Evokative Films' founder is named one of Montreal's Noizemakers!

Stephanie was very honored to become one of Montreal's Noizemakers of 2010!
A tradition for many years, The Montreal Mirror starts the new year with the Noizemakers issue, where the efforts of a few Montrealers working in cultural or community areas are highlighted.

Article by Mark Slutsky, Film Editor of The Montreal Mirror

Mixed emotions
Evokative Films is a small distributor with a diverse mandate

"When I was at Fantasia, I’d see huge line-ups of people and how excited everybody was,” says Stephanie Trepanier. “I couldn’t understand why some of these films would get a sold-out crowd of 700 people, people being excited and lining up for an hour before the film, and no distributors would pick up the film afterwards. It plays at Fantasia and it’s done and you never see it again. I saw the enthusiasm and thought there has to be a market out there that isn’t being catered to, that I could concentrate on and try to please.”

Ask anyone who’s ever worked in film distribution and they’ll tell you: it’s one of the toughest, least glamorous links in the movie-making chain. So it’s pretty amazing what Evokative Films, a tiny local distributor with only three employees, has managed to accomplish in a year: five theatrical releases and five DVDs on store shelves, all out of company founder Trepanier’s Park Ex loft.

Evokative’s consistently interesting slate of films defies easy description, with movies ranging from the rambling, understated Japanese comedy Adrift in Tokyo to Korean boxing saga Crying Fist to French neo-blaxploitation actioner Black. “I think what unites the films is it’s always a mix of genres,” says Trepanier. “It’s never just a thriller. It’s going to be a mix of thriller and psychological drama, or a road movie that’s a comedy but also a little bit dramatic. There’s always a mix of emotions. I kind of like that.”

Trepanier, who got her start at Fantasia (and is still associated with the fest as a programmer) before working as a publicist for the ill-fated Christal Films, prides herself on Evokative’s signature look and style. Their beautifully designed DVDs—the latest being Adrift in Tokyo, in stores as of late December—are instantly recognizable, with a signature red band at the bottom. “I’m really happy with the way the company’s perceived now and how we’ve managed to develop as a brand in just a year,” she says. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do from the beginning. I come from marketing and I always thought that one thing that was missing from DVD distribution was to have a strong brand.”

Plans for 2010 include “surviving,” Trepanier laughs, “but in terms of films, there’s Deliver Us From Evil”—a Straw Dogs-ian Danish thriller—“in March, as well as the launch of the Black DVD, which didn’t do so well in theatres but I think on DVD it could do really well, across Quebec, because it’s in French and it’s action and everything.”

http://www.montrealmirror.com/2010/010710/film3.html

Posted in In the Press

ADRIFT IN TOKYO on DVD from December 22nd

ADRIFT IN TOKYO, the film that charmed cinema enthusiasts during its limited theatrical release last spring and has already built a mini cult following, will finally be released on Evokative Collection DVDs this December 22nd.

ADRIFT IN TOKYO (TEN-TEN) is a Japanese film written and directed by Satoshi Miki (INSTANT SWAMP, TURTLES ARE SURPRISINGLY FAST SWIMMERS, DIE AND LET LIVE, IN THE POOL), based on a novel by Naoki Prize winner Yoshinaga Fujita. This walking road movie stars the “Johnny Depp of Japan” Jô Odagiri (AIR DOLL, HAZARD, RETRIBUTION), Tomokazu Miura (ALWAYS: SUNSET ON THIRD STREET, SURVIVE STYLE 5+, THE TASTE OF TEA) and Kyôto Koizumi (TOKYO SONATA, SAKURAN, SURVIVE STYLE 5+).

Leading a lazy life, Fumiya has been a university student for 8 years and owes money to loan sharks. One day, a man named Fukuhara comes to collect the loan, which Fumiya cannot pay. So Fukuhara makes a proposition: He will cancel the debt as long as Fumiya agrees to walk with him across Tokyo to the police station of Kasumigaseki, where he intends to turn himself in for a crime he deeply regrets. Not having much choice, Fumiya accepts the deal. Thus begins their journey which will lead them to various unusual encounters, most of all with themselves. This fascinating, humorous and wildly clever film is sure to charm you.

