Lee
Monday January 20, 2:00 only
$1000 donated to HOOTC from the Jan 24 screenings
Lee (300 paid attendance, 234 ratings)
5: Excellent 208 (89%)
4: Very Good 21 ( 9%)
3: Good. 5 ( 2%)
Lee portrays a pivotal decade in the life of American war correspondent and photographer, Lee Miller (Kate Winslet). Miller’s singular talent and unbridled tenacity resulted in some of the 20th century's most indelible images of war.
Miller had a profound understanding and empathy for women and the voiceless victims of war. Her images display both the fragility and ferocity of the human experience. Above all, the film shows how Miller lived her life at full-throttle in pursuit of truth. Also starring Andy Sanberg, Josh O'Connor and Alexander Skarsgaard.
Kate Winslet spent eight years getting the funding to make this film.
115 min
Season Sponsor: Rastin's Pharmacy
Film Date Sponsor:
Proceeds to Hamilton Out of the Cold
BUY TICKETS HERE: https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/lee
Click on the link above then scroll down to pick the screening slot desired.
Awards
Won Women in Film Crystal Award: Advocacy in Film Award Nominated for 9 other international awards
Reviews
Filmed in England, Hungary and Croatia, Lee is a vivid and unforgettable tribute to one of the bold women who devoted her life to the penetration of male dominance to change the way we see the world. Don’t even think about missing it. Rex Reed/The Observer
Lee is beautiful, daring, and elusive, as all great art should be. It’s a fitting tribute to a woman whose work exhibited the same qualities. Andy Howell/Film Threat
These questionable narrative kinks aside, Lee still features one of the year-to-date’s best performances, honouring a woman who needs to be remembered, along with a sober consideration of the roles of women in wartime. Liam Lacey/Original Cin
Goodrich
Monday January 20, 7:15 p.m only
$1000 donated to the HOOTC from the Jan 24 screenings
Goodrich (156 paid attendance, 152 ratings)
5: Excellent 90 (59%)
4: Very Good 53 (35%)
3: Good 8 ( 5%)
2: Poor 1 ( 1%)
Andy Goodrich’s (Michael Keaton) life is upended when his wife and mother of their nine-year-old twins enters a 90-day rehab program, leaving him on his own with their young kids. Thrust into the world of modern parenthood, Goodrich leans on his daughter from his first marriage, Grace (Mila Kunis).
117 min
Season Sponsor: Rastin's Pharmacy
Film Date Sponsor:
Proceeds to Hamilton Out of the Cold
BUY TICKETS HERE: https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/goodrich
Click on the link above then scroll down to pick the screening slot desired.
Awards
Reviews
Keaton’s nuanced performance in this smart, tender comedy proves that Hollywood still has room for complex, emotionally rich leading men. Rex Reed/Observer
A sweet and scatterbrained little comedy that pours its fizzy bottle of champagne problems into a charming -- and surprisingly relatable! -- sketch of fatherhood in motion. David Ehrlich/Indiewire
A crowd-pleasing family comedy so frankly observed that you can imagine the first draft being scribbled on the back of a therapy bill. Amy Nicholson/NY Times
I'm Still Here
Monday February 24, 2:00 p.m only
Very positive response for this film. $750 will be donated to Ancaster Food Drive.
I'm Still Here (268 attendance, 179 ratings)
5: Excellent. 144
4: Very Good 33
3: Good 1
2: Poor
1: Very Poor 1
136 min Portuguese with English subtitles
Season Sponsor: Rastin's Pharmacy Film Date
Sponsor: Megan Sullivan: OSSUM WELLNESS
A mother is forced to reinvent herself when her family's life is shattered by an act of arbitrary violence during the tightening grip of a military dictatorship in Brazil, 1971.
136 min
https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/im-still-here
Awards
Nominated for three Oscars: Best Picture, Best International Picture, Best Actress (Fernanda Torres) Won 20 International Awards and nominated for 60 others
Golden Globes: won Best Actress (drama), Fernanda Torres
Won 23 International Awards, nominated 50 others
Reviews
It’s a beautiful performance, made even more impactful by its basis in reality. I’m Still Here is a timely, exquisite masterpiece. Anne Donahue, Globe & Mail
I’m Still Here does not present as a simple polemic about a historical and political situation, and that’s the secret to its global appeal. It’s also a moving portrait of how politics disrupts and reshapes the domestic sphere, and how solidarity, community and love are the only viable path toward living in tragedy. And it warns us to mistrust anyone who tries to erase or rewrite the past. Alissa Wilkinson/NY Times
It’s difficult to fully contextualize how incredible Torres is here; she matches the film’s silent grief by keenly deploying her character’s internal angst into her slender frame. Through her formidable presence, the deliberate “I’m Still Here,” a film that locates further meaning in the face of Brazil’s present Far-Right wave, remains in the heart long after the picture fades. Robert Daniels/RogerEbert.com
“I’m Still Here” is one of the best films I’ve ever seen about the power of family. Richard Roeper/Chicago Sun-Times
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14961016/
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/im_still_here_2024
Emilia Perez
Monday February 24, 7:15 p.m only
Very positive response for this film. $500 will be donated to Hamilton Out of the Cold from the screenings. Thanks for your support and feedback.
