Tell No One (Ne le dis à personne) (France 2006)
Directed by Guillaume Canet
With François Cluzet, Marie-Josée Croze, Kristin Scott Thomas, et al.
French with English subtitles.

Well, you know from the title in English or in French (Ne le dis à personne) that we are in thriller territory here. And French cinema thrills like no other. As you might expect, the thrill is centred on a romantic liaison, this time a young, adorable sweetheart of a couple for whom things suddenly go terribly wrong. One of them is murdered and the other becomes a suspect, generating a pretty wild set of chases and plot complications, clues and surprises, the way any good thriller ought to be. Tell No One won four Césars, the French Oscars, and was nominated for five more, and made a huge hit across Europe, but yet was only recently distributed in North America. Word on the street is that the complicated plot was too demanding for audiences on this side of the pond. Donnez moi un break! If Hitchcock had been French this is the kind of movie he'd have made - sizzling with intrigue, gorgeous characters, mystery and meaning. Ooh la la all around.

Check out the video review from the LA Times.

Tell No One plays Thursday, February 5, at 7pm at Empire Theatres, Avalon Mall, as part of the MUN Cinema Series Winter Program. All films are open to the public. MUN Cinema sets up a table near the Empire Cinemas' box office about an hour before the screening where tickets and passes may be purchased. Admission is $10 / $9.

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Kicking it outport with Colleen Power (!), video by Colleen Power and Roger Maunder (aka the Townie Man). Catch more of Colleen's tunes here.

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You know, it sometimes seems like the Women's Film Festival is a rest-stop on the road to short film glory. I mean, not to toot our own proverbial horn, but hey, we screen some good flicks you know what I mean? And if you don't, please allow me to clarify, rarify and exemplify:

Eva Madden, she whose mug currently adorns our Feature Filmmaker page, has put in the time and her short film, Eastern Shore, which screened at our 2007 Festival, has just gotten a broadcast deal on Movieola. You can watch Eastern Shore for free on the information superway on January 30.

Now, I don't mean to be telling tales out of school but if you haven't heard of Mike O'Neill (whose music is featured in Eastern Shore), well then you've got some work to do. Check him out on CBC Radio 3, the official public broadcaster for hipsters everywhere.

No one hit wonders are we: New Boy, which screened this year at the 19th WFF, just picked up a nod for Best Live Action Short at the 81st Annual Academy Awards (aka the place where they dress up and hand out little gold men)! Now this is no mean feat and screenwriter/director Steph Green (this is only her third film!) has earned a drink if you see her out around. Congratulations to Steph and all the crew responsible for such a tremendous accomplishment!

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Growing Op (Canada 2008) 95 min.
Directed by Michael Melski
With Steven Yaffee, Wallace Langham, Rosanna Arquette, Katie Boland, et al.

Have you noticed how much the popular imagination is taken up with cannabis these days? It's been pretty much normalized, partly because the generation that popularized and inhaled it has grown up and is now making movies and programming television. Guess it's true what they always said: smoking marijuana does lead to bigger things. Growing Op is a charming, witty feature about a child of that boomer generation, an 18-year-old who longs for a life of straight parents and public schooling. Yeah, that's what rebellion looks like in these twisted times. Steven Yaffee stars in the role of Quinn (not the Eskimo but inspired by one), a young man in search of weedlessness. Director Michael Melski cleverly sends up a slew of genres—the high school movie; the rebel movie; the dope comedy—turning them inside out for satiric pleasure. Don't Bogart your time—check this out.

Growing Op plays tonight, January 22, at 7pm at Empire Theatres, Avalon Mall, as part of the MUN Cinema Series Winter Program. All films are open to the public. MUN Cinema sets up a table near the Empire Cinemas' box office about an hour before the screening where tickets and passes may be purchased. Admission is $10 / $9.

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After blood, sweat and tears and a few fevers the intrepid Gerry Rogers has completed Ferron: Girl on a Road. The TV version is airing soon. Watch for the festival version coming to a screen near you...

Ferron: Girl on a Road
Director Gerry Rogers' beautiful portrait of Canadian folk singer Ferron, known for influencing Jane Siberry, The Indigo Girls and Ani DiFranco. This one hour film captures Ferron’s salt of the earth folk stylings and features a live performance in Vancouver as she re-unites with her old band mates after 10 years.

Ferron: Girl on a Road airs on Bravo! Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 9 p.m. Eastern time (10:30 in NL) / 6 p.m. Pacific

Check out the event on Facebook!

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