Cinema CNC

September 16 AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
Director:Davis Guggenheim Cast: Al Gore 95 minutes USA Rated G

An audience favourite at the 2006 Festival de Cannes and the Sundance Film Festival (where it received three separate standing ovations),AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH stuns audiences with its shocking message: unless we act now, planet Earth could face a major environmental catastrophe that would instigate a tail-spin of epic destruction as early as 2015. Long-time TV director and producer Davis Guggenheim examines this dire situation while following former United States Vice President Al Gore ’s fervent crusade to halt the deadly progress of global warming.

September 23 ONLY HUMAN
Director: Dominic Harari, Teresa Pelegrí 89 mins Spain/Argentina/Portugal/UK
Cast: Guillermo Toledo, Marian Aguilera, Norma Aleandro
Language: Spanish,Hebrew,Arabic with English subtitles NR

Talented screenwriting duo Dominic Harari and Teresa Pelegrí have delivered an entertaining madcap comedy of errors in their directorial debut ONLY HUMAN, a Spanish WHO ’S COMING TO DINNER? set in contemporary Madrid. Leni Dalinsky (Marian Aguilera) brings her fiancé, Rafi, home to meet her Jewish family. Kind, considerate and understanding, Rafi is the perfect mate – except that he ’s Palestinian. Trying to endear himself to Leni ’s mother, Rafi offers his help in the kitchen, with disastrous results. At the dinner table Rafi finds himself surrounded by the rest of Leni ’s quirky family: the neurotic orthodox brother, flirtatious belly-dancing sister, blind war-hero grandfather and bratty niece. Her father, meanwhile, is mysteriously absent.

September 30 A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION
Director:R obert Altman 100 minutes USA Rated PG Cast:Lily Tomlin, Meryl Streep,Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones,Kevin Kline, Virginia Madsen,John C.Reilly

The quintessential independent American filmmaker, Robert Altman ’s insightful and masterly films – often characterized by a roving camera and intimate character portraits – will be honoured this Spring when the five-time Academy Award nominee receives an honorary Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. His recent films GOSFORD PARK and THE COMPANY have only affirmed his outstanding and lasting contribution to cinema. His latest film, A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION, premiered at the 2006 Berlin International Film Festival. In typical Altman fashion, it boasts a gifted ensemble cast. The film follows the backstage antics during the final broadcast of America ’s most popular radio show, which is being shut down after thirty years on the air.

October 7 WAH-WAH
Director: Richard E. Grant 97 minutes Country: UK /South Africa/France 14A
Cast: Gabriel Byrne,Miranda Richardson,Nicholas Hoult, Emily Watson,Julie Walters, Zachary Fox

WAH-WAH, Richard E.Grant ’s impressive directorial debut, is a big-hearted, crowd-pleasing film that opened the 2005 Edinburgh Film Festival and was presented at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. Lifting an early chapter from
Grant ’s own life, WAH-WAH depicts his coming-of-age in Swaziland in the final days of the British Empire, offering an intimate perspective on Britain ’s imperial venture while vividly revealing one boy ’s creative awakening.

October 14 LADY VENGEANCE
Director: Park Chan-wook 112 inutes South Korea Korean with subtitiles NR
Cast: Lee Yeong-aae,Choi Min-sik, Kim Shi-hu,Nam II-woo, Kim Byeong-ook

LADY VENGEANCE, which screened at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival, is the highly anticipated follow-up to now legendary filmmaker Park Chan-wook ’s enormously popular SYMPATHY FOR MR.VENGEANGE. It is a perilous venture into the psychology of a woman pursuing her personal sense of justice – without ever finding salvation.

October 21 THE ROAD TO GUANTANAMO
Co-Directors: Michael Winterbottom, Mat Whitecross 95 minutes UK NR
Cast: Riz Ahmed, Farhad Harun, Arfan Usman, Waqar Siddiqui English, Arabic with subtitles

THE ROAD TO GUANTANAMO, co-directed by versatile and renowned filmmaker Michael Winterbottom, is a merciless and moving account of how three British Muslim men on holiday in Pakistan became inmates of the world ’s most notorious prison. Based on actual events, the story begins in September,2001 when Shafiq Rasul, Ruhel Ahmed, and Asif Iqbal (a.k.a. The Tipton Three)travel to Pakistan for a friend ’s wedding. En route to the bride ’s village, they decide to play tourist and venture into neighbouring Afghanistan. When they reach Kandahar they ’re shocked to find the city under American bombardment and quickly head for the safety of Kabul. Their van detours into Taliban territory, where they are mistaken for Al Qaeda operatives by American troops and sent to Guantanamo Bay in January,2002. It is there that the beatings and interrogations begin. Mixing interviews, news footage and dramatic re-creations, the film provides an unflinching look at the gross injustices suffered by these men at the hands of American and British soldiers.

November 4 THE PROPOSITION
Director: John Hillcoat 104 minutes Australia/ UK 18A
Cast: Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, John Hurt, Emily Watson

Following the success of their first collaborative effort – the cult classic GHOSTS...OF THE CIVIL DEAD – acclaimed Australian filmmaker John Hillcoat and singer-songwriter Nick Cave have reunited to make THE PROPOSITION. THE PROPOSITION is already being called a masterpiece, an anti-Western that dissects the outback romanticism of colonial Australia.

November 11 QUINCEANERA
Co-Directors: Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland 90 minutes USA NR
Cast: Emily Rios, Jesse Garcia, Chalo González English, Spanish w ith English subtitles

Winner of both the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, QUINCEAÑERA is writer-director duo Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland ’s impressive follow-up to THE FLUFFER, their first co-directed feature. Set in a Mexican neighbourhood in Los Angeles, QUINCEAÑERA is a tale of teenage sexuality and Latin tradition that revolves around one girl ’s fifteenth birthday.

November 18 WORDPLAY
Director: Patrick Creadon 90 minutes USA NR
with Jon Stewart, Bill Clinton, Bob Dole, Indigo Girls

WORDPLAY is a whimsical tribute that reveals the origins and aesthetics of crossword puzzles.Director Patrick Creadon focuses on the ultimate crossword competition, the 28th Annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, invented by the brilliant Will Shortz, editor of crosswords for the granddaddy of all newspapers, The New York Times. Going behind the scenes, Creadon capture the ups, downs and acrosses of Shortz and his fellow wordsmiths in the process of constructing a crossword.

November 25 HOUSE OF SAND
Director: Andrucha Waddington 103 minutes Brazil Portugese with subtitles 14A
Cast: Fernanda Montenegro, Fernanda Torres, Ruy Guerra, Seu Jorge, Luiz Melodia

HOUSE OF SAND brings together for the first time two of Brazil ’s most celebrated actresses.Academy Award nominee Fernanda Montenegro and Palme d ’Or winner Fernanda Torres shine in this unique film about the lives of three generations of women .Brought to life by the stunning cinematography of Ricardo Della Rosa, HOUSE OF SAND celebrates the struggles, passions and deep hidden desires of people trapped by their fate.

December 2 THE HEART OF THE GAME
Director: Ward Serrill Narrated by Ludacris 97 minutes USA PG

An audience favourite at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival, THE HEART OF THE GAME is a complex film about young women, basketball and the evolving relationship between race and sport in the United States.