Emilia Perez (163 attendance, 119 ratings)
5: Excellent. 75
4: Very Good 34
3: Good 9
2: Poor 1
1: Very Poor 0
Exhilarating and piercingly resonant, the latest from director Jacques Audiard (Rust and Bone, The Sisters Brothers, A Prophet) audaciously merges pop opera, narco thriller, and gender affirmation drama. Emilia Pérez is a rollercoaster in which crime, redemption, and karma collide, featuring fearless performances from Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, and the amazing Karla Sofía Gascón, an ensemble that collectively received the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival this year.
132 min
Season Sponsor: Rastin's Pharmacy
Film Date Sponsor: Ossum Wellness, Megan Sullivan
Proceeds to Ancaster Food Drive
https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/emilia-perez
Awards
Nominated for thirteen Oscars: Best Picture, Best International Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound, Best Makeup, Best Sound, Best Music, two Best Song
Golden Globes: won Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy), Best Supporting Actress, Best Actress (Zoe Saldana), nominated for Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress
Won 84 International Awards, nominated for 204
Reviews
Phrases like “game-changer” and “cutting-edge” can’t capture just how audacious and original Emilia Pérez is. It's a knockout. Leonard Maltin
By making Emilia Pérez a quasi-musical, Mr. Audiard cranks up the campiness; by making it a parable about one’s own past being inescapable, he makes it profound. John Anderson/Wall Street Journal
A movie like Emilia Pérez -- one that, instead of pleading for trans acceptance merely treats it as a given -- feels even more like movie fireworks, fierce and glorious, a radical act of the imagination with kindness in its heart. Stephanie Zacharek/Time Magazine
You've never seen anything like Jacques Audiard’s Spanish musical about violent passions starring Zoë Saldaña, Selena Gomez and trans actress Karla Sofia Gascón in career-defining performances that take a piece out of you. This you don't want to miss. Peter Travers, ABC News
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20221436/
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/emilia_perez
Small Things Like These
Monday March 17, 2:00 p.m only
338 plus 13 AFF Staff and Sponsors attended the screening on Small Things Like These. A thought provoking and extremely moving film that was very well received. $1000 was donated to the Ancaster Community Services from the proceeds.
Ratings for Small Things Like These5 100
4 70
3 24
2 7
1 2
It is 1985 in the run-up to Christmas in a small town in County Wexford, Ireland. Bill Furlong toils as a coal merchant to support himself, his wife and his five daughters. Early one morning while out delivering coal at the local convent, he makes a discovery that forces him to confront his past and the complicit silence of a town controlled by the Catholic Church. Based on the novel of the same name by Claire Keegan who also wrote The Quiet Girl (film based on this was previously screened by AFF).
96 min
Season Sponsor: Rastin's Pharmacy
Film Date Sponsor: Patrick Orovan, Real Broker Ontario Ltd.
