THE TREASURE | Dir. Corneliu Porumboiu | 2015 | FRANCE/ROMANIA | 89 min | PG

Costi leads a peaceful life. At night he likes to read his six-year-old son stories, to help him sleep. Their favourite is Robin Hood. Costi sees himself as the hero – righter of wrongs and defender of the oppressed. 

One evening, his neighbor pays him an unexpected visit and shares a secret: there’s treasure buried in his grandparents’ garden, he’s sure of it. If Costi will hire a metal detector to help locate it, he’ll give him half of whatever they get. Skeptical at first, in the end Costi can’t resist. He’s on board. The two accomplices have one weekend to locate the loot. Despite every obstacle in their path, Costi refuses to be discouraged. For his wife and son, he’s a real hero – nothing and no one are going to stop him.

Awards
2015 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL - WINNER (Prix Un Certain Talent award)

Official Selection
2015 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
2015 NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL
2015 CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

THE TREASURE is the final film in the Contemporary World Cinema series. One-time opportunities to find rising masters and see critically acclaimed, under-exposed world cinema.

RIGHT NOW, WRONG THEN | Dir. Hong Sang-soo | South Korea | 121 min | PG 

The award winning new feature from renowned director Hong Sang-soo presents two lovely variations of a chance encounter, both of which feature the same characters. In the first segment, a film director arrives into town a day early for his film screenings and Q&A. Looking to kill some time, the director heads out sightseeing where he meets a local painter. A few conversations later, the alcohol flows freely which ensures the characters true emotions gush out, resulting in some awkward conversations and moments. In the second segment, the same characters are involved but the alcohol is toned down a little bit. This subtle change drastically alters the flow of events resulting in a different scenario. Both segments are vintage cinema which contain familiar elements from Hong Sang-soo’s films, such as topics of love, relationships, memories all fuelled by plenty of alcohol. However, by presenting us with two distinct versions of one story, Hong Sang-soo highlights how individuals personalities and a few decisions can push their lives in completely different paths.

RIGHT NOW, WRONG THEN won the Golden Leopard (top prize) and best actor awards at the 2015 Locarno Film Festival. In addition, Film Comment named the film as the best undistributed film of 2015 while, it finished as the 2nd best undistributed film of 2015 in Indiewire's Year-End Critics poll.

RIGHT NOW, WRONG THEN is the fourth film in Calgary Cinematheque's Contemporary World Cinema Series. One-time opportunities to find rising masters and see critically acclaimed, under-exposed world cinema.

THE SKY TREMBLES AND THE EARTH IS AFRAID AND THE TWO EYES ARE NOT BROTHERS | Dir. Ben Rivers | 2015 | UK | Arabic/Spanish/French with English subtitles | 98 min | PG 

THE SKY TREMBLES AND THE EARTH IS AFRAID AND THE TWO EYES ARE NOT BROTHERS is a labyrinthine and epic film that moves between documentary, fantasy and fable. It was shot against the staggering beauty of the Moroccan landscape, from the rugged terrain of the Atlas Mountains to the stark and surreal emptiness of the Moroccan Sahara, with its encroaching sands and abandoned film sets. Rivers’ work contains multiple narratives, the major strand being an adaptation of A Distant Episode, the savage short story by Paul Bowles. The film also features the enigmatic young film director Oliver Laxe, whose onscreen presence becomes interwoven with the multiple narratives that co-exist amidst the various settings of Rivers’ cinematic exploration.

The work is an ambitious excavation of the illusion of filmmaking and the art of documentary. Shot in 16mm cinemascope, the story of Paul Bowles is combined with ‘behind-the scenes’ footage of other film productions to form a monumental and multi-layered feature film. THE SKY TREMBLES AND THE EARTH IS AFRAID AND THE TWO EYES ARE NOT BROTHERS is thus concerned with the telling and re-telling of stories, incorporating anecdotal tales and bringing together constructed fiction, oral tradition and the documentary format, all the time moving through varying levels of reality. Sound adds to this layering technique, exploring the rich musical heritage of the region that so fascinated Bowles, playing an important role in the dream-like logic of the film which elides fiction and non-fiction.

THE SKY TREMBLES is the third film in Calgary Cinematheque's Contemporary World Cinema Series. One-time opportunities to find rising masters and see critically acclaimed, under-exposed world cinema.

QUEEN OF EARTH | Dir. Alex Ross Perry | 2015 | USA | 90 min | 14A

Catherine (Elisabeth Moss) has entered a particularly dark period in her life: her father, a famous artist whose affairs she managed, has recently died, and on the heels of his death she's dumped by her boyfriend James (Kentucker Audley). Looking to recuperate, Catherine heads out to her best friend Virginia's (Katherine Waterston) lake house for some much needed relaxation. However, once Catherine arrives relaxation proves impossible to find, as she is overcome with memories of time spent at the same house with James the year before. As Catherine reaches out to Virginia with attempts at connection, Virginia begins spending increasing amounts of time with a local love interest, Rich (Patrick Fugit), and fissures in the relationship between the two women begin to appear, sending Catherine into a downward spiral of delusion and madness. A bracing, eerie look at the deep bonds of friendship and the horrific effects of such bonds being frayed, QUEEN OF EARTH is a thrilling examination of a deeply complex relationship.

QUEEN OF EARTH is the second film in Calgary Cinematheque's Contemporary World Cinema Series. One-time opportunities to find rising masters and see critically acclaimed, under-exposed world cinema.

SHE COMES BACK ON THURSDAY | Dir. André Novais Oliveira | 2014 | Brazil | PG

After 38 years of marriage, Maria José and Norberto are on the verge of separation. Norberto is having an affair while Maria José is questioning her life. Their sons André and Nato get caught up in all of this and are unsure how to react. The two sons can’t believe that after all these years their parents are going through a major life changing event. André and Nato have their own problems and are waiting for the next phase of their lives to start. However, instead of thinking about the start of their lives, the brothers are forced to think about the end of life and the end of relationships. As a result, the two brothers re-examine their own lives and start looking at things in a different light.

André Novais Oliveira makes his feature film debut in a remarkable manner by blending documentary with fiction. He acts in the film along with his parents and brother and all four use their real names in the film. However, the four of them are not playing themselves but instead are acting within the framework of fiction. Still, SHE COMES BACK ON THURSDAY is constructed like a documentary, giving attention to tiny details about life and relationships. The close bond between the family members results in scenes which flow effortlessly allowing audience an intimate look at the characters. The everyday sounds that are allowed to flow in the frames recalls Kleber Mendonça Filho’s NEIGHBORING SOUNDS but André Novais Oliveira has crafted his own unique path by opting to show a different side of Brazil from other Brazilian films. The setting of the film in the suburbs of Belo Horizonte showcases a Brazil that is not seen in cinema along with characters that don’t make an appearance in Brazilian films. Finally, the selection of the lovely music makes SHE COMES BACK ON THURSDAY a beautiful poetic film about life, love, death and everything in between.

SHE COMES BACK ON THURSDAY is the first film in Calgary Cinematheque's Contemporary World Cinema Series. One-time opportunities to find rising masters and see critically acclaimed, under-exposed world cinema.