Together with a double-bill of award-winning films, a musical feast and fundraiser for the Patricia Theatre will take place on Friday evening, February 17, as part of Powell River Film Festival at Evergreen Theatre.
The evening will open at 6:30 pm with The Girls in the Band, director Judy Chaikin’s bebop documentary that uncovers the poignant, untold histories of female jazz musicians and all-woman big-band music. They wiggled, they jiggled, they wore low-cut gowns and short shorts, they kowtowed to the club owners and smiled at the customer...and they did it all just to play the music they loved. From the 1930s to the swinging sounds of contemporary DIVA Jazz Orchestra, the story of these incredibly talented pioneers roars with spirit and sound.
The women share their fascinating, groundbreaking journeys, enduring sexism, racism and diminished opportunities for decades, yet continuing to persevere, inspire and elevate their talents in a field that seldom welcomed them. Today a new breed of gifted young women are taking their rightful place in the world of jazz which can no longer deny their talents.
There will be a reception between films catered by Amy Sharpe and Mitchell Brothers, with music provided by local women jazz musicians. “Come dressed in your Roaring 20s’ outfits and you might just win a film pass for 2013,” said Jan Padgett, festival director.
The second film will be a special fundraiser to help with digital conversion of the Patricia.
The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius’ black-and-white silent movie, is a note-perfect celebration of the art of cinema, as wildly entertaining as it is wonderfully cinematic. Now winner of three Golden Globes, and nominated for 10 Oscars, The Artist features Jean Dujardin, France’s most highly paid actor as George Valentin, a suave silent film star who refuses to change with the coming of the talkies, even as his blossoming love interest Peppy (Bérénice Bejo), a newcomer to acting, begins to see her star rise. Even the dog comes across as a master thespian.
The Artist is lovingly corny, great fun, and respectful with every directorial choice, from the locations, to the period-perfect costumes to masterful editing. Hazanavicius employs all the tricks and tics of silent cinema with wisdom, care and the emotional and musical rhythm of the best of the films he emulates.
It’s a film about cinema that also has a heart and turns the dawn of the sound age into a personal tragedy, expressed as silent melodrama. “The Artist encapsulates everything we go to movies for: action, laughs, tears and a chance to get lost in another world,” said Padgett. “It will tickle your funny bone, take a piece of your heart and pull you in deep and...it just might leave you speechless.”
Tickets and passes are on sale now at Breakwater Books and Coffee, Armitage Mens Wear and online. For more information interested readers can visit the festival's website or call the festival’s new number at 604.485.6056.
