Students from Carleton’s Department of Film Studies will be helping put on a retrospective film festival in the River Building Theatre on March 21 and 28.
The films will be presented in Swedish with English subtitles, with two feature-length films playing each Saturday of the festival.
Working in conjunction with the Canadian Film Institute (CFI) and the Embassy of Sweden in Canada, students from Film 4800 Archival/Curatorial Practice class will present six films by Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund. The festival is free for students and open to the general public for $13.
“The CFI is honoured to present the extraordinary works of Ruben Östlund,” CFI executive director Tom McSorley said in a press release.
McSorley said Östlund has taken the international film scene by storm with his daring and insightful dramas.
“He is definitely a major emerging talent and we are thrilled to present his work to Ottawa audiences,” McSorley said.
“This is part of my course in giving students practical experience in public film programming,”
The festival, “In Case of No Emergency: The Films of Ruben Östlund,” will feature the films Play, Turist (Force Majeure), De ofrivilliga (Involuntary), Gitarrmongot (Guitar Mongoloid).
According to a CFI press release, Ottawa is one of several stops across North America.
“Tom is very involved in the CFI. He’s lending us his expertise . . . so anyone interested in working in festivals or for film institutions can get a sense of what that job is like,” student Kelsey Miki said.
Two of Östlund’s four feature-length films have been chosen as the official Swedish Oscar entry: 2008’s Involuntary and now Force Majeure this year. He was recently named one of 10 Directors to Watch in 2015 by Variety.
“Force Majeure . . . played at the ByTowne a lot and it sold out,” Miki said. “That’s probably his most recognizable one.”
McSorley said Östlund is one of Sweden’s most acclaimed filmmakers of the last five years.
“Only 40 years old, his four feature films have won many, many international festival awards,” McSorley said. “His most recent film, Force Majeure, has been distributed all over the world.”
The film was screened at the ByTowne in December for a week and was Sweden’s entry at the European Union Film Festival in November.
Student Nadia Ali said Ruben Östlund is known for shooting his films in 35mm, creating a distinct visual style that compliments his storytelling.
Miki said it is nice for a film theory program such as Carleton’s to allow students to apply their skills.
“They’re all really beautifully photographed if you’re into visual cinema and the stories focus on families and early childhood. It’s a pretty diverse range of films,” Miki said.
