We’ve Got Heat! French Film Mini-Fest The British Arrows Awards Mid-month social gathering with filmmakers
DECEMBER NEWS. The heating system is fixed and the Garfield is comfy once again – thanks for your understanding and flexibility with our November film postponement. Remember, listings of all in-theatre and virtual screenings are on theCWC homepage and we ask that you share this film announcement with your friends and colleagues.
With our French Film Mini-Fest, CWC offers the exclusive area screening of two excellent films by French directors – Josep and Tokyo Shaking. These are hybrid events – you can watch the films individually or via discount double-feature on Saturday Dec 11 and Sunday Dec 12 in the Garfield Theatre, as well as online right now in our Virtual Cinema. Check out the highlights below and follow the links for trailers, details and tickets.
Normally we slow down in December, considering patron travel schedules, family gatherings and holiday social events. An exception is the British Arrows Awards, popular for the last two weekends in December a couple years ago. This year is challenging as Christmas and New Year’s fall on weekends, so we will commence virtual screenings before Christmas and host screenings at the Garfield in January. Stay tuned, and check our website, for hybrid event details.
And finally, you can meet local filmmakers at the WIF annual Holiday Party on December 15, details at the bottom of this email.
JOSEP Animated Biography/Drama. IN-THEATRE, Dec 11, 7 pm, Dec 12, 4 pm CWC VIRTUAL CINEMA, Nov 14 – Dec 18 Director Aurélien “Aurel” Froment, France/Spain/Belgium, 2020, 74 minutes, primarily in French plus Spanish, English and Catalan, with English subtitles. $10 advance, $15 door, with post-film discussion. Also available in a double-feature with Tokyo Shaking, $16 advance, $24 door. Trailer, stills, film details and tickets.
Based on a true story, Josep follows illustrator/artist Josep Bartolí’s artistic evolution over the years, starting with his harrowing experience in French internment camps after the Spanish Civil War, multiple escapes (including from a Nazi train bound for Dachau), emigration to Mexico, love affair with Frida Kahlo, and foray into the world of expressionist art in New York.
Filmmaker Aurel (an artist himself) uses multiple styles of illustration and animation to demarcate the periods in Bartolí’s adult life, capturing his work onscreen. In this compelling historical and personal drama about a dark period of European history, Josep gives us a powerful portrait of Bartolí’s triumph over adversity that is fascinating, informative and inspirational.
TOKYO SHAKING
Drama/Suspense New Dates: IN-THEATRE, Dec 11, 4 pm, Dec 12, 7 pm CWC VIRTUAL CINEMA, Nov 14 – Dec 18 Director Olivier Peyon, France/Belgium, 2021, 101 minutes, primarily in French plus Japanese, English and Tagalot, with English subtitles. $10 advance, $15 door, with post-film discussion. Also available in a double-feature with Josep, $16 advance, $24 door. Trailer, film details and tickets.
Tokyo Shaking is set against real events – the onset of the Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster triggered by the biggest earthquake Japan has ever experienced. It is based on a true story – Alexandra (three-time Cesar winner Karin Viard) has recently arrived in Tokyo as an executive with a French bank where she is tasked with managing corporate risk and profit objectives as the crisis unfolds.
Torn between business and government misinformation, loyalty to her Japanese work team and love of her family, Alexandra must choose between shifting management mandates and her personal honor and compassion in the face of emerging terror and anxiety. The film also shares a view of Japanese society, in both family and work settings.
Tokyo Shaking will appeal to general audiences who enjoy drama and suspense, and especially those with interest in current events; the challenges faced by women in business; global cultural contrasts; international banking and finance; personal, business and government ethics; natural disasters and climate change; contemporary Japanese society.
Join us Wednesday, December 15 for the Women in Film Cincinnati Holiday Party, held at the Butcher and Barrel, across the street from the Garfield Theatre. You’ll meet interesting people involved in local filmmaking, television and digital media – ranging from directors and producers to specialties like screenwriting, photography, animation, editing, lighting, costuming, casting, etc. Space is limited – RSVP by December 8 to info@wifcincinnati.org. You’ll enjoy B&B’s famous empanadas, with a cash bar.
