Join us for the Roger Ebert's Film Festival!!
Schedule of Events:
10:30 am: A Little Prayer
The truth is that, especially when you hear it's from the writer of "Junebug," Angus MacLachlan's "A Little Prayer" has a relatively predictable path to follow. However, that doesn't stop it from having an impact. There's a reason we watch well-done f amily dr amedies like this one over and over again. We see ourselves or the people we know in them. And if we believe the emotion of these characters, the f amiliarity of it all doesn't matter. "A Little Prayer" is an old-fashioned f amily dr ama, a movie that cares about its people more than any high concept, and one that wants you to get to know them in a way that makes you care for them. One of the most moving films you'll see this year, it's also a fantastic platform for the phenomenal Jane Levy and the legendary David Strathairn, a performer who seems incapable of delivering a false performance.
2:30 pm: I'm Still Here
Within the assured wooden confines of a church, a frightful Eunice Paiva (Fernanda Torres), the wife of former congressman Ruben Paiva (Selton Mello), arrives hoping for answers. But not from God. She is confronting her children's former schoolteacher, who after being arrested, detained and possibly tortured by Brazil's military dictatorship, is now trying to keep a low profile in a space that offers people spiritual protection. "My husband's in danger," says an exasperated Eunice. "We're all in danger," retorts the teacher. That pervading risk, the terror felt by a life suspended or ended, took over Brazil during the violent military dictatorship that gripped the South american country from 1964 to 1985. It's also the tragedy, as felt in Torres' incredible performance, at the heart of Walter Salles' engrossing period dr ama "I'm Still Here."
7:30 pm: Rumours
Guy Maddin makes films that burst with creativity, usually fueled by what feels like personal interests in projects like "Brand Upon the Brain!" and "My Winnipeg." Roger himself wrote, "If you love movies in the very sinews of your imagination, you should experience the work of Guy Maddin." So I went into his latest, the Cannes-premiering "Rumours," with the expectations set by his previous groundbreaking work.
