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Sunday, November 9
j'adore les films français 11:36 AMCinemental, Winnipeg's annual French film festival - 5 to 9 Nov 08.
Hey, I like French films. Not that I know much about them, but watching Mr. Average back in Cathay's Cinema Europa, and learning about the French New Wave and Neo Noir genre in film class - I just really like the unique plot and aesthetic appeal of such Films. And, even more so, to put what I've learnt to practice and interpret films in a different perspective. So when I heard of Cinemental from my Prof, I decided to rope in a couple exchange students to join the fun and engage in a little "cultural immersion".
The screening was to be held near St. Boniface, the French settlement in the city, at the CCFM, the Center-Culturel-Franco-Manitobain (pronounced saun-terr-koo-choo-rare-l-frung-ko-manito-bung, haha). We ventured out on a long and arduous journey under the treacherous weather - yes, it was a horrible and scary adventure cos of the icy rains and fast chilly winds that hurt our faces and ears. It was supposed to start snowing the following day (Friday), so precipitation was expected. But the temperatures were not sufficiently low enough to turn the ice into snow, so it all fell as sleet and my, it was damn painful! We also had to walk in the murky sloshy ice (which is really ugly btw) and it was all slippery and wet.. rah. :(
Ok la, it was just horrid at that point in time, but in retrospect a unique experience after all (though once is enough, but I foresee more coming..). And all was good and worthwhile too, when we caught a good meal in a mid-atas French restaurant, Resto-Gare! Oh my.. haven't had proper meals in ages! Haha.
Left to right: Serene (Canadian and AIMS buddy to Julie), Julie (French - first person I invited cos we'd been wanting to hang out and I know she'd be interested in this, haha), Marleen (Dutch)
As with all French restaurants, Resto-Gare serves good wines (I didn't try though!) and breads. When the owner first saw us coming in, he commented "Wow, you look like you just came from the Arctic!" - hence the picture.
Cinemental poster - I like the watermelon piano, heh.
We watched Delice Paloma, a feature film by Nadir Mokneche. I won't go into detail on story and plot here, but I just feel that French films provide a very intriguing perspective and heighten audience's expectations with their twists in climaxes. Definitely not the usual Hollywood Classical style of filmmaking we're conditioned and used to (which, to put simply and summarize from film class - is about getting the narrative over and done with, paying little attention to aesthetics, cinematography and the beauty of the image). Yep.. French filmmakers adopt a Formalist style most of the time; the storyline may develop slow and gradual, but whatever's onscreen can always be appreciated on a deeper level through their use of various subtle techniques. Heh. I'm actually putting what I've learnt to interpret stuff better onscreen now, and I'm proud of that. :)
xx
I'd thought of sharing some interesting stuff I'd learnt, since I'm at the topic of films. But this is already long overdue and I don't really want to bore you out, so I won't. :( I do hope to do well for film class anyway - sometimes I feel inadequate and struggling just cos of the limited exposure I've had to films - but my Prof'd mentioned it's prolly cos of the censorship in Singapore that I haven't heard of movies he discusses. Still, it's reassuring to hear that he doesn't worry about me cos I'm genuinely interested and keen on learning. So that's nice. The course is just so reflective and enriching; one day I'll try to revisit and re-evaluate films I'd passed off previously as juvenile, dumb, or cheap flicks! Haha.
Trivia on horror films from the West
The evil never dies in Western horror films just because filmmakers always attempt to go for a sequel - and really, it's just that and nothing else. In fact, sometimes the Director has no say at all cos the Producer's the money guy, and is in fact more important than the Director in determining many things that'll develop in a movie. Oh, and I commented that Asian horror flicks are always so much better than Western ones, and my Prof agrees - filmmakers here attempt to model their horror films after the Asians', but they are never as good (just look at The Ring, tsk).. haha.
Au voir for now!
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Winifred Lim
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120 Dafoe Road, Winnipeg, MB R3T 6B3
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About me
You are an enthusiastic innovator, always seeing new possibilities and new ways of doing things. You have a lot of imagination and initiative for starting projects, and a lot of impulsive energy for carrying them out. You are stimulated by difficulties and are most ingenious in solving them. You can get so interested in your newest project that you have time for little else. Your energy comes from a succession of new enthusiasms and your world is full of possible projects. Your enthusiasm gets other people interested too.
Your feeling preference shows in a concern for people. You are skillful in handling people and often have remarkable insight into the possibilities and development of others. You are extremely perceptive about the attitudes of others, aiming to understand rather than judge people. You are much drawn to counseling and can be inspired and inspiring teacher, particularly where you have freedom to innovate. With talent, you can succeed in almost any field that captures your interest.
A difficulty for you is that you hate uninspired routine and find it remarkably hard to apply yourself to sometimes necessary detail unconnected with any major interest. Worse yet, you may get bored with your own projects as soon as the major problems have been solved or the initial challenge has been met. You may need to learn to follow through and finish what you have begun, but are happiest and most effective in jobs that permit one project after another, with somebody else taking over as soon as the situation is well in hand.
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