Awards: Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Lead Actor (Stephen LaPlante), Best Original Screenplay,  Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Costume, Best Hair, Best Sound Mixing,  Best Sound Editing

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/broker

Attendance: 356

Audience ratings for I Like Movies (263 submitted their ratings)

5: Excellent   - 23%

4: Very Good - 44%

3. Good          - 24%

2. Poor           - 7%

1. Very Poor   - 2%

Intense movie lover Lawrence Kweller, 17, wants more than anything to be accepted into NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, to learn to be a filmmaker. So much that he hasn't even applied to another college, despite the fact that he lives in Burlington, Ontario.

He and his best friend, Matt Macarchuck make films together, but Matt eventually grows tired of Lawrence belittling him and embarrassing him, especially when Lawrence doesn't even have time for their weekly ritual of watching Saturday Night Live because he's found a job in a video store.

Lawrence continues to alienate all the important people in his life including his mother and store manager and staff.  Will he be able to turn things around.

Directed and Written by Chandler Levack

Starring: Isaiah Lehtinen, Romina D'Ugo, Krista Bridges, Percy Hynes White

Proceeds to the Neighbour to Neighbour Food Bank and Tutoring Program

Thanks to our Season Sponsor: Rastin's Wilson Street PharmaChoice Pharmacy

Thanks to our Film Date Sponsor: Dundas Sunrise Valley Rotary Club

Runtime: 99 min

BUY TICKETS HERE: https://www.memorialarts.ca/events?category=Film

Reviews

Levack has done a remarkable job with her feature-film debut, playing with tropes that have time-honoured traditions but are always in need of a refresh. Amil Niazi/Globe & Mail

A film that is small but not slight, sweet but not cloying, and the kind of thing that can make even a cynical critic like movies again. Katie Rife/Indiewire

It’s not just a tribute to movies, but a tribute to what the best movies can accomplish — encouraging us to look out as much as we look in. Drew Gregory/AutoStraddle

It authenticates catharsis through the fantastical world of cinema while giving us a vital lesson in the real-world toxicity that can feed into that culture. I Like Movies is a pitch-perfect coming-of-age story. Darryl Griffiths/MovieMaker

Imagine if Superbad were directed by a woman who didn’t allow the toxic masculinity and misogyny to go unchecked, while also l giving her genuinely funny and moving characters the room for growth and empathy. I Like Movies does that. Radheyan Simonpillai/CTV's Your Morning

A heart-tugging, film-loving smartypants with a wicked tongue rules! The character study, tell-all and comedy-drama seems fun ‘n’ games to start but develops complexity and emotional power. Terrific stuff! Annie Brodie/What She Said

Awards

Calgary International Film Festival: RBC Emerging Artist-Chandler Levack

Miami Film Festival: Jordan Ressler First Feature Award

Santa Barbara International Film Festival: Panavision Spirit Award for Independent Cinema - Best Film

Vancouver Critics Circle Awards:  Best Canadian Film, Best Screenplay, Best Lead Performance and Best Supporting Male Performance

Victoria Film Festival:  Best Canadian First Feature

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14913282/?ref_=ttawd_awd_tt

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_like_movies

517 attended, 366 submitted ratings

5 Excellent   246 (67%)

4 Very Good 108 (30%)

3 Good           10  (2.5%)

2 Poor              2 (0.5 %)

1 Very Poort    0  (0%)

Cáit is a nine year-old girl from an overcrowded and impoverished family in rural Ireland. Quietly struggling at school and at home, she has learned to hide in plain sight from those around her. As summer arrives, Cáit is sent to live with distant relatives, farming people, like her own, but hard-working and wanting for nothing. She slowly blossoms and discovers a new way of living, but in this house where affection grows and there are meant to be no secrets, Cáit discovers one painful truth.

A tender coming-of-age story from writer-director Colm Bairéad and introducing the astonishing Catherine Clinch in her debut performance, The Quiet Girl is one of the most acclaimed and moving films of the year, and winner of seven Irish Film and Television Awards including Best Film. Adapted from the novella, Foster, by Claire Keegan.

Irish with English subtitles.

Proceeds to Ancaster Community Services and the DeMazenod Door Program

Thanks to our Season Sponsor: Rastin's Wilson Street PharmaChoice Pharmacy

Thanks to our Film Date Sponsor: To be announced

Runtime: 94 min

BUY TICKETS HERE: https://www.memorialarts.ca/events?category=Film

Reviews

Through heart-wrenching, nuanced and arresting performances by Clinch, Crowley and Bennett, The Quiet Girl technically lives up to its name, but speaks volumes about the transformative power of what it means to be loved. Anne T. Donahue/Globe & Mail

In a world of noise — and noisy, jumbled films — this story of found family speaks loudest when saying nothing. Michael O'Sullivan/Washington Post

A genuine work of art by a genuinely empathetic artist, and one of the single most moving, heartfelt, and heartbreaking movies from any country in the last decade. That only sounds like hyperbole until you see it. David Fear/Rolling Stone

