those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves
those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves screened at at berlin film festival .
nocturama, those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves, layla m. , heaven will wait
trailer for those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves (ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n' ont fait que se creuser un tombeau) .
ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n’ont fait que se creuser un tombeau (those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves) opens in montreal on friday, feb. 3 .
hany ouichou of art & essai received the cmpa’s inaugural emerging producer award and produced those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves. that receives its world premiere at tiff in platform on september 13 .
those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves from directors mathieu denis and simon lavoie will also bow at the fest. the film follows four twenty - somethings from quebec who reject society and gradually turn toward terrorism .
ripped from the headlines, youth radicalization features in several films from canada, europe and africa, including nocturama, those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves, layla m. , heaven will wait and foreign body .
those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves (ceux qui font les revolutions à moitié n’ont fait que se creuser un tombeau), by mathieu denis and simon lavoie, is a drama set during quebec’s student - led “maple spring” of 2012 .
those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves dir: mathieu denis and simon lavoie production: hany ouichou cast: laurent belanger, gabrielle tremblay, emmanuelle lussier - martinez, charlotte aubin canada, 2016, 183 min. , english and french with hebrew and english subtitles
maliglutit and' those who make revolution' (pictured) will compete for a $ 25, 000 prize .
where the young generation struggles to bring change in the streets through sporadic action, those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves sparks a revolution through a carefully articulated feat of cinema. the film carries the fire created in the documentary images and passes the torch through drama as the passion still burns. the spirit of rebellion endures .
< p > < a href =
urltoken
> trailer < / a > for < a href =
urltoken
> those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves < / a > on < a href =
urltoken
> traileraddict < / a >. < / p >
aside from dolan' s film, which carries with it the benefit of notoriety thanks to its polarizing reception at cannes, anne emond' s biopic nelly and mathieu denis and simon lavoie' s fiery drama those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves represent bold new visions coming from the insulated quebecois system .
by adam nayman how in the world did ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n’ont fait que se creuser un tombeau (those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves) win the best canadian feature prize this year at tiff? i’m wondering this not because i think the film is unworthy, or necessarily [... ]
with its multiple aspect ratios, on - screen block quotes, and cutaways to news broadcasts and documentary footage — not to mention a musical overture and interlude — the three - hour quebecois political epic “those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves” unfurls with a bravado as outsized as its title. inspired by the student demonstrations [ … ]
somebody should have told co - directors simon lavoie and mathieu denis before they released ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n’ont fait que se creuser un tombeau (those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves) in quebec in late january — there’s no half - way with fundamentalists and terrorists when it comes to on - screen movie portrayals .
toward the end of intermission, a group of about 50 people spontaneously stood and began to applaud. there was another ovation after the screening; and then, amazingly, ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n’ont fait que se creuser un tombeau (those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves) went on to win best canadian feature at the festival .
despite my best efforts to see as many canadian films as possible, i still missed the two big winners. those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves, which traces the massive student demonstrations against a tuition hike in quebec circa 2012, took home the best canadian feature, and old stone edged out hello destroyer and werewolf for best canadian debut feature .
also up for best picture are bad seeds (also nominated for art direction, editing and overall sound), hello destroyer (also actor, direction and original screenplay), old stone (also actor, cinematography, direction and editing), zacharias kunuk’s searchers (also original screenplay) and mathieu denis and simon lavoie’s those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves (also direction and supporting actress for gabrielle tremblay) .
there’s universality to mathieu denis and simon lavoie ‘s those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves, even if it is very much a québécois film. in their second collaboration (after 2011’s laurentie), the two were desperate to tell a tale about young radicals on the cusp of disillusionment after the failed maple spring protests, an infamous series of student demonstrations and strikes fighting back against the government’s proposed tuition hike for universities. here was a generation emboldened to be confrontational and show their conviction to the world, only to find the war fizzling out after one hundred days and the new term seeing students go back to class. what of those who relented? what of those who would never give up ?
this year' s slate tells a similar story, with just three out of 10 films having enjoyed wide - ish theatrical exhibition: xavier dolan' s it' s only the end of the world, alethea arnaquq - baril' s angry inuk, and nathan morlando' s mean dreams. (the other seven films have been seen only by the lucky few who could fit them into their various canadian film festival schedules: hello destroyer, maliglutit, old stone, werewolf, window horses, and the french - language dramas nelly and those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves, both of which only opened in quebec in september. )
again, a film i got to see as part of an upcoming local film festival — ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n’ont fait que se creuser un tombeau (those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves) is a film almost as long as its title, with an epic length of three hours. this is very much a political film, weaving together its poetic dialogue with revolutionary, political messages and throughout its broad story it portrays several young activists fed up with their situation and the political climate .
