THE UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN’S MAIN CAMPUS IS SITUATED ON TREATY 6 TERRITORY AND THE HOMELAND OF THE MÉTIS.
THE UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN’S MAIN CAMPUS IS SITUATED ON TREATY 6 TERRITORY AND THE HOMELAND OF THE MÉTIS.
ASHLEIGH MATTERN
Editor-in-Chief
Saskatoon’s only francophone film festival celebrates its fifth anniversary this year, but don’t worry if you don’t speak French: all the movies are subtitled.
Hosted by the Fédération des Francophones de Saskatoon, Cinergie has been gaining a name for itself over the past five years, and at only $5 per movie, it’s quality entertainment at a low price.
“We wanted to make it accessible so that more people would be interested in coming to check it out, even if they just come to watch one,” said organizer Tao Chamberlin.
Chamberlin is proof that the Fédération and the film festival are for more than just francophones: she is an anglophone who went through the immersion program and now teaches in French in Saskatoon.
She stresses that the French community in Saskatoon isn’t just for native speakers of the language.
“Sometimes (anglophones) are a little bit more reticent to join in on the activities,” she said. “We feel like we’re on the outside of it but more and more people are starting to take part in the activities.”
For French students, Chamberlin points out that getting involved in the community can have the happy side effect of learning the language faster.
“The more we see those faces at events, the more that we can use our French elsewhere in the community.”
The festival has a great lineup this year, including the acclaimed drama J’ai tué ma mère (I Killed My Mother), playing on opening night. The Canadian film has won many awards, including three at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. It has also been selected as Canada’s submission for the best foreign language film award for the upcoming Academy Awards. Adding to the buzz is 20-year-old Xavier Dolan, writer, director and star of the movie.
Other films include the comedies De père en flic (Father and Guns) and Le Bonheur de Pierre (A Happy Man), thriller 5150 rue des Ormes (5150 Elm’s Way), the family-friendly fantasy Babine, and the crime drama Contre enquête (Counter Investigation).
This year, most of the films are Canadian, but Chamberlin says they try to have a variety of movies from all over the world. The organizers make their decision over the year, choosing the movies they think are the best.
“We just watch and watch and watch,” she said with a laugh.
Chamberlin says that a whole generation of western Canadians lost their French because they weren’t able to speak it at school, so she is excited to see the revitalization of the language in local communities.
“What’s been happening in the last 20 years has been kind of a revival of French in Saskatchewan, especially with the opening of francophone schools,” she said. “I think as the events get more recognized in general that it’s bringing some of the young people into the community and having them recognize that their culture is cool and they want to take part in cultural activities.”
Plays Friday, Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Teenager Hubert (Xavier Dolan) haughtily regards his mother (Anne Dorval) with contempt, and only sees her tacky sweaters and kitsch decorations. In addition to these irritating surface details, there is also his parents’ cherished mechanism of manipulation and guilt. The turbulent relationship between mother and son unfolds with a compelling combination of savage fury and melting affection.
Plays Friday, Feb. 26 at 9:45 p.m.
Jacques Laroche (Michel Côté) is a legend within the Montreal police force. His son, Marc (Louis-José Houde), also a police officer, resents his father’s attitude. The challenge is to work together as a team to save the life of a fellow police officer, an undercover agent kidnapped by a biker gang. They infiltrate an outdoor adventure therapy camp for fathers and sons to gather information about one of the participants. Their biggest challenge, however, is to survive the therapy without killing each other.
Plays Friday, Feb. 26 at midnight
When Yannick Bérubé (Marc-Andre Grondin) fell off his bike, he knocked at the door of the Beaulieu residence so he could clean the blood off his hands. But Jacques Beaulieu (Normand d’Amour) and his family had other plans for Yannick. Beaulieu is a righteous psychopath and fanatic chess player who wants to ride the world of evil. Ian is beaten, tortured and tormented before Beaulieu makes him an offer: win at chess and he is free to go.
Plays Saturday, Feb. 27 at 3 p.m.
Pierre Martin, a quantum physicist, discovers that he is inheriting a house from his late aunt, located in Saguenay, Québec. Pierre especially wants his daughter Catherine, an ambitious Parisian journalist, to share this journey with him. Unfortunately, she’s not very willing. They head to Canada but Pierre finds that his dreams of life in this small pastoral village are quickly transformed into a nightmare.
Plays Saturday, Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m.
This is the story of Babine (Vincent-Guillaume Otis) and his fellow villagers: Méo (René Richard Cyr) the hairdresser whose love for the bottle gives his customers strange hairdos; Madame Gélinas (Marie Brassard), who has been pregnant for the last two decades; and the beautiful Anna Domini who has been crying her eyes out and peeling petals off daisies ever since her true love went to war.
Although Babine had a relatively limited release, it was widely praised for its beauty. Don’t miss your chance to see the magic.
Plays Saturday, Feb. 27 at 9:45 p.m.
Detective Richard Malinowski promises to take his 9-year-old daughter, Emilie, cycling, but he is called away to work.
While Richard is away, Emilie sneaks off on her bike to meet a boy her own age. That same afternoon, joggers find her lifeless body. Daniel Eckmann is arrested but once convicted, writes to Richard from prison to say he’s innocent. He urges the bereaved cop to conduct his own investigation centering on a recently arrested serial killer named Salinas, whose methods seem to fit the crime.