Made with sensitivity and care by first-time writer-director Colm Bairead, combines serene editing, quiet reserves of strength, and subdued performances that allow you to think and feel instead of just watch.  Rex Reed/Observer

The Quiet Girl is a small gem of a film. The acting is excellent and the simple but affecting story, with its setting of a lush green and surprisingly sunny Ireland, packs an emotional wallop. David Stratton/The Australian

An unexpectedly beautiful assembly of narrative, image and sound which takes its cue from the title to build quietly to an emotional catharsis. Fionnuala Halligan/Screen International

Awards

Nominated for an Academy Award for Best International Film

AARP Movies for Grownups Award: won Best Foreign Film

Berlin International Film Festival: won Best Feature Film and Children's Jury - Film

Denver International Film Festival: won Narrative Feature

Dublin Film Critics Award: won Best Film and Best Irish Film

Dublin International Film Festival: won Audience Award and Best Director

European Film Festival : won European Cinematography

Irish Film Awards: won Best Film, Director, Actress in a lead role, Editing, Cinematography, Original Score, Production Design

London Critics Circle Film Awards: won Foreign Language Film and British/Irish Film

Montclair Film Festival: won Audience Award World Cinema

New Mexico Film Critics: won Best Music Score

Newport Beach Film Festival: won Jury Award Best Film

Santa Barbara International Film Festival: won ADL Stand UP Award

Taipei Film Festival: won International New Talent Competition - Audience Award

Valladolid International Film Festival: won Audience Award and FIPRESCI and Silver Spike Best Film

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15109082/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_quiet_girl

601 paid attendance plus 21 staff and sponsors were at our two screenings of The Miracle Club on September 11.  $1200 was donated to the Cancer Assistance Program from the proceeds.   The response to the film was extremely positive.  

149 submitted ratings for The Miracle Club
5: Excellent    100 (67%)
4: Very Good   35 (23%)
3. Good           13 (  9%)
2. Poor              1 (  1%)
1. Very Poor      0 (  0%)

Set in 1967, THE MIRACLE CLUB follows the story of three generations of close friends, Lily (Maggie Smith), Eileen (Kathy Bates), and Dolly (Agnes O'Casey) of Ballygar, outside Dublin, who hope to win a pilgrimage to the sacred French town of Lourdes, that place of miracles that draws millions of visitors each year. Can they convince their local priest to provide some benevolent support?  Will the arrival of their old friend Chrissie (Laura Linney) create any issues in their search of a miracle.

Time: 91 min

All proceeds to the Cancer Assistance Program.

Thanks to our Season Sponsor: Rastin's Wilson Street PharmaChoice Pharmacy

Thanks to our Film Date Sponsor: Nicosia School of Art

BUY TICKETS HERE: https://www.memorialarts.ca/events?category=Film

Reviews

“Filled with heart and humanity. It is a story of faith and forgiveness, heartbreak and healing, regret and redemption. This magnificent ensemble cast never misses a beat. Four generations of spectacular female performances. Laura Linney is at her best, holding audiences in her hand with effortless poise. Kathy Bates skillfully unveils a bitter sadness. It's a remarkable turn. Agnes O'Casey's heart pours off the screen. The legendary Dame Maggie Smith treats each moment with care and discovery. She is an absolute joy to watch. The Miracle Club is a quietly feminist film that honors the invisible labor of women, the complexities of motherhood, and the belief that change is possible, with or without a miracle.”– Liz Whittemore, REEL NEWS DAILY

“Bates gives a wild, flailing performance in the best sense.”– Mick LaSalle, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

“Bates is simply a treasure. The Miracle Club is a timeless tale that serves as a gift for audiences who simply want a good movie.”– Philana Marie Boles, MOVIE WEB

“The transcendent performances of this dream cast are alternately hilarious and heartbreaking.
“We get to see Kathy Bates crooning “He’s So Fine” in a church talent show, with 88-year-old Maggie Smith shimmying behind her as a backup singer. That alone, dear reader, is worth the price of admission, and then some.“– Bill Newcott, SATURDAY EVENING POST

“A fantastic cast. A minor miracle. Check your cynicism at the door, and let these talented actors share their stories.”– Clarence Moye, AWARDSDAILY

“Anything that brings Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates and Laura Linney together for a smart and engaging movie that will lift your spirits these days is a miracle all by itself. The Miracle Club is a reason to celebrate this summer, if only for the chance to see a sterling and beloved cast. Smith, Bates and Linney are superb.”– Pete Hammond, DEADLINE

“A celebration of friendship and forgiveness served up with warmth and gentle humour.”
– Allan Hunter, SCREENDAILY

“A perfect antidote to all the blazing big budget extravaganzas.”– Joanna Langfield, THE MOVIE MINUTE

“A true gem! Dame Maggie Smith, Laura Linney & Kathy Bates are treasures!”– Shelli Sonstein, Q104.3 NYC IHEART RADIO

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_miracle_club

https://www.sonyclassics.com/film/themiracleclub/