Proceeds to Ancaster Community Services
BUY TICKETS HERE: https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/small-things-like-these
Awards
Winner: Berlin Film Festival: Best Supporting Actress (Emily Watson)Nominated for 19 other international awards
Reviews
Based on Clare Keegan's novella (Clare also wrote The Quiet Girl, film previously screened at AFF)
With Cillian Murphy’s quiet, almost small and yet grand performance carrying the story every step of the way, “Small Things Like These” is quite possibly the best movie I’ve seen so far this year. Richard Roeper/Chicago Sun-Times
Part of the power of Small Things Like These lies in its Trojan horse nature. This is a political allegory disguised as a character study, a reflection on national guilt and moral complicity, wrapped inside the experiences of one man, in one small town, standing in for the whole of Ireland, and possibly the world. Rachel Pronger/IndieWire
A beautifully simple story of moral courage in the face of complicity, Small Things Like These is one of the best films of the year. Christina Newland/The i Paper
In lieu of sensationalizing the persecution of these young women, Small Things Like These compellingly casts its gaze onto the complicity of the community and the social architectures which uphold abuse. Saffron Maeve/Globe and Mail
Yet the film mostly evoked here is Jonathan Glazer’s Oscar contender The Zone of Interest, because of the attention it focuses not on the torture site but on the sickening collusion outside. Kevin Maher/Times(UK)
It’s an electric, atmospheric, and deeply soulful look at what it means to be human, what it means to have empathy, and how faith should never come before people. Emma Kiely/Collider
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27196021/
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/small_things_like_these
No Other Land
Monday March 17, 7:15 p.m only
169 plus 11 AFF Staff and Sponsors attended our screening of the Oscar winning documentary film No Other Land. A thought provoking and extremely moving film that was very well received. $1000 was donated to the Ancaster Community Services from the proceeds.
No Other Land
5 117
4 17
3 3
2 1
1 0
Basel Adra, a young Palestinian activist from Masafer Yatta on the West Bank, has been fighting the mass expulsion of his community by Israel's occupation since childhood. He documents the slow-motion eradication of the villages in his home region where soldiers deployed by the Israeli government are gradually demolishing houses and driving out their residents. At some point, he meets Yuval, an Israeli journalist, who supports him in his efforts. An unlikely alliance develops. But the relationship between the two is strained by the enormous inequality between them. This film by a Palestinian-Israeli collective of four young activists has been made as an act of creative resistance on the path to greater justice.
98 min
Season Sponsor: Rastin's Pharmacy
Film Date Sponsor: Patrick Orovan, Real Broker Ontario Ltd.
Proceeds to Ancaster Community Services
BUY TICKETS HERE: https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/no-other-land
Awards
Nominated for an Academy Award for Best International Film
Won 62 International Awards, nominated for 30 others.
Reviews
No Other Land, the Oscar-nominated documentary (and odds-on favorite to win), is the record of an atrocity: the erasure of a people from the land on which they’ve lived for centuries. Michael Phillips/Washington Post
For all the ways “No Other Land” is about the mechanized march of cruel repression and the coldly bureaucratic way these attempts at forced displacement take place, it’s critically always centered on the impact on the people themselves. Chase Hutchinson/The Wrap
Witnessing is the most effective defense people have against occupation, and the Israeli military, like all thieves, wilts in the face of being watched. The footage is out there, and it’s rarely been assembled into a more concise, powerful, and damning array than it is here. Now it only has to be seen. David Ehrlich/IndieWire
No Other Land’s sense of grim futility is very much the point — it’s what the strong count on in order to suppress those who oppose them. Anyone who sees this devastating film may share in that sense of hopelessness. But we can no longer say we had no idea what was going on. Tim Grierson/Los Angeles Times
Given the conditions of its production, No Other Land would be vital even in a more ragged form. But the filmmaking here is tight and considered, with nimble editing (by the directors themselves) that captures the sense of time at once passing and looping back on itself. Guy Lodge/Variety
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30953759/
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/no_other_land
Bob Trevino Likes It
Monday April 7, 2:00 only
$500 donated to Hamilton Food Share
301 paid attendance
Ratings Bob Trevino Likes It
5: Excellent 161
4: Very Good 26
3: Good 5
2: Poor. 2
102 min
Season Sponsor Rastin's Pharmacy
Film Date Sponsor: Olive Tree Wealth Management, Matthew Moccio
Proceeds to Hamilton Food Share
https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/bob-trevino-likes-it
Lonely 20-something Lily Trevino accidentally befriends a stranger online who shares the same name as her own self-centered father. Might support from this new Bob Trevino change her life? Based on writer/director Tracie Laymon's own life experiences. Starring Barbie Ferreira, John Lequizamo and French Stewart.
