With the Oscars just around the corner and award season in full swing, The TOM invites area movie lovers to a whole weekend of world cinema at the 15th annual Reel Festival.
This weekend the Tom Thomson Art Gallery, in conjunction with the Toronto International Film Festival Film Circuit, presents the 15th Annual Reel Festival. Our programme is exciting and engaging, featuring independent films from Canada and around the world – with something for everyone.
The Tom Thomson Art Gallery has been presenting alternative film to area movie-goers since 1996 with its Gallery Night at the
Movies series. The Reel Festival, an off-shoot of that successful monthly programme, has provided local cinephiles with a winter weekend reel reprieve since 2003.
Things kick-off on Friday evening at 7pm with the clever mockumentary Operation Avalanche. Screened at Sundance, SXSW, Hot Docs and TIFF, this comedic and thrilling "simulated documentary" from Canadian director Matt Johnson follows two undercover CIA agents who become embroiled in a plot to create fake footage of the American moon landing. Combining archival material, digital manipulation, and found footage, this film is a witty journey through one of the most hotly debated moments in American history.
Saturday morning, the Reel Festival continues with this year's winner of TIFF's City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian First Feature. Johnny Ma's thrilling debut Old Stone — about a taxi driver plunged into a bureaucratic nightmare when he takes an injured man to the hospital — takes us on an unnerving trip through China's social strata and gradually transforms into a furious film-noir; Chen Gang's performance is extraordinary. This film is also nominated for Best Motion Picture Canadian Screen Award.
We feature a double bill Saturday afternoon. At 1pm, in his unmistakable, accented deadpan voice-over, the great Werner Herzog guides us through this eccentric, entertaining and enlightening meditation on our interconnected digital world in Lo & Behold: Reveries of the Connected World. At 4pm, Chris Pine, Ben Foster and Jeff Bridges are featured in the multi-Oscar nominated Hell or High Water. A contemporary Western, two brothers try to pay-off their family ranch by robbing the banks that have been 'robbing' their family for years; a soon-to-be retired Texas Ranger (Jeff Bridges) picks up their trail in hopes of foiling the next heist.
The Reel Festival continues Sunday with three presentations. Sunday morning at 10am, the life-affirming documentary Driving with Selvi follows the indomitably spirited and utterly magnetic Selvi as she finds her place in the world. Overcoming life as a child bride to become an independent entrepreneur, Selvi is South India's first female taxi driver. At our 1pm matinee we are excited to present Sweden's entry into the Best Foreign Language Oscar race – A Man Called Ove. Ill-tempered Ove spends his days enforcing block association rules and visiting his wife's grave; he is about to give up on life when he develops an unlikely friendship with his boisterous new neighbours. Our Festival wraps up at 4pm with the legendary Bruce McDonald's latest feature Weirdos. Written by another Film Circuit and Canadian favourite, Daniel McIvor, this coming-of-age road movie has the perfect blend of magic and nostalgia - plus a killer '70s soundtrack to match.
The Reel Festival runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday at The Historic Roxy Theatre in downtown Owen Sound, February 24-26, 2017.
Tickets still available - call The TOM for yours! (519.376.1923 x224)
General Weekend Pass $100 or Members Weekend Pass $90 (prices include admission to all 7 films, $50 tax receipt and HST)
REEL FESTIVAL SCREENING SCHEDULE
Friday February 24 at 7pm OPERATION AVALANCHE
Saturday February 25 at 10am OLD STONE
Saturday February 25 at 1pm LO & BEHOLD: REVERIES OF THE CONNECTED WORLD
Saturday February 25 at 4pm HELL OR HIGH WATER
Sunday February 26 at 10am DRIVING WITH SELVI
Sunday February 26 at 1pm A MAN CALLED OVE
Sunday February 26 at 4pm WEIRDOS
Tickets available at the at The TOM during gallery hours until Friday at noon, then at The Roxy during the Reel Festival weekend, ½ hour prior to screening time – $15 each, cash only.
