Noticias

Maple Syrup Massacre is an editorial series where Joe Lipsett dissects the themes, conventions and contributions of new and classic Canadian horror films. Spoilers follow…

One of the darkest moments in Canadian history happened on Dec 6, 1989: a male shooter walked into the École Polytechnique de Montréal with a semi-automatic rifle. He had written several letters outlining an anti-feminist agenda and he specifically targeted women in his shooting spree, eventually killing fourteen.

For thirty-one years, the “Montreal Massacre” was Canada’s worst shooting.

Denis Villeneuve’s 2009 film Polytechnique, co-written with Jacque Davidts, recounts the events of Dec 6. The film is shot in stark black and white and takes place partially in real time during the shooting, with time jumps and other strategic technical decisions to avoid being sensational or exploitative.

The film opens with a brief burst of violence as two women are shot in a photocopy lab by an offscreen shooter.

Part of our continuing partnership with the online film journal, cléo. Every month, cléo will be presenting a great film to watch on our video on demand platform. In conjunction, we'll be hosting an exclusive article by one of their contributors. This month Kiva Reardon writes on Denis Villeneuve's Polytechnique, which is available to watch starting today in the Us.Like beauty, time is in the eye of the beholder. It slows, speeds up, even stops altogether depending on who is experiencing the moment. The task of the filmmaker—or any storyteller—is evoking an understanding of these personal unfoldings of time; to make an interiorized experience of another resonate with a human who feels, sees and understands the world as oriented around themselves. “Forgive the mistakes. I had 15 minutes to write this.”These are the first words spoken in Denis Villeneuve’s Polytechnique. They are uttered in voiceover...

A fourth trailer of the upcoming adventure blockbuster Le poil de la bête has arrived online. The film's release is scheduled for October 1rst.

The story, which was penned by Stéphane J. Bureau and Pierre Daudelin, takes place in 1665 in New France at a time when a part of Canada was colonialized by France. Joseph Côté (Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge) escapes from a prison in order to avoid death by hanging. Moreover, while some colonial soldiers are chasing him, Joseph takes the identity of a jesuit and hides in the seigneury of Beaufort where most men are waiting for "daughhters of the king"(French women who were sent to Canada in order to find a husband).

At night, Joseph finds out that there are werewolves that terrorize the village. Besides, things get complicated when he falls in love with Marie Labotte (Viviane Audet), a "daughter of the king" that no one wants to marry.

If you plan to attend to the 15th Pusan International Film Festival in South Korea, have in mind that eight Canadian films will be part of its line-up. The festival will be held from October 7 to 15, 2010.

All the eight Canadian films will be part of the festival's official selection.

World Cinema Program: 2 fois une femme

Director: François Deslile

Starring: Evelyne Rompré, Marc Béland, Étienne Laforge, David Boutin, Michelle Rossignol, Marie Brassard, Alexandre Goyette, Catherine de Léan and Brigitte Pogonat

After having her life threatened by her violent husband one night, Catherine heads for northern Quebec with her son under another identity. Slowly, she rebuilds her confidence and rediscovers who she is while trying to win over her son’s affection. Les amours imaginaires

Director: Xavier Dolan

Starring: Xavier Dolan, Monia Chokri and Niels Schneider

The film is about two friends (Xavier Dolan and Monia Chokri) who meet a guy (Niels Schneider) during a party.

Remstar, a Canadian distributor, has released the teaser of the upcoming thriller Angle mort. This film directed by Dominic James and written by Martin Girard should come out in 2011.

Éric (Sébastien Huberdeau) and Stéphanie (Karine Vanasse) are two Canadian tourists who spend their winter vacation in a South American country. Besides dealing with the militaries of the country, Éric and Stéphanie also have to deal with a serial killer (Peter Miller) who roams the roads of the region they're in.

Les Films Séville, a Canadian film distributor, has revealed the second poster of the upcoming blockbuster Le poil de la bête. Moreover, this film directed by Philippe Gagnon will be released in Quebec on October 1, 2010.

The story, which was penned by Stéphane J. Bureau and Pierre Daudelin, takes place in 1665 in New France at a time when a part of Canada was colonialized by France. Joseph Côté (Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge) escapes from a prison in order to avoid death by hanging. Moreover, while some colonial soldiers are chasing him, Joseph takes the identity of a jesuit and hides in the seigneury of Beaufort where most men are waiting for "daughhters of the king"(French women who were sent to Canada in order to find a husband).

At night, Joseph finds out that there are werewolves that terrorize the village. Besides, things get complicated when he falls in love with Marie Labotte...

