Torontonians were dismayed earlier this year when the Cinefranco film festival announced it wouldn’t be holding a 2016 edition in town.
Or at least those of us who appreciate the annual celebration of French-language movies from around the world were, because we know Cinefranco offers us a chance to catch interesting commercial and art-house work that would never otherwise reach our screens.
We may not have had a proper Cinefranco ’16, but the festival is represented this weekend in collaboration with La Tournée Du Cinema Québécois, a touring festival dedicated to bringing French-language cinema to English Canada.
Thus, we have Cinefranco Special Edition: Cinema Quebecois, a free weekend of films at the Alliance Française De Toronto’s downtown campus on Spadina Road. Think of it as a sampler of current Quebec cinema.
It all kicks off Saturday (April 16) at 11 am with a screening of the original French version of the CG remake of La Guerre Des Tuques – released here earlier this year in an English dub as Snowtime! – and continuing that evening with Louis Bélanger’s grow-op drama Les Mauvaises Herbes at 6 pm and Carole Poliquin’s Footprints – a documentary investigation into Quebecois identity featuring the actor Roy Dupuis – at 8:15 pm.
On Sunday (April 17), it’s Léa Pool’s period charmer The Passion Of Augustine – starring Celine Bonnier as a nun who spearheads a choir in her late-60s convent school – at 3 pm and Onur Karaman’s There Where Atilla Passes …, a drama about a Turkish youth (Émile Schneider) taken in by a Quebec couple (Roy Dupuis and Julie Deslauriers), at 5:30 pm.
Filmmakers will be present for introductions and Q&As wherever possible. Please note that La Guerre Des Tuques and Les Mauvaises Herbes are presented only in French, without any translation all the other films are subtitled in English.
If you’re looking for something a little more Anglophonic, drop by the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema on Tuesday (April 19) as Discover Ontario presents a screening of Beauty Day, Jay Cheel’s 2012 documentary about St. Catharines cable-access sensation Cap’n Video, who was doing Jackass-scale stunts when Johnny Knoxville was still in diapers.
Decades later, Cheel catches up with the Cap’n – real name Ralph Zavadil – to marvel at the fact that he’s still alive and explore his legacy in the context of DIY daredevilism. It’s a nifty little picture – here’s Glenn Sumi’s review – and both Cheel and Zavadil will be present for the screening, which already has the feeling of a pre-party for National Canadian Film Day on Wednesday.
normw@nowtoronto.com | @normwilner
