A Sunday in Kigali

A Sunday in Kigali", staring Luc Picard and Fatou N'Diaye, is to beshown in Korea at the Pussan International Film Festival. A pressscreening is playing at 2:00pm on day 2, Ocober 13th, in the Primus 4theater. It is also showing on Day 3 (14th) at 9:00pm in the Daeyoung1theater, and on Day 7 (18th) at 4:30pm in Daeyoung 1. 

See PIFF.org for details, and the PIFF Schedule.

The main challenge for the 31st annual Toronto International Film Festival (Sept. 7-16), with regards to its Canadian movie contingent, is how to drum up sufficient public interest despite the absence of the country's top-name directors.

"This is an unusual year for Canada, as the dominant players - Atom Egoyan, David Cronenberg, Denys Arcand - aren't around. So there's an interesting opening from which some Canadian films may pop out," says Noah Cowan, TIFF co-director.

Unable to rely on the usual suspects, organizers will look to homegrown up-and-comers and less well-known filmmaking vets to garner their share of press and business.

Northern filmmakers Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn clinched this year's opening night gala slot for their Inuit epic The Journals of Knud Rasmussen (see story, p. T4) - their follow-up to 2001's Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner - ahead of its release in southern Canada three weeks later through the currently troubled Alliance Atlantis Motion Picture Distribution.

Also getting the red carpet treatment at Roy Thomson Hall, as part of a two-day press junket, is the Alzheimer's drama Away from Her, Sarah Polley's debut turn as feature director (p. T6).

"[This film] defined my life for a long time," says the acclaimed actress-turned-helmer. "Now I'll see if all of my ideas will speak to people." For the world premiere, Polley will be backed by venerable star wattage in the form of Julie Christie, Gordon Pinsent, Olympia Dukakis, Michael Murphy and Wendy Crewson.

Another possible breakout is Guy Maddin, Winnipeg's auteur of the absurd, whose feature Brand Upon the Brain! (p. T7) may impress like his Genie Award-winning short film Heart of the World did in 2000. Both are loving throwbacks to early cinema - silent works shot in black and white.

"I'd be surprised if it didn't have a similar impact," says Steve Gravestock, TIFF associate director, Canadian programming. In a Special Presentation at the Elgin Theatre, Brand Upon the Brain! will be accompanied by a nine-member orchestra, a young male singer and a narrator.

"It's crazy," Gravestock says of the film. "It's kind of his biography. It's bananas. I can't think of anyone but Guy who could make that sort of film."

Also likely to garner audience interest is Fido (p. T8), Andrew Currie's zombie comedy-drama making its world premiere as the Canada First! opener on Sept. 7. Billy Connolly, Carrie-Anne Moss, Dylan Baker, Henry Czerny and Tim Blake Nelson star in the genre picture about the undead showing up in a suburban town as house pets and domestic workers. The film has already sold into 20 territories.

Among the entries in the "Contemporary World Cinema" sidebar [at the Toronto International Film Festival] are Jens Lien's quirky drama DEN BRYSOMME MANNEN | THE BOTHERSOME MAN (Norway), winner of the Best Director and Best Screenwriting awards at this year's Norwegian Film Institute Amanda Awards; Jeffrey Jeturian's KUBRADOR | THE BET COLLECTOR (The Philippines), the story of a bet collector whose life is changed following a death in the neighborhood, and the winner of this year's OSIAN-CINEFAN Festival's Best (Asian) Film Award; and Robert Favreau's UN DIMANCHE A KIGALI | SUNDAY IN KIGALI (Canada), which stars Luc Picard as a journalist returning to Rwanda after the genocide in order to find his long-lost Rwandan lover. 

The Toronto Film Festival runs from Sept. 7-16, 2006.

Worldwide sales company Seville International announced its Cannes lineup, which consists of three pre-sold films--" A Sunday in Kigali," based on the Gil Courtemanche bestseller A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali; " Global Metal," an anthropological analysis of heavy metal music; and the Locarno International Film Festival award-winning Bernard Emond film " The Novena." [Kristina Woo/indieWIRE]

Générique

Québec. 2006. Drame sentimental.
Réalisation et scénario: Robert Favreau, d'après le roman «Un Dimanche à la piscine à Kigali» de Gil Courtemanche.
Photographie: Pierre Mignot.
Montage: Hélène Girard.
Musique: Jorane.
Avec Luc Picard, Fatou N'Diaye, Céline Bonnier, Luck Mervil, Maka Kotto, Louise Laparé.

