Vues d'Afrique

Last updated

Vues d'Afrique is an annual film festival in Montreal, Quebec. [1] It is devoted primarily to African film, although it also includes some Canadian films about African Canadian culture.

The event was staged for the first time in 1985, originally under the name African Cinema Week, [2] and was known as Vues d'Afrique by the early 1990s. [3]

The festival's primary venue is the Cinémathèque québécoise, [4] although films have also been screened at a variety of venues in the city including Concordia University, the Université du Québec à Montréal, the offices of the National Film Board, the Maison de la Culture Frontenac, and the Centre Pierre Péladeau. [5] The festival has also sometimes organized film screenings in other cities outside Montreal, including Quebec City, Sherbrooke, Alma, Jonquière and Ottawa. [6]

The festival screens both film and television projects. [7] It also highlights other expressions of African culture, including an African food fair and events devoted to African dance, music, art and literature. [8]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the 2020 event was staged online through the website of TV5 Québec Canada. [9]

Related Research Articles

Poutine Québécois dish of french fries topped with cheese curds and gravy (emerged late 1950s)

Poutine is a dish of french fries and cheese curds topped with a brown gravy. It emerged in Quebec, in the late 1950s in the Centre-du-Québec region, though its exact origins are uncertain and there are several competing claims regarding its invention. For many years it was perceived negatively and mocked, and even used by some to stigmatize Quebec society. Poutine later became celebrated as a symbol of Québécois culture and the province of Quebec. It has long been associated with Quebec cuisine, and its rise in prominence has led to popularity throughout the rest of Canada, in the northern United States, and internationally.

Denys Arcand Canadian film director

Georges-Henri Denys Arcand is a French Canadian film director, screenwriter and producer. His film The Barbarian Invasions won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 2004. His films have also been nominated three further times, including two nominations in the same category for The Decline of the American Empire in 1986 and Jesus of Montreal in 1989, becoming the only French-Canadian director in history whose films have received this number of nominations and, subsequently, to have a film win the award. Also for The Barbarian Invasions, he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, losing to Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation.

Claude Jutra was a Canadian actor, film director, and screenwriter.

Cinema of Quebec Filmmaking in Quebec

The history of cinema in Quebec started on June 27, 1896 when the Frenchman Louis Minier inaugurated the first movie projection in North America in a Montreal theatre room. However, it would have to wait until the 1960s before a genuine Quebec cinema industry would emerge. Approximately 620 feature-length films have been produced, or partially produced by the Quebec film industry since 1943.

Montreal was referred to as "Canada's Cultural Capital" by Monocle Magazine. The city is Canada's centre for French-language television productions, radio, theatre, film, multimedia, and print publishing. The Quartier Latin is a neighbourhood crowded with cafés animated by this literary and musical activity. Montreal's many cultural communities have given it a distinct local culture.

The Canadian Screen Award for Best Live Action Short Drama is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian live action short film. Formerly part of the Genie Awards, since 2012 it has been presented as part of the Canadian Screen Awards.

Raôul Duguay is a Canadian artist, poet, musician, and political activist in the province of Quebec, Canada. He has been an active performer since 1966. Duguay is a longtime supporter of the Quebec sovereignty movement and has run for public office on at least two occasions.

Monique Mbeka Phoba is a filmmaker whose family comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) but who now lives in Benin. Her films have won a number of awards.

Seductio is a 1987 Canadian film written, produced, and directed by Bashar Shbib. The film stars Attila Bertalan and Kathy Horner as Mikael and Melanie, a couple who are lost in the woods when their vehicle breaks down while travelling; Melanie is consumed by a fear of being attacked by bears, while Mikael tries to stoke her fears as a psychological game.

Parabola Films is a Montreal-based Canadian cinema production company founded by Sarah Spring and Selin Murat, a documentary filmmaker. Parabola Films focuses on the production of videos which demonstrate the role of cinema in social change. The company collaborates with other film-making organizations who emphasize storytelling.

Michel Lemieux is a Canadian multimedia artist from Quebec, whose career has incorporated work in theatrical design, installation art, film, video, dance and music. First coming to prominence in the early 1980s as a performance artist whose work explored the integration of new media technologies into experimental pop music in a manner similar to Peter Gabriel and Laurie Anderson, more recently he has concentrated primarily on creating, designing, directing and producing multimedia theatrical presentations for events, theatrical companies and other artists.

Cinéfranco is an annual film festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which presents a weeklong program of both Canadian and international French language films.

Osvalde Lewat Cameroonian film director (born 1977)

Osvalde Lewat is a Cameroonian filmmaker and photographer best known for her sociopolitical documentaries.

Lula Ali Ismaïl is a Djibouti-Canadian film director and screenwriter. She is the first woman from Djibouti to produce a film, earning her the nickname of "the first lady of the Djibouti cinema." The directed the 27-minute fiction short Laan (2011). The film was screened at the 2012 Montreal Vues d'Afrique festival, and in 2013 at FESPACO. In 2014 she started working on a feature film, Dhalinyaro, co-written with Alexandra Ramniceanu and Marc Wels. The film, Djibouti's first feature film, premiered in July 2017.

<i>Antigone</i> (2019 film) 2019 film

Antigone is a 2019 Canadian drama film directed by Sophie Deraspe. An adaptation of the ancient Greek play Antigone by Sophocles, the film transposes the story to a modern day refugee family in Montreal. The cast includes Nahéma Ricci as Antigone, with Rawad El-Zein, Hakim Brahimi, Rachida Oussaada, and Nour Belkhiria. It was filmed in Greater Montreal in 2018.

Kid Sentiment is a Canadian docufiction film, directed by Jacques Godbout and released in 1968. Mixing fiction with documentary in the direct cinema style and working with a cast of non-professional actors, the film depicts 1960s youth culture through a narrative fiction story about four teenagers in Quebec City mixed with segments in which Godbout directly interviews the actors about their goals, values and philosophies of life.

References

  1. Marissa Groguhé, "La programmation de Vues d’Afrique dévoilée". La Presse , March 23, 2021.
  2. Ina Warren, "Banned South African films set for festival". The Globe and Mail , April 7, 1988.
  3. "Festival will feature 115 movies". The Globe and Mail , April 17, 1991.
  4. T'cha Dunlevy, "Out Of Africa; From feel-good comedy to political protest to family drama, here are 10 entry points to the 33rd Vues d'Afrique festival". Montreal Gazette , April 13, 2017.
  5. Alan Hustak, "A taste of Africa: Vues d'Afrique offers films, food, art, books and more". Montreal Gazette , April 16, 1999.
  6. Kathryn Greenaway, "An African, Creole celebration; Vues d'Afrique to show 120 works from 30 countries". Montreal Gazette , April 19, 1994.
  7. John Griffin, "Here's how to visit 40 countries without leaving town; Vues d'Afrique movie festival includes 36 films and 23 television productions from Africa". Montreal Gazette , April 18, 1993.
  8. Evangeline Sadler, "Food, dance, zumba - and some movies, too! - at Vues d'Afrique". Montreal Gazette , April 22, 2016.
  9. "Vues d'Afrique will go online only, Complètement Cirque cancelled". Montreal Gazette , April 8, 2020.