Category Archives: Vancouver

VIFF 2021 | 40th Annual Vancouver International Film Festival, Oct. 1st – 11th

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After going online in 2020, the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) returns on Friday, October 1st thru Monday, October 11th — to celebrate its 40th annual edition with a vibrant hybrid in-person and streaming lineup, with 85% of the VIFF 2021 film slate available online not just for loyal VIFF fans locally, but for patrons throughout British Columbia and across Canada, through the VIFF Connect online streaming web portal.

Although the Vancouver International Film Festival has traditionally commenced in late September with a two-week run, the somewhat truncated 2021 hybrid edition running from Friday, October 1st thru Monday, October 11th, will still feature 113 groundbreaking and celebrated original films, with 80 narrative and 33 documentary features arriving from 50 countries across the globe, 24 of which are world premières, 26 North American and 28 Canadian feature film premières, 6 of which are made by BC filmmakers. Eighty curated short films are also featured in the VIFF 2021 lineup, 36 of which are Canadian.

Strict British Columbia COVID-19 public health and safety protocols will be in place for in-person screenings, including mandatory mask wearing in screening rooms and common areas, and BC Vaccine Card proof that cinephile patrons have been vaccinated, before patrons will be granted access to the eight VIFF cinema venues.

VIFF executive director Kyle Fostner says he believes there’s a growing group of patrons who are ready to return to the theatre.

“Culturally, as an organization and as a community VIFF needs to have some kind of statement of intent around returning to cultural activity and to cinema,” Fostner says, pointing out that two local independent theatres, the Rio and the Cinematheque, have already been open for some time and attracting audiences.

Meanwhile, VIFF Expanded has partnered with two B.C. venues to present films in-cinema to British Columbians outside of the Lower Mainland, with 8 screenings scheduled at the Tillicum Twin Theatres in Terrace, and 12 VIFF films set to screen at the newly renovated Patricia Theatre in Powell River.

(Note: each film title — and more — throughout this column links to the VIFF website page)

Japanese-English director Will Sharpe’s The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, a whimsical Victorian biopic starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy, was selected by VIFF Associate programmer Curtis Woloschuk as VIFF’s opening night film —  on Friday, October 1st, with Céline Sciamma’s exquisite Petite Maman — which débuted at the Berlinale earlier this year acclaim — and a favourite of Mr. Woloschuk’s, selected as VIFF’s closing night film, on Monday, October 11th.

The array of titles given special presentations assembles a collection of works by leading filmmakers spanning the globe, from …

    • One Second (China) by Fifth Generation filmmaker Zhang Yimou;

https://youtu.be/Ej7FSmzijNE

    • Memoria (Thailand/Colombia/U.K.) by Thai indie director Apichatpong Weerasethakul;

    • Drive My Car (Japan), Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s adaptation of a short story by author Haruki Murakami, available only as an in-person screening. A favourite of VIFF International Films programmer, Alan Franey;

    • Belfast (U.K.), an autobiographical film by British filmmaker Kenneth Branagh, recent winner of the Audience Award at the Toronto International Film Festival;

    • The Power of the Dog (Australia/New Zealand), the “other” Benedict Cumberbatch film at VIFF this year, and winner of the Silver Lion for Jane Campion as Best Director, at Venice 2021;

    • Bergman Island (France/Sweden) by French writer-director Mia Hansen-Løve;

“Seventeen VIFF films will be available as in-person screenings only,” VIFF’s International Films programmer Alan Franey told VanRamblings.

“And that includes Drive My Car, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s sombre drama about love and loss, that was for me an engrossing and exalting film experience, and a film not to be missed. Arising from concerns about piracy, I was unable to move various studios to release their films to our secure streaming VIFF Connect platform.”

