A brooding night sky hangs above you, and a couple of stars wink lazily in the frigid Montreal air. In the momentary silence, we all hold our breath—nearly ten thousand of us, from university students to parents, travellers to locals. I can imagine the quiet lap of the icy water[Read More…]
Tag: festival
Lights, Camera, Fokus!
It was a 1920s-movie-premiere-meets-after-class-hangout. The vibe and fashion of the crowd at Cinema du Parc on March 23 seemed the perfect mix of what the night’s event represented: A showcase for some of Montreal’s up-and-coming film directors and a celebration of the friendships that made the films possible. Consisting of[Read More…]
Korean Film Festival Canada portrays self-empowerment
The eighth iteration of the Korean Film Festival Canada runs from Sept. 30 to Oct. 30 this year, and features the theme “Narratives Beyond Borders: Women’s Perspectives in the Korean Cinema.” The struggles many women face in determining their identities emerge as a common thread in the festival’s offerings. Bae[Read More…]
Festival TransAmériques 2021 reveals the human condition through performance
Founded in 1985 by Marie-Hélène Falcon and Jacques Vézina, the Festival TransAmériques (FTA) is an annual contemporary dance and theatre festival that brings artists from across the globe to Montreal to kick off the summer season. This year, dance and performance artists dusted off their costumes and laced up their[Read More…]
‘Just For Laughs’ online festival finds laughter amidst a pandemic
On Oct. 9 and 10, Montreal’s annual international comedy festival Just For Laughs (JFL) debuted its first online and free iteration since its beginnings in 1993. Typically scheduled for two weeks every July, the festival was postponed to October due to the COVID-19 pandemic, shortening its usual offerings to two[Read More…]
Equinox 2020 celebrates BIPOC cultures and identities
Never Apart’s Equinox 2020 festival, held on Sept. 26, was a one-day digital celebration of BIPOC creators across Canada, merging music, art, ecology, and food under the theme of “Cultivate.” Never Apart is a Montreal-based nonprofit focussed on bringing about social change and spiritual awareness through organizing culture and music[Read More…]
From The Viewpoint: The Festival of Marionettes
No one likes marionettes. In my mind, a marionette is one of three things: A lying rascal named Pinocchio, a demon-possessed puppet that haunts an abandoned Opera House, or, simply, entertainment for children. Marionettes are uncanny—miniature human figures stripped of all bodily autonomy, hanging limply with lifeless eyes. I never[Read More…]
Nuit Blanche 2020 provides the antidote to winter blues
As the leap day came to an end, Montreal found another way to overcome the lack of daylight and the harsh weather. Montreal’s Nuit Blanche, a famed annual tradition, took place from Feb. 29 into the early morning of Mar. 1. Nuit Blanche offered Montrealers something to look forward to[Read More…]
The best of Roy Juno is yet to come
From a band that seems so effortlessly cool, one might expect a certain degree of aloofness from the members of Boston-based dream rock project Roy Juno. Seated around a plastic table in a dusty canvas tent, however, all four members were positively glowing with pride following their Aug. 2 performance[Read More…]
Overlooked at Osheaga: Four acts you shouldn’t miss
With big acts such as Tame Impala and Kaytranada gracing the Osheaga main stages, it is easy to overlook the lesser-known artists who are playing the afternoon slots. All the while, this year’s lineup boasts a breadth of up-and-coming artists covering diverse genres and styles, and it would be remiss[Read More…]
