After a stellar first season, Charlottetown Improvisation Laboratory returns for Volume 4. This live concert experience transforms the City Cinema theatre into an intimate listening room. Double bassist Adam Hill will lead an ensemble of five musicians in an exploration of improvisational music that crosses genre and style. This iteration of the Lab will feature Ian Toms on guitar, Diana Delirio on voice and woodwinds, Max Gallant on drums, and Ray Knorr on fiddle. The program will present the premiere performance of a new composition by each member of the ensemble, as well as a few not-so-standards. Through the use of “structured improvisation” the performers will bring their diverse musical experiences together to create a common language that communicates across boundaries. Guaranteed to be a one-of-a-kind musical event.

Dir: Tony Barbieri, Canada/France/US, 2000, Drama. Nastassja Kinski, Robert Forster, Cody Morgan, Jennifer Overton, Mary Vingoe. Winner: Seattle International Film Festival New American Cinema Award. Opening night live Q&A with producers Luciano Lisi and Christine Kavanagh. “Fine performances and an abiding intelligence are the hallmarks of The Magic of Marciano, an engaging, and sensitively rendered tale of a young boy’s passage through some turbulent emotional waters… James is a 9-year-old who, at the best of times, is left to his own devices. His single mother Katie (Kinski), a diner waitress in a quiet coastal town, is living with a loutish layabout… An obviously bright kid without role models or motivation at home, James isn’t doing as well as he might at school, and more or less foists himself upon Henry (Forster), a confidant and genial man who spends his days prepping his boat for a round-the-world sail… Just when James imagines things are looking up for him, matters take a considerable turn for the worse when Katie unaccountably takes Curt back in… Barbieri looks at his characters with a psychological exactitude that in itself is absorbing. Kinski’s Katie is a complex woman who, having undoubtedly always got by too easily on her looks, has neglected to build up other qualities of character… Kinski gives an extremely sharp reading of this fragile, imbalanced and reckless woman. By contrast, Forster’s Henry is the picture of a truly decent human being, a man comfortable in his own skin and with his place in the world… Forster makes him an immensely sympathetic, even magnetic individual whose eventual difficulties in deciding how best to help James are conveyed with perfect clarity…. Shot in Halifax, Nova Scotia, pic looks good and is enhanced by Harry Gregson-Williams’ fine score.” – Todd McCarthy, Variety

Dir: Brian Kirk, Canada/US/Germany, 2025, Thriller. Emma Thompson, Judy Greer, Marc Menchaca. “Emma Thompson and Judy Greer go head-to-head in a kidnapping thriller set in a forsaken Northern Minnesota snowstorm? I am so in! Director Brian Kirk relies on nuanced character work, gorgeously isolating cinematography, and the desperation of human nature to keep you guessing. Thompson is Barb… Despite the weather forecast, she puts on the ol’ snowsuit, warms up the even older pick up, and heads to faraway Lake Hilda to do some ice fishing… But she gets a little turned around and hears chopping in the distance, so she goes to ask directions… Barb finds a bearded man in camo who - very startled by the sight of her - directs her to the lake. But blood on the snow has Barb a little troubled, and soon enough, she sniffs out a kidnapping. Thompson… is so utterly convincing that you’re hooked. And that’s all before the glorious Greer makes her entrance… Dead of Winter sidesteps cliché, delivers thrills, and finds new ways to showcase two tremendous talents.” – Hope Madden, UK Film Review. "Poignant and captivating, The Dead of Winter is dominated by the magnetic presence of Emma Thompson who plays a heroine who’ll stop at nothing to fulfil her mission. It keeps the audience on the edge of their seats with a story full of unexpected twists and turns, a tale both tense and cruel but also tender and full of humanity." - Muriel Del Don, Cineuropa

Presented by Kusum Creation. Dir: Suyog Gurung, Nepal, 2025. Anmol KC, Aanchal Sharma, Jassita Gurung. A business tycoon's son attempts to fulfill his father's dream of climbing Everest. With a Sherpa guide named Pema, Jerry navigates both the mountain's challenges and his feelings for Shreya. Ticket prices include a $1 service fee.

