In its traditional summer edition, which in the past was reserved for horror or erotica, this year the Cinémathèque québécoise offers a journey through time and dimensions: science fiction will be in the spotlight from July 2 to August 25 in the rooms of this hotel. Montreal Foundation.
The genre embodies a veritable incubator for the anxieties of time: artificial intelligence, migrations, climate change, and relations with the Other, are deployed in different ways in each film.
The course program obviously includes the great classics, e.g 2001: A space journey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968) Planet of the Apes (Franklin J. Schaffner, 1968), Soylent Green (Richard Fleischer, 1973), Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982), 1984 (Michael Radford, 1984), Back to the future (Robert Zemeckis, 1985), Matrix (Lana and Lily Wachowski, 1999) or Access (Denis Villeneuve, 2016).
The selection process is fraught with risks, because the repertoire of this vast cinema is full of gems. “To choose the films shown in the summer session, I create a large list first, then present it to the four members of the programming committee, who add titles to it,” says Marcel Jean, general director of the Cinémathèque. A week at the organization’s headquarters.
The films included in this first collective list – of which more than 250 have appeared this year – are then sorted according to various criteria, ranging from the personal preferences of the programmers to the historical or educational dimension of the work, including artistic limitations or over-representation. From some authors. After the initial trimming is done, Jérôme Michaud, the programming assistant, goes looking for copies. Some cannot be found, others are damaged. Sometimes, foreign film libraries remember old films, but they're practically new.
Science fiction is 7 years olde The art itself. The journey to the moonScience fiction began in 1902, with Georges Méliès. “, notes Mr. Jan.
From these fears emerged works that combine the spirit of the times with future projections that resonate today in a strange way. This is the case finisher (James Cameron, 1984), a post-apocalyptic film that exploits both personality alterity and the threats of artificial intelligence or the fear of the end of the world.
Marcel Jean speaks of genre as a “yeast”: this strange artistic creature constantly survives, transforms, amazes with its results – and can go far beyond the sole framework of its era.
Some rare works also appear in this summer programme. “We have a movie version of 12 monkey [Terry Gilliam, 1995]which will open the course in a dual program with The sidewalk [Chris Marker, 1962]. I find it interesting to put them side by side, because one inspired the other,” emphasizes Marcel Jean.
Very old Soviet films will also be shown, “beautiful wonders,” according to the cinema director. This is the case The dead mountaineer descended (Gregory Kromanov, 1979). Adapted from the Strugatsky brothers' novel of the same name (1970), this investigative story takes place in a hotel adjacent to a ski resort, where guests find themselves trapped by an avalanche.
Born in flames (Lizzy Borden, 1983) is Mr. Jane's favorite. This feminist utopia, in his opinion, is a good example of independent cinema in this era. Emulating the documentary style, the feature film follows three feminist groups opposed to the long-standing socialist government.
Quebec films are also selected. Polaris (Kirsten Carthew, 2022), for example, is set in a wintry environment that contrasts with the deserts or galaxies the genre favors. Its origin story revolves around Sumi, a little girl raised by a polar bear in the year 2144. Blade Runner 2049 (Denis Villeneuve, 2017) will also be shown.
The course will end with a special program on Steven Spielberg (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, andetc.) and George Lucas (star wars), dedicated to the first films of icons of American cinema and this genre.