then again, his next film, which he will be co - directing with simon lavoie, pretty much sounds like something of a militant nature. the temporary – and long - winded – title is a louis - antoine de saint - just quote: ceux qui font les revolutions à la moitié n’ont fait que se creuser un tombeau (essentially, those who take revolutions halfway only manage to dig their own grave) .
sitting through those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves (ceux qui font les revolutions a moitie n’ont fait que se creuser un tombeau), a french - canadian radical tract about contemporary political activists, can sound like quite a chore. after all, the three - hour film, about four far - left, radicalized and violent youngsters who hope to stoke the fires of a revolution that will topple the current system, is made in the likeness of its protagonists, with their penchant for anarchy and vandalism reflected in the feature’s approach to narrative and character development. but thanks to a foursome of fearless leads and several clearly articulated insights into how ideological revolutions can be a revitalizing and destructive force all at once, the film is instead a vibrantly alive and vital piece of work for the age we live in .
simon lavoie’s those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves took home the prize for best canadian film at last year’s festival, and he returns this year with the world premiere of the family drama the little girl who was too fond of matches (la petite fille qui aimait trop les allumettes), based on the novel by canuck author gaétan soucy, which competed in the french version of the 2004 canada reads contest; documentary filmmaker alan zweig, whose films have wracked up honours and accolades at past tiff’s, offers up his latest, there is a house here; and sean menard explores how nba all - star vince carter impacted toronto during his years as the raptors’ franchise player in the carter effect .
canada is alive with filmmaking talent. our films make waves around the world, winning awards, accolades and audiences. they make canada proud .
despite their disillusioned reaction to graves, the directors insist they have a right to veer from the public record over the events of 2012 student protests .
in occupied france, maurice and joseph, two young jewish brothers display incredible cunning, courage and ingenuity when obliged to survive on their own .
the graves directors expected a possible backlash for seeking to glamourize radical militancy, or belittle it .
the french have a term for long, sprawling films: “film fleuve, ” or a “film like a river. ” those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves certainly has a title as long as a major waterway, but there’s nothing meandering or calm about it; it’s more a movie like a potent waterfall crashing down from a great height. as part of their agitprop tactic to keep the story in the present tense over the course over three hours, the filmmakers employ a wide array of cinematic tricks to keep audiences awake and in - the - moment. texts can take over the screen, aspect ratios change, there’s a mock intermission and documentary footage is blended in several times. there are even appearances by a campaign - era justin trudeau and jack kerouac (whose parents were french - canadian and whose first language, the quebeckers proudly note, was french) .
want to share imdb' s rating on your own site? use the html below .
which brings us back to simon lavoie and mathieu denis as they got set to screen graves in berlin .
directors mathieu denis and simon lavoie made laurentie together in 2011 before denis directed the biopic corbo solo, about a teenager who died in a 1966 quebec liberation front bombing of his own making. corbo and revolution are clearly thematically related, but thankfully their latest joint effort is much more fully alive, mixing a documentary background with fictional characters and embracing the radicalism of the characters even as it is not blind to their follies .
“those who make revolution” may be about a historical flare - up in quebec that’s since been extinguished, but the dynamics at its heart — of youthful rebellion and uprisings, of societal injustice, of generational resentment — are common to political movements past and present. denis and lavoie break down this explosive chemistry element by element, but they’re not clinical about it in the least. their film pulses with the vitality of four young people who, however flawed or foolhardy, sincerely want to change the world .
xavier dolan' s it’s only the end of the world (juste la fin du monde) .
' it' s only the end of the world' leads quebec' s pr ...
the little girl who was too fond of matches (la petite fille qui aimait trop les allumettes). this film explore the lives of two children after their father’s death who reflect on how they were raised .
three students at a respected high school achieve amazing success in their new venture – a huge counterfeiting operation right under the noses of their teachers and parents .
