A CHAOTIC MONTH IN THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN MILLEPIED
Documentary takes audience behind the scenes as man behind the Black Swan becomes director of the Paris Opera Ballet
Reset: A stylish doc that opens this weekend at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, Reset depicts a particularly hectic month in the life of one of the dance world’s most fascinating figures. A French dancer and choreographer who may be most widely known for his work on Black Swan (and for marrying its star, Natalie Portman), Benjamin Millepied faced the toughest challenge of his career when he became the director of dance for the Paris Opera Ballet in 2014. His quest to modernize the much-distinguished but deeply conservative company proved to be incredibly daunting — indeed, he unexpectedly left the role early last year.
Directed by Thierry Demaizière and Alban Teurlai, Reset captures a more hopeful if hectic period for its subject as Millepied prepares for the world premiere of his first production with the company, a contemporary piece with a cast of emerging talent and a score by American classical-music upstart Nico Muhly. Problems with the set design, dancer injuries and a looming strike by the technicians’ union are among the complications that arise on the way to opening night. Yet thanks to his warm and open manner, Millepied carries the stress surprisingly well. The dancing doesn’t look too shabby, either.
Reset plays Friday to Jan. 5 at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema. Studio Ghibli, Magnificent 70mm and The Sound of Music at Lightbox: TIFF Bell Lightbox caps off 2016 with three events that have become popular mainstays of its programming slate. Spirited Away: The Films of Studio Ghibli includes 22 features by the revered Japanese animation studio, including such Hayao Miyazaki classics as My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle. A rarely screened Ghibli short from 2002 that’s new for the Lightbox series, Ghiblies: Episode 2 plays with screenings of My Neighbors the
Yamadas on Jan. 3 and The Cat Returns on Jan. 6. It all launches on Saturday, as does Magnificent 70mm, which includes limited runs for 2001: A Space Odyssey, Vertigo, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and The Right Stuff, all screened from 70mm prints. Last but not least — especially to the city’s plethora of would-be Von Trapp Family Singers — The Sound of Music plays a trio of singalong presentations on Dec. 26, 30 and 31.
Ghostland: The View of the
Ju’Hoansi: Another crowd-pleasing doc with a limited run over the holidays at the Hot Docs HQ, Ghostland:
The View of the Ju’Hoansi introduces viewers to four members of an indigenous African tribe that managed to evade most aspects of modernity until very recently, thereby preserving a way of life thought to be the oldest existing culture on the planet. But in 1990, a hunting ban compelled wider changes for the Ju’Hoansi of northeast Namibia. German filmmaker Simon Stadler follows a group of Ju’Hoansi as they shift from their world to one more familiar to most moviegoers. Their verdict after getting a taste of our ways, of course, is that we’re more than a little bit crazy.
A prizewinner at SXSW last year, Stadler’s film plays Sunday to Jan. 5 at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema. In Brief
A showcase of 2016’s best commercials, this edition of the Cannes Lions Awards runs Friday to Jan. 5 at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema.
The Doctor and his Tardis materialize on select Cineplex screens Monday and Wednesday for screenings of Doctor Who: The Return of
Doctor Mysterio, the British sciencefiction series’ latest holiday special.
The Motion Picture Symphony Orchestra and conductor Evan Mitchell perform John Williams’s iconic score live for big-screen presentations of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial on Dec. 29 and 30 at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts.
On Dec. 31, bearded patrons in sunglasses and bathrobes can enjoy the now-traditional showing of The
Big Lebowski for the Dude’s New Year’s event at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema. Projections returns Jan. 6.