118 min.

Résumé

Kigali, printemps 1994. Alors qu'il tourne un reportage sur le sida au Rwanda, le journaliste québécois Bernard Valcourt est témoin des tensions grandissantes entre les communautés Tutsis et Hutus. Depuis le chic Hôtel des Mille Collines, où il loge, et où travaille Gentille, la serveuse dont il est épris, Valcourt tente d'expliquer aux médias canadiens les causes du conflit imminent. Or, celui-ci éclate avant qu'il n'ait eu l'opportunité d'épouser Gentille afin de la doter de la protection diplomatique. Dans le chaos, les deux amoureux sont bien vite séparés. Après avoir passé plusieurs mois bloqué à la frontière, Valcourt revient dans la capitale, complètement ravagée, dans l'espoir d'y retrouver Gentille. Mais la jeune femme est introuvable.


Critique

Plutôt que de se livrer à une reconstitution historique, dans l'esprit de HOTEL RWANDA, Robert Favreau (LES MUSES ORPHELINES) a opté pour une évocation impressionniste et fragmentée du génocide de 1994, dont l'histoire d'amour constitue le révélateur. Il résulte de ce parti-pris timide un film émouvant, mais étrangement peu percutant. Émouvant parce que les deux protagonistes (excellents Luc Picard et Fatou N'Diaye) défendent avec ardeur et conviction un amour contrarié, d'abord par la culture, puis par la haine et le cauchemar. Peu percutant parce que le Rwanda blessé et surpeuplé, où le film a été tourné, transparaît à peine dans les images, pourtant fort belles, de Pierre Mignot. Outre quelques tentatives d'amplifier l'inquiétude ou l'horreur par des effets de mise en scène, celle-ci s'avère, dans l'ensemble, classique et sans aspérités. À l'image, somme toute, du scénario: un brin didactique dans ses moins bons moments, d'une éloquente sobriété dans ses meilleurs. (Martin Bilodeau)


Remarques

Adolescents (Violences meurtrières filmées avec retenue. Une scène de viol d'une rare brutalité. Situations à caractère sexuel. Nudité partielle).

Undescribable...

In this movie, you re-live Rwanda's genocide in the context of a love story between a white man from Quebec and a young and beautiful Hutu.

This movie is simply undescribable....it will make you cry, it will make you angry, it will make you think, it can be all of the above, but one thing is for sure: it will make you react.

One thing I loved about the movie is the way they opposed the present and the past. It gave to the movie kind of a `''before and after'' dimension, which was quite interesting. There is one very intense part were they mix up the present and the past like it happens at the same time, that part is extremely well made.

And Luc Picard, what can I say about his acting? He is simply amazing and connects in an incredible way his character. About Fatou N'diaye, she is just so beautiful!!!

One critic that I would make though, is about the choice of actors. Maybe it touched me more because I am African myself, but it really showed that some actors weren't from Rwanda or even from Africa, some of them even had french accents! That bothered me a little. But for the rest: the setting, the story itself, they were absolutely fantastic.

That movie is a MUST-SEE and will probably win a lot of prices in the futur.


Mylene Otou April 22, 2006



Unforgettable

Watching this heart-wrenching film I couldn't stop wondering how many more movies, books and reports it's going to take before we realise that we have to do something. It's great that we remember these people and are made more aware of the human face of their suffering, but what will we do if it happens again? What are we doing about it now, in places like Afghanistan and Iraq?

In 'Shake Hands with the Devil', Dallaire talks about some risk assessment types from the US government who come to study whether or not the States should send in troops. They said "There's no gold, or oil, or diamonds...just agriculture and lots of negroes".

It's all too easy to just sit there and watch the news coverage of another war-torn area in Africa or the Middle East, safe in the knowledge that it is not happening to us, but them. More Western powers could have supported the UN mission in Rawanda, but decided not to. Yet when it is us who are attacked, we flatten a whole country.