“they reacted very angrily to the film # 8221; lavoie told me in berlin as he recounted vandalized graves posters outside theaters .
responds to trudeau’s message by illustrating the consequences for an ambivalent generation that sees sporadic follow - through from the leaders who harness their desire for change .
but endless political discussions and reading rosa luxemburg are used to keep stoking the fire of the revolution they know will come. some of their public protests amount to nothing more than mischief, wantonness and defacing other people’s property. but a few of their actions, including planning a gas attack on the subway and the posting of letters with (fake) white powder, are more serious, suggesting at once their desperate need to be heard and their realization that being really radical might involve having to overcome their ingrained bourgeois habit of propriety .
one of the rare comedies to make it into venice competition, the film received a notably warm critical reception .
tiff rising star mylène mackay stars in a film inspired by the life and work of nelly arcan, a controversial and brilliant quebecois novelist who took her own life in 2009 at the age of 36 .
jenn and alex are an urban couple, who go camping in the canadian wilderness. on their first night in the forest, they have an unsettling encounter with a strange alpha male, who may or may not be following them .
when it came to casting, they sought out young actors with little to no professional experience who could relate to their characters’ nothing - to - lose world view .
barney’s second wife is a woman for whom he has so much contempt that he only refers to her as the second mrs. panofsky. the second mrs. panofsky is an arrogant windbag who talks at the other characters for pages on end. although she’s a hoot to read, the second mrs. panofsky is one of those overbearing and annoying motor mouths whose presence could either make or break the film. however, in films such as
lucas is a young, penniless prostitute struggling to make ends meet in buenos aires. one day he has an online encounter with henri, a belgian baker consumed with loneliness, who sets out to save the argentinean .
four québécois in their twenties reject the world offered to them. three years after the failure of the 2012 “maple spring” protest movement, how do these young people experience the impact of their actions ?
films about student radicals, such as bernardo bertolucci’s “the dreamers” or olivier assayas’ “something in the air, ” tend to have an air of nostalgia about a time of political and sexual liberation, but denis and lavoie reject those sentiments as firmly as their characters do. though frequently nude, the quartet deny each other sex (“we’re at war, ” rebuffs one), and they view nostalgia as a form of vanity: when tumulto is caught looking at a youtube clip of a past protest, he risks getting kicked out of the apartment. they’re determined to live wholly in the present, and “those who make revolution” thrives off the sincere and sometimes reckless urgency that propels them toward acts of terrorism and a kind of moral abyss .
last year' s lineup, for instance, included only two films that enjoyed proper theatrical releases in more than one province: philippe falardeau' s my internship in canada and guy maddin' s the forbidden room – and even those weren' t exactly household titles .
the use of t. j. miller as the foul - mouthed buffoon in the
tsn in an alternate universe
struck as odd a chord as the use of jim gaffigan and stephen colbert as hockey night in canada commentators in the love guru. can' t canadians make fun of their own sports obsession without a) resorting to american actors and b) making the parody somewhat plausible ?
“i’m thrilled to celebrate the work of these two remarkable producers and congratulate both roger and hany for their terrific films and their meaningful contributions to independent canadian cinema, ” said cmpa president and ceo reynolds mastin .
raised alone by their authoritarian father in a state of religious obscurantism, two siblings without names grow up largely ignorant of the world outside their father’s estate, save for information gleaned from books and fairy tales .
“i was fascinated by their faces, ” he said. “it fed us, in a poetic way. we imagined this foursome, living together. their faces (in the photos) were surprising: you couldn’t tell who was a guy or a girl. they were very androgynous; it was fascinating. we began imagining who these kids were, and fantasizing about what they could be — these four young people who sweat blood in these demonstrations and refuse to give up. ”
) directs this unlikely crowd - pleaser about a nun who works tirelessly to keep her catholic school relevant in the silent revolution. this musical has audiences skipping out of the aisles in quebec even if the reviews are generally only okay. (admittedly, i haven’t seen it yet: it’s ottawa premiere is next week as part of a free outdoor screening at the governor general’s movie nights. )
the music also literally functions as a call to arms. the twentysomething protagonists are first seen trying to spread their message for the masses by vandalizing billboards at night so they read, “people do not yet see they are miserable, we will show them .
they are not only ready for the revolution of the title, they are also aware that, as the film’s moniker suggests, you either have to fight for a full - on revolution or you might as well not fight at all. and as will become clear as we meet some of their parents and siblings, the leads all come from the very middle - class background they now profess needs to be overthrown .
for those who might be confused, one week has nothing to do with the barenaked ladies song. the soundtrack is very canadian, including sam roberts and the great lake swimmers. gord downie ironically plays a cancer survivor in this 2008 film .
marion cotillard and vincent cassel play a married couple in xavier dolan' s it' s only the end of the world. (eone )
gives one of the film’s most positive reviews, albeit only at 3. 5 / 5, saying, “pool pulls off a neat trick with
between peace and war tells the stories of canadians who are working internationally to reduce armed conflict .
