From the category archives:

FESTIVAL CITY

Everyone’s a Winner

Even those who don’t get picked are at least guaranteed a good time at the newly expanded, now open to the public, and free-to-attend Montreal Fringe Festival Lottery

by Jamie O'Meara
13.11.2011

You can’t win if you don’t play, and so it is with the St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival, which early this week holds its annual Fringe Lottery. The playing is on the part of the 150-or-so theatre, dance, comedy, music and other assorted performance arts companies who have thrown their names into the hat, hoping to [...]

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FESTIVAL CITY

French Film Mania

Cinephiles and audiences of all kinds are sure to be delighted with the eclectic yet politically-minded programme of films at this year's Cinemania

by Andrea Elalouf
07.11.2011

With the initial goal of spreading the gospel of French cinema to Montreal’s Anglophone community, the Cinemania film festival has, since its inception in 1995, helped popularize France’s film industry in our fair city and beyond – countering the common belief that the French seventh art belongs only in dusty repertoire theatres.

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FESTIVAL CITY

Doing the do

The Festival du Nouveau Cinéma continues to supply adventurous film fans with the map to undiscovered riches

by Melora Koepke
14.10.2011

The Festival du Nouveau Cinéma (FNC) turns 40 this year, and it’s almost definitely the city’s most grown-up film festival – a designation festival director Claude Chamberlan will likely hate. He called the fest “petit-moyen” in a recent interview with T’Cha Dunlevy in The Gazette, but we beg to differ. The fest may not be [...]

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FESTIVAL CITY

Works for Work’s Sake

INTERVIEW: Filmmaker Wim Wenders on his masterful new 3D dance documentary Pina, and the enduring beauty of its unlikely subject and setting

by Melora Koepke
12.10.2011

“Audiences want truth as opposed to reality” – Wim Wenders on life, work and the meaning of both. Wim Wenders’ Pina is as simple, artful and perfect as a dance movie can be – and watching it with 3D glasses on the big screen, it’s tempting to think that this is exactly why Stereoscopic 3D [...]

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FESTIVAL CITY

Who Loves the Sun?

Sabrina Barilà captures the spirit of the Montreal style with her Spring/Summer 2012 collection

by Oksana Cueva
29.09.2011

As we bask in this glorious Indian summer, our thoughts may still be drifting towards the beach, hazy days and sunny styles. Let us bring you back to the Spring/Summer 2012 runway collections at the 21st Edition of Montreal Fashion Week, from earlier in the month. One of the highlights of this international fashion showcase [...]

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FESTIVAL CITY

Les Derniers Assassins n’ont pas fait leurs dernières victimes

Jean Leloup and the Last Assassins, Pop Montreal

by Isaline Cartier
27.09.2011

Soir d’équinoxe au Rialto, Jean Leloup and the Last Assassins étaient attendus de pied ferme par une demi-foule pour le lancement de leur premier album.

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FESTIVAL CITY

From Fiddlers on the Roof to Puppeteers in the Basement

The Season: A Socalled Musical finds multi-talented Mile End madman Josh Dolgin charging into uncharted creative territory at Pop Montreal

by Megan Stewart
25.09.2011

In my Mile End apartment building, which is sinking into the ground and falling apart at the seams, I often hear strange and wonderful sounds coming from the basement. Sometimes it’s klezmer music being played on a melodica, sometimes there’s a string quartet. A few months ago, there was a barrage of puppets knocking down [...]

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FESTIVAL CITY

A Very Independent 10-Year-Old

Pop Montreal producer Dan Seligman unties the apron strings

by Jamie O'Meara
24.09.2011

To see Dan Seligman making the rounds at his festival over the last couple of nights is to see a man apparently at peace. The Pop Montreal producer has exuded calm whilst doing that thing that very few festival capos get to do: appreciate their own festivals. According to Seligman, however, the annual independent music [...]

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FESTIVAL CITY

The Women Who Saved Motown

How small-town girls became ’60s hit makers The Velvelettes, appearing at Pop Montreal

by Crystal Chan
22.09.2011

In October, 2004, Motown label founder Berry Gordy awarded The Velvelettes a HAL award in Hollywood. The four women – Bertha McNeal (née Barbee), Carolyn Gill, Mildred Arbor (née Gill) and Norma Fairhurst (née Barbee) – were expecting recognition for one of their greatest personal triumphs. What they weren’t expecting was the revelation that they [...]

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FESTIVAL CITY

Going Against the Flow

Raucous Montreal indie-rock trio Reversing Falls buck current trends in the pursuit of a new kind of ’90s at Pop Montreal

by Jamie O'Meara
21.09.2011

Ask “X” number of people to characterize the music of the ’90s (as if to say musical epochs observe a mandatory changing of the guard every ten years) and you will get “X” number of answers. Hip-hop grew into its chequebook; DJ culture spawned, ranted and raved; Brit-rock blew up huge amidst much snot-nosed sniping; [...]

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FESTIVAL CITY

Pop Goes the Weekend

More Rover picks for the Pop Montreal long weekend of musical insanity

by Megan Stewart
20.09.2011

Pop Montreal turns ten this year and is demanding attention the way any overly energetic, sugar-high-happy child would. It wants you to run all over the city like a fool, dance hard and sing out loud, watch movies and play games, and, uh…drink. So maybe it’s not quite your average 10-year-old.

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FESTIVAL CITY

Turning It Up to “11”

Montreal’s musical citizenry let it all rock out on the occasion of Pop Montreal’s 10th anniversary

by Jamie O'Meara
19.09.2011

Given that so much of Montreal’s place on the world stage is a direct result of the continued creative efforts of its musically-inclined sons and daughters, we here at Rover have decided to go native with this first series of should-see concert considerations at the upcoming 10th edition of Pop Montreal (Sept. 21-25).

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FESTIVAL CITY

Urban Chic Strips Down

Melissa Nepton's Spring/Summer collection centres on provocative looks and playful juxtapositions

by Oksana Cueva
13.09.2011

Vibrantly daring! These two words perfectly describe Melissa Nepton’s Spring/Summer 2012 womanswear collection. The Quebec designer is a graduate of École Supérieure de Mode de Montréal at UQÀM and later studied in Paris. Following that, her experience as a buyer for the Marie Claire Group and Terra Nostra boutiques only enhanced her expertise in the [...]

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FESTIVAL CITY

Understated Elegance and Serious Style

Montreal designer Dinh Bà turns heads at MFW with his Spring/Summer 2012 collection

by Oksana Cueva
12.09.2011

Taking a glorious bow, Day One of Montreal Fashion Week instilled great pride into the city’s fashion followers. Regardless of the cloudy day, a sea of stylish souls headed out to Marché Bonsecours to witness the talents of our metropolis. The cocktail lounge, with its multicolored reflections, offered a perfect space to relax, grab a [...]

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FESTIVAL CITY

Visions of Summer

Travis Taddeo and Dimitri Chris heat up Montreal Fashion Week

by Todd Kingston Plummer
10.09.2011

Montreal Fashion Week was off to a sizzling start with the presentation of the Spring/Summer 2012 designer collections of Travis Taddeo and Dimitri Chris. The fashion set filed into the Marché Bonsecours to see the latest offerings – although the end of summer is upon us, the runway shows gave us something to look forward [...]

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