As part of VIFF’s 40th anniversary celebrations, the festival will present a free online tribute talk. VIFF Leading Lights will spotlight Japanese auteur Kore-eda Hirokazu (Like Father, Like Son) in conversation with South Korean filmmaker Bora Kim (House of Hummingbird), whom Kore-eda chose as an emerging director to discuss filmmaking with.

Other speaking engagements at VIFF Talks will feature film professionals sharing their expertise, including documentary filmmakers Julie Cohen (My Name is Pauli Murray) and Jonas Poher Rasmussen (Flee).

On the industry side, online events include master classes with Mare of Easttown director Craig Zobel and The Suicide Squad editor Fred Raskin, as well as a talk by The Green Knight’s production designer Jade Healy.

Canadian productions receiving special presentations include the Indigenous sci-fi drama Night Raiders (Canada/New Zealand) by Cree-Métis director Danis Goulet, starring Vancouver’s Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, and All My Puny Sorrows (Canada), director Michael McGowan’s adaptation of Miriam Toews’ 2014 novel.

More  VIFF 2021 highlights include VIFF AMP , the annual forum for music in film, which runs from October 8 to 10; VIFF Totally Indie Day on October 2nd, devoted to independent filmmakers and cinema; and the VIFF Immersed exhibition, October 1 to 11, to showcase virtual reality and augmented reality storytelling.

VIFF Ticket Info | VIFF Connect | In-Person | Passes | Tickets & Ticket Packs

As has long been the case, VIFF will offer a wide array of different ticket packages and passes: patrons can purchase an all-festival, all-access in-person pass for $725, while the VIFF Connect pass will be available for $110 for a household, $80 for an individual, with a $60 student rate. The four-ticket in-person pass price is set at $48, seniors $44, students, $32. Regular in-person admission will cost $15 – $17.

In 2021, patrons may enjoy the big screen cinematic experience, or watch from the comfort of their home, or mix and match to create a personal festival journey.

“VIFF’s lineup offers a plurality of perspectives, with powerful narratives from Indigenous filmmakers, poignant stories from female perspectives, and bold work that confronts critical issues such as colonialism, racism, and the climate crisis,” says Woloschuk. “The films VIFF programmers have selected testify to the power of creativity, reminding us: even when it’s darkest, we can dream.”

“I think the minute I see a VIFF screening of 100 appreciative audience members rapt in attention watching a VIFF film in-cinema it will be a victory,” enthuses Fostner, who adds that despite the ravages of the pandemic, VIFF remains strong.

The Vancouver International Film Festival is presented on the traditional and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples, and the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil‑Waututh) Nations.

COVID-19 | Twindemic | Run, Don’t Walk, To Get Your Flu Shot This Autumn

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Dr. Brian Conway has advice for anyone thinking about getting a flu shot this fall.

“Run! Don’t walk to get your flu shot,” he said, speaking from his office at the Vancouver Infectious Disease Centre. “I think there is great consensus behind the statements that there will be a significant influenza season going forward.”

Getting your flu shot may do more than just protect you against the influenza virus — it may also prove to be protective against the most severe effects of COVID-19, according to an extensive new analysis presented online at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in August.

The study, titled “Examining the potential benefits of the influenza vaccine against SARS-CoV-2: A retrospective cohort analysis of 74,754 patients,” was published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PLoS One on August 3rd. This was the largest study of its kind and analyzed deidentified patient records from around the world, which strongly suggested that the annual flu shot reduces the risks of stroke, sepsis, and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in patients with COVID-19. Patients with COVID-19 who had been vaccinated against the flu were also significantly less likely to visit the emergency department or be admitted to intensive care.

“Only a small fraction of the world has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to date, and with all the devastation that has occurred due to the pandemic, the global community still needs to find solutions to reduce morbidity and mortality,” said senior study author Devinder Singh, M.D., a professor of clinical surgery at the Miller School.

“Having access to the real-time data of millions of patients is a powerful research tool,” added Dr. Singh, who conducted the study with medical residents Susan Taghioff and Benjamin Slavin, M.D., both of whom were lead authors. “Together with asking important questions, my team has been able to observe an association between the flu vaccine and reduced morbidity in COVID-19 patients.”

