Valentine’s Day and a romantic film, what could be better?
This year, Powell River Film Festival will be held February 12 to 16, mostly at the Patricia Theatre, with a variety of documentaries and dramas and an emphasis on romance.
One of the outstanding documentaries to make the cut is Desert Runners which was the most popular international documentary at the recent Vancouver International Film Festival. The film follows four races that encompass the Atacama, Gobi and Sahara deserts, plus Antarctica. Audiences are invited to sit in comfortable seats at the Patricia and watch extraordinary athletes brave four gruelling 250-kilometre treks across arid and dangerous landscapes. Each desert was picked because together they are the driest, windiest, hottest and coldest places on Earth.
The dramas range from Le Weekend, a British movie set amid the romance of Paris, to The Patience Stone, a searing portrait of an Afghani wife who is caring for her husband.
Le Weekend is funny as well as romantic, with the Brits’ love/hate relationship with Paris providing much of the humour. They succumb to the charms of Paris while somehow managing to hate the French. But it is the ambivalence of the middle-aged long-married couple who are making a last ditch attempt to save their marriage that is the core of the film.
In The Patience Stone, a wife dutifully cares for her wounded husband and two daughters after the family is abandoned by her husband’s relatives. With her husband in a coma, the wife starts to say things she could never have shared during their 10 years of marriage. As her husband is unable to interrupt, the wife eloquently vents her own and the frustrations of many Muslim women. Her innermost feelings are expressed and as she does so, she finds the strength to free herself from suffering. This film has received rave reviews wherever it has been shown.
Felix, a South African film, has been chosen for the school program February 11 and 12 at Evergreen Theatre, Powell River Recreation Complex. The film has been described as “Billy Elliot with Cape Jazz,” and the joyous strains of Cape Jazz resound throughout. It is the story of 14-year-old Felix, who gains a scholarship to an exclusive white school in Cape Town. The problem is that Felix is black. It is not only his saxophone playing that makes him stand out, and his exclusion and bullying from the majority transcend race and country. This ultimately triumphant film is part of Focus: School Festival, and is open to the public. Like last year, popular films will be screened for a second time at the Patricia.
There are many other films chosen for the festival. To view the latest list, readers can visit the festival's website.
The festival has once again received a BC community gaming grant, arts and culture, to support the youth programs that are offered. These programs include the School Film Festival for all school-age children in the community; the 5-Minute Film Contest now with two age groups, 15 to 19 years and under 15 years; and the Adventures in Film Camp, an intensive three-day camp open to youth locally, throughout the province and into Alberta.
For anyone who is a true film buff, now is the time to pick up the limited edition full festival pass. Only 50 passes will be sold this year. For $100, pass holders will be able to attend the opening and closing galas at Dwight Hall as well as all the films and student presentations. The passes are already on sale at Breakwater Books and Coffee and the Patricia.
For more information on the festival, readers can contact the organizers by email [email protected].