In 2008, ADRIFT IN TOKYO garnered praise following its screenings at the Udine Far East Film Festival, the New York Asian Film Festival, the Neufchâtel Fantastic Film Festival, the Raindance Film Festival, the Fantasia International Film Festival and the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival, for which it was the closing film. It was also part of the Edmonton International Film Festival last fall. Besides being hailed as a masterpiece by some critics and being featured in many Best-films-of-2008 lists, ADRIFT IN TOKYO won the Kinema Junpo Award for the Best Supporting Actor, as well as the Best Scenario Award and a Special Mention of the jury for Jô Odagiri and Tomokazu Miura’s acting at the Fantasia International Film Festival.

The DVD features Japanese dialogue with optional English and French subtitles in yellow. A 71-minutes Making-of and two original Japanese TV ads are included as extra features. The packaging includes a booklet with an interview with the Director, a foreword by Todd Brown, Editor of Twitchfilm, and ADRIFT IN TOKYO Words of “wisdom”, a compilation of funny and absurd lines from the film. In accordance with the innovative vocation of Evokative, the DVD packaging is an environmentally-friendly and elegant digipack made of 100% recycled materials and wrapped in a 100% biodegradable cellophane.

Posted in DVD Releases

PARKING at the AMC Forum Theatre from November 6th!

After its acquisition at last year’s Asian Film Market in Pusan and an impressive tour of International film festivals, Evokative Films is very happy to finally offer the Taiwanese dramatic comedy PARKING. The film will be screening from November 6th at the AMC Forum theatre in its original version (Cantonese, Mandarin and Hokkien) with English subtitles, for a duration of 2 weeks. It will then go on to play in Toronto.

On Mother’s Day in Taipei, Chen-Mo makes a dinner date with his wife, hoping to improve their estranged relationship. While buying a cake on his way home, a car double-parks next to his, preventing his exit. For the entire night, Chen-Mo searches the owner of the car and encounters a succession of strange events and eccentric characters: an old couple who has lost their only son, living with their precocious granddaughter; a one-armed barbershop owner cooking fish-head soup; a mainland Chinese prostitute trying to escape her pimp’s cruel clutches; and a Hong-Kong tailor embroiled in debt and threatened by underground loan sharks. Combining the different flavours of drama, comedy, and noir film, PARKING interweaves stories to create a moving and darkly funny film, served up in a superb cinematography that will have you transfixed to the screen.

PARKING is the first fiction feature by Chung Mong-Hong, who also signed the scenario and cinematography. It stars Chang Chen, who could notably be seen in EROS, 2046 and HAPPY TOGETHER by Wong Kar-wai, as well as RED CLIFF I and II by John Woo and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON by Ang Lee. The film also features Lu-Mei Kwai (SECRET, THE MOST DISTANT COURSE), Leon Dai (BUTTONMAN, SILK), Chapman To (ISABELLA, INFERNAL AFFAIRS I and II), Jack Kao (SHINJUKU INCIDENT, THE SNIPER) and the popular model Peggy Tseng in her first screen role.

The film started its career with a selection in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival. It distinguished itself at the Golden Horse Festival of Taipei with a Best Art Direction Award and a FIPRESCI Critics Award; at the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival with the Best New Talent Award and the Audience Award; and at the !ftanbul International Independent Film Festival of Istanbul with the Most Inspired Film Director Award. The film travelled the world in 20 International film festivals, such as the festivals of Bangkok, Pusan, Stockholm and Thessaloniki. It could be seen in Canada at the Montreal World Film Festival, the Vancouver International Film Festival and the Ottawa Film Festival.

Posted in Theatrical Releases

Evokative Films will DELIVER US FROM EVIL!

After exploring many facets of Asian cinema, Evokative Films was now anxious to make its first foray into Scandinavian film. It is now done as we are happy to announce that the Montreal-based boutique distribution company has acquired the rights of Ole Bornedal’s DELIVER US FROM EVIL (FRI OS FRA DET ONDE).

Stéphanie Trépanier, Evokative’s founder, says “DELIVER US FROM EVIL’s striking cinematography, Ole Bornedal’s masterful direction and the depth of human darkness explored in the film floored me when I saw it at Canne’s Film Market. I am thrilled that Bavaria has entrusted Evokative with the Canadian distribution of this amazing film.”

