• LE REVE DE MARIKA

    Feature doc shot over 8 years begins festival circuit

    Directed by Bobbi Jo Hart and shot in cinéma vérité style over 8 years, the feature documentary Le rêve de Marika (I am Not a Rock Star, in English) celebrates its World Premiere on March 18 at Place des Arts, as an Official Selection of Montreal’s prestigious 2012 Festival International du Film sur l’Art (FIFA). The film was produced by Robbie Hart of Adobe Productions International.

    A rare, candid look inside the world of classical music, Le rêve de Marika is a bilingual (French/English) film that follows the dramatic coming-of-age story of prodigal pianist Marika Bournaki, from age 12 to 20, whose life has focused on becoming a world-class concert pianist since the age of five. Her father, Pierre, a Juilliard-trained violinist now working in finance, has spent years encouraging her efforts and nurturing her career.

    The World Premiere of Le rêve de Marika will take place on Sunday, March 18 at 3 :30pm at Place des Arts (Cinquieme Salle), followed by a Q&A with director Bobbi Jo Hart and pianist Marika Bournaki. The audience will be invited to a post-screening cocktail hosted by ARTV, where Marika will perform a mini-recital for the public in the ARTV Studio. A second screening will take place at the NFB on Tuesday, March 20 at 8pm, followed by a Q&A as well. Tickets are available at Place des Arts. These screenings will be of the French version of the film, with French subtitles.

    Le rêve de Marika has been a labour of love for Montréal filmmaker Bobbi Jo Hart, offering viewers a very rare and intimate look at the elusive alchemy of sacrifice, talent, determination and luck required to make it in the cutthroat world of classical music. We witness Marika mature from child prodigy to adult, including the impact such focus has over time on her and her family.

    From backstage tears, adolescent rebellion and finding first love, the camera takes us from inside the walls of Juilliard to life on the road in airports, hotels and rehearsal rooms around the world. The film reveals Marika’s coming of age fraught with conflicts and challenges, as we see her ultimately discover her own musical identity and definition of success. The film explores universal themes of dreams, family, love and growing up.

    The film’s soundtrack includes works performed by Marika of the likes of Chopin, Schumann, Rachmaninoff, Scarlatti and other great composers, but also music by Jack Johnson and Montréal’s Patrick Watson as well. Le rêve de Marika was edited by Howard Goldberg. Second editor Vincent Lacombat. Camera by Bobbi Jo Hart. Sound Mix by Daniel Toussaint.

    Filmmaker Bobbi Jo Hart directed her first documentary (A Calling to Care) in Pakistan in 1997, while her award-winning feature documentary SHE GOT GAME (2003) followed the underbelly of the women’s professional tennis tour, touring worldwide festivals and airing on television networks in Canada and around the world.

    Le rêve de Marika was produced by Adobe Productions International , with the collaboration of ARTV, Documentary Channel, Knowledge Network and IChannel, with the financial participation of SODEC, the Quebec & Canada Film & Television Tax Credits, the Canada Media Fund & The National Film Board of Canada. The film is also an Official Selection in the 2012 Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival in Greece. After completing the festival circuit and subsequent theatrical release, the film will begin television premieres in the Fall of 2012.

  • TURNING 32 NOW IN POST PRODUCTION

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    Adobe Productions International is currently working on the edit of our feature documentary TURNING 32, the sequel to the award-winning 1993 doc series TURNING 16. The original series followed the lives of six teenagers from different countries, each facing unique challenges and dreams.

    The film’s fascinating characters include: Pintinho, a soccer player in Brazil; Rosie, a single mother in Jamaica; Sonam, a Buddhist monk in India; Puttinan, a human rights activist in Thailand; Eman, a high school student in Egypt; and Idrissa, a Touareg tribesman in Niger.

    Produced and directed by Robbie Hart and co-directed with Luc Coté, TURNING 32 will hit the festival circuit in the spring of 2010.

    Later in 2010, Turning 32 will begin its cross Canada theatrical release. The 110 minute film has also been picked up by four Canadian broadcasters (CBC, TV5, The Documentary Channel, TFO) and the TV launch is set for Fall 2010. Howard Goldberg is the editor and has joined Robbie on this cross cultural, globetrotting journey to edit the fascinating stories of Rosie, Pintinho, Eman, Idrissa, Sonam and Puttinan.The film combines footage of the protagonists’ lives at age 16 and then again at age 32, weaving a complex and moving portrait of growing up in the developing world. “This film has been a labour of love from the inception,” says Hart. “It has been wonderful to reconnect with each of them and to continue the friendships that began over 16 years ago. This film is truly representative of ADOBE’s core values and original mission.”

    In addition to the four Canadian broadcasters, TURNING 32 is being co-produced with the National Film Board of Canada (Studio Québec), and has earned the financial participation of the Rogers Documentary Fund, the Canadian Television Fund, SODEC and the Federal and Québec tax credit programs.

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