LETTER TO THEO by Elodie Lélu
Thursday, May 30 at 7 p.m. at Cinéma du Parc
Montreal, Tuesday, May 14, 2019 –In addition to its annual November festival, the Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) is proud to present Quebec premieres of major documentaries year-round with the RIDM+ series, presented by Télé-Québec. For the final screening of the season, cinephiles will have the chance to see Letter to Theo, a documentary by Belgian director and writer Elodie Lélu. Letter to Theo is the story of a return to the Greece of late filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos, a country ravaged by an endless economic crisis, overwhelmed by a steady influx of migrants, but still fighting to preserve its dignity. This highly topical film will be shown on Thursday, May 30 at 7 p.m. at Cinéma du Parc.
Synopsis
The filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos died on January 24th, 2012, knocked down by a motorbike on the set of his final film. He was surrounded by his team, of which the filmmaker Elodie Lélu was a member. In this unfinished film, he was telling the destinies of the victims of the Greek crisis. Ironically, the ambulance supposed to come to his rescue broke down because budgetary restrictions had made it impossible to maintain the vehicle. Letter to Theo is a letter to the late director told in the voice of Irène Jacob, in which images by Angelopoulos and Lélu are juxtaposed. The list of victims of the crisis has only grown longer, this destitution echoing another that Theo had sensed was coming: that of the mass arrival of refugees who find themselves trapped in Greece by the closure of the borders. Yet citizen resistance is being organized and fights every day to bring those in danger of obliteration out of the shadows.
Letter to Theo written and directed by Elodie Lélu
Belgium | 2018 | 63 minutes
Original version in French, English, Greek and Dari - with English subtitles
Trailer: youtu.be/Key2Wk0vTKw
RIDM+ screening on Thursday, May 30 at 7 p.m. at Cinéma du Parc
Purchase tickets online : bit.ly/cineduparc_billet
On the last Thursday of every month, the RIDM+ series gives cinephiles the chance to see high-quality documentaries that have achieved recent success at major festivals. The series provides rare opportunities to see these films on the big screen in Montreal, and it also gives audiences the chance to discuss the films with their directors and to attend special presentations by experts in the film’s subject matter.
Quebec’s only film festival dedicated to documentaries, the Montreal International Documentary Festivalpresents the best reality‐based films, including the works of established directors and new talents.
The 22nd annual RIDM will take place from November 14 to 24, 2019.
Information : www.ridm.ca
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For interview requests, Vimeo links or visual materials, please contact:
Caroline Rompré | pixelleX communications | 514-778-9294 | caroline@pixellex.ca