Awards
Winner of 24 international awards (including 13 audience awards) and 13 other nominations
Winner of 13 Audience Awards at Film Festivals
Reviews
This wonderfully personal story is filled to the brim with a seemingly endless reservoir of laughs and tears. It's an experience that won't just have you liking Bob Trevino Likes It, it will have you loving it. Aidan Kelly/Collider
Writer/director Tracie Laymon takes this potentially silly premise and grounds it with humor and emotion, making it one of the most moving movies I have seen in years. Seth Freilich/Pajiba
Like its heroine, the comedy can be bright and bouncy and frequently funny. But also like her, it’s secretly a tearjerker, and never more effectively than when it’s at its very sweetest. Angie Han/The Hollywood Reporter
This film deservedly won SXSW’s grand jury prize for its commitment to endearing characters and the surprising ways in which they find each other. Abe Friedtanzer/Cinema Daily US
There's Still Tomorrow
Monday April 7, 7:15 only
178 paid attendance
Ratings There's Still Tomorrow
5: Excellent. 102
4: Very Good 25
3: Good 8
2 Poor 2
118 min
Season Sponsor Rastin's Pharmacy
Film Date Sponsor: Olive Tree Wealth Management, Matthew Moccio
Proceeds to Neighbour to Neighbour
https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/theres-still-tomorrow
n postwar Rome, a working-class woman dreams of a better future for herself and her daughter while enduring abuse at the hands of her husband. Shot in silky black-and-white and paying homage to the stylized working-class films of Federico Fellini, “There’s Still Tomorrow” follows Delia (Paola Cortellesi), a doting mother of three who is regularly beaten and surveilled by her husband Ivano. Can she escape the trappings of the time period?
Awards
Won 23 International awards and nominated for 20 others
Winner of 6 Italian Academy Awards
Reviews
This is storytelling with terrific confidence and panache. The film pays homage to early pictures by De Sica and Fellini, and Cortellesi’s own performance is consciously in the spirit of movie divas such as Anna Magnani, Sophia Loren and Giulietta Masina. Peter Bradshaw/The Guardian
Cortellesi continues in the Italian neorealism tradition, down to the crisp black and white cinematography, then takes some significant departures. Her domestic drama is also a comic farce, one that uses exaggeration and anachronism to keep her audience at a distance from the provocative material. It is an intriguing combination of elements that allows us to understand these characters and their tough situation through a modern lens. Alan Zilberman/Spectrum Culture
With meticulous design, and Davide Leone’s pitch-perfect camerawork, this is a thoughtful, emotionally satisfying, immensely entertaining one-off, with an ending that smartly dynamites our expectations. Jonathan Romney/Financial Times
There's Still Tomorrow is an absorbing drama that draws parallels between personal freedoms and voting rights, as told from an oppressed woman's perspective in 1946. The movie's touches of comedy work well in what is otherwise serious subject matter. Carla Hay/Culture Mix
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21800162/
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/theres_still_tomorrow
The Penguin Lessons
Monday April 28, 2:00 only
285 paid attendance and 10 staff. $500 donated to Cancer Assistance
Ratings: The Penguin Letters (226 submitted)
5 Excellent: 208
4 Very Good: 18
Season Sponsor Rastin's Pharmacy
Film Date Sponsor: Ron Lancaster, International Math Consultant
Proceeds to Cancer Assistance Program
Tickets: https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/the-penguin-lessons
Inspired by the true story of a disillusioned Englishman who went to work in a school in Argentina in 1976. Expecting an easy ride, Tom discovers a divided nation and a class of unteachable students. However, after he rescues a penguin from an oil-slicked beach, his life is turned upside-down. Starring Steve Coogan (Philomena, The Trip to Italy, Alan Partridge series/films) and Jonathan Pryce(The Two Popes, Game of Thrones, The Crown, The Wife).
Reviews
The Penguin Lessons is a movie that, at its core, shines some light on a time that is darker than most. It is a reminder that people can change, they can grow and love. A movie that will surely warm your heart, make you smile and coo at the cute animal but also make you feel. Nicole Cabrera/Films Fatale
The Penguin Lessons was not a must-see film in this year’s TIFF lineup. Despite its mind-replenishing powers of competent light drama, you will not hear about it even one more time after the awards season. You will, I hope, see it on some streaming service in a year or so and think, Well, that’s a funny title, and consider giving it a try. You and your poor overburdened brain will be happy if you do. Joe Reid/Vulture
The main reason why The Penguin Lessons is sweet, but also poignant, is due to the script's keen eye for comedy in the face of a tumultuous backdrop. Jeff Pope is responsible for adapting Tom Michell's memoir of the same name, and his decision to tap into the unstable political environment of the time in a story that is predominantly about the protagonist and his pet was an important one. Isabella Soares/Collider
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26677014/
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_penguin_lessons
Shepherds
Monday April 28, 7:15 only
117 paid and 10 staff. $500 donated to Wellness Cancer Support
Ratings: Shepherds (94 submitted)
5 Excellent: 35
4 Very Good: 39
3 Good: 18
2: Poor: 0
1 Very Poor: 2
Season Sponsor Rastin's Pharmacy
Film Date Sponsor: Ron Lancaster, International Math Consultant
Proceeds to Wellness Cancer Support
Tickets: https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/shepherds
100 min
French/English subtitles
Shepherds is a 2024 Canadian-French drama film directed by Sophie Deraspe. An adaptation of Mathyas Lefebure's semi-autobiographical novel D'où viens tu, berger? Mathyas trades in his Montreal life as a young advertising executive to become a shepherd in the South of France where he has various misadventures with a civil servant who has cavalierly quit her job. But the harsh realities of the pastoral world force him to question his romantic vision of the profession.
