Book Club Selection: The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

I hope you have been reading along with the rest of The More the Merrier Book Club; if you haven't there is still time to join in.  On Saturday, April 14th (1-2pm on CIUT 89.5 FM or www.ciut.fm), I'll be joined by a few TmTm on-air regulars to discuss Aravind Adiga's debut novel, The White Tiger. Winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize, this lively social satire is set in modern India, and most precisely into the world of Belram  Halwai, a "self-taught entrepreneur", servant, and murderer. There is a laugh on every page, but not everything in this story is funny. Through Belram's narration, we travel from the Darkness (inhabited by the poor) to the Light (inhabited by the rich and their pets), into areas and themes as complex as India's caste system.

The White Tiger is available in regular/LARGE PRINT, and CD through the Toronto Public Library http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/ or at your local used/new bookstore.

Shorts at High Noon

As the poster proclaims, The Canadian Film Festival is back and for 2012 it's got some wonderful short films for you to check out. The longest film is only 14 minutes and with such talent on display there will be no time for boredom at The Royal Cinema in "the heart of Little Italy".

How can you resist a title like Everybody Wing Chun Tonight? Well, don't even try. From the womanist 3-minute Ming Dynasty martial arts drama (Win Chun), the comic machinations of an opera diva seeking solace form the stage (Natalie Choquette in The Perfect Vacuum), vengeful UFOs in Devolution: Reckoning and experimental dance in Phase to Rom-Com public transit dramas like Long Branch,  relationship pieces like Sonata for Christian, Onion Skin (the director is only 16!) and Hangnail (filmed in a single shot), there is something for everyone. Included in this goody grab bag of films is a flashback to the 1930's with Rosie Takes the Train, directed by none other than CIUT 89.5 FM alumni, Stephen Phillip Scott. We CIUT-ers are everywhere! Stephen used to co-DJ an overnight show back in the day, when CIUT broadcast from the attic at 91 St. George Street.  Ask him about it at the Q & A after the screenings.

THE CANADIAN FILM FESTIVAL: SHORTS SCREENING

WHEN: Saturday, March 30, 12:00noon
WHERE: The Royal Cinema, 608 College Street West
TICKETS: $12.50 (taxes included) Available at the door (cash only) or via www.totix.ca or visit their booth at Yonge/Dundas Square.

NOTE: All screenings are restricted to 18+.

Complete info: www.canfilmfest.ca

Who's Into French Shorts?

Cinéfranco kicks off tonight with a Franco-Ontarian comedy,  La Sacrée by Dominic Desjardins and a Québecois drama, Trash/Décharge directed by Benoit Pilon; however, if you're just dipping your toes into foreign language films, and think a feature-length film might be too much for your first time out, why not give some short films a try. Several shorts will be screened before some feature films, but Cinéfranco has two short film programmes for you to check out. Film are screened with English subtitles.

Short Films 1/Courts Métrages 1 The selection vary from the futuristic Canadian (A Persona) in which viewers control who gets cast in a movie, another Canadian film (Patsy), a choreographed piece about life truths, a Moroccan fable (Mokhtar) about a rebellious goatherd, a Malian focus (Tinye So) on displeased ancestors watching the goings on in present-day Bamako, and a look at post-colonial relations (A Ton Vieux Cul De Negre!/Up Your Black Arse!) as seen through exchanges between two retirees (one Congolese, one Belgian).


Following the screening, there will be a FREE round table discussion by several of the filmmakers about "The Challenges of Making A Short Film".   


WHEN: Saturday, March 24, 11:00 am 
WHERE: TIFF Bell Lightbox, 350 king Street (corner of King and John) 
TICKETS: $12/ Seniors and Students with ID $10

Short Films 1/Courts Métrages 2 There are 4 Canadian shorts represented in this 5 film section: Bip Bip/Beep Beep is the sound of love being disturbed by technology; Mandala Mon Amour/Mandala My Love is a beautiful animated piece about a Russian immigrant that  blends art with science; Mauser is an inter-generational drama about a World War 11 vet and a young gamer; and Skeket deals with a young girl's imaginings of her family's past in Tunisia. Also included in this programme is Jean-Jacques (Cameroon) about a young woman dreaming of a better life Europe, dreams which are fed by a Parisian connection made via the Internet. 


WHEN: Sunday, March 25, 11:00 am 
WHERE: TIFF Bell Lightbox, 350 king Street (corner of King and John) 
TICKETS: $12/ Seniors and Students with ID $10

March 23 - April 1
www.cinefranco.com
416-599-8433
All Films Are Subtitled in English