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Media City Film Festival brings global experimental cinema to Windsor H.G. Watson ARTS EDITOR hen digital is king, where will analogue filmmaking find a home? At the 18th annual Media City Film Festival, 8mm and 16mm film are alive and well. Jeremy Rigsby, the festival co-director since 1997, is excited to be providing a niche market for filmmakers whose body of work sits outside the mainstream. He and co-director Oona Mosna run the festival from a downtown house they also live in, carefully selecting the films that will make it into the festival. “This year we had 1,400 films from...
Three filmmakers pushing the limits of the moving picture will have their films screened at Media City Film Festival in Windsor, May 22-26. Dagie Brundert | Films of Dagie Brundert Jason Rankin LANCE WRITER Experimental German filmmaker Dagie Brundert is coming to Media City’s Film Festival, bringing her talent of processing Super8 film with coffee. She took up filmmaking while studying art in Berlin. “One day my professor came up with a very tiny Super8 camera,” said Brundert, “and I had never really heard of Super8 until that day.” “I found out how easy it is to handle and how...
Filmmaker Nicky Hamlyn brings experimental film and filmmaking to Windsor Jason Rankin LANCE WRITER nglish experimental filmmaker Nicky Hamlyn arrived in Windsor April 25 to teach locals how to experiment with film on 16mm cameras. The avant-garde director is also producing his own films around the city after a long career at home in the United Kingdom. Hamlyn first plunged into filmmaking while studying at Reading University in England. “I went to university to study fine arts,” said Hamlyn. “I was going there to do painting. One of the teachers was running a film project, so I joined that project....
Horror-comedy Cabin in the Woods is not your typical gorefest H.G. Watson ARTS EDITOR ity the poor person who walks into Cabin in the Woods believing that they are getting a straight horror film. The film, directed by Drew Goddard and co-written by fan favourite Joss Whedon, is so much more than that. It occupies that space between comedy and horror that is so difficult to straddle. It’s hard to say too much about the plot of Cabin in the Woods without giving away some of the best moments of the film. But right from the first beat it becomes...
Josh Kolm ARTS EDITOR t the beginning of March, a pair of Windsor-based filmmakers sent out an open call for submissions to LeTwelve, a project that will produce 12 music videos for 12 different Toronto- and Windsor-based musicians at no cost. Both recent graduates of the University of Windsor’s Communication, Media and Film program, Catrina Franzoi and Daniella Bumbacco started LadyMeta Productions in the summer of 2011. LadyMeta began with the understanding that they were entering an industry where there has generally been a lack of female perspective behind the camera. “That was part of the reason for the name,...
University of Windsor Film Festival a goal four years in the making for graduating filmmakers Josh Kolm ARTS EDITOR ith their studies completed and eyes on their careers, senior students will be showcasing their work at this year’s University of Windsor Film Festival, a moment that some have been looking forward to for four years. The festival by students in the Communication, Media and Film department is set for April 19. It’s an important event for soon-to-be graduates completing their fourth year film projects. For Daniel Stefanovich, screenwriter and director on Stephan Gabet and the Skull of the Good King,...
The Lance previews this year’s dark horse contenders for summer box office glory H.G. Watson LANCE REPORTER uperheroes will rule the multiplexes again this summer. While there is no problem with watching Batman kick in a mobster’s teeth, it’s nice to have some more options for summer movie viewing. At least one unexpected film always makes waves in the summer with critics and viewers alike. Last year it was Bridesmaids and Attack the Block; this year, any of the four below could be the sleeper hit of the summer. The Raid was a massive hit at the SXSW film festival...
Battle Royale takes a more visceral approach to dystopian teenage fights to the death H.G. Watson LANCE REPORTER he Hunger Games owned the box office this past weekend, showing that people apparently love dystopian fictions in which young people hunt each other for entertainment. If the adventures of Katniss didn’t whet your appetite for blood sport, see the film that provided some of the inspiration for the smash hit: 2000’s Battle Royale, directed by Kinji Funkasaku. There are many similarities between the two films, but Battle Royale takes a smaller scale approach to dystopia, and a large scale to gore....
A re-boot and a documentary show why we need the Muppets H.G. Watson LANCE REPORTER hat is it about a bunch of fleece puppets that is so satisfying? The Muppets are cultural icons. The Muppets, out on DVD March 20, is a testament to that fact, loaded with pop culture references and a loving view of Kermit and company. But it’s the documentary Being Elmo (on DVD April 4) that gets to the root of why we love them. It is hard for a reviewer to say something bad about a film like The Muppets. Even the not so great...
A winning performance shines despite the questions Martha Marcy May Marlene leaves H.G. Watson LANCE REPORTER artha Marcy May Marlene is a lesson in how a great performance can save a problematic film. In this case, Elizabeth Olsen as the titular Martha delivers an astounding performance in a movie about cults that leaves far too many gaps to be satisfying. Martha calls up her sister, after having disappeared for two years, to ask for a ride and a place to stay. In a series of flashbacks, it’s revealed that Martha had joined a cult and had been renamed Marcy May....