The Brantford Film Group gratefully acknowledges our partnership with Film Circuit, presented by TIFF, and its sponsors and supporters. For more information about Film Circuit and to view a full list of their sponsors and supporters, please visit www.tiff.net/filmcircuit
Winter 2025
We Live in Time
Wednesday
January 22 @ 7pm
Because their time together is limited, the highly respected but ailing chef Almut and her loving husband, still scarred by a previous divorce, must make a painful decision, that will exact great personal sacrifice. In the end, a choice such as this, is a far more powerful expression of love than any mere declaration can ever be. Don’t miss the superb performances of Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, this film’s lead Oscar nominees!
Mlle Bottine
Wednesday
February 5 @ 7pm
When an eccentric 11-year-old orphan, Simone loses her grandmother, her estranged uncle Philippe Bloom, a talented opera composer must take her in until suitable foster parents can be found. Simone is forced to leave the country life behind to adapt to city life, consoled only by her best friend and pet skunk, Miss Boots. Meanwhile, her Uncle Philippe who struggles to compose a new opera, must persevere to meet deadlines, while grappling with the demands of his rebellious niece.
PHOTO : IMMINA FILMS, LES PRODUCTIONS LA FÊTE, ATTRACTION / DANNY TAILLON
Small Things Like These
Wednesday
February 26 @ 7pm
​​Adapted from Claire Keegan’s best-selling novella, this powerful story sheds light on the troubling treatment of Ireland’s “fallen” young women by the Magdalene Laundries, in operation from 1922 to 1998. In a small Irish town, coal merchant and devoted father, Bill discovers 15-year-old Sarah locked in the local convent’s coal shed. The convent’s Mother Superior, pressures Furlong into keeping this incident a secret by alternately bribing and threatening him. Troubled by the nun’s conduct, Furlong decides to break his town’s conspiracy of silence. He acts with Christian compassion and charity, when the Church fails to do so. Don’t miss this heart-breaking and moving tale.
PHOTO : Enda Bowe/Lionsgate
Bonnard: Pierre & Marthe
Wednesday
March 5 @ 7pm
Beautiful cinematography illuminates writer/ director Martin Provost’s intimate portrayal of Pierre Bonnard, one of the founding members of the French Post Impressionist movement, and of his controversial muse and model, Marthe “de Meligny”. A cinematic revelation, Provost’s film celebrates Bonnard’s great artistic legacy as the legacy of both Pierre and Marthe. Whatever their individual character flaws, theirs was a unique and complex relationship that nourished and sustained Bonnard’s creativity over the years.
Photo: Sphère Films
First Dance
Wednesday
March 19 @ 7pm
In 1969, Irish playwright, Samuel Beckett did not attend the awards ceremony where he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature; however, director James Marsh imaginatively recreates this moment. His Beckett accepts the prize and then experiences traumatic psychological fallout, alternating between excessive self-regard and self-loathing. Marsh frames his film’s narrative to reinforce and enhance the complexity and paradox in the life of his famous subject: dream sequences turn into flashbacks; interior monologue turns into dialogue.
Photo: Galway Film Fleadh
The Martini Shot
Wednesday
April 2 @ 7pm
In film-making, when the director calls for “the martini shot”, he is announcing a final shot set-up at the end of the day. After this shot, most of the cast and crew head out to a nearby bar to relax and order another kind of shot. Steve, a terminally ill director relocates to Ireland. As he works on his film, Steve considers and then celebrates all of life’s big imponderables: mortality, legacy, love, and creativity. Inevitably Steve’s final film becomes his own psychological and spiritual “martini shot”. Magic realism, ethereal Irish landscapes and performances by veteran actors, all contribute to this unforgettable film.
Photo: 2LE Media
The Brutalist
Wednesday
April 16 @ 7pm
In 1947, Jewish Hungarian architect, Laslo Toth arrives in New York. Laslo is hired by the philanthropist and wealthy industrialist Harrison Lee van Buren to create a community centre dedicated to the Van Buren family. Ego and ambition clash as conservative privilege and creative underprivilege face off. As a prologue to the film, Corbet quotes Goethe. “None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe themselves free.” It is a sad reality for many immigrants as they relentlessly pursue their American Dream.
Photo: A24 Films