Friday, January 17, 2025
AT DUSK
Cinéma Moderne
| 7:00 PM: | Taman-Taman (Park) |
| (8:40 PM): | Let the Red Moon Burn |
| (9:00 PM): | Eephus |
Passions reach a fever pitch at dusk; as light wanes, our sense of urgency heightens, and rituals take on a more imperative meaning. This program focuses on people devoted to vanishing traditions, who practice their art by nightfall, like so many well-kept secrets that the camera probes with tremendous insight. Two Indonesian poets discuss the situation of migrant workers in Taiwan while traditional Hungarian dancers sway under the moonlight and two amateur baseball teams duke it out one last time in a soon-to-be-dismantled New England field. Here is a perfect chance to partake in unsung fellowships, forged through the sacred fire of ceremony, but mostly to marvel at perceptive directorial gestures and invoked moods; at the fading sunlight that surrounds characters and subjects with a mystical aura.
- The screening will be followed by a debate moderated by Mélopée B. Montminy (writer and programmer) with filmmakers Ralitsa Doncheva and Carson Lund, film critic Helen Faradji along with writer and professor Michel Nareau.
TRIPLE BILL
Taman-Taman (Park)
So Yo-Hen
100 minutes, Taiwan, 2024
Indonesian, with English subtitles
North American Premiere
Two Indonesian poets meet at Tainan Park and take advantage of the day to write poetry. Inspired by their meeting and their conversation, the fruit of their labor comes to life at night in the form of songs, gestures and stories told in the moonlight. As time passes, they interrogate the project they are shooting in a stunning observational film that blends nocturnal wandering, the importance of slowing down and the art of the spoken word – the beauty of Bahasa, which gives voice to foreign workers based in Taiwan.
With Asri Jalal, Hasan Basri Maulana Firmansyah
Festivals: SGIFF 2024, Taiwan International Documentary Festival 2024
Let the Red Moon Burn
Ralitsa Doncheva
7 minutes, Canada / Bulgaria, 2023
No dialogue
Every August, thousands of people gather in the Bulgarian village of Zheravna to celebrate the Festival of National Costume. In traditional dress, they sing and dance under the full moon to the sound of bagpipes.
Festivals: RIDM 2023, DOXA 2024
- Filmmaker in attendance
Eephus
Carson Lund
98 minutes, United States, 2024
Original English version
Quebec Premiere
As their beloved small-town baseball field is about to be torn down, two dedicated teams from a New England beer league face off for a final day of softhearted shenanigans. Helmets, aluminum cans, pizza flavored taunts, and deceptive curve balls abound in this gorgeously photographed, empathically acted and perceptive reflection on the values of rugged camaraderie and the sheer passion of amateur sportsmen in an increasingly disconnected world. And as night falls, DOP-turned-director Carson Lund showcases the extent of his love for the craft, reflected in his characters’ commitment to their own game.
With Keith William Richards, Frederick Wiseman, Cliff Blake, Ray Hryb, Bill Lee, Stephen Radochia, David Pridemore, Keith Poulson
Festivals: Directors’ Fortnight 2024, NYFF 2024
- Filmmaker in attendance
