Transforming the way people see the world
through film
HUDSON FILM FESTIVAL
2014
May 9, 10 &
11
Passes available at Pure Art in Hudson, the Village Theatre
box office (not by telephone or internet) or call 450 424 2893
Friday, May 9, 2.00 pm |
The Lady in Number 6 and
Philomena |
40 min
93 min |
trailer
Academy Award winner for Documentary Short Subject,
The Lady in Number 6 is a most inspirational
and uplifting story about the world’s oldest pianist and
holocaust survivor, 109 year-old Alice Herz Sommer who shares
her views on how to live a long and happy life. She discusses
music, laughter and how to remain optimistic come what may.
The film features beautiful photographs and rare film footage
that truly brings Alice’s extraordinary story to life.
Filmed in a single week, the documentary profiles Herz-Sommer,
an accomplished classical pianist who lost most of her family
when she was sent to a Nazi concentration camp in 1943. Sadly,
Herz-Sommer died on Feb. 23, a week before the Oscars. Her passing
made the win bittersweet.
trailer
Based on a powerful true story and led by note-perfect performances
from Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, Philomena offers a profoundly
affecting drama for adult filmgoers of all ages. Based on the 2009 investigative
book by BBC correspondent Martin Sixsmith, The Lost Child of Philomena Lee, Philomena
focuses on the efforts of Philomena Lee (Dench), mother to a boy conceived out
of wedlock - something her Irish-Catholic community didn't have the highest opinion
of - and given away for adoption in the United States. In following church doctrine,
she was forced to sign a contract that wouldn't allow for any sort of inquiry
into the son's whereabouts. After starting a family years later in England and,
for the most part, moving on with her life, Lee meets Sixsmith (Coogan), a BBC
reporter with whom she decides to discover her long-lost son. Best Actress
Oscar nomination
Friday, May 9, 7.30 pm |
Gravity |
91 min |
trailer
Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity is an eerie,
tense sci-fi thriller that's masterfully directed and visually stunning. Gravity
stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney in a heart-pounding thriller that pulls
you into the infinite and unforgiving realm of deep space. Bullock plays Dr. Ryan
Stone, a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran
astronaut Matt Kowalsky (Clooney). But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster
strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone
- tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness. The
deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth and any chance for
rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen
is left. But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse
of space. 7 Oscars including Best Director
Saturday, May 10, 1.00 pm |
Gloria |
110 min |
trailer
Marvelously directed by Sebastian Lelio and beautifully led
by a powerful performance from Paulina Garcia, Gloria takes an honest, sweetly
poignant look at a type of character that's all too often neglected in Hollywood.
Gloria is a "woman of a certain age" but still feels
young. Though lonely, she makes the best of her situation and fills her nights
seeking love at social dance clubs for single adults. Her fragile happiness changes
the day she meets Rodolfo. Their intense passion, to which Gloria gives her all,
leaves her vacillating between hope and despair -- until she uncovers a new strength
and realizes that, in her golden years, she can shine brighter than ever. Gloria
was Chile's official entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy
Awards (did not make the short list), and stars Paulina García in a tour
de force performance that captured the Silver Bear Best Actress Award at this
year's Berlin Film Festival. Oscar nomination from Chile – Best
Foreign Language Film
Saturday, May 10, 4.00 pm |
Wadjda |
98 min |
trailer
Transgressive in the best possible way, Wadjda
presents a startlingly assured new voice from a corner of the globe where cinema
has been all but silenced. Wadjda is a movie of firsts. This
first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia is the story of a young girl
living in a suburb of Riyadh determined to raise enough money to buy a bike in
a society that sees bicycles as dangerous to a girl's virtue. Even more impressive,
Wadjda is the first feature film made by a female Saudi filmmaker.
In a country where cinemas are banned and women cannot drive or vote, writer-
director Haifaa Al Mansour has broken many barriers with her new film. A 10-year-old
Saudi girl is determined to have a bicycle — a parable in its way of the
writer-director Haifaa al-Mansour’s capacity to get her movie made. The
film is circumspect about putting forth any overt criticisms of mosque or state,
Instead, the movie presents the facts of its heroine’s life — and
also, more obliquely, the lives of her mother, classmates and teachers —
with calm authority and devastating effectiveness. Oscar nomination from
Saudia Arabia – Best Foreign Film
Saturday, May 10, 7.30 pm |
Dallas Buyers Club |
117 min |
trailer
Dallas Buyers Club rests squarely on Matthew
McConaughey's scrawny shoulders, and he carries the burden gracefully with what
might be a career-best performance. Matthew McConaughey stars as real-life Texas
cowboy Ron Woodroof, whose free-wheeling life was overturned in 1985 when he was
diagnosed as HIV-positive and given 30 days to live. These were the early days
of the AIDS epidemic, and the U.S. was divided over how to combat the virus. Ron,
now shunned and ostracized by many of his old friends, and bereft of government-approved
effective medicines, decided to take matters in his own hands, tracking down alternative
treatments. Oscar for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor
Sunday, May 11, 1.00 pm |
Nebraska |
110 min |
trailer
Elegant in its simplicity and poetic in its message, Nebraska
adds another stirringly resonant chapter to Alexander Payne's remarkable filmography.
Director Payne (Sideways, The Descendants) takes the helm for this black and white
road trip drama starring Bruce Dern as a tempestuous Missouri father who's convinced
he's won a million dollar magazine sweepstakes, and Will Forte as the son who
grudgingly agrees to drive him to Nebraska to claim his winnings. Bob Odenkirk
and Stacy Keach costar. Bruce Dern won the best actor laurels at the Cannes
Festival and received an Oscar Nomination
Sunday, May 11, 4.00 pm |
Blue Jasmine |
98 min |
trailer
Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine finds the director
in peak form, and benefiting from a superb cast led by Cate Blanchett. Jasmine
French used to be on the top of the heap as a New York socialite, but now is returning
to her estranged sister in San Francisco utterly ruined. As Jasmine struggles
with her haunting memories of a privileged past bearing dark realities she ignored,
she tries to recover in her present. Unfortunately, it all proves a losing battle
as Jasmine's narcissistic hangups and their consequences begin to overwhelm her.
In doing so, her old pretensions and new deceits begin to foul up everyone's lives,
especially her own. Won Oscar for Best Actress and an Oscar nomination
for Supporting Actress
