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This article was published 16/05/2019 (2570 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Alessia Cara

Alessia Cara isn’t just hot right now. She’s on fire.

In 2018, the 22-year-old singer-songwriter — who hails from Brampton, Ont. — became the first Canadian artist to snag the Grammy for best new artist, setting the tone for a banner year that included the release of her sophomore album, The Pains of Growing, to critical and commercial success.

The Stay singer was discovered in 2013 via YouTube when she was still a teenager, her intimate cover songs earning the attention of industry bigwigs. Her 2015 Def Jam debut Know-It-All established her as a smart, sensitive pop star, and fans connected with both her relatable songwriting and her shy, down-to-earth personality. The single Scars To Your Beautiful — which deals with body image and self-harm — found particular resonance with young women. Fistfuls of awards and nominations followed.

Cara will bring her The Pains of Growing tour to the Burton Cummings Theatre on Monday, May 20, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range in price from $58.50 to $91.50, including fees, at Ticketmaster.

— Jen Zoratti

Cher

No one does a farewell tour quite like Cher.

From 2002 to 2005, the singing icon criss-crossed the globe on her Living Proof: The Farewell Tour (which hit Winnipeg on Sept. 27, 2002) before heading to Las Vegas for a three-year residency. In 2014, she was back in Winnipeg on her Dressed to Kill tour in support of her 25th album, Closer to the Truth.

If you thought that was it, think again. On Tuesday, May 21, the 72-year-old Cher (born Cherilyn Sarkisian) will once again bring her powerhouse voice, elaborate stage setup and mind-boggling costume changes back to Winnipeg in support of her latest album, Dancing Queen.

Her current excursion is cheekily dubbed the Here We Go Again Tour.

As the title suggests, Cher’s latest record tips the hat to Swedish group ABBA, featuring covers of 10 of the foursome’s biggest songs. One of her more recent big-screen roles was in the 2018 film Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again — hence the focus on ABBA. Songs featured on Dancing Queen include Mamma Mia, The Winner Takes It All and Waterloo, with ABBA member Benny Andersson serving as executive producer on the album and bandmate Björn Ulvaeus getting producing credits on one track as well.

In addition to the Swedish pop group’s hits, Cher will deliver many of her biggest blockbusters, some of which have climbed to the top of the Billboard charts. (Cher is the only artist with a Billboard No. 1 song in each of the past six consecutive decades.) Since 1963, she has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, with hit songs running the gamut from folk (1965’s I Got You Babe, with ex-husband Sonny Bono) to power balladry (1989’s If I Could Turn Back Time) to dance music (the 1998 smash Believe) and beyond.

Cher’s success on the big screen also spans decades. Roles in Mermaids, Suspect and Moonstruck garnered her praise for her role as an actor, with the latter film earning her a Golden Globe and an Oscar. She has dabbled in directing, and has also tackled a wide variety of roles on Broadway (and is the subject of the recent The Cher Show).

And if you think Cher’s thinking about slowing down, think again. In addition to a second collection of ABBA covers and a Christmas record coming down the pipe, she announced via Twitter that a memoir is slated to be published in 2020, with a biopic to follow.

Tickets for Cher’s May 21 performance at Bell MTS Place start at $51 plus taxes and fees, and are available via Ticketmaster. Nile Rodgers and Chic get the party started.

— Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson

Winnipeg Jewish Film Festival

Love. Death. Faith. Food.

All these elements of Jewish life are examined at the Winnipeg International Jewish Film Festival, a collection of 27 award-winning feature and documentary films screening at the Berney Theatre at the Rady JCC (123 Doncaster St.) from Tuesday, May 21, to Friday, June 7.

“We have selected films that demonstrate and celebrate the breadth and depth of Jewish culture, creativity, identity, diversity and resiliency,” says Tamar Barr, Rady JCC interim executive director.

On the program:

Chewdaism: A Taste of Jewish Montreal (Tuesday, May 21, at 7 p.m.)

This culinary-led tour through Jewish Montreal welcomes directors Jamie Elman and Eli Batalion to the opening-night reception.

Golda’s Balcony, The Film (Wednesday, May 22, at 1 p.m. and Friday, June 7, at 4 p.m.)

The acclaimed Broadway show about Golda Meir, the former Israeli prime minister, is now a motion picture with Tovah Feldshuh in a tour de force performance. This screening will be the Canadian première.

The Tobacconist (Wednesday, May 22, at 7:30 p.m. and Friday, May 31, at 1 p.m.)

A young man sent from the countryside to Vienna to apprentice at a tobacco shop befriends a regular client: Sigmund Freud.

It Must Schwing! — The Blue Note Story (Thursday, May 23, at 1 p.m. and Saturday, June 1, 8 p.m.)

