Robert Hloz’s Restore Point Opens to Rave Reviews in Karlovy Vary

Congrats to Robert on his first feature, which had a very successful premiere at Karlovy in early July 2023, where the Czeck director was awestruck by the two standing ovations.

Variety’s Guy Lodge opines “director Robert Hloz’s whopper of a calling-card debut may offer a more credibly subdued, budget-constrained visual of the mid-21st century than the lavishly built “Blade Runner 2049” — unless we’re in for a drastic design (r)evolution over the course of the 2040s — but its ideas are sky-high in concept. Robert Hloz shows Hollywood-level chops in a resourceful, niftily plotted vision of a near future where human life can’t always be saved, but it can be rebooted.”

Screen Daily calls it a “stylish, high-concept self-contained piece of storytelling.”

Following its home premiere in Karlovy Vary’s Special Screenings section, it will make its North American debut at the genre-specific Fantasia Festival.

Meredith Hambrock: Writer in Residence

Meredith Hambrock’s latest novel, Other People’s Secrets, got her nominated for this Las Vegas writing residency during which she will be working on her next literary mystery novel, Woman Found Floating, about the crew on a superyacht and all that unfolds when they rescue a mysterious woman they find floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Paloma Dawkins Attends Game Arts International Assembly

The Game Arts International Assembly (GAIA) is an international think tank and network for the professional development of the game arts community aimed at curators, producers, event organizers and academics working in the field of videogame culture.

Among many other wonderful things, the 2023 edition of GAIA will consist of three days of personal talks, playful events, and round tables focusing on:

– Interactive and playful sessions generating ideas to address big issue problems;
– Bonding/integration activities designed for the participants, including visits to local game developers studios, to museums and to local cultural venues and activities.

Also, Paloma Dawkins will be part of a panel on conjuring our experiences and disciplines outside of games. Paloma is a Canadian cartoonist turned award winning virtual-reality and video-game artist. She is the founder of the XR and animation studio Apocablyss Studios (2021). Dawkins’ games are praised for being digital spaces that celebrate natural life and rhythms. She has organized pre-pandemic events for avant-garde and performative games/experiences as well as game jams in Montreal and around the world.

Marin Girard et Crépuscule pour un tueur

Dans quelques articles parus récemment sur la sortie du film, Crépuscule pour un tueur, l’acteur Éric Bruneau, le réalisateur Raymond Saint-Jean et le scénariste Martin Girard y vont de leurs impressions sur le tueur à gages Daniel Lavoie, le personnage qu’ils ont façonné ensemble.

« Les quatre saisons sont incluses dans le film. On passe de la chaleur de l’été à la vibrance de l’automne. À un moment, Donald Lavoie enfile des raquettes pour aller couper un sapin, évoquant un coureur des bois. On voulait que ça ne puisse être rien d’autre qu’un film québécois ».

« On nous a demandé si le film glorifiait la criminalité. Je pense que ce n’est pas la bonne question à poser. Ce personnage ne mérite certainement pas la gloire au sens d’un héros, mais ce qu’il a vécu marque un tournant dans l’histoire de la criminalité au Québec. C’est pour lui que le Programme de protection des témoins a vu le jour. »

« C’est un récit sur le thème de la réhabilitation.»

— Martin Girard

Les articles en question…

Journal de Montreal
Le Devoir
La Presse