THE SILENT ARMY (L'ARMÉE SILENCIEUSE) to Open the 6th Montreal International
Black Film Festival (MIBFF)

MONTREAL, Aug. 30 /CNW Telbec/ - The Canadian premiere of Jean van de Velde's The Silent Army will open the 6th edition of the Montreal International Black Film Festival on Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at Cinéma Impérial. The film will be screened in the presence of the director, who will be flying in directly from Amsterdam for the occasion. This hard-hitting film will also be in official competition during the Festival. "It's an honour for us to open this 6th edition of the Festival with a movie of this calibre, with a movie that deals with such a heart-rending story and that was also part of the official selection at the Cannes Film Festival (Un Certain Regard) in 2009. This film will be of interest to a very wide audience and will have everyone glued to their seats for 92 minutes. It's a must-see," said Fabienne Colas, President of the Festival.

Written and directed by Jean van de Velde, the film tells the story of Eduard Zuiderwihjk, a restaurant owner in Africa who is encountering the worst problems since the accidental death of his wife. The political situation in the country is becoming dangerously unstable and Abu, his son Thomas' best friend, has been forced into soldiery after a violent raid of his village by the rebel army. Despite the danger, Eduard decides to go looking for the child...

Filmmaker Jean van de Velde's last visit to Montreal dates back to 1982, when he presented his first film at the Montreal International 16mm Film Festival. He was 25 years old at the time. Today, many years and movies later, he is looking forward to addressing new movie-lovers with his latest film, The Silent Army. "This time, it won't be about me as a film director.... The subject of this movie is too important, too touching and too incredible in a way to focus on the craft of movie-making: this time, we have to talk about the story - the story of child soldiers, the story of the abuse of power, the story of Africa's position in modern-day society, the story of human dignity, the story of what we do when confronted with evil. Besides what all "normal" films evoke, I sincerely hope that this film will be able to help, in whatever way it can, in the struggle to allow children to maintain their innocence and remain children as long as possible. The more children can grow up in a world of joy and peace, the greater their chances of achieving their full potential as adults."

The Montreal International Black Film Festival is delighted to be able to make the premiere of this film available to the public at large. Tickets are already available at: www.ticketpro.ca .

    
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For further information: Carla Beauvais, Media Relations Officer, [email protected], [phone]