A look at the two Jewish-German Nazi-era exiles who founded the legendary jazz record label Blue Note Records. The screening on June 1 will include a reception with guests James Manishen, artistic and operations associate with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and Kinsey Posen, Winnipeg musician and jazz historian.

 

To Dust (Thursday, May 23, at 7 p.m.)

An ultra-Orthodox cantor in New York state befriends a local community college professor (Matthew Broderick) with the hopes he can help solve mysteries about death and biology. Followed by a discussion with Rena Boroditsky, executive director of Chesed Shel Emes.

The Last Supper (Friday, May 24, at 1 p.m. and Monday, June 3, at 7:30 p.m.)

On the day Hitler takes power in Germany, a wealthy German-Jewish family gathers at their home in Berlin trying to find solutions to their situation.

The Unorthodox (Friday, May 24, at 5 p.m.)

A darkly funny comedy-drama based on the formation of the Israeli political party, Shas, started by disenfranchised Sephardic Jews.

The Other Story (Saturday, May 25, at 8 p.m. and Wednesday, June 5, at 1 p.m.)

A resolutely secular Israeli family is shocked when their daughter becomes ultra-Orthodox and starts preparing for a Haredi wedding to her former drug-addict boyfriend.

A Fortunate Man (Sunday, May 26, 2 p.m.)

A sweeping period drama set in 19th-century Denmark about the ambitious son of a rural clergyman who approaches a wealthy Jewish family with a brilliant, large-scale engineering project.

Lady Titi (Sunday, May 26, at 7 p.m.)

An indebted, aspiring Ethiopian-Israeli rock star goes undercover in his home town. Dressing as a woman to avoid his debtors, he finds himself in a job helping disenfranchised Ethiopian women at a local community centre.

Family in Transition (Monday, May 27, 7 p.m.)

Despite many difficulties, a senior member of a tight-knit family in a small Israeli town fulfils a wish to transition with the family’s support. This is the only screening in the fest to air at Cinematheque, 100 Arthur St. Playwright Lara Rae will lead a post-film discussion.

Promise at Dawn (Tuesday, May 28, at 3 p.m.)

A stunning bio-drama of the acclaimed French novelist Romain Gary, the only two-time winner of the prestigious Prix Goncourt. With Charlotte Gainsbourg as his ambitious, often suffocating mother.

93Queen (Tuesday, May 28, at 7 p.m. and Thursday, June 6, at 1 p.m.)

A group of ultra-Orthodox women in Brooklyn smash the patriarchy by setting up the first all-female volunteer ambulance corps after they are denied entry into the existing one. The May 28 screening of this American doc will be followed by discussion led by Winnipeg educator Ruth Ashrafi.

Leona (Wednesday, May 29, at 1 p.m. and Sunday, June 2, at 7 p.m.)

A poignant first-love story from Mexico about a young woman who finds herself torn between her non-Jewish boyfriend and her traditional Jewish family.

Who Will Write Our History (Wednesday, May 29, at 7 p.m. and Tuesday, June 4, at 1 p.m.)

The true story of a group of journalists, scholars and community leaders determined to leave written evidence of the atrocities of the Jewish people locked in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Second World War. After the May 29 screening, writer/director/producer Roberta Grossman will participate in post-film talk.

Echo (Thursday, May 30, at 3 p.m.)

A sexy and suspenseful drama from Israel about a seemingly mature and solid marriage that unravels when the husband suspects his wife’s infidelity.

City Dreamers (Thursday, May 30, at 7:30 p.m.)

This Canadian doc looks at four pioneering women in the fields of architecture and urban planning.

Outdoors (Friday, May 31 at 5 p.m.)

As a young married couple build their dream home in the country, the foundations of their marriage start to crumble.

The Accountant of Auschwitz (Sunday, June 2, at 2 p.m.)

This Canadian doc examines the trial of one of the last surviving SS men at Auschwitz. Writer-producer Ricki Gurwitz will lead post-film discussion.

Shorts on Sherbrook Film Crawl (Tuesday, June 4, at 8:15 p.m.)

A selection of award-wining experimental, art house and thought-provoking short films from across the globe. With drinks and a nosh at Handsome Daughter, 61 Sherbrook St., followed by the Tallest Poppy, 685 Westminster Ave.

Bag of Marbles (Wednesday, June 5, at 7:30 p.m.)

This French drama is based on the true story of Paris writer Joseph Joffo’s childhood in Nazi-occupied France.

The Last Resort (Thursday, June 6, at 7 p.m.)

A visual documentary exploring Miami Beach in the 1970s at the height of its popularity with Jewish retirees. It plays with The Great Wolodarsky Cribbage Tournament, a short film about an extended Winnipeg family who gather at their summer cottage every year for a family cribbage tournament.

All foreign films are subtitled in English. Tickets and festival packages are available by calling the Rady Jewish Community Centre at 204-477-7510 or visiting radyjcc.com.

— Randall King