Dir: Ido Fluk, Germany/Poland/Belgium, 2025, Drama/Music. Mala Emde, John Magaro, Michael Chernus. In German and English with English subtitles. “On 24th January 1975, jazz musician Keith Jarrett performed to a sell-out crowd at Köln’s Opera House whilst playing a broken piano. The recording has since become the best-selling solo jazz album of all time… Köln 75 tells the amazing true story of how the evening came to be… When 18-year-old aspiring promoter Vera Brandes throws herself into the bohemian live music scene, she causes a stir with her infectious enthusiasm... Meanwhile, Jarrett was touring on the road in Germany… his path inevitably crosses with Vera’s, and the wheels behind the concert are set in motion… The first chapter is essentially the coming-of-age tale of our protagonist. Skipping class, clashing with her conservative parents, and navigating teen romance(s), Vera lights up the screen… the middle third shifts focus to Jarrett’s more sombre route to the famous stage, but the elements come together nicely for an exhilaratingly chaotic final act… We get a real sense of Brandes’ fun and riotous nature through Mala Emde’s leading turn… Magaro is compelling in the role of Jarrett… he paints a vivid portrait of a tortured artist… There’s an intoxicating punk rock spirit to Köln 75’s jazz-infused narrative.” - Garry Arnot, Cinema Perspective

Dir: Chris Benchetler, US, 2025, Documentary. Featuring the music of The Grateful Dead. World-renowned freeskier and artist Chris Benchetler is back with another groundbreaking project! Mountains of the Moon celebrates the intersection of adventure, art, and environmental stewardship. An artistic and athletic exploration blending skiing, music, and visual storytelling, the film takes audiences on a journey through some of the most breathtaking landscapes on Earth. Mountains of the Moon explores the unseen connections between sport, life, music, and the living earth — set to the timeless tunes of the Grateful Dead. Captured almost entirely at night using cutting-edge cinematography, the film takes viewers on a surreal journey through ocean, river, and mountain landscapes while featuring some of the world’s greatest athletes, adventurers and thinkers. A true visual extravaganza.

Dir: Richard Linklater, France/US, 2025, Drama. Zoey Deutch, Guillaume Marbeck, Aubry Dullin. In French and English with Ebglish subtitles. "Linklater’s elegant love letter to the influential era in French cinema would be a towering achievement even if it did no more than generously invite budding cinephiles to film history without intimidating them. But the American auteur of loose-limbed rhythms and organically flowy dialogues accomplishes a lot more with his joyously beautiful telling of the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s game-changing Breathless. In stunning black and white, and with the grainy sound quality of the era, he gives new life to the period picture, making it romantic, exquisitely detailed, and timeless. With Guillaume Marbeck and Zoey Deutch’s enthralling and uncannily exacting performances as Godard and Jean Seberg, the list of masters Nouvelle Vague honors is as rich as the film that surrounds them. Linklater loves this period, and he wants to make you a lover, too." - Tomris Laffly, Elle

Presented by Beyond the Frame: A CISF Connect Project. Dir: Karen Chapman, Canada, 2025, Drama. Olunike Adeliyi, Zahra Bentham, Maxine Simpson. Winner: Best First Feature, Canadian Screen Awards; Grand Prize and Best Performance, Arizona International Film Festival. There will be a Q&A with director Karen Chapman by Zoom after the show. “Karen Chapman’s tender and empathetic Village Keeper… is character-driven, her love for the people in front of her camera evident in every frame. She has crafted a story of a woman who has been asked so often to clean up after others that she’s never taken the time to deal with the mess of her own trauma. Olunike Adeliyi (Akilla’s Escape)… plays Jean, who lives in NW Toronto with her two children. Flashbacks to a violent past invade Jean’s daily life, punctuated by the fact that her kids are headed out into an increasingly dangerous world. When Jean is asked to clean up after a bloody crime scene, it sparks two fires in her heart, the one that connects to violence she’s seen in her life and one that prays that she can shelter her children from something similar… It’s a drama of lovely little moments like Jean humming to herself after an event or a tender embrace between a mother and daughter that feels spontaneous. It’s at its best when we feel the love not just between the characters but from the filmmaker to all the women like Jean who have similar stories to tell.” - Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com

Dir: Zacharias Kunuk, Canada, 2025, Drama. Haiden Angutimarik, Theresia Kappianaq, Leah Panimera. In Inuktitut with English subtitles. Winner:Best Canadian Feature, The Toronto International Film Festival. “Another tremendous fable from legendary Inuk filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk, Wrong Husband pulls from legend and oral tradition to look at the darker, more complicated side of keeping a promise. Set far North in 2000 B.C.E., it blends dark comedy, horror, and a mythic quest to create a timeless story of love, looming evil, searching, and spiritual togetherness. Sapa and Kaujak have been promised to each other as husband and wife from birth. They have a strong bond, loving kinship, and are valuable members of their tribe… But their lives together are torn apart after Kaujak’s mother becomes a widow and is courted by a mysterious male from a far away tribe. The fisherman takes Kaujak and her mother away from their tribe to live with him, where the young woman will be forced into a different marriage with his son. With time of the essence Sapa sets off on a quest to get his love back… Kunuk takes a wide variety of genre influences into his approach to Inuit culture, storytelling, and tradition… including visual effects, layered and creepy soundscapes, and even some nifty creature design… but it’s also a race against time thriller and moral parable with a good deal of humour… Another unique effort from one of Canada’s most unique talents.” – Andrew Parker, The Gate