Activité communautaire.
The South Western International Film Festival presents THE SQUARE--screening at 9:00PM on Saturday, November 4th, 2017 at the Imperial Theatre.
In FORCE MAJEURE, Swedish director Ruben Östlund examined the comic implications of the Bystander Effect at a ski resort following the aftermath of an avalanche. In THE SQUARE, Östlund has taken his hilarious brand of social commentary to a completely new summit: The art world.
Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year, this riotously strange comedy follows Christian (Claes Bang), the head curator of a contemporary art museum in Sweden, who, after getting pickpocketed, embarks on a quest to track down who stole his cell phone. Getting in the way of this is the museum’s latest installation, a hyped-up, much-discussed project which becomes the centrepiece of a movie that repeatedly asks: What if art goes too far?
Daring, shocking, and downright astonishing, THE SQUARE isn’t just a movie that demands conversation: It’s also one of the funniest movies of the year.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V74sHdm76WU
Adults - $15
Students / seniors - $12
SWIFF weekend pass - $79
The South Western International Film Festival presents THE FLORIDA PROJECT--screening at 6:30PM on Saturday, November 4th, 2017 at the Imperial Theatre.
With 2015’s TANGERINE, director Sean Baker took a mighty risk: He shot a movie entirely on an iPhone 5S, with a limited budget of $100,000. Winning awards from critics and making nearly $800,000 at the box office, it’s safe to say the experiment was fruitful. It’s also clear Hollywood took note. Casting his first major named role with Willem Dafoe, THE FLORIDA PROJECT, Baker’s follow-up, is a breathtaking, fascinating exploration of youthful innocence in the adult world. Audiences will immediately shine to Brooklynn Prince, the precocious, intelligent, energetic child actor behind Moonee, the six-year-old protagonist in this multi-layered story told from her point-of-view as she roams throughout her Orlando neighbourhood, having fun and causing trouble.
Like TANGERINE, THE FLORIDA PROJECT makes its own rules in how it tells its story. Baker only asks that you follow along for the ride.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwQ-NH1rRT4
Adults - $15
Students / seniors - $12
SWIFF weekend pass - $79
The South Western International Film Festival presents NEW CHEFS ON THE BLOCK--screening at 4:00PM on Saturday, November 4th, 2017 at the Imperial Theatre.
Opening a restaurant is hard. Maintaining a steady stream of loyal customers? Even harder.
In Dustin Harrison-Atlas’ delicious debut documentary, watch as two restaurateurs in Washington, DC—Frank Linn of Frankly… Pizza!, and Aaron Silverman of Rose’s Luxury—put on their aprons and risk mountains of debt in an attempt to realize their entrepreneurial dreams.
NEW CHEFS ON THE BLOCK also provides some food for thought: In the era of the digital restaurant review, could a two-star rating topple everything these chefs have worked so hard for?
You’ve seen cooking shows and kitchen nightmares. Here, Harrison-Atlas takes us behind-the-scenes of the behind-the-scenes, showing us just how gruelling gastronomical endeavours—especially on the business side of things—can be.
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/112339079
Adults - $15
Students / seniors - $12
SWIFF weekend pass - $79
The South Western International Film Festival presents THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE--screening at 1:00PM on Saturday, November 4th, 2017 at the Imperial Theatre.
Smart, wry, and utterly droll, THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE is a comically light take on Europe’s current refugee crisis, albeit one steeped in director Aki Kaurismäki’s characteristically delightful sense of humour, wit, and optimism.
Opening with a Syrian man’s escape from Aleppo to Helsinki, the film unites two unlikely characters—our refugee protagonist, and his newfound friend and keeper, a Finnish restaurateur—to both explore and satirize the bureaucratic systems and institutions that insist on deporting refugees.
While the refugee crisis has divided parts of Europe in terms of tolerance, Kaurismaki’s moving, human, fantastically funny film is a welcome, hopeful change from the heated debate on the fate of those seeking nothing more than asylum.
Preceded by SCAFFOLD by director Kazik Radwanski. Q&A with star Sherwan Haji following the film.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtiFG6utst8
Adults - $15
Students / seniors - $12
SWIFF weekend pass - $79
The South Western International Film Festival presents Shorts Programme 1: Difficult Histories--screening at 12:00PM, 2:00PM, and 5:00PM on Saturday, November 4, 2017 at the Story.