, about an african royal who marries an englishwoman, offer insights into current american race relations .
by jason anderson filmmakers have a variety of reasons for enlisting non - professionals for their casts, but often what they seek is a rude, unvarnished vitality that actors can only simulate. roy andersson, however, works hard to dull any such spark from his chosen performers. first among his favoured tactics is the makeup that leaves their [... ]
“it’s not unlike the stories of these kids who go fight for isis, for example. it’s too easy to dismiss them as crazy and misguided people. but we have to understand what attracts them to those sorts of ideas. and to understand how they get engaged by those ideas. rené lévesque used to say that terrorism is not an illness in itself, that it’s the symptoms of an illness .
the theatrical release of their historical film two weeks earlier in quebec generated more off - screen drama for comfort .
lakeith stanfield and his sorry to bother you crew reveal their most soul - crushing jobs in our freewheeling interview .
it would be hilarious if, after all that construction effort, all their efforts just resorted in ...
“he wasn’t like any of the others, who did come from the slums. he was half - italian, so there was a real identity struggle for him. although so much has changed here over the years, i still think there are those who face the same identity struggle today – and not just here, but around the world as well .
the subject who is truly loyal to the chief magistrate will neither advise nor submit to arbitrary measures .
nguyen, meanwhile, who earned an oscar nomination for best foreign language film for his 2012 war feature rebelle (war witch), sees eye on juliet, a love story that crosses continents and political lines, make its north american premiere at tiff .
the question of identity returns when one puts graves within the new wave of filmmaking waking up the québécois film scene with a similar vitality. the directors agree with some of their contemporaries like xavier dolan that artistic expression is akin to cultural survival. “i do think that the quebec identity is a constant struggle, ” says denis. “it’s almost always on the verge of being extinct. to be quite honest, i think it’s more on the verge of being extinct than it was a while ago and i think this makes for a place where people need to assert their own voices. ”
the depiction of the life of nobel peace prize winner and founder of poland' s solidarity movement, lech walesa, as events in the 1970s lead to a peaceful revolution .
goon: last of the enforcers will feel very familiar to those who watched the original film. but a lot of those minor characters, especially baruchel, made the film better. there are way fewer laughs and character observations than in the original. if you haven' t seen the original film, fast forward through the fight scenes and you have a slightly above - average film. then decide whether to see the sequel .
the film resonates with the anger of the actors who themselves are part of the generation that rallied in the streets. “most of them were involved heavily, ” observes denis. “we cast people who were just coming out of theatre school. while the maple spring was happening, they were striking, they were out in the streets, and i think they brought a lot of the anger they had at themselves now that they see that it didn’t live up to their involvement or dedication. ” unlike the students, who had no outlet for their convictions, the actors channel their angst into a fiery rallying cry. as the actors deliver dramatic monologues akin to soliloquies ,
the irony, he adds, is their violent backlash against the movie is very much in keeping with the four disillusioned radicals, played by charlotte aubin, laurent bélanger, emmanuelle lussier - martinez and gabrielle tremblay, pose in one of the film’s unique plotting violent revolution in the three - hour movie .
jermaine fowler and omari hardwick of sorry to bother you take us back in time to the worst jobs of their careers .
the biggest names in the adaptation belong to the characters who are murdered: paul gross as thomas kinnear and anna paquin as nancy montgomery. they are surprisingly human, flawed characters for their status in the world. david cronenberg is ideally cast as reverend verrenger, who leads the group trying to free grace by bringing in dr. jordan .
orphan black isn’t the only genre show to make the ballot this year, either: the supernatural western wynonna earp finds itself up nominated in five categories, including writing, costume design and visual effects. the sci - fi adventure killjoys also snagged a visual effects nomination, putting both shows up against orphan black and its multiple maslanys .
david bezmozgis landed an adapted screenplay nomination for his adaptation of his own novel, natasha, sasha k. gordon, who plays the title role, is up for best actress. and stella meghie’s jean of the joneses earned her an original screenplay nomination and a supporting - actress nod for sherri shepherd .
for all of denis and lavoie’s godardian impulses, the film is most resonant when it addresses its themes head on, without revolutionary texts or other avant - garde feints. denis and lavoie — along with their four exceptional lead actors — articulate the motives and methods of radicalism beautifully, but the film has enough of a distance from its characters to suggest the dangerous folly of their actions, too, as well as their roots in suburban privilege. they may see their parents as squares or sellouts, but denis and lavoie don’t accept the caricature, which brings a tragic dimension to their conflict that defines the tone of the film overall .
in our younger days, we thought revolution was necessary. we believed in violence and slogans. then we found out the real solution is something completely different... the feelings are genuine .
ozon and deneuve are perfectly in step with keeping things light and fast - moving. most of the laughs involve revelations about the prim and proper characters' sexual peccadillos, described in witty flashbacks. not only does mr. pujol have a slew of ex - mistresses, including his perfect secretary nadege (karen viard), but suzanne has secrets of her own .
the only animated film in the top 10 feature films list, japanese - canadian filmmaker ann marie fleming tells the story of a young canadian poet who confronts her past, history, and the nature of poetry. it features the voices of sandra oh, ellen page and don mckellar .
