Thursday, August 13, 2009

2009 Montreal World Film Festival


With a record number of films from 78 countries the fest will run in this beautiful Canadian city from August 27 to September 7. The program includes 240 features (130 world and international premieres) 9 medium-length films and 208 short films. Just the World Competition will screen 23 (or 20?) features and 13 shorts and the First Films World Competition will feature 20 films by first-time directors. So, this year the fest seems to be a true cinema feast.

Most remarkable is the film that will close the festival as is the premiere of the official film of the 2008 Beijing Olympics by Gun Jun called The Everlasting Flame Beijing 2008 that definitively is must be seen for me.

Here are the films in only two sections of the festival and if you feel like reading the press announcement with all the films go here.

World Competition

09:06 (aka Ofsajd), Igor Sterk, Slovenia and Germany
Andres No Quiere Dormir La Siesta (Andres Doesn’t Want to Take a Siesta), Daniel Bustamante, Argentina
Atshkar (Fire Keeper), Mohsen Amiryoussefi, Iran
Coeur Animal (Animal Heart), Severine Cornamusaz, Switzerland and France
Dia Dokuta (Dear Doctor), Miwa Mishikawa, Japan
Die Standesbeamtin (Will You Marry Us?), Micha Lewinsky, Switzerland
Enen (Case Unknown), Feliks Falk, Poland
Hoy no se fia, Manana Si (Forever Waiting), Francisco Avizanda, Spain and France
Jestem Twoj (I’m Yours), Mariusz Grzegorzek, Poland
Je Suis Heureux que Ma Mere Soit Vivante (I’m Glad That My Mother is Alive), Claude and Nathan Miller, France
Korkoro (Freedom), Tony Gatlif, France
La Fisica dell’Acqua (The Physics of Water), Felice Farina, Italy
Redland, Asiel Norton, USA
Strayed, Akan Satayev, Kazakhstan
Sveti Georgije Ubiva Azdahu (St. George Shoots the Dragon), Srdjan Dragojevic, Serbia, Bulgaria and Bosnia Herzegovina
Un Cargo pour L’Afrique (A Cargo to Africa), Roger Cantin, Canada
Vanvittig Forelsket (Love and Rage), Morton Giese, Denmark
Viyon No Tsuma (Villon’s Wife), Kichitaro Negishi, Japan
Waffenstillstand (Ceasefire), Lancelot von Naso, Germany
Weaving Girl, Quan An Wang, China

First Films World Competition

Badereh el hahatulim (Mrs. Moscowitz & The Cats), Jorge Gurvich, Israel and France
Caja Negra (Black Box), Ariel Gordon, Mexico
Children of Invention, Tze Chun, USA
Draussen Am See (Losing Balance), Felix Fuchssteiner, Germany
Hitna Pomoc (The Ambulance), Goran Radovanovic, Serbia, Greece and Germany
Invisible Eyes, Olivier Cohen, UK and France
Je te Mangerais (You Will Be Mine), Sophie Laloy, France
L’Enfance d’Icare (The Childhood of Icarus), Alexandre Iordachescu, Switzerland, Romania and France
Los Canallas (Riff Raff), Ana Cristina Franco, Jorge Alejandro Fegan, Nataly Valencia, and Diego Coral Lopez, Ecuador
Mi Xiang (Death Dowry), Wang Hongfei, China and France
Nisesatsu (Counterfeit), Kimura Yuichi, Japan
Oy Vey! My Son is Gay!, Evgeny Afineevsky, USA
Ramirez, Albert Arizza, Spain
Schwerkraft (Gravity), Maximilian Erlenwein, Germany
Tayna Chingis Khaana (By The Will of Gengis Khan), Andrey Borisov, Russia, Mongolia and USA
The Jazzman, Josh Koffman, Canada
The Sunset Sky, Olivier Bernier, USA
Uyolso Idok (Lost Times), Aron Matyassy, Hungary
Vaghti Limooha Zard Shodand… (When the Lemons Turned Yellow…), Mohammadreza Vatandoost, Iran
Was Du Nicht Siehst (What You Don’t See), Wolfgang Fischer, Germany and Austria

There is one films you should not miss if you live in Montreal (or nearby): Soeur Sourire (Sister Smile), Stijn Coninx, Belgium and France

I will try to find info and trailers for the competition films and will post accordingly.

Watch some trailers @ Movie On Companion

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