We need to get past this 'us' and 'them' mentality, past the notion of 'not in my backyard' to 'not in my world'. We can only learn from past mistakes, and emotionally challenging films such as Un Dimanche à Kigali serve to educate us, and not let us forget. A world of WE has to be created, away from the individualistic to the collective, where the colour of our skin, our ethnicity or creed does not matter. Perhaps this is the paradise that Gentile's father was hoping for, one we should all strive towards.


Ellen Reid April 13, 2006



Un Dimanche à Kigali

This movie is not really about the genocides that happen in 1994 in Africa but more about this tragedy affected the life of two people that were in love and how much love can be a painful thing at time.

This movie isn't "Hotel Rwanda" at all, but it's a good addition to it so if you did like "Hotel Rwanda" and want to see the Canadian side of this story you got to go see this movie because it might be one of the best Canadian movie made this year.


Martin Rioux April 11, 2006



A Must-See!

I saw this powerful heartbreaking drama at an advanced screening and also present was Luc Picard (the main lead actor in person) This heartwrenching movie,the horrors of the 1994 Rwanda genocide and the many images shown in this compelling and riveting film will stay with me for a long time. It was also a love story (doomed from the start )between this Québec journalist and Rwandan waitress that took place in 1994. Many scenes touched me profoundly,especially the brutal sexually abuse of women and the many killings of men and children that made me appreciate my freedom and liberty in my country. This movie is as powerful as Hotel Rwanda film that I saw ,not too long ago. A wake-up call to all of us!

Oscar winning nomination to Luc Picard for his excellent portrayal of the journalist:for he is in practically every scene. Gorgeous beauty Fatou N'Diaye was remarkable in her role:especially those love scenes, torture scenes and the final sad ending.

Highly recommended!

Another good Québec film!

Don't miss the movie!


Vicky Parisella April 10, 2006



The *original* pre-emptive critique of..."Un Dimanche à Kigali" or a beautiful love story worth watching set against a most brutal backdrop

Melodramatic? Probably. Powerful? Undoubtably. I'll grant you that it's slipping in under the radar but take a step back and look, really look at what this movie's got going for it. An incredible love story set against a brutal but beautiful backdrop with some amazing cinematography and a cast that looks to be on it's A-game. I don't know Fatou N'Diaye that well but in the clips I've seen she mesmerizes and then there's Luc Picard who's never given a bad or boring performance. If you need a better reason to watch this movie than your eyes can see here then I simply don't know what to say.


Pedro Eggers April 10, 2006



Un Dimanche à Kigali - The early review

To tell you the truth I haven't seen that many movies with Luc Picard but from what I can see and am told, he is a quality actor. Having seen the trailer a couple of times I can safely say this will be an intense and thoughtful film to watch. Set in Rwanda the movie examines the love story of two seemingly different people that get together only to be torn apart.

The story deals with the Rwanda massacre and details the struggle and terror the residents have to go through. Likewise, what I see from the preview, we also get a glimpse to the tenderness and intimacy that's essential during the trying times. A moving picture sure to gain praise and attract moviegoers.


Angelo Vernucci April 5, 2006



Drama

The story is set in 1994, in Rwanda. A white man and a black woman fall in love and get married, despite their differences. But the subsequent war and massacre separate them, and the man returns to Rwanda months later in hope of finding his lost wife.

A love story that finds itself torn apart by one of the most terrible massacres of the end of the 20th century.


Anais Hutin April 2, 2006

Kigali hits the million-dollar mark .

The Quebec political romance Un dimanche à Kigali passed the million-dollar mark at the provincial box office late in May, going on to net $5,600 over the June 2 weekend, according to distributor Equinoxe Films.

Playback Magazine, June 12, 2006

The Quebec political romance Un dimanche à Kigali passed the million-dollar mark at the provincial box office late in May, going on to net $5,600 over the June 2 weekend, according to distributor Equinoxe Films.

Kigali's total take stands at just over $1 million going into its eighth week, during which it dropped from 10 screens to three.

