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Acclaimed actress Mylène MacKay will be at the screening of "Nelly" 

19:00

Denial

The festival opens today with a screening of courtroom drama “Denial” by Mick Jackson. Written by the great dramatist David Hare, and based on the book “History on Trial: My Day in Court With A Holocaust Denier”, the film stars Rachel Weisz as historian Deborah E. Lipstadt who was accused of libel by renowned military historian David Irving, played here by Timothy Spall.

Wendy Ide in The Observer says that the film is “tailor-made for an era in which politicians glibly spout “alternative facts” if the truth doesn’t suit them.” She also praises Weisz for bringing “a barrelling energy to her performance” and Spall for being “effectively repellent”.

In English

Venue: Utopolis Kirchberg

Invitation only

 

21:30

Nelly

The first of this year’s official competition films to be screened is Anné Émond’s “Nelly”. A “creatively imagined” biopic about the Quebec writer Nelly Arcan, the film is an intelligent attempt to portray the complexities of Arcan (who was born Isabelle Fortier) and the lies she wove into her life. Arcan’s semi-autobiographical novel “Putain”, based on her experiences as a sex worker, caused a sensation when published in 2001. She followed it with three other acclaimed novels, but then committed suicide in 2009.

Actress Mylène MacKay, who has received rave reviews for her refined and elegant portrayal of Nelly, will be at the screening.

In (Canadian) French with English subtitles

Venue: Utopia, Limpertsberg