Discover Guido Molinari, grand master of Quebecois abstract art, in La Couleur chante Molinari by Lauraine André-G. Beginning in the 50’s, painter, poet and theoretician, Guido Molinari produced a consistent and rigorous body of work that alternated between the rational and the sensorial. He was in favour of resolutely abstract painting that would put an end to Romanticism and Symbolism. Here he speaks of the evolution of abstraction and the theoretical debates of this intense period that was 1950’s Quebec. He presents his pivotal works, and touches on the concepts that underlie his artistic approach within the context of the intermingling of the artistic circles of Montreal, Paris and New York.

Also : Ex-centris posted his summer 2005 schedule online !

La Cinémathèque québécoise honorée au Festival du film d’animation d’Annecy

À l’occasion d’un hommage au Canada, le prestigieux Festival international du film d’animation d’Annecy (France), qui se tiendra cette année du 6 au 11 juin prochains, offrira une carte blanche à la Cinémathèque québécoise. L’organisation du festival veut ainsi souligner le rôle immense qu’a joué (et continue de jouer) la Cinémathèque dans la sauvegarde du patrimoine mondial du film d’animation.

Vingt-cinq films d’archives puisés dans la collection internationale de la Cinémathèque seront présentés à Annecy. Les festivaliers pourront ainsi parcourir l’histoire du cinéma d’animation et découvrir un pan de l’inestimable corpus conservé par la Cinémathèque. La programmation comprend des chefs-d’œuvre de Winsor McCay, Jiri Trnka, Len Lye, Robert Breer, Tex Avery, Jan Svankmajer, Jan Lenica, Norman McLaren et de plusieurs autres. Ces films rares, fragiles et précieux sont très rarement montrés à l’extérieur des salles de projection de la Cinémathèque.

De plus, l’exposition Co Hoedeman, Les Jardins de l’enfance, qui avait ravi le public montréalais à l’été 2003, sera présentée au Musée-Château d’Annecy pendant le festival. Cette merveilleuse exposition réalisée par l’Office national du film du Canada et la Cinémathèque québécoise propose un parcours parmi les spectaculaires décors qu’a élaborés le cinéaste Co Hoedeman pour ses films d’animation.

If I were going to the movies during the 24hrs ou plus that I’ll be visiting this fair city from the wilds of Edmonton, I’d go see the new Kim Ki-duk film 3 Iron. I read Tony Rayns bilious deconstruction of Kim‘s oeuvre in the last Film Comment, and was shocked to find that he felt that western critics had been suckered in by Kim’s last offering Spring Summer Fall Winter … and Spring and that this was evidence of their collective propensity towards romantic views of the orient and, you know, their general lame-ness. I found Spring etc. genuinely moving and genuinely connected to films like Why Has Bodi Dharma Left for the East or even Ozu pics, just as moving as I found The Isle, with its fishhooks in vaginas and middle aged men behaving nihilistically, utterly appalling. So I’m genuinely curious. And while I’m ready to risk the status of Tony Rayns thinking I’m not one of world cinema’s cool kids (if he had any idea at all who I was, that is), I must confess I’m not sure I’m willing to risk finding out that this is a nasty, isn’t-transgressive-misogyny-fun exploitation-style romp. So I’m gonna go for a nice dinner with the friends who are letting me crash with them instead. Let me know how it turns out.

Excentris
June 4-10
5:10 pm