Lars and Johannes are brothers with very little in common. Johannes is a high-powered lawyer with a beautiful wife and two children; Lars is a truck driver and a drunken brute who beats his girlfriend. Having returned to his hometown in the country, Johannes hopes for a less hectic, more genuine lifestyle. But trouble is underfoot when Lars runs over a woman with his truck. He sees only one way out: put the blame on Alain, a Bosnian refugee with impaired mental functions. But when Lars, the God-fearing husband of the victim, and his friends close in on the Bosnian, Johannes stands up for the man and shelters him. Undeterred, the violent, drunken horde makes their way to Johannes´ secluded house, where the family and Alain fear for their lives. When words no longer suffice to contain the madness, a siege begins, in which unchained anarchy dictates a scenario of terror… DELIVER US FROM EVIL is a piercing insight into human nature driven berserk.

The Danish social thriller was selected in the Contemporary World Cinema section of the Toronto International Film Festival and will have its World Premiere this Wednesday, September 16th. It will then play at the Sitges Festival International de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya in the Official Noves Visions section.

DELIVER US FROM EVIL was produced by Thura Film and International Sales are handled by Bavaria Film International. The deal was made with Stefanie Zeitler at Bavaria Film International.

Posted in Acquisitions

Website back on!!

Hello visitor of Evokative. As you might have noticed, the website went down for a bit more than a week at the beginning of August. We're still not sure what happened exactly, but what was sure was that all was lost. We did manage to get some of the past content in here, but there is still work to be done: Old news to put back, pictures to re-upload, etc. So please bear with us while we try and find the time to bring this website back to its previous beautiful state. Cheers!

Posted in

BLACK Premiere at Toronto After Dark and on the big screen starting August 28th!

Evokative Films would like to highlight the Toronto Premiere of BLACK at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, which will precede its theatrical release at the AMC Yonge & Dundas theatre from August 28th. The premiere will take place on August 15th at 8:15pm at the Bloor Cinema and will be hosted by Director Pierre Laffargue and Co-Producer Lauranne Bourrachot.

Black, a Senegalese bank-robber born and raised in France, is getting over a disastrous heist in which he lost nearly all of his men. He’s seriously thinking of going straight when his cousin Lamine calls him from Dakar: a briefcase full of contraband diamonds has just been deposited in the bank where he works. Thinking this will be an unbelievably easy coup, Black assembles a new gang and quickly flies to Africa. What they haven’t planned, however, is that they are far from being the only ones interested in that briefcase. The corrupt director of the bank, an arm dealer suffering from suppurating psoriasis, a gang of mercenaries from Chechnya and an Interpol agent are also set to get their hands on those diamonds.

After its World Premiere in the Fantastic Fest section of the SXSW Film Festival in Austin TX, this heist film filled with action, peppered with comedy, blaxploitation influences, African mysticism and paced to a funky soundtrack, seduced both the audience and critics. A screening at the Seattle International Film Festival followed in June. This month of July saw the Canadian Premiere of BLACK at the Fantasia International Film Festival followed by its theatrical release in Montreal. This month, BLACK will also be screening at London’s Film4 FrightFest. More Canadian festivals and limited theatrical releases will follow this fall.

Posted in Theatrical Releases

Evokative Awards at Fantasia!

As the Fantasia International Film Festival just drew to a close, Evokative Films wishes to highlight its recent harvest of awards: a Public Prize and the Séquences Award.

ROUGH CUT, a South-Korean film directed by JANG Hoon, co-written and co-produced by KIM Ki-duk, won the Séquences Award, for “it’s fascinating and intelligent screenplay and its perfect mix of auteur and action film”. The film regaled the audience in a sold-out screening in the Hall Theatre (700 seats) on July 25th.

ROUGH CUT will soon be part of the programming of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival and of the Calgary International Film Festival, to then be seen on Canadian theatrical screens in January.

BLACK won the 3rd place of the coveted Public Prize in the Best American or European Film category, following its July 22nd screening in the Hall Theatre, hosted by Lead Actor and French rapper MC Jean Gab’1, Director Pierre Laffargue and Co-Producer Lauranne Bourrachot.

BLACK is now playing in Montreal at the AMC Forum (with English subtitles) and Mega-Plex Pont-Viau (French only) theatres starting today. BLACK will also be part of the programming of the upcoming Toronto After Dark Film Festival and will then continue its run in the rest of Quebec and Canada.

Evokative Films would also like to highlight the quality of the programming of this recent edition of the festival, congratulate its hard-working staff and thank its ever-growing fans, who all helped Fantasia reach a record number of sold-out screenings.

Posted in Events