“Continued promotion of the influenza vaccine has the potential to help the global population avoid a possible ‘twindemic’ — a simultaneous outbreak of both influenza and coronavirus,” Taghioff said. “Regardless of the degree of protection afforded by the influenza vaccine against adverse outcomes associated with COVID-19, conserving global health care resources by keeping the number of influenza cases under control is reason enough to champion efforts to promote influenza vaccination worldwide.”

The egregious flu season researchers see looming on the horizon is due, in part, to last fall and winter when influenza was effectively eliminated in British Columbia and across Canada, thanks to COVID-19 health orders preventing gatherings and travel, while promoting physical distancing, mask-wearing and hand-washing.

But, with social life now returning to normal, zero flu last season will have consequences this season: the population is likely now more susceptible to the virus.

“People don’t have any built-up immunity that they might have [developed] from a flu season last year, or from getting their [flu] shots last year, or both,” said Conway. “So we’ll go from the best year on record for influenza to something other than that.”

Two companies, Moderna and Novavax, have announced they are working on a combined flu and COVID-19 vaccine, which Conway believes will be the future.

“There’s an expectation that COVID is going to be around for a while. Flu, obviously, has been around for a long while and will be around and we’re just going to be vaccinating people for both on a yearly basis,” Conway said. “But for now, please run and get your flu shot.”

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control said the flu shot is expected to be widely available by mid-October, either at your doctor’s office or through your local pharmacy.

Arts Friday | The Much Anticipated Autumn Film Festival Season Underway

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In 2021, wherever a film festival may take place, appropriate COVID protocols will be in place, including mandatory masks in the screening rooms and common areas, and proof that cinephile patrons have been vaccinated.

The pandemic – particularly given the ravages of the COVID-19 fourth wave – will probably mean, and has meant at the Telluride and Venice film festivals, prejudiced attendance numbers at fall film festivals. As was the case in 2020 – and once again will be so in 2021 – films on offer will be made available for home viewing, with a small number of films  available exclusively for in-person screenings. In other words, in order for film festivals to “work” in 2021, festival directors have adopted a “hybrid model” to satisfy the viewing demands of their loyal patrons.

At Telluride and Venice, major film studios made their star-driven, Oscar contending film slates available to these two prestigious film festivals, as will be the case in Toronto – which got underway yesterday – and later this month in Gotham City, at the 59th annual New York Film Festival, which will share half their slate with VIFF.

At Telluride and Venice, Hollywood stars turned out in all their finery, engaging in post screening discussions with audiences, sitting in rapt & appreciative attention.

Above is a clip of Japanese-English director Will Sharpe’s The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, a whimsical Victorian biopic starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy — which, it was announced at the annual Vancouver International Film Festival media conference has been selected as VIFF40’s opening night film, on October 1st.

“Movies are a distraction from reality,” says a character in Paolo Sorrentino’s Hand of God — which débuted at Telluride — a sprawling, funny-sad, autobiographical coming-of-age story. That’s a good thing. Reality is drab and painful — “lousy,” according to the film’s English subtitles — and film provides a much needed respite.

The break-out Oscar contenders that débuted at Telluride include …

Cyrano, a lovely new telling of the classic story of Cyrano de Bergerac, which had its world première at Telluride, and took that film festival by storm — with guaranteed Oscar nods all around;

https://youtu.be/MUnsoxe7K4g

The North American première of Spencer, the mesmerizing new drama starring Kristen Stewart (a guaranteed Best Actress Oscar nominee) as Princess Diana; and

The crowd-pleasing King Richard, a drama charting the rise of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams, expected to launch Will Smith into the Oscar race for his portrayal of the girls’ demanding dad and coach, Richard Williams — a loving, egocentric father who, it turns out, did know what was best for his daughters.