“the fact is that there has been very little written about corbo. it’s as if he’s been forgotten by history. there’s also been so little written about these events of 1966. i really had to dig to find information .
in a college, three friends form a secret society. their objective - going to america. a night, after one of their secret meetings, one of them see a man coming out from a wall. then the... see full summary »
polly is a woman who hasn’t figured out a lot in life. relationships and jobs are a struggle for polly .
at its peak, the maple spring movement brought 200, 000 demonstrators to the streets of montreal, protesting a five - year incremental increase in student tuition fees at quebec universities. during a volatile spring and summer, students also participated in a strike that kept them out of classes, but the movement fizzled in early september, when the government agreed to a freeze tuition hikes, and most student organizations voted to return to class. “those who make revolution” mainly takes place in the aftermath, following a radical splinter cell that’s unwilling to let the flame die out. to them, the student groups have sold out to a system that’s pervasively corrupt and more extreme measures are required to produce meaningful change .
i am also a working journalist who wants americans to better understand canada. so here is my take on things canadian .
previously announced honourees include actor tantoo cardinal, who will be presented with the earle gray award; documentarian simcha jacobovici, receiving the gordon sinclair award for broadcast journalism, and director randall okita, who will be given the inaugural john dunning discovery award .
( left) proves that the quick wit richler attributes to miriam will be well served by pike’s comedic timing and complement giamatti’s performance. pike and giamatti should make for a charming comedic duo .
at least andrew gillis and bhreagh macneil were both nominated for their work in the two - hander werewolf, along with ashley mackenzie (editing) and scott moore (cinematography). it would have been nicer if writer / director mackenzie had been nominated in either of those categories, but maybe the competition was just that fierce this year .
if you are not into hockey, the film does stand well on its own, but mostly in a male - bonding sense. if neither hockey nor male bonding is meaningful, this might not be your film .
as well, a number of first - time feature directors make their tiff debuts this year, including ian lagarde’s cuban resort - set comedy all you can eat buddha, molly mcglynn’s mary goes round, which follows an addiction counsellor’s struggles with substances and family tragedy and black cop, a police satire from trailer park boys actor cory bowles .
by philip cartelli on the opening night of this year’s fidmarseille, miguel gomes received a resounding round of applause after congratulating the fid’s director, jean - pierre rehm, for “understanding what was missing from every documentary festival: fiction. ” beyond the current trendiness for exhuming these terms, the fid’s organizers have recently questioned their own trajectory between “documentary” [... ]
mathieu adds the former student militants are also reacting to graves being blessed by the establishment after winning the best canadian feature prize at toronto, being named to tiff’s top ten films of 2016 list and receiving glowing reviews in major montreal newspapers .
window horses, featuring the voices of sandra oh, ellen page and don mckellar, is the only animated film on tiff' s top 10 feature films list. (tiff / canadian press )
the sequel is very straight forward that the flirting fun is gone. martin' s sister marries an 86 - year - old. david' s wife only sees martin waving from the garage .
by jason anderson almost 90 per cent of canada is uninhabitable. of those who live in the rest, the overwhelming majority live within 500 miles of the us border. so maybe it’s not so surprising that the nation’s filmmakers—themselves largely clustered in the same few square miles of toronto, vancouver and montreal—regard the hinterlands with [... ]
by robert koehler it was either a sign of the measure of the complete revulsion felt by those who had worked with previous quinzaine des réalisateurs director frédéric boyer, or an expression of relief that the 44th edition was coming to a conclusion (or both), that new director eduoard waintrop was thanked from the theatre [... ]
by adam nayman a film seemingly made to be screened at film festivals, where its scenes of characters logging into hotel wi - fi on their laptops and thrashing around in the throes of jetlag will pack an affective punch (for journalists, at least), bird people has divided critics as neatly as its own bifurcated, his - and - hers [... ]
so even if the impetus behind the piece is foreign to me, the goal to make an “engaged, radical, and no - compromise film” in today’s climate isn’t. watching this group forces us to acknowledge our own viewpoints on the issues at - hand and discover what we are willing to do in the battles to come. we are reaching a period of unrest where it’s impossible to ignore politics out of privilege. we see ordinne nuovo, tumulto, and giutizia reject their support systems, sometimes very rich ones, to do what’s “right. ” but is what they do in the name of the under - represented? is it truly to expose the world’s ugliness? or are they ignorantly acting half - cocked, drowning in rhetoric that one archival interview reveals to be outdated by its own author ?
