The Cinémathèque québécoise is proud to announce the launch of its 50th anniversary celebrations on April 18, fifty years to the day from its founding in 1963. To highlight this important milestone, in addition to the Cinémathèque’s regular programming, there will be major events, retrospectives, exhibitions and special activities throughout the year until April 2014.
Trailer of the 50th year programming:
RAY HARRYHAUSEN RETROSPECTIVE
April 19 to May 3
To kick off the 50th anniversary celebrations and highlight the inauguration of the new exhibition, there will be a partial retrospective of the work of Ray Harryhausen, one of the 20th century’s greatest special effects creators. We will be presenting the recent documentary Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan, along with a selection of genre films on which he worked:Mysterious Island, Jason and the Argonauts, One Million Years B.C., Clash of the Titans, etc. Harryhausen expert Phil Boot, assistant curator of the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation, has been invited to introduce the films and give a talk.
ANDRÉ FORCIER RETROSPECTIVE
September 2013
The big event in September 2013 will be a major retrospective of André Forcier’s films, with the director in attendance. In line with the Cinémathèque’s heritage mandate, we will celebrate our 50th anniversary by offering cinephiles a rare opportunity to discover or rediscover the work of this acclaimed Quebec filmmaker, many of whose films are no longer available. Considered the enfant terrible of Quebec cinema, director-writer André Forcier is known for edgy, imaginative works that are both humorous and touching. Using magic realism to interpret the world around him, his films express his great love for Quebec culture. This is conveyed through the language and social relations, the sublimation of the misfortunes and suffering of the little guy, the survivors, those who live on the fringes of society. Romain Gary, under the pen name Émile Ajar, wrote in his 1979 novel L’angoisse du Roi Salomon: “Va voir Eau chaude, Eau frette à la Pagode, rue de Babylone, ça se donne en ce moment, tu verras qu’il y a encore des possibilités.” (Go see L’Eau chaude, l’eau frette at the Pagoda Cinema on the Rue de Babylone, it’s on now, you’ll see that possibilities still exist.) We now know that these possibilities are all around us and that Forcier’s films will live on.
PRIIT PÄRN RETROSPECTIVE
September 25 to October 17
With its political and social satire, black humour and absurdist sensibility typical of Estonian animation, Pärn’s work has greatly influenced young animators. He is an engaged filmmaker who explores political and geopolitical upheavals, from the collapse of the Soviet Union and Estonian independence to the current economic and cultural globalization. His cartoon-inspired graphic style is crude yet aesthetically developed. Since his debut film in 1977, he has created an impressive body of work consisting of 15 films, which will be grouped into five sessions for the retrospective. His most recent works are co-directed with his wife, Olga Pärn. The retrospective will also include a master class.
2013 SOMMETS DU CINÉMA D'ANIMATION DE MONTRÉAL / GEORGES PAL SPECIAL
December 2013
George Pal (1908-1980) was born in Hungary and started out in the movie business making cartoons, working in Budapest, Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam. In the Netherlands, he shot a famous commercial for Philips Radio. During the Second World War, he emigrated to the United States, where he made a series of “Puppetoons” and, with his animation expertise, also directed and/or produced special effects films (When Worlds Collide, The War of the Worlds, Tom Thumb, The Time Machine, etc.). His animation films are recognized for their clean, volumetric design and rich colours. He gave Ray Harryhausen one of his first animation jobs, and was honoured with a technical Oscar in 1943.
SOMMETS DU CINÉMA D'ANIMATION DE MONTRÉAL 2013 / MARTINE CHARTRAND RETROSPECTIVE
December 2013
Martine Chartrand uses an animation technique considered to be difficult, painting on glass. Her work is in the continuity of the pioneers like Caroline Leaf and Russian Alexander Petrov. Martine Chartrand’s animated films are the result of a long and patient effort. They are distinguished by the dedication of the director, their brightness, their sincerity, as well themes related to attachment to one’s roots (Âme Noire, MacPherson).
JEAN GRÉMILLON RETROSPECTIVE
December 2013
Jean Grémillon does not enjoy the international reputation he deserves. Many experts consider him one of the greatest French filmmakers, on a par with Jean Renoir and Marcel Carné. His films are pure marvels, combining popular cinema (compelling story and well-known actors) with subtle and poignant reflection on human nature and weakness. Over a career spanning nearly four decades, Grémillon signed two masterpieces of silent cinema, Gardiens du Phare and Maldone, and gave Jean Gabin two of his finest roles in Remorques and Geule d’amour. The Cinémathèque française recently restored his 1942 film Lumière d’été. We hope to give Montreal film fans a chance to discover this outstanding film in the fall of 2013 as part of the Cinémathèque québécoise’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
ORSON WELLES RETROSPECTIVE
March to April 2014
The spring of 2014 will be devoted to a large-scale Orson Welles retrospective covering all the different aspects of his work – film and television. We will try to present as many films and documents as possible.Welles was an eclectic creator, pushing each medium of expression in new directions, marking not only the history of cinema, but the radio and the theater. We will present the great masterpieces - Citizen Kane, Othello, Touch of Evil. The retrospective will require the collaboration of a many cinematheques and film libraries for the loan of film prints.
40 YEARS OF VIDEO ART IN QUEBEC
March 2014
In March 2014, in collaboration with the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) and the Conseil québécois des arts médiatiques (CQAM), we will present five programs celebrating 40 years of Quebec video art, with all its poetry and innovation. From the early works of Le Vidéographe made possible through the immediacy of portable video to the most sophisticated CGI creations achieved with the latest post-production software, it will be a vast panorama with a selection organized with CQAM artist-run centres and artists.
PIANISTS WEEK
April 2014
As the closing event of the 50th anniversary, Gabriel Thibaudeau will invite three fellow silent film pianists – Philip Carli, pianist at George Eastman House; Antonio Coppola, from Scano, Italy; and Maud Nelisen, from Amsterdam – for a week of silent film screenings with piano accompaniment.
EXHIBITIONS
ASPECTS OF THE GLOBAL VILLAGE: THE TELEVISION ERA IN CANADA, 1950-2000
Presented in collaboration with CBC/Radio-Canada
June 23 to August 23, 2013
In addition to presenting several televisions and other devices of the Cinémathèque's collections (the largest of its kind in North America), the exhibition will showcase archival footage of TV programs, tracing the history of television with the visual imagery in order to show how television has developed its own language and its own style. It examines both the English and French television, with a section devoted to Inuit television. Archival images are organized by decades starting from the 1950s and mixes contents from producers and broadcasters of public and private television.
GROS PLAN SUR LA COLLECTION 1
April 4 to May 26, 2013
Displayed in all its splendor, the jewel in our collection of old cameras: the Lumière Cinematograph No. 16. This projector, designed by Auguste and Louis Lumière in France in 1895, will be accompanied by photographs and documents of the Lumière brothers.
GROS PLAN SUR LA COLLECTION 2
June 6 to October 27, 2013
An exhibition that focuses on the significant artifacts of the Cinémathèque's collection: magic lanterns dating from 1870-1900, cameras from various eras, objects and documents highlighting the work of directors, art directors, photographers, the poster and much more. Among these artifacts, a camera from 1914 that belonged to Léo-Ernest Ouimet, his notebooks from 1912 to 1915, and a holographic letter from Sergei M. Eisenstein, dated back to 1935 Moscow, and many other surprises.
