Films Gracing the Screens at International Festivals

Critically Acclaimed Films

Coming to screen near you

MK2 | MILE END is thrilled to announce the films CALL JANE by Phyllis Nagy, and GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE by Sophie Hyde will be presented at the 2022 Berlinale. CALL JANE, starring Elizabeth Banks and Sigourney Weaver, has been selected in the Official Competition. GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE, starring Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack, will have its European premiere as a Berlinale Special Gala.

CALL JANE by Phyllis Nagy
Starring Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, Chris Messina, Kate Mara, Wunmi Mosaku

Joy (Elizabeth Banks), a traditional 60’s American housewife, is desperate for a second child. However, the wonderful news of her pregnancy is tainted by the threat it poses to her own life. She has nowhere to turn until she stumbles upon the Janes, an underground group of ordinary women united by Virgina (Sigourney Weaver), who risk everything to provide people like Joy with choices. They save Joy’s life and give her a burning sense of purpose: to help other women take control of their destinies.

Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack in Good Luck to you, Leo Grande

GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE by Sophie Hyde
Starring Emma Thompson, Daryl McCormack

Nancy Stokes (Emma Thompson) doesn’t know good sex. Whatever it may be, Nancy, a retired schoolteacher, is pretty sure she has never had it, but she is determined to finally do something about that. She even has a plan: It involves an anonymous hotel room, and a young sex worker who calls himself Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack). Leo is confident, dapper, and takes pride in being good at his job. He also appears to be intrigued by Nancy — one of many things to surprise her during their time together.

Both films also had their World Premieres at the Sundance Film Festival, taking place from January 20 to 30, 2022.
These 2 titles will released in theatres later this year.

Coming to your home screen

Looking for something to view now? Visit www.sphere-films.ca to discover a multitude of films that you can rent or buy. Here are just a few…

PARASITE (Original version with English subtitles)
Directed by Bong Joon Ho.
With Song Kang-Ho, Woo-sik Choi, Park So-Dam.
Nationality South-Korea.

Ki-taek’s family of four is close, but fully unemployed, with a bleak future ahead of them. The son Ki-woo is recommended by his friend, a student at a prestigious university, for a well-paid tutoring job, spawning hopes of a regular income. Carrying the expectations of all his family, Ki-woo heads to the Park family home for an interview. Arriving at the house of Mr. Park, the owner of a global IT firm, Ki-woo meets Yeon-kyo, the beautiful young lady of the house. But following this first meeting between the two families, an unstoppable string of mishaps lies in wait.

Abe
Directed by: Fernando Grostein Andrade.
Starring: Noah Schnapp, Seu Jorge, Dagmara Dominczyk.
Nationality: USA, Brazil.

“Abe” is a 12-year-old half Israeli and half Palestinian kid from Brooklyn driven by his passion for food, who has never had a dinner without a family fight. Abe escapes from a stupid summer cooking camp and is mentored by the Afro Brazilian Chef “Chico”, who specializes in serving fusion food at pop up food fairs. One side of the family prefers to call him “Avraham” (in Hebrew), the other side “Ibrahim” (in Arab), while his agnostic atheist parents call him “Abraham”, in English. But he prefers Abe, just Abe.

RADIOACTIVE
Directed by Marjane Satrapi.
With Rosamund Pike, Sam Riley et Yvette Feuer.

From the 1870s to the modern era, RADIOACTIVE is a journey through Marie Curie’s (Rosamund Pike) enduring legacies – her passionate relationships, scientific breakthroughs, and the consequences that followed for her and for the world. After meeting fellow scientist Pierre Curie (Sam Riley), the pair go on to marry and change the face of science forever by their discovery of radioactivity. The genius of the Curies’ world-changing discoveries and the ensuing Nobel Prize propels the devoted couple into the international limelight. From renowned producers, WORKING TITLE (DARKEST HOUR) and Shoebox Films (ATONEMENT), and Academy Award® nominated director, Marjane Satrapi, comes a bold depiction of the transformative effects and ensuing fallout of the Curie’s work and how this shaped the defining moments of the 20th Century.

THE GREAT BUSTER A CELEBRATION (The Great Buster: une Célébration, sous titres français disponibles)
Directed by Peter Bogdanovich.
With Buster Keaton.

Celebrating the life and career of one of America’s true cinematic visionaries, Buster Keaton. Filled with stunningly restored archival films from the Keaton library, it is directed by Peter Bogdanovich, an iconic filmmaker in his own right, whose landmark writings and films on such renowned directors as John Ford and Orson Welles have become the standard by which all other studies are measured. Bogdanovich conducts interviews with a range of modern day comedy experts such as Mel Brooks, Quentin Tarantino, Werner Herzog, and Dick van Dyke exploring Keaton’s enduring influence on the genre. A detailed study of Keaton’s most celebrated films (including The General and Steamboat Bill, Jr.) reveals Keaton’s impact on modern comedy and cinema.

SHUT UP AND PLAY THE PIANO
a film by Philipp Jedicke.
Starring Chilly Gonzales, Peaches, Leslie Feist.
France, Germany.

The artistic journey of Chilly Gonzales from Canada to the Berlin scene of the late 90s’ and finally to philharmonies worldwide. The Grammy-winning eccentric inspired and collaborated with the likes of Daft Punk, Drake, Feist, Jarvis Cocker and Peaches. Crisscrossing between rap, electro and chamber music, Chilly Gonzales is the outrageous entertainer who invited himself into the ivory tower of classical music.

RODIN (Français, with English subtitles)
Directed by Jacques Doillon
With Vincent Lindon, Izïa Higelin, Séverine Caneele
Nationality French

Paris 1880, Auguste Rodin aged 40, finally receives his first State commission: he creates The Gates of Hell, composed of figurines. Some of these will become his most famous works, such as The Kiss and The Thinker. He shares his life with Rose, his lifelong partner, when he meets the young Camille Claudel. His most gifted student, she quickly becomes his assistant, then his mistress. A decade of passion, mutual admiration and complicity ensues. Following their break up, Rodin continues to work relentlessly. He faces both the rejection and enthusiasm provoked by the sensuality of his sculptures, and with his Balzac, rejected during his lifetime, creates the undeniable starting point of modern sculpture.

THE BOOKSHOP (La Librairie de Mademoiselle Green, sous titres français disponible)
Directed by Isabel Coixet.
Starring Emily Mortimer, Bill Nighy, Patricia Clarkson.
Nationality Spanish, UK, German.

England, 1959. Free-spirited widow Florence Green (Emily Mortimer) risks everything to open a bookshop in a conservative East Anglian coastal town. While bringing about a surprising cultural awakening through works by Ray Bradbury and Vladimir Nabokov, she earns the polite but ruthless opposition of a local grand dame (Patricia Clarkson) and the support and affection of a reclusive book loving widower (Bill Nighy). As Florence’s obstacles amass and bear suspicious signs of a local power struggle, she is forced to ask: is there a place for a bookshop in a town that may not want one? Based on Penelope Fitzgerald’s acclaimed novel and directed by Isabel Coixet (Learning to Drive), The Bookshop is an elegant yet incisive rendering of personal resolve, tested in the battle for the soul of a community.

www.sphere-films.ca