Awards:
Winner of the Best Canadian Film, Toronto International Film Festival 2024
Toronto Film Critics: Winner Best Performance by an Actor and nominated for Best Canadian Film
Canadian Screen Awards: Nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Screenplay
Calgary International Film Festival: Nominated for Best Narrative Feature
International Film Festival of India: Nominated for Best Film
Reviews
This is a touching, soul-stirring film that rejuvenates a viewer like a crisp flick of fresh air. Pat Mullen, That Shelf
Ultimately, Shepherds is a victory for director Deraspe, her actors, and us. Just think twice before quitting your own 9 to 5 to try your hand at guarding a flock. Anne T. Donahue/Globe and Mail
Overall, an inspiring story of making changes in one’s life, and the promise of nature, connection and love. “Words aren’t happiness. Being is”. Anne Brodie/What She Said
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29634258/
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/shepherds_2024
Maria Montessori:La Nouvelle Femme
Monday May 12 12, 2:00 only
$1000 to De Mazenod from the May 12th screenings
188 in attendance, wonderful film, very well received.
Ratings (140)
5 Excellent. 71
4 Very Good 41
3 Good 25
2 Poor 3
1 Very Poor 0
Season Sponsor Rastin's Pharmacy
Film Date Sponsor: Retired Women Teachers of Ontario: Hamilton Wentworth Branch
Proceeds to the Demazenod Door Outreach
Tickets: https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/maria-montesori-la-femme-nouvelle
100 min
French/Italian, English subtitles
Starring Jasmine Trinca in the title role this beautiful and entertaining film tells the story of the famed Italian physician and educator who invented a teaching method that is still being used today in 35,000 schools bearing her name across the globe but it's got a French twist to it as it begins in Paris at the turn of the 20th Century where we meet a famous Parisian courtesan with a secret, Lili d’Alengy, who is played by French actress, Leïla Bekhti.
Reviews
Léa Todorov sheds light upon the genesis of the Montessori approach in a bold and novelistic first feature film about disability, difference and feminism at the beginning of the 20th century. Fabien LeMercier/CinemaEuropa.org
Léa Todorov’s directorial debut feature film ‘Maria Montessori’ offers a biopic of the Italian doctor’s journey in revolutionising children’s pedagogy. Maria Montessori transformed societies positioning of children with disabilities, medical conditions, &/or neurodivergence in education, and women in the workforce. On The House
The movie is inspiring in the way it cast young people with physical and cognitive disabilities and lets them shine. It’s also heartbreaking as the complexity of the times meant life was isolating for these children. Women too, were required to make heavy choices and sacrifices to fit into a world designed for men. Sarah Schmidt/Perth Happenings
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15389042/
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/maria_montessori
Bad Shabbos
Monday May 12, 7:15 only
$1000 to DeMazenod from the May 12th screenings
One screening of Bad Shabbos on Monday May 12. Paid attendance: 199
Ratings (118)
5 Excellent 61
4 Very Good 38
3 Good. 13
2 Poor. 3
1 Very Poor 3
Season Sponsor Rastin's Pharmacy
Film Date Sponsor: Retired Women Teachers of Ontario: Hamilton Wentworth Branch
Proceeds to Demazenod Door Outreach
Tickets: https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/bad-shabbos
84 min
When David and his fiancée Meg gather for his family's traditional Shabbat dinner on New York's Upper West Side, things spiral quickly when an accidental death (or...murder?) derails the evening entirely. With Meg's devoutly Catholic parents due any moment to meet David's very Jewish family, soon Shabbat becomes a comedy of biblical proportions.