Yesterday, Les Films Séville, a film distributor, revealed on its Twitter page ([1] and [2]) that Tromper le silence, the third film directed by Julie Hivon (Crème glacée, chocolat et autres consolations), will be in Quebec's theatres on September 3, 2010.

At the same time, the people at Les Films Séville were also nice enough to give the URL of the film's official web site.

The story of the film follows Viviane (Suzanne Clément), a photograph. Ever since Frédéric (Sébastien Huberdeau), her brother who accepted to pose as a model for her, no longer wants to see her, Viviane has had the feeling that her career is in a dead end. Indeed, her conflict with her brother has made it hard for Viviane to move on.

However, after her encounter with Guillaume (Maxime Dumontier), a young mechanic, Viviane believes that her creative mind is back. Besides, Viviane has the feeling an energy comparable to...

A few months ago, The Cultural Post introduced you to the teaser of the upcoming film Le poil de la bête. Now, the full-length trailer of this film directed by Philippe Gagnon has surfaced online.

The story, which was penned by Stéphane J. Bureau and Pierre Daudelin, takes place in 1665 in New France at a time when a part of Canada was colonialized by France. Joseph Côté (Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge) escapes from a prison in order to avoid death by hanging. Moreover, while some colonial soldiers are chasing him, Joseph takes the identity of a jesuit and hides in the seigneury of Beaufort where most men are waiting for "daughhters of the king"(French women who were sent to Canada in order to find a husband).

At night, Joseph finds out that there are werewolves that terrorize the village. Besides, things get complicated when he falls in love with Marie Labotte...

New York's Museum of Modern Arts (MoMA), in association with Telefilm Canada, will organize the seventh annual Canadian Front. This event will be held from March 17 to March 24, 2010. Moreover, New Yorkers will have the chance to see nine Canadian films.

Obviously, this event should help Canadian films to find a U.S. distributor and allow New Yorkers to see Canadian films that were completed over the last 18 months. As a matter of fact, it was the Canadian Front event that allowed Bruce McDonald's brilliant zombie film Pontypool to be distributed in the USA by IFC Films for instance.

This year, the Canadian Front has in store two comedies, two dramas, two coming-of-age stories, two documentaries and an old classic. Speaking about that classic, the film in question was directed by Allan King, a Canadian director who left us in June 2009 and whose work was the subject of a MoMA retrospective in 2007. So,...

Admit it: You've been waiting for this. The teaser of the upcoming film Le poil de la bête is already online. Moreover, this film directed by Philippe Gagnon will be released on October 1rst, 2010.

The story, which was penned by Stéphane J. Bureau and Pierre Daudelin, takes place in 1665 in New France at a time when a part of Canada was colonialized by France. Joseph Côté (Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge) escapes from a prison in order to avoid death by hanging. Moreover, while some colonial soldiers are chasing him, Joseph takes the identity of a jesuit and hides in the seigneury of Beaufort where most men are waiting for "daughhters of the king"(French women who were sent to Canada in order to find a husband).

At night, Joseph finds out that there are werewolves that terrorize the village. Besides, things get complicated when he falls in love with Marie Labotte (Viviane Audet...

Denis Villeneuve’s Polytechnique, a chronicle of the 1989 Montreal massacre of several female engineering students, was the Toronto Film Critics Association’s Rogers Best Canadian Film Award winner. The award, carrying a $10,000 cash prize, was presented to Villeneuve by David Cronenberg at the Tfca’s gala dinner, held January 12 at the Nota Bene restaurant. The other two nominees for the award were Benoit Pilon’s The Necessities of Life and Bruce McDonald’s Pontypool. Polytechnique stars Karine Vanasse, Maxim Gaudette (above), and Sébastien Huberdeau. "Most people would think, like the Holocaust; it’s unapproachable, it’s unmakeable, it’s unadvisable," said Tfca president Brian D. Johnson. "But he [Villeneuve] pulled it off and it’s a beautiful [...]...

Canada's Top Ten, an annual event created by the Toronto International Film Festival, just announced the ten best Canadian films of 2009. In this case, we're talking about Canadian films that were released in theatres or have been screened in film festivals in 2009. Besides, the films will be shown at the Cinematheque in Toronto in January.

Here are the ten best Canadian feature films of 2009:

Cairo Time: A journalist (Patricia Clarkson) travels to Egypt in order to find her husband (Tom McCamus). However, she learns from her husband's friend (Alexander Siddig), who welcomes her, that he's still held up in Gaza. Directed by Ruba Nadda.

Carcasse: This film centres on Jean-Paul Colmor, a man who works in a junkyard of rural Quebec. He welcomes four teenagers with the Down syndrome. Directed by Denis Côté.

Crackie: A girl (Meghan Greeley) from Newfoundland and Labrador lives with her grandmother (Mary Walsh...