the other plot involves judy' s son jamie (théodore pellerin), who is trying to date women to avoid the stigma of being gay. jamie' s focus shifts to kyra (mary galloway), a young woman who helps bring groceries to judy .
klas batalo, giutizia, ordine nuovo and tumulto are four quebecers in their twenties who reject the world they live in. incensed with the apathy of society following the excitement surrounding the events of the' maple spring', the quartet engage in actions that are increasingly flirting with terrorism .
jennifer baichwal and nicholas de pencier let the band tell their story. baichwal is a celebrated documentary director with films such as manufactured landscapes and watermark. the only critique would be spending a bit too much time on setting up the concerts. the directors did win first runner - up for the people’s choice documentary award in the 2017 toronto international film festival .
a young inuit with growing shamanic powers sets out on a journey of discovery with 2 friends in search of a promised to save their tribe from starvation .
“maybe the young people angry about the film accuse us of earning money making the film. we told them, ‘we paid to make the film,' ” he countered about the low - budget affair .
non - canadian films such as the shipping news (newfoundland); brokeback mountain (alberta); and the revenant (alberta and british columbia) make the beauty of canada a major co - star .
by christoph huber besting bille august by a year, it has taken austrian director michael haneke only four to join what we cynical film critics like to call the emir club: the allegedly prestigious circle of two - time palme d’or winners, hitherto occupied only by kusturica (1985, 1995), august (1988, 1992), and the dardennes (1999, 2005). [... ]
in the opening sequence, four twentysomethings, under cover of darkness, deface a row of commercial billboards to read, “people do not see yet that they are miserable. we will show them. ” working under the aliases klas batalo (gabrielle tremblay), ordinne nuovo (emmanuelle lussier - martinez), tumulto (laurent belanger), and guitizia (charlotte aubin), they form their own underground commune to do just that, all while maintaining a brutally austere lifestyle in line with their values. living collectively off the cash batalo earns as a transgender prostitute, they barely have enough money for food, much less a political operation, but their anger and desperation breeds a surprising resourcefulness .
lavoie was further inspired by the mug shots of four youths who had been arrested for planting smoke bombs in the métro in may 2012 .
, harvey pekar, who is an overanxious but successful comic - book author. either way, giamatti is well prepared for the job .
like a pebble in the boot will casts an empathetic gaze on senegalese street vendors in florence who have migrated to europe for economic reasons .
“we make movies to establish a dialogue with our contemporaries, ” denis continued. “people in toronto are our contemporaries. they’re not far from us, and there are a lot of ideas in the film that concern them, absolutely. it looks at a local topic, but one that we hoped would have universal resonance. if it opens a dialogue between the infamous two solitudes, that can only be positive. ”
even so, a tiny cell with no funding will have a hard time bringing about change and as one of them notes, we live in a time of profound inequality, where there are no choices, either you “accept the system or you are marginalized. ” denis and lavoie are very clear - headed about both the youngsters’ desire and profound need for change and the fact that, like so many marginalized groups (and, indeed, most of countries that ushered in the arab spring), their fight will likely fizzle and end with a form of defeat. but the directors, who also wrote the film, take their characters and ideals seriously, never mocking them nor turning them into necessarily tragic figures. instead, it insists on observing them in the now, without melancholy — which often plagues films about student protesters, from bertolucci to garrel — but also without being unrealistic about how mismatched their desires and dreams and their opportunities to fulfill them are. as if to underline the point, there are a few brutal scenes of self - inflicted corporeal punishment for those who are found guilty of “the crime of nostalgia. ”
the handsome leads go by the noms de guerre ordine nuovo (emmanuelle lussier - martinez), tumulto (laurent belanger), giutizia (charlotte aubin) and klas batalo (gabrielle tremblay), with klas providing the foursome with their only funding through her work as a transsexual prostitute. (how this doesn’t make klas even more of a slave of the capitalist system is never properly explained, though the paradox is clearly intentional .) the rules of the group, hiding out in a picturesque squat, can sometimes be obscure — they can’t have sex with each other because they’re “at war, ” but they love hanging out naked together, one supposes as their purest form of themselves — and there are days they barely have enough to eat .
gabrielle tremblay, charlotte aubin, laurent bã©langer and emmanuelle lussier - martinez play the central protesters in ceux qui font les rã©volutions ã moitiã© nâont fait que se creuser un tombeau. the filmmakers wanted actors with little to no professional experience who could relate to their charactersâ nothing - to - lose world view .