Awards:
Tribeca Film Festival: won Audience Award
Cordillera International Film Festival: won Jury and Audience Awards
Reviews
A strong ensemble cast nails the tasty dialogue and increasingly frantic action without falling into shtick. Alissa Simon/Variety
Bad Shabbos takes the best of classic comedies and updates it for today, making it the hysterical Jewish content that is necessary right now. Danielle Soltzman/Solzty at the movies
Bad Shabbos takes the best of classic comedies and updates it for today, making it the hysterical Jewish content that is necessary right now. Aidan Kelley/Collider
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14402042/
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bad_shabbos
So Surreal: Behind the Masks
Monday May 26, 2:00 only
71 paid attendance for our one screening of Santosh and 110 for our one screening of So Surreal: Behind the Masks. $250 will be donated to the Good Shepherd from AFF reserve funds due to the low attendance.
Ratings for So Surreal: Behind the Masks(89 submissions)
5: Excellent: 40
4: Very Good: 36
3: Good: 13
Season Sponsor Rastin's Pharmacy
Film Date Sponsor: Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club
Proceeds to The Good Shepherd
Tickets: https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/so-surreal-behind-the-masks
88 min
So Surreal: Behind the Masks unveils the fascinating connection between the work of famed Surrealist artists and Yupʼik and Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw ceremonial masks, and the quest to bring some of the masks back home.
Reviews
Part detective story and part illuminating history, Behind the Masks is a must-see for anyone who loves art, culture, and entertaining documentaries. Barrie Film Festival
The film is incredibly entertaining as well as thought-provoking. For those of us who enjoy a trip to an art gallery or museum, So Surreal… will give us plenty to ponder about in terms of the items we are told are ‘art’ and their so-called history. Hye's Musings
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt33084797/
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/so_surreal_behind_the_masks
Santosh
Monday May 26, 7:15 only
71 paid attendance for our one screening of Santosh and 110 for our one screening of So Surreal: Behind the Masks. $250 will be donated to the Good Shepherd from AFF reserve funds due to the low attendance.
Ratings for Santosh: (58 submitted)
Excellent: 11
Very Good: 26
Good: 11
Poor: 7
Very Poor: 3
125 min.
Season Sponsor: Scott and Janet Rastin
Film Date Sponsor: Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club
Proceeds: The Good Shepherd
https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/santosh
Hindi and English subtitles
Newly widowed Santosh inherits her husband's job as a police constable in the rural badlands of Northern India. When a girl's body is found, she's pulled into the investigation under the wing of charismatic feminist inspector Sharma.
Awards
British Independent Film Awards: Winner, Best Screenplay
Jerusalem Film Festival: Winner, Best Debut Feature
National Board of Review: Winner, top Five International Films
Asian Film Awards: Winner, Best New Director, Best Actress
Seville International Film Festival: Best Screenplay
International Human Rights Film Festival: Winner Grand Prize, Fiction
Reviews
Goswami is a perfect vehicle for Suri’s understated, seething indictment of the root-and-branch corruption of this small Northern Indian town. Richard Whittaker/Austin Chronicle
To watch “Santosh” is to feel the undeniable power of a discerning, resonant case study. Robert/Abele/Los Angeles Times
As well as working rivetingly as a procedural thriller and a psychological study, Santosh has a hard, documentary-like edge, exploring Indian social phenomena with intense analytical focus. Jonathan Romney/Financial Times
The pace is studied but there's plenty to see, not just in Santosh's compelling quest for answers but in two performances of remarkable restraint and subtlety, from Goswami as the titular widow and Rajwar as her superior. Sean McGeady/Radio Times
White Bird
Monday June 9, 7:15 pm only
112 paid attendance for our screening and 100 AFF Staff attended the screening of White Bird. $300 will be donated to Ancaster Community Services from the screening.
Ratings for White Bird (106 submitted)
5 Excellent 93
4 Very Good 12
3 Good. 1
2 Poor. 0
1 Very Poor 0
120 min
Season Sponsor: Rastins PharmaChoice Pharmacy
Film Date Sponsor: Ann and Ian Campbell
Proceeds to Ancaster Heritage Days: Outdoor Screening
Tickets: https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/white-bird
From the best-selling author of Wonder, the book that sparked a movement to "choose kind," comes the inspirational next chapter. In White Bird: A Wonder Story, we follow Julian (Bryce Gheisar), who has struggled to belong ever since he was expelled from his former school for his treatment of Auggie Pullman. To transform his life, Julian's grandmother (Helen Mirren) finally reveals to Julian her own story of courage. Also starring Gillian Anderson, Orlando Schwerdt and Ariella Glaser.
