Vernon Film Society
The second movie of the Vernon Film Society’s summer season is Where Do We Go Now?
It will be shown at Town Theatre Monday at 5:45 p.m. and 7:45 p.m.
This movie won the People’s Choice Award at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and is a multi-national film from France, Lebanon, Italy and Egypt. It is in Arabic and Russian with English subtitles. It is a musical fable addressing the charged topic of religious differences in the Middle East.
Set in a Lebanese village isolated from the surrounding world, the story develops after a series of misunderstandings between the population’s Muslim and Christian communities. The women of the community do not want to see more strife and hatch a scheme to distract the village’s men from escalating violence. This ranges from distracting them by importing Ukrainian showgirls to serving hash cookies at a dance party. They do not go as far as the women in the Greek play Lysistrata withholding sex but are determined to use their wits and creativity to help their village remain peaceful.
The original music, dance numbers and accomplished professional and non-professional actors make this film an entertaining view of a part of the world we usually only see portrayed on our nightly news.
A fantasy of course, but one that leavens its sombre subject with beguiling grace and charm. It is directed by Nadine Labaki, who also appears in the film.
Tickets are available at the Bean Scene and Town Theatre one week prior and at the door. All seats are $7.
