DETAILS
Reel Mondays: Autumn 2022 season
Screenings take place on Mondays starting at 7 p.m. at the Arden Theatre
Love Sarah • Sept. 12
The Eyes of Tammy Faye • Oct. 3
Mothering Sunday • Nov. 7
Peace by Chocolate • Dec. 12
Tickets will become available for sale in the summer. Visit friendsofsapl.ca for more information or sign up for the newsletter.
When you sit down at the Arden Theatre for a Reel Mondays movie, you know already you’re about to view something special, not another action flick with Tom Cruise.
“Our audience is well-tuned now into what we offer. It’s an eclectic audience. We’ve rarely had anybody say, ‘I wish you hadn’t had that movie,’” said Valerie Spink, spokesperson and one of the founding members of the Friends of the St. Albert Public Library, the presenter of the seasonal film series.
The Friends have announced their new lineup for the Autumn 2022 season and, true to form, the four titles look to tell stories of relationship dramas, heartwarming cross-cultural gaps being bridged, and all manner of sweet treats.
First up on the marquee will be Love Sarah on Sept. 12. Set in the Notting Hill section of London, a young woman strives to achieve her mother’s dream of opening a bakery, but can’t do it alone. That’s where her grandma and an old friend put on their aprons, and their thinking caps.
A stellar cast of accomplished actors — including Jessica Chastain in her Oscar-winning performance — brings The Eyes of Tammy Faye to the screen on Oct. 3. If you don’t know who Tammy Faye Bakker and her televangelist husband Jim were, this is the answer to your prayers. Andrew Garfield plays Jim while Vincent d’Onofrio gets into character as Jerry Falwell. Note: this film is not to be confused with the fabulous 2000 documentary of the same name.
Mothering Sunday arrives on a Monday — Nov. 7 that is. The First World War story of a complicated love affair is noteworthy for giving the excellent Olivia Colman and Colin Firth shared screen time, and also for featuring nudity and some explicit sex scenes.
That doesn’t worry Spink, though.
“The general consensus is that our audience is a different demographic. We’ve lived through seeing all the bits and bobs and dangly bits. We can live with that. It may not be necessary all the time, but it’s part of the story.”
Despite the content, it’s rated 14A in Alberta. The rest are rated PG (although Love Sarah has not actually been rated in this province).
Last to draw back the curtains will be Peace by Chocolate, a film that is sure to be a crowd pleaser, on Dec. 12. A Syrian refugee struggles to settle into his new Canadian life in Antigonish, he struggles with navigating his life between his family’s legacy chocolatiers and his own dream of becoming a doctor.
It’s a decidedly low-budget flick, but it’s a movie after Spink’s own heart: it's based on a true story of refugees who make a success out of their new lives.
“That’s what we do well in Canada,” she offered. “It’s a feel-good movie. And it’s a December movie so it’ll be just right for the Christmas season.”