Reviews
The strength of White Bird lies in its young performers, especially Glaser and Schwerdt, who deliver complex, nuanced performances of young people experiencing their part of global atrocities on an intimate scale, while also trying to navigate the complications of connecting as young teenagers. They are both excellent, and keep the film emotionally grounded. Katie Walsh/Los Angeles Times
With elegant acting from its two young leads and picturesque cinematography from Matthias Koenigswieser, it serves as a competently executed morality play for audiences craving a bit of unambiguous humanism. Christian Zilko/Indiewire
You can appreciate the artistry and the fine acting and the timeless messaging in the beautifully filmed coming-of-age drama White Bird without having seen Wonder, but the connection between these two very different films is quite unusual and absorbing... Richard Roeper/Chicago Sun Times
There’s a reason so many works of art and nonfiction continuously venture back to the specific time and events portrayed here: the impact and lessons they bring to the world will never lose their importance. Joseph Tomastik/Clear and Loud Reviews
Jane Austen Wrecked my Life
Monday June 9, 2:00 only
186 paid attendance and 11 AFF Staff.
$458 donated from the proceeds to license the free outdoor screening of Moana 2 on June 7 for Ancaster Heritage Days.
Ratings for Jane Auster Wrecked My Life (156 submitted)
5 Excellent. 77
4 Very Good 57
3 Good 20
2 Poor 2
1 Very Poor 0
94 min
French/English subtitles
Season Sponsor: Rastins PharmaChoice Pharmacy
Film Date Sponsor: Ann and Ian Cambell
Proceeds to Ancaster Community Services
Tickets: https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/jane-austen-wrecked-my-life
A desperately single bookseller, lost in a fantasy world, finds herself forced to fulfill her dreams of becoming a writer in order to stop messing up her love life.
Awards
Miami Film Festival: nominated Best First Feature
Marrakesh Film Festival: nominated Best Feature
Reviews
At a time when practically the entire rom-com genre has gravitated to streaming, this bilingual theatrical offering from Sony Pictures Classics feels like the best kind of throwback. Peter DeBruge/Variety
Writer/director Laura Piani, in her feature film debut, is helping to save the rom/com genre with her very funny, very clever ode to the much-revered British authoress in JANE AUSTEN WRECKED MY LIFE. Jeanne Kaplan/Kaplan vs Kaplan
While the romantic resolution is satisfying, it is not the solution, but rather a reflection of the courage and determination Agathe has relied on in addressing the issues that are keeping her stuck. Miss Austen would approve. Nell Minow/Movie Mom
Jane Austen Wrecked My Life knows its audience and caters directly to them. If you, like the film’s protagonist, are obsessed with Jane Austen literature and film adaptations, you’ll certainly adore this love letter to the great author. Seal Boelman/Fandom
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31112509/
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jane_austen_wrecked_my_life
The Life of Chuck
Monday September 22, 2:00 and 7:15
508 paid attendance and 18 staff and sponsors
$1000 donated to the Hamilton Film Festival and $250 to Margaret's Place Hospice
Here is a link to Steven King's lovely description of how the idea for Life of Chuck developed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JrlSoqb3Ec
And here is one of many analyses on that confusing third act that starts the film. (SPOILER ALERT if you didn't see the film)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJJCtOuTF_8
Note: many little dialogue moments in act 3 along with many images of things reappear later in act 2 and 1 as also indicators that act 3 is all about Chuck's world of people and memories re-emerging in a confused state as his mind/world is dying.
Ratings for The Life of Chuck (318)
5 - 210
4 - 75
3 - 29
2 - 3
1 - 1
The Life of Chuck is a 2024 American fantasy drama film written and directed by Mike Flanagan. It is based on the 2020 novella by Stephen King, from his compilation book If It Bleeds. The film stars Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Mia Sara, Carl Lumbly, Benjamin Pajak, Jacob Tremblay, and Mark Hamill, with narration by Nick Offerman. Its plot follows the formative moments in the life of Charles "Chuck" Krantz, chronicled in reverse chronological order, from his death coinciding with the end of his universe to his childhood.
111 min
Season Sponsor: Rastins PharmaChoice Pharmacy
Film Date Sponsor: Dino Nicosia, Nicosia School of Art and InvestPro Realty
Proceeds to Hamilton Film Festival and Margaret's Place Hospice
Tickets:
Tickets 2:00 p.m.
Tickets 7:15 p.m.
