Algoma International Film Association

.. the newest and most significant in Canadian and International films right here in Sault Ste. Marie.

The Algoma International Film Association promotes the viewing and appreciation of films not usually available to the community commercial cinema. We are a member of the Film Circuit, a division of the Toronto International Film Festival. The Toronto International Film Festival Group is a charitable, cultural and educational organization devoted to celebrating excellence in film and the moving image.

Welcome to our 42nd season! This year, films are shown at either Sault College (Sunday screening) or the Galaxy Cinema (Mondays)…but all start at 7:00pm. Please refer to the schedule for details. Our membership fee is $20 & passes are $85. Ticket prices are $6 for members & $8 for non-members.

Empties

Year: 2007
Country: Czeck Republic
Director: Jan Sverák
Leads: Zdenek Sverák, Jirí Machácek, Daniela Kolárová, Tatiana Vilhelmová
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Runtime: 100 minutes
Rating: PG-13 (thematic material)
Language: Czeck, German

Josef Tkaloun is a teacher in Prague who becomes angry when his pupils misbehave in his poetry class. He quits his teaching job to work behind the counter at the local Žižkov supermarket, taking in used glass beer bottles and empty plastic water bottles. His own flirtations as a matchmaker (and amusingly lurid dreams) almost get him into trouble with his wife, so he reignites passion in his marriage by celebrating his wedding anniversary in a special way. “The attraction of this optimistic film is the way in which director Jan Sverák begins the action in seemingly inevitable bleakness – the stupidity of adolescents, the boredom of retirement, the loneliness of being single and the frustration of being married – and gradually exposes its many characters to the light.” – Kate Taylor, Globe & Mail.

Reviews:

Eddie Cockrell, Variety: “Conceived as capper in trilogy of metaphorical works about maturation that began with The Elementary School (childhood) and continued with mellow, Oscar-winning phenom Kolya (middle age)…Empties under Sverak's shrewdly unforced direction, other thesps are natural and appealing.”

Greg Quill, Toronto Star: In Empties, father-son Czech collaborators from the Oscar-winning Kolya focus on how poorly a cantankerous high school teacher adapts to what amounts to forced retirement.

Kate Taylor, Globe and Mail: “Sverak's work anchors a cast that delivers a series of delicately executed performances as the actors bring to life a great range of lightly comic characters.”

Official web site: http://www.vratnelahve.cz/
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0809951/