LOCATION: Cinematheque

Dir. Paul Cowan | 90 Mins | 2009 - Canada

* Special presentation introduced by the director Paul Cowan

For six months in 1919, Paris was the capital of the world. The last shots had just been fired in the most devastating war of all time - and the old global order lay in tatters.

Delegations from over 30 nations urgently descended upon Paris for the most ambitious peace talks in history. At the helm were the Big Four - U.S. president Woodrow Wilson along with the leaders of France, the U.K. and Italy.

They endeavoured to engineer a peace treaty - "for all time". And while the Big Four staggered under their mind-boggling agenda, separate committees assessed war reparations or realigned national borders, creating entitles like Iraq or Yugoslavia with little chance for reflection. Meanwhile, the streets were teeming with starving widows and war amputees - and Germany was rearming.

Inspired by Margaret MacMillan‘s landmark book — hailed by The New York Times as a "blueprint of the political and social upheavals bedevilling the planet now" — Paris 1919 takes us inside this singular event with a vivid sense of character and narrative.

In a compelling story that blends re-enactments with archival images, director Paul Cowan captures the dramatic cut-and-thrust of diplomacy, while evoking the extraordinary atmosphere of a metropolis returning to life. Popular history at its most thoughtful, Paris 1919 revisits a pivotal moment in the modern era — offering a disquieting reflection on one of history‘s great missed opportunities.