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| Lost Conquest screens Mirror Mountain Film Fest Dec. 4 |
The funky festival plays its films in the eclectic/grungy den of Ottawa’s Club SAW, which offers the right alternative atmosphere for the festival, with some screenings at the elusive Arts Court Theatre. (It’s also just down the road from the ByTowne in case Son of Saul sells out at EUFF!) Adding to the uniqueness of the event are some concerts by local artists and—here’s one—a screening powered by a bicycle! Passes for the fest are also a bargain at twenty dollars a pop (single tickets are just five bucks at the door), so the festival offers an ideal chance to try something outside of one’s comfort vote and explore new horizons.
Here are five picks for films to see at Mirror Mountain Film
Fest:
Lost Conquest
Dir. Mike Scholtz | USA | 2015 | 70 min.
Friday December 4th, 8:00pm
MMFF’s opening night feature Lost Conquest brings the spirit of Christopher Guest to the fest as
this peculiar documentary visits Minnesota and explores the myth/bullshit
history about a Viking conquest. Does
America’s history of discovery begin at 1000 A.D.? Did Columbus really get
there first? This fun looking doc asks audiences to speculate on the larger meaning
behind the truths we choose to believe. The crew from the film will also attend
the fest, hopefully in Viking hats. And by happy coincidence, some legit
Vikings are at the Museum of History this weekend!
New Visions
Dir. Various | Various countries | 2009-2015 | 67 min
Saturday December 5th, 2:00 pm
The shorts programme New
Visions seems to embody the spirit of MMFF the best if one wants to find a
screening that embodies the alt/indie spirit of the fest. This collection of
films and “non-conventional forms of time-based media” treads on the
experimental side of things with films that explore the formal side of film and
time. The screening includes the local shorts Moving Gaze by Timothy Smith, Imitation
(A Self-Portrait) by Matthieu Hallé,
and Lot 22, Concession 5 by Penny
McCann.
Midnight Madness
Dir. Various | Various countries | 2014-5 | 45+ min
Saturday December 5th at 11:00 pm (Arts Court
Theatre)
Here’s the screening with the dude on the bike! Roger D.
Wilson brings his “cinema trike” to the fest and will power the show with his
own two legs. Midnight movies screening at MMFF include the local short Beauty Sleep by Andrew Robinson, which makes its fourth
Ottawa festival screening at the fest. (It was a Programmer’s Pick by yours
truly at the inaugural CDFF.) Other local representation comes from Marina
Bruno’s Failed and Magill Foote &
Grant Jeffery’s very funny Jurassic ParkIV (According to an Eight-Year-Old.
Midnight Madness ups the ante with a live punk band performance as well. Bring
your own mosh.
Local Heroes
Dir. Various | Canada (Ottawa!) | 2012-2015 | 62 min.
Sunday December 6th, 3:00 pm
The local side of Mirror Mountain reflects a range of stuff
from the Ottawa film scene. Some film challenge regulars are on hand with local
pros. Among the 613 titles are the funny Brooklyn K9, the storybook romance Bedtime
Stories, the Ashinabe experimental film Call and Response by
Craig Commanda, and Peace, Love & Pancakes to add
some maple syrup to the weekend.
True Stories
Dir. Various | Canada and USA | 2014-2015 | 71 min.
Sunday December 6th, 5:00 pm
Vive le documentaire!
Non-fiction films bookend the MMFF recos with this shorts programme offering a
quintet of documentaries. The programme features two Canadian docs: Henny’s Opus in B Minor and
The Routes. Henny, directed by Andréa
Conte, offers a portrait of a musician struggling with dementia and screens at
MMFF after being selected for the National Screen Institute’s online fest and
CBC’s Summer Short Doc Series. The Routes, directed by James ‘Zick’
McDougall, brings a recent win from ImagineNATIVE to the fest.
Mirror Mountain Film Festival runs in Ottawa Dec 4-6.
Please visit www.mirrormountainfilmfestival.com
for the complete line-up.