Equinoxe is "extremely happy" with its performance, says Michèle Laroche, director of theatrical distribution, adding that it is under consideration at the Toronto, Venice and Locarno festivals.

"We have our fingers crossed now. What festivals we get into will determine our release strategy internationally and for the rest of Canada," says Laroche.

The film, a true story based on the critically acclaimed Gil Courtemanche novel, has benefited from overwhelmingly positive reviews and a strong interest by the Quebec public in the issues surrounding the Rwandan genocide. Luc Picard stars as a documentary filmmaker who falls in love during the unrest of the mid-'90s.

Meanwhile, Souvenir of Canada, the documentary based on the obsessions of cult Vancouver author Douglas Coupland, has hit $12,000 going into its second week, according to distrib Maple Pictures, playing on one screen each in Vancouver and Toronto. It will expand to Calgary and Ottawa on June 30 (in time for Canada Day) and in Regina in mid-July.

"We are relying on word of mouth, a lot of Douglas Coupland fans showing up and enthusiastic reviews," says Domenic Mangone, director of theatrical distribution for Maple Pictures.

Fetching Cody, the sci-fi, time-travel love story, opened in Toronto on May 26 on one screen, taking a paltry $634 in its one-week run.

After two weeks in Vancouver back in March and the June 2 weekend in Montreal, it has brought in $7,412, according to Capri Releasing.

"Fetching Cody didn't do very well in Toronto, but the critics savaged it there," says GM Robin Smith. "Toronto critics in particular seem especially hard on Canadian films."

On the ground at Cannes and ShowCanada

The evening ended with the Equinoxe Films screening of Un dimanche à Kigali (A Sunday in Kigali), the powerful and poignant story, adapted from a novel, of a journalist's tragic awakening to the horrors of the Rwanda genocide. Luc Picard, Fatou N'Diaye and Céline Bonnier star.

May 1, 2006

Solid box, buzz for Kigali by Matthew Hays

Thanks to piqued interest in the Rwandan genocide of the '90s, along with heavy media coverage of its release, Un dimanche à Kigali, the war movie/romance starring Quebec heavyweight Luc Picard, brought in $166,478 over the April 21-23 weekend, bringing its three-week total to $583,524.

"Obviously, we're extremely happy about the way in which Kigali has been received and embraced," says Michèle Laroche, director of theatrical distribution for Equinoxe Films. "People are talking about this film - there is a very good buzz about it. This is not a light comedy, so it's impressive the way people have been going to it."

The Robert Favreau-directed movie is playing only in Quebec, where it had a per-theater average of some $6,300 for the April 14-16 weekend, during which it took the number-one spot for Canadian-made films.

There is no date as yet for an English-Canada release, but Laroche says a screening at the Toronto International Film Festival and a possible fall release are being pondered.

"We're crossing our fingers for other major festivals," she says.

The trick now, Laroche contends, might just be the weather: "If we have stunning weather on the weekend, forget it. People aren't going to want to go to a movie if it's beautiful outside."

Notably, the three top films on the North American box-office chart for the April 21-23 weekend were shot in Canada: Silent Hill (shot in southern Ontario, the Canada/France copro cleaned up at number one with US$20.2 million), followed by Scary Movie 4 (shot in Vancouver, it grossed US$17 million) and The Sentinel (shot in Toronto, bringing in US$14.65 million).

Thom Fitzgerald's HIV triptych, Three Needles, however, suffered a brutal weekend, pulling in only $374 at its one Toronto screen and $1,560 at its Vancouver screen.

The film suffered some harsh reviews in Toronto, which distributor Seville Pictures feels may have hurt its draw.

"We got quite negative reviews in Toronto, aside from the Sun," says Ariane Giroux-Dallaire of Seville. "We're quite disappointed." Three Needles' take to date is $11,225.

Amnon Buchbinder's Whole New Thing, the dramedy starring ubiquitous thesp Daniel MacIvor, opened April 14 in Toronto and took in $3,198 at one screen, dropping 30% the following weekend to pull in $2,323.

The cumulative box office, which includes earlier theatrical runs in Halifax and Vancouver, comes to $21,326.