NXNE FILM FESTIVAL at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema (504 Bloor West) and various other locations, June 13-16. NXNE wristband, NXNE Film wristband, NXNE Priority Pass or $10 per screening. nxne.com/film.
The closing of the NFB Mediatheque, where many a NXNE movie has screened, turned out to be a blessing in disguise. This year NXNE Film moves into the bigger, brighter (and boozier) Bloor Hot Docs Cinema.
As in previous years, NXNE Film mixes premiere screenings with notable titles from the festival circuit. The Global Groove Network, an expansive look at the evolution of DJ culture over 40 years, and FILMAGE: The Story Of DESCENDENTS/ALL, a chronicle of the pop-punk band that gave us the hit 16-second single I Like Food, both get their world premieres June 15.
We’ll also see the North American premiere of BB King – The Life Of Riley, which profiles the blues guitar legend with the help of such admirers as Eric Clapton, Bono, Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger and Bruce “Bruno” Willis, and The National’s doc Mistaken For Strangers, which premiered at Hot Docs this spring.
The comedy component of the film program focuses on the world of stand-up. Sean Patrick Shaul’s Alone Up There examines the culture of comedy clubs. Matt Frame’s No Joke accompanies three struggling Canadian comics as they embark on a U.S. tour they perceive as their last chance at making it, and Igal Hecht’s A Universal Language follows Yuk Yuk’s founder Mark Breslin and six comedians of varied ethnicity on a trip to Israel.
You know, just to see what happens.
