Easter brunch & film on Easter Sunday

Liv is a curious and fearless farm girl who dreams of a life beyond the forest where she grew up. Her wish comes true when she encounters a mysterious white bear on her way to the mountains. Without hesitation, she travels with him, soon discovering that he is no ordinary bear − he is the missing Prince Valemon. Together with her animal friends, she embarks on an exciting journey to break his curse and free Valemon from the clutches of an evil witch.

This Norwegian animation film, based on a classic folk tale, is a visual gem. Quiet yet grand moments are interspersed with lively, humorous scenes, supported by beautiful music with Old European influences. (lw)

Most films set in Las Vegas centre on the high-wattage neon glow of The Strip. But Gia Coppola turns that tradition around, showing us a story from behind the lights, with a captivating and affecting lead performance by Pamela Anderson.

Shelley (Pamela Anderson) has been a Las Vegas showgirl for over thirty years, the feather and crystal-adorned centrepiece of Sin City’s last remaining traditional floor show. The stage and the women she shares it with are her loving, bickering, family. When the stage manager Eddie announces the show will close permanently in two weeks, Shelley and her co-workers must make decisions for their future. But the future looks different when you are 50 rather than 20, and your sole job skill is dancing.

Emotionally floundering, Shelley tries to reconnect with a daughter she hardly knows, which proves just as difficult as losing the only job she has ever had. Bolstered by her best friend Annette (wonderfully played by Jamie Lee Curtis), a brash cocktail waitress who laughs a little too loud and too often, Shelley must find her place in a world that she shut the door on years before. (source: www.tiff.net)

Raynor and Moth Winn live on an old farmhouse in Wales that they have converted into a thriving B&B. A speculation scandal causes them to lose their home and on top of that, Moth is diagnosed with a serious illness. With nothing left and very little time, they make an impulsive decision: they will walk the ancient South West Coast Path, hoping that the challenging journey from Dorset to Somerset will offer them solace. Armed with a small tent, two backpacks and a virtually empty bank account, they set off on the thousand-kilometre trek along England’s rugged south coast.

The Salt Path was directed by theatre director Marianne Elliott (winner of four Tony Awards), who ventures into a feature film for the first time. This inspiring, true story is about dealing with grief, the healing power of nature and rediscovering the true meaning of life when you have lost all your material possessions.

This fast, vigorous, rousing adaptation stays true to the intricate narrative of Alexandre Dumas’ epic nineteenth-century novel, and mixes historical detail with modern cinematic techniques.

In Le Comte De Monte-Cristo an unfairly persecuted man returns (as it seems) from the dead to ingeniously plot bloody revenge, one by one, upon those who wronged him. Yet revenge rarely runs smoothly: there are always obstacles, complications and surprising reversals of fortune. The rich, mysterious Count demands eternal loyalty from his young accomplices, but events may influence them otherwise. Ultimately, Dumas asks: can another emotion, more noble and powerful, replace the lust for vengeance?

Dumas’ intricate narrative demands fine attention to what each character knows or doesn’t know at any given point, and this adaptation is up to the task. Combining a stirring orchestral score with contemporary cinematic devices (handheld and drone camerawork), Le Comte De Monte-Cristo manages to be at once classical and modern. (source: www.iffr.com)