World cinema returns to Welland
Seeing an international film is like having the world delivered to your doorstep.
Gisele Fleury-Fournier, cofounder of Cinefest Niagara, which has been bringing the world to Welland for two decades, likens the experience to going on an exotic vacation.
“It’s like travelling,” she said, but “it saves you the trip.”
“You don’t get quite the same thing, but you can have an experience.”
Oddly enough, when the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) first presented the opportunity to showcase its films in Welland, Fleury-Fournier wasn’t much of a film fan, at least not to the level of being the film festival circuit veteran that she is now.
But she was intrigued, especially with the opportunity to see movies on the big screen presented in French, a language she and many others in Welland speak fluently.
Now, she sees dozens a year, many more than once.
“Once I see them again, I love them even more,” she said, explaining that on the second viewing, you’re not as caught up in the plot and can instead see the other details.
“Everything comes up so much more alive,” she said.
Founded in 1997, Cinefest Niagara is a membership-based film club which screens nine films a year. Shortly after it began, Cinefest began presenting two festivals for the public on alternating years, Francofest (a French-language film festival) and the Welland International Film Festival, which returns at the end of the month.
Fleury-Fournier said the films are selected by members of Cinefest Niagara who go to not only TIFF, but festivals in Sudbury and Windsor.
The three films — “Cold War,” “The Silent Revolution” and
“Sir” — are obviously not typical film theatre fare. And that’s the point, Fleury-Fournier said; it’s a chance to broaden one’s horizon, see something a little different.
“It’s movies that would not come to the regular cinema if we didn’t show them,” she said.
Many point to film streaming services like Netflix as opening the door to a diversity of voices and providing audiences with a variety of options. But while Fleury-Fournier is a fan and hosted a screening for friends of the Oscar-winning film “Roma,” she said it’s not a replacement of the theatre-going experience.
“To see it on the big screen and make it an evening of going out, it’s very special.”
Admission to Welland International Film Festival screenings is $8 or all three for $20. For more details, call 905-734-9835 or email cinefestniagara97@gmail.com. All screenings are at the Seaway Mall Cineplex, March 29 to 31.