The 5 orphaned daughters in 'Mustang', the Turkish film by Deniz Gamze Erguven, one of several Peter Pearson recommends from TIFF this year.
Photo Credit: courtesy of TIFF

Peter Pearson’s TIFF Experience

Peter Pearson  has been a passionate Canadian film maker and screen writer, all his life. Now in his eighth decade, he shares this passion with a film group in Montreal, called ‘Cinemagique‘.  He brings great movies, to what he describes as a “sophisticated audience, people that are really smart and they want to be challenged.”

“We’re living though a golden age of movies”

The 2015/16 season of ‘Cinemagique’ began just last week, as Pearson was returning from his annual pilgrimage to the Toronto International Film Festival, and this edition was no disappointment.

“I was seeing films from Turkey and New Zealand and Norway and China. I was so confident in TIFF’s choices that I would see a line going into one of the theatres, l’d join the line-up just because there were so many people in it, without having any idea what movie I was about to see.”

“We’re living through a golden age of movies,” Pearson says. “I saw a fantastic Turkish film called ‘Mustang‘ about these 5 little orphan girls being coerced into marriage by their elders.  And if ever you want to see a film which describes how Islam is unravelling in the Middle East this is the film; an extraordinary film.”

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“You never have any chance of catching anything more than a minimal experience because there’s 370 film”  

Pearson has been running the Montreal film club for eight years and going to TIFF for the last six. This year he took in 29 films in six days and nights. He compares it to visiting the Louvre Museum in Paris. “You never have any chance of catching anything more than a minimal experience because there’s 370 films.”

He has certain guidelines when selecting for the flim club. “I will take almost any film from Israel.  I think that it’s very hard to understand what’s going on in Israel these days and the film-makers do a better job of explaining it than you would ever get in the news, or God forbid, television.”  He relishes providing a “disturbing experience.”

“Rabin: The Last Day”, a documentary by  Amos Gitaï, explores the aftermath of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin. A major turning point in Israel’s history, the film explores the warring agendas and suggests some uncomfortable possibilities. 

Another that’s sure to fit the bill is Quebec-Canadian, Denis Villeneuve’s latest, ‘Sicario‘. It features Benecio Del Torro, Emily Blunt, Josh Broliln and Victor Garber, another Canadian. “If you want to understand what’s happening on the Mexican-American border and the kind of dimension of crime that’s going on, you’ve got to see this movie.  It’s a real thriller.” says Pearson.

For some lighter fare, Pearson suggests ‘The Lobster‘ a Greek-Irish co-production starring Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz. A comedy, it follows a mating ritual wherein a deadline looms; and if not met, one turns into the animal of one’s choice. Enough said.

And for the Christmas season, Pearson has lined up the Canadian/Irish/British co-production, ‘Brooklyn’. Based on Colm Toibin’s book, with a screenplay by Nick Hornby, it deals with the anguish of immigration. It’s sure to be a golden autumn of movies.

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