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A lot of great movies coming to Camrose’s Nordly’s

February festival near Wetaskiwin featuring movies and more
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Whether you go to be inspired, experience adventures or emotions not usually part of your everyday life, or just escape for a while, there is something magical about going to the movies.

The Nordlys Film and Arts festival 2019 lineup will serve up this magic for three days February 15-17 in Camrose. In fact, when Nordlys Film and Arts Festival closes late Sunday, February 17, it will bring to 114 the total number of films it has shown since it’s beginning in 2010. That is a lot of great movies!

First up will be the internationally acclaimed Maudie with producer Mary Sexton in attendance for a Q&A. Following that will be the “stunningly funny” dark comedy from the UK The Party starring Kristen Scott Thomas.

Saturday’s lineup will range from the Russian drama Loveless, winner of the 2017 Cannes Jury Prize and Russia’s submission to the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film to the considerably lighter Swiss entry in the same category, The Divine Order. This one is a crowd pleasing drama/ comedy.

True to Nordlys’ tradition of edgier fare in the late night slot on Saturday, will be Heavy Trip. It is a truly dark comedy from Finland about a metal band hoping for a breakthrough at a festival in Norway.

This year’s classic film selection will be the suspenseful The Woman in the Window starring Edgar G. Robinson from 1944. The Festival is delighted that “Nordlys’ Honorary Professor of Classic Cinema,” Dr. Trond Trondsen will once again be on hand to wow the audience with one of his inimitable introductions.

Canadian films feature high this year. This Mountain Life is a breathtaking Canadian documentary about a sixty year woman and her daughter’s who dare a 2,300km traverse of the Coast Mountains of British Columbia Squamish to Skagway. It is a journey both physical and spiritual - one very few would even contemplate and only one other team has successfully completed. But more than a one-time adventure, as the title suggests, there are those extraordinary people who share a passion for the mountain life: a group of nuns inhabiting a mountain retreat to be closer to God; a photographer buried in an avalanche; an impassioned alpinist; a focused snow artist; a couple who has been living off grid for nearly 50 years. As viewers we are led to ask: What is it that leads these adventurous people to sacrifice everything – comfort, family, personal safety – for a life in the mountains?

This Mountain Life has special local interest. One of the people in it is Sister Claire Rolf. Sister Claire grew up in Camrose, attended Camrose Lutheran College and skied competitively at the national junior level. She is now Prioress of the Queen of Peace Monastery in Squamish, BC. Sister Claire and film writer Jenny Rustemeyer will be in attendance for a Q&A.

Kicking off the Festival again this year will be the traditional black and white cocktail hour. Attendees are invited to dress in black and white, any style or no style.

Find the second half of this story in the Feb. 7 edition of The Wetaskiwin Pipestone Flyer.

Check the website for more info, www.norldysfestival.ca.