a year later, the directors found themselves at a festival in st. petersburg, russia, for another screening of laurentie. they began discussing the possibility of another collaboration, and immediately recalled the queries of those students .
the only part i know about ava is a lack of canadian visual presence. unarmed verses wasn' t on my radar until the list was announced: the documentary focuses on the demolition of a toronto public housing neighborhood .
the little girl who was too fond of matches (la petite fille qui aimait trop les allumettes), dir. simon lavoie, canada world premiere
i’ll admit that the nudity helped ease me through a few extraneous scenes, particularly in the first half. lengthy moments of monologuing throughout the first half had me concerned that the narrative structure would completely disintegrate. those concerns were unwarranted .
barney’s comical reminiscences make him a self - deprecating and fallible protagonist. in the hands of paul giamatti, barney panofsky should be one of the more memorable screen characters this year. barney strongly resembles miles raymond, giamatti’s character from
is it already june? this year is just flying by. i’m sorry that updates here have been scant (work’s just been a series of events that haven’t let up) but this blog seems to be waking up from an extended hibernation. it’s time to recap the year at its halfway mark .
black cop and meditation park would have made my list. rumble: the indians who rocked the world is the best from the tiff list that i' ve seen, but that shouldn' t be considered an endorsement. adventures in public school and allure, even with their new titles, were high on my interest list. the little girl who was too fond of matches, luk' luk' i, and our people will be healed hold mild interest for your humble narrator .
in every aspect, denis and lavoie envisioned a film free from limitations. the three - hour running time was just the beginning. elements of theatre and dance are incorporated into the narrative. excerpts from political writings by notable authors from quebec and elsewhere are woven in — used as intertitles or recited by the theatrically lit actors while they look directly at the camera — their sources named only at the movie’s end .
sheila mccarthy won the genie award for best actress. paule baillargeo, who played gallery owner gabrielle st. peres, won the genie for best supporting actress .
movie we never knew we wanted: it’s about nothing, yet everything, as members of the family gab about nonsense around the dining room table like jerry, george, elaine, and kramer at monk’s diner. it’s the funniest film of the year in its own rascally way .
hello destroyer, by kevan funk, is a drama about a young hockey player who must try to overcome the effects of an in - game act of violence .
this year' s canada' s top ten lineup ranges from british columbia to nunavut to nova scotia, telling stories that show canadians who we are .
daniel doheny, russell peters, and judy greer are in public schooled from kyle rideout. doheny plays a home - schooled teen who switches gears to public school .
the defiance of convention is appropriate as denis and lavoie, who previously collaborated on 2011’s award - winning alienated youth drama laurentia, chronicle the disenchantment that followed the 2012 student uprising in quebec. graves dramatises the uproar that sparked a movement over proposed tuition fee increases. archival audio, meanwhile, blends with voiceover narration to root the action within a contemporary perspective. the film puts drama in dialogue with documentary as these juxtapositions consider a nation that robs its youth of optimism .
xavier dolan’s it’s only the end of the world came out on top with nine nominations, including picture, direction, cinematography and adapted screenplay, but eked out just two nominations for supporting actor (vincent cassel) and supporting actress (nathalie baye) – this despite dolan’s strategy of filming almost the entire movie in close - ups of his cast. to see marion cotillard and léa seydoux excluded for their stronger, showier work is puzzling .
by robert koehler jia zhangke is not an artist who normally trucks in anger. in an era when film criticism and programming have been steadily shifting away from a focus on nationalist tendencies, led by filmmakers who’ve become globalized along with the rest of us, jia has maintained a steady bead on his native mainland [... ]
steve james finds the ultimate david and goliath tale of the 2008 financial crisis in abacus: small enough to jail. this gripping documentary follows the case of the sung family and their abacus bank in new york’s chinatown, which is the only bank to date to be charged with mortgage fraud following the 2008 financial crisis. the film likens thomas sung to a modern day george bailey as scenes from frank capra’s christmas classic it’s a wonderful life appear intercut with the family’s testimony to their innocence and that of an institution that exists to meet the needs of a unique community. the unexpectedly emotional film takes a stand for the little guys .
both alias grace, based on the margaret atwood novel, directed by mary harron and written by sarah polley, starring sarah gadon, anna paquin and paul gross, and obomsawin’s our people will be healed, in which the 85 - year - old explores a cree children’s education centre in rural manitoba, make their world premieres at tiff 2017. alias grace heads to cbc on sept. 25 for a six - part airing following the fest .
