MWFF’09 Review: Refrain
The theme of women in abusive relationships has been absent from the mainstream film limelight, as if somehow Hollywood solved the problem years ago. It takes a no-budget independent from Montréal, writer/director Tyler Gibb, to revive the familiar story. In Refrain, the goal is not just to escape the cycle of violence, but also to break oneself free of the cycle of dependence, and to accomplish a personal change that can revitalize one’s talents. The result is a film that far exceeds the limitations of its budgetary restraints. Read more »
Tags: Montreal World Film Festival, MWFF'09, Refrain, Tyler Gibb
Film Festivals, Film Reviews | 
August 30, 2009 | No Comments »
Sonja Wyss’ Winter Silence (Winterstilte) is a hard film to review. At only seventy minutes, it managed to try my patience as well as frustrate my innate want to piece together the visual puzzle before me. Largely silent and set in a remote wintry mountain village, there is little plot development but much symbolic imagery. As a piece of visual art, it succeeds: the beautiful and haunting images are unforgettable; but it suffers from feeling all too much like a show of experimental pieces without any cohesive point. 
It’s a familiar tale. In German-occupied France, a family travels with an eye out for German soldiers at every crossroads. They are a hunted and oppressed peoples who, if caught, risk being sent to the concentration camps. Every country in Europe has its own version of these horrific times; but what of the people who belong to no country? What of Europe’s Roma, the wandering gypsies of many ethnicities? Tony Gatlif’s Freedom (Korkoro) tells their story, and while it treads familiar ground, it is told from a unique viewpoint. This standout film has an eye for drama that focuses on story and character to succeed rather than on the audience’s already well-tuned emotional reaction to the camps. 
Review: Inglorious Basterds (2009)
Impossible! It has finally arrived. Someone over at the Montreal World Film Festival offices decided to get rid of the awful, cumbersome, ugly website of the last few years and bring the festival to the 21st century of internet design. They now have an easily searchable index, separate pages with good descriptions and images for each film, some trailers, and more. 
Premiering Friday, August 28th, and playing on subsequent days until the 30th at the Montreal World Film Festival is local filmmaker Tyler Gibb’s first live-action feature film, Refrain. A tale both about spousal abuse and the empowerment endowed by music, my interview with Gibb reveals a little bit about what he hopes to achieve and what he wants the audience to walk away with, as well as a little about related projects stemming from the film. Read the 
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