In Canada, it’s easy to pretend our country is immune to the larger problems of the world, like violence against women, the painful fallout of colonialism, and the ongoing conflict in Syria that has razed the country and displaced millions. In this programme of shorts, we start in far-flung regions like the forests of Haiti (THE CRYING CONCH) and a small village in Nigeria (WAITING FOR HASSANA) before coming home, where our immediate connections to global issues are closer—and more imperative—than we think.
We brought the world’s short filmmakers to you—now do something that means the world to them. VOTE for your favourite short film to win SWIFF’s Audience Award, netting the filmmakers a $1000 cash prize. Films are playing for free at the Story (179 Christina St. N) on Saturday and Sunday.
The South Western International Film Festival presents BABE--screening at 11:00AM on Saturday, November 4th, 2017 at the Imperial Theatre.
100 percent of proceeds donated to Noelle's Gift, and FREE for all kids under 14!
Co-presented by Noelle’s Gift, a charity committed to improving the lives of children in the Lambton area, Babe is the lovable story about a pig who wants to be a sheepherding Border Collie. The 1995 children’s classic comes to Sarnia for a very special SWIFF Fam Jam. That’ll do, pig!
Preceded by the short film DAM! THE STORY OF KIT THE BEAVER. Music composed by Sarnia native Erica Procunier.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKcFSeyYoLg
The South Western International Film Festival presents SWEET COUNTRY--screening at 9:00PM on Friday, November 3rd, 2017 at the Imperial Theatre.
SWEET COUNTRY may sound idyllic, but the Northern Territory frontier of 1929’s Australia is dry, harsh, and unforgiving. This Outback Western takes its narrative from the annals of true crime, following the relentless chase of an Aboriginal man (Hamilton Morris) whose fatal act of self-defence becomes the catalyst for racist condemnation.
Winner of TIFF’s Platform Prize this year, the resulting pursuit provides director Warwick Thornton the opportunity to film the land with panoramic observance, instilling the story—and its cruel, arid backdrop—with a natural reverence and uncommon beauty. With themes of social injustice that echo still today, SWEET COUNTRY is more than a brutally stunning commentary on colonialism: It’s a dangerous tale of law and disorder.
Preceded by a traditional aboriginal Australian performance by Goombine, a Songman who carries traditional songs that have been passed down through his bloodline for thousands of years. He has toured around the world sharing his songs, stories, and dances with audiences across the globe.
Jim and Della eat potatoes for dinner every night and stuff their boots with newspaper to get by, but everything they want is for each other. They are so head over heels in love they can make a cozy home in the turn-of-the-century New York with little more than the coins in their jam jar. But what is to be done about Christmas? The Gift of The Magi is a delightful Christmas comedy for the entire family.
“The Gift of the Magi” is presented by Upper Stage and hosted by Windsor Christian Fellowship. Show dates are November 24, 25, and 26 at 7:00 PM, December 1 and 2 at 7:00 PM, and December 3 at 3:00 PM. Tickets are $12 each. All proceeds benefit Windsor Life Centre, a recovery home for women recovering from drug and alcohol addictions.
Purchase your tickets at http://weblink.donorperfect.com/thegiftofthemagi or call our office at 519-972-5986.
The South Western International Film Festival presents BIRTH OF A FAMILY--screening at 7:00PM on Friday, Nov. 3, 2017 at the Imperial Theatre.
The Sixties Scoop, as it is now called, refers to the period of time when Indigenous children in Canada were taken from their homes by the Canadian and provincial governments and put up for adoption or placed into foster care. An estimated 20,000 children were dislocated from their families as a result of this practice, effectively whitewashing their cultural identity and heritage.
Three sisters and a brother, siblings Betty Ann, Esther, Ben, and Rosalie were just four of these 20,000, separated from their parents as infants and placed into separate families. Meeting for the first time ever in front of director Tasha Hubbard’s camera, the siblings in BIRTH OF A FAMILY share their remarkable story and the meaning of family connection. Q&A with director and local residential school survivors following the film.
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/2064796
Adults - $15
Students / seniors - $12
SWIFF weekend pass - $79