conversely, graves displays subversive humour when an early political ad for justin trudeau offering an inspiring message zooms out to ordine, nude, watching it while urinating. the bilingual footage undermines the authority of those in power and illustrates how canadian leaders politicised the student movement to their advantage. “we wrote that before he was elected prime minister, ” notes denis, “but we felt we still had to use it. personally, even though i prefer his government to the previous one, when you hear him speak in the film, it’s just political bullshit. [ laughs. ] he’s using the key words, the buzzwords, and rehashing them. it has yet to be proven that he will not keep doing that as prime minister. the problem with that is that it makes for people governed by the direction of the wind. we need something else than that right now. i think we need people who have conviction. ”
klas batalo, giutizia, tumulto and ordine nuovo, four twenty - somethings from québec, reject the world in which they live. three years after the collapse of the “maple spring” protest movement, they resort to a form of vandalism that gradually leads them closer to terrorism. but their revolutionary avant - garde is far from society’s prevailing aspirations and threatens to blow up in their faces .
grace' s story starts on the trip from ireland to toronto. for those who has fantastical imagery of the voyage to the new world, polley' s adaptation destroys any such visions. life doesn' t get any easier for grace after the family arrives in toronto. indentured servant is the unmentioned term. grace earns $ 2 / month at her first house. the new employer graciously offers a raise to $ 3 / month .
by blake williams first, bless charles tesson for having the balls to acknowledge that experimental cinema exists, no matter that its manifestations at cannes are still ghettoized to a damp auditorium in the gaudy miramar hotel, located somewhere around the halfway point to antibes. the fact that tesson has spent his two years as artistic [... ]
klas batalo, giutizia, tumulto and ordine nuovo, four twenty - somethings from québec, reject the world in which they live. three years after the collapse of the
maple spring” protest movement, they resort to a form of vandalism that gradually leads them closer to terrorism. but their revolutionary avant - garde is far from society’s prevailing aspirations and threatens to blow up in their faces .
the crowd inside the arena in kingston was about 6, 000, including prime minister justin trudeau, who does make a brief appearance in the documentary. another 20, 000 watch outside the arena in kingston. the documentary takes us to viewing parties that sprouted all over canada: charlottetown, halifax, yellowknife, toronto, montréal, and yes, bobcaygeon, the title of a song from the hip and a real place in ontario .
lavoie nods and adds that comparisons between arab and maple springs draw upon the film’s use of archetypal images in the archival footage. “we only used what was available on the web, ” he explains. “we wanted to portray what was in the air at the period. everyone was filming and everybody was putting their footage on the internet. when there were police performing brutal action, the day after, there would be 10 videos uploaded on the web. ”
“we had an envie de cinéma, ” lavoie summarized, “a will to capture the ferment, the creativity of these kids and their desire to change the world through a convergence of art forms. ”
viewers will also be able to vote for their favourite to win the people' s choice award. last year' s winner was the political satire my internship in canada, directed by philippe falardeau.
those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves ( french : ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n'ont fait que se creuser un tombeau ) is a 2016 canadian drama film directed by mathieu denis and simon lavoie . it stars charlotte aubin , laurent bélanger , emmanuelle lussier-martinez and gabrielle tremblay as four young people , veterans of the 2012 quebec student protests , who have been disillusioned by the failure of their past activism to effect meaningful social change and now engage in small-scale public vandalism . the film competed in the platform program at the 2016 toronto international film festival , where it won for best canadian film . it was also nominated for three canadian screen awards , including best motion picture . 
those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves (french: ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n'ont fait que se creuser un tombeau) is a 2016 canadian drama film directed by mathieu denis and simon lavoie. it stars charlotte aubin, laurent bélanger, emmanuelle lussier-martinez and gabrielle tremblay as four young people, veterans of the 2012 quebec student protests, who have been disillusioned by the failure of their past activism to effect meaningful social change and now engage in small-scale public vandalism. the film competed in the platform program at the 2016 toronto international film festival, where it won for best canadian film. it was also nominated for three canadian screen awards, including best motion picture.
those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves (french: ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n'ont fait que se creuser un tombeau) is a 2016 canadian drama film directed by mathieu denis and simon lavoie. it stars charlotte aubin, laurent bélanger, emmanuelle lussier-martinez and gabrielle tremblay as four young people, veterans of the 2012 quebec student protests, who have been disillusioned by the failure of their past activism to effect meaningful social change and now engage in small-scale public vandalism. the film competed in the platform program at the 2016 toronto international film festival, where it won for best canadian film. it was also nominated for three canadian screen awards, including best motion picture.