With rainy days and colder weather on the horizon, the Jasper Film Club is eager to showcase some of the best Canadian and international films of the year.
The season begins Oct. 8 at the Chaba Theatre with the film Jimmy’s Hall, an Irish movie set in the 1920s.
The film tells the story of Jimmy Gralton, an Irishman with dual citizenship who is deported to the United States for his communist activities.
Upon his return from the United States a decade later, he vows to live a quiet life, but as he reintegrates into the community he is taken aback by the poverty and boredom he sees and decides to reopen an abandoned dance hall for young people to share ideas, to learn, to talk—but, above all, to dance and have fun.
The hall is an overnight success, but its socialist and free-spirited reputation don’t sit well with the church and local politicians who try to shut it down once and for all.
In many ways the film is like Footloose—the iconic American film set in rural America—but with an Irish tilt.
Jimmy’s Hall was screened at both the Cannes Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this year and is part of TIFF’s outreach program, which distributes the best Canadian and international films to communities across the country.
“We show films from all over the world,” said Fred MacMillian, vice-president of the Jasper Film Club.
“We know that in Jasper there is a core group of people that appreciate the movies that we bring in.”
The Jasper Film Club will continue playing films the first Thursday of every month until April. All shows start at 7 p.m. at the Chaba Theatre and are $10.
Memberships are available at the door for $10 and reduce tickets to $8 for the remainder of the season.
Paul Clarke [email protected]