Awards
People's Choice Award, Toronto International Film Festival, 2024
Reviews
I fell for the film’s earnest insistence that each of us has access to an inner world no one else can ever fully know; that message, as trite as it may be, is particularly touching because of its pointed delivery. Shirley Li/The Atlantic
There aren’t always answers, but that only makes Flanagan’s film that much more of a crushing confrontation with oblivion. We can feel the weight of the world crashing down on us, but “The Life of Chuck” threads this all through the beauty of existence. Chase Hutchinson/TheWrap
At a time when ignorance seems to be leading global change, it feels good to remember that maybe, just maybe, we’ll all be ok because, as long as we draw breath, we can make the choice to connect, to love, and to dance. Douglas Davidson/Elements of Madness
It’s one of this year’s best movies. I don’t know how it will fare at the box office, but I can see it becoming a beloved favorite in the same way “The Shawshank Redemption” ultimately did. Like that classic, this one really makes you think about life and the things we take for granted. Odie Henderson/Boston Globe
If you want to go for the really scary stuff, there are plenty of other King movies for that. “Chuck” instead is something truly special, a moving fantasy of a life well lived and no dance step left untaken. Brian Truitt, USA Today
Dancing between the ruminative and the revelatory, it never succumbs to being maudlin or cloying. The Life of Chuck is a modern fable told with the deftness of a fairy tale, with the sheer exuberance of a musical while exuding the same sense of wonder one gets staring up at the heavens. Jason Gorber/Collider
The Marching Band
Monday October 6, 2:00 p.m.
248 paid attendance, 10 AFF staff
$500 donated to the Hamilton Out of the Cold and $250 to Project Linus
Ratings (194)
5 - Excellent 178
4 - Very Good 11
3 - Good. 3
2 - Poor 1
1 - Very Poor 1
103 min
French with English subtitles
Season Sponsor: Rastin's Pharmacy
Film Date Sponsor: to be announced
Donations to Hamilton Out of the Cold and Project Linus
Conductor Thibaut discovers he has leukaemia and needs a bone marrow donor. Learning of his adoption, he finds an older brother who works in a factory. Their reunion leads to a musical journey as the town faces a factory closure.
Tickets: https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/the-marching-band
Nominated for 7 Cesar Awards
Winner of the Audience Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival
Warm and sure-footed, the film has the feel of a richly satisfying meal in an excellent neighbourhood bistro. Old world pleasures of character and story are generously apportioned. Danny Leigh/Financial Times
Inevitably it’s going to be compared to Mark Herman’s Brassed Off, the British comedy-drama about colliery bands, but this French contribution to what could become a “genre” if there’s any more of them, has a beating emotional pulse all of its own. Richard Mowe/Eye For Film
“The Marching Band” is an old-fashioned tearjerker that asks large questions about identity and destiny through music. How choices are made for us in childhood are given an unusually sharp contrast here, combined with three excellent lead performances and the love of music at the story’s center. Sarah Manvel/NextBestPicture
Exhibiting Forgiveness
Monday October 6, 7:15 p.m.
112 paid attendance 10 AFF staff and sponsors
Ratings (97)
5 - Excellent 57
4 - Very Good 30
3 - Good. 7
2 - Poor 3
1 - Very Poor 0
Utilizing his paintings to find freedom from his past, a Black artist on the path to success is derailed by an unexpected visit from his estranged father, a recovering addict desperate to reconcile. Together, they learn that forgetting might be a greater challenge than forgiving.
Monday October 6, 7:15 p.m.
Exhibiting Forgiveness
117 min
Season Sponsor: Rastin's Pharmacy
Film Date Sponsor: to be announced
Donations to Hamilton Out of the Cold and Project Linus
Tickets: https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/exhibiting-forgiveness
Winner of Directors to Watch: Nashville Film Festival
Winner of New Directors to Watch: Palm Springs International Film Festival
Nominated for 23 other Festival Awards
"Exhibiting Forgiveness masterfully rewrites the playbook on portraying generational trauma, parental influence, spirituality, coping mechanisms, and the value in uncoupling forgiveness from reconciliation." Ro Moore/MTR Network
"Exhibiting Forgiveness resonates with authentic humanity, inviting us to empathize with the complexities of others. It stands out as one of the best films of 2024." Leo Brady/A Movie Guy
"'Exhibiting Forgiveness' doesn’t flinch from illustrating how dysfunctional familial relationships wound and scar repeatedly. But the film... isn’t cynical or bitter as it reveals how art can help us process, recover and transform." Randy Meyers/San Jose News
"As an artist grappling with the psychological damage done by his estranged father, Holland is a wonder of tightly contained hurt and anger. He’s got great scene partners in John Earl Jelks, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, and Andra Day."Richard Lawson/Vanity Fair
