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Triplets of Belleville to rendezvous at Village 8

The Whistler Film Festival Society’s wildly successful Reel Alternatives series continues this Wednesday with the Academy Award-nominated animated feature film The Triplets of Belleville.

What: Reel Alternatives — The Triplets of Belleville

Where: Village 8 Cinemas

When: Wednesday, June 9

Tickets: $8.50

Written and directed by Sylvain Chomet, a French expat. now based in Quebec, the film follows the story of Champion, a lonely orphan boy adopted by his kindly grandmother, Madame Souza. The lad takes to cycling from a young age and over the years, with his grandmother’s help, becomes worthy of his name, earning a spot in the Tour de France.

During the race, however, Champion is kidnapped by mysterious strangers, leading Madame Souza and her faithful dog Bruno on the quest to find him. The trail takes them across the ocean to a metropolis called Belleville, where they are befriended by the Triplets of Belleville, a trio of eccentric music-hall divas from the 1930s, and must evade diabolical figures from the French Mafia in order to rescue their Champion.

Chomet cites the films from the golden age of the Disney studios as well as the surrealistic style of Betty Boop cartoons as his main influences in animation.

The film was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 2004 Academy Awards, as well as Best Song for the raucous cabaret tune Belleville Rendezvous .

The Triplets of Belleville is the third Reel Alternatives instalment. Next in the series will be The Snow Walker , a film directed by Charles Martin Smith based on the Farley Mowatt short story Walk Well My Brother . The Snow Walker will screen outdoors at Lost Lake Park as part of Tourism Whistler’s first annual Whistler Arts and Music Festival, which will take place July 9-11.

The Triplets of Belleville will screen this Wednesday evening at Village 8 Cinemas at 6:30 p.m., 8:15 p.m., and 9:45 p.m. Tickets are $8.50, currently available at the Escape Route and at Village 8 Cinemas after 3 p.m. on the day of screening. Previous Reel Alternatives offerings Touching the Void and The Corporation have sold out so advance tickets are recommended.

For more information call 604-935-3200.