Céline Sciamma’s exquisite Petite Maman — which débuted at the Berlinale, and has been set as VIFF40’s closing night film (cuz it’s VIFF programmer, Curtis Woloschuk’s, favourite film at VIFF this year, he told VanRamblings earlier in the week — don’t tell anybody, though, cuz it’s a secret) — a delicate film full of surprises. Sciamma, whose Portrait of a Lady on Fire was a VIFF standout in 2019 (at the pre-pandemic VIFF festival), examines female intimacy from a different angle.

Nelly and Marion (played by young twins named Joséphine and Gabrielle Sanz) are 8-year-old girls living in similar houses in the woods. They strike up a friendship tinged with elements of fairy-tale supernaturalism, magical realism and time travel. The twists packed into the film’s compact 72 minutes arrive gently and matter-of-factly. The intense emotions they leave behind — this is one of the quietest tear-jerkers you’ll ever see — are at once familiar and wholly new.

Soon, the sane and responsible among us will be fully vaccinated and in possession of our province-issued vaccine card — making attendance at movie theatres, restaurants, bars and pubs safer and more enjoyable for the vast majority of us.

As much as COVID’s fourth wave will keep us in its troubling grip, for the most part it is the anti-social unvaccinated amongst us who will bear the malignant brunt of the coronavirus — for the rest of us, a return to a near normal state of being holds promise for our immediate future, and the prospect of an autumn movie-going season sitting amongst our brothers and sisters inside a darkened movie theatre.

The Best in World Cinema | Film Festival Season Has Arrived

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40th annual Vancouver International Film Festival, October 1st thru 11th

Film festivals are a vital link in the chain of global film culture.
Week in, week out, in pre-pandemic times most of us were bombarded with marketing messages extolling the virtues of mainstream movies.
But the films that make it into film festivals are a whole different kettle of fish than the blowed-em-real good, blockbuster films that make it into our local multiples. In point of fact, a good and vibrant film festival screens films that are as resistant as possible to the commercial pressures of standard mainstream fare. It is through independent films from across the globe, films that are made by independent voices that new ideas are expressed, new genres of film are created, and new, important directors emerge who serve to create a whole new cinematic landscape.

40th annual Vancouver International Film Festival front page photo

Great film festivals champion these ideals and filmmakers at their core.
Many festivals, including our own homegrown and much celebrated Vancouver International Film Festival, feature engaging panel discussions and masterclasses on aspects of filmmaking, bringing in diverse members of the film industry of interest to both filmmakers and to the general public. Events such as these offer a critical way to promote the filmmakers and their films, as well as to help film festival attendees learn about what goes on behind the mysterious black curtains shrouding the film industry.
A good series of learning events at a festival also strives to create debate about important issues facing not only filmmakers, but humanity in general. VIFF festivals past have engaged in panel and post screening audience discussions on a wide range of general interest topics — everything from climate change, to racial and sexual prejudices and social injustices.
Any community with a successful film festival prides itself on the artistic, cultural and commercial kudos a festival brings.
For local community film festivals like VIFF, it’s not just the red carpet and all the hype surrounding the festival. It’s also the jobs the festival creates, the hospitality provided to visitors, and the buzz around the commercial establishments in the festival area. Not to mention the hotels, snacks and meals of which festival attendees partake.

The Vancouver International Film Festival's Vancity Theatre, in the evening

With 20,000 unique attendees in 2019, the Vancouver International Film Festival estimates that the boost to the Vancouver economy to be in excess of $1,500,000, engaging with local businesses to amplify the festival, and bringing business to the Vancouver’s central core.
Film festivals also serve to unite a community.
Festival staff reach out to a wide range of ethnic, gender and other diverse communities to enjoy the films on offer, engage with the filmmakers, as well as celebrate the stories told with the verve and enthusiasm of the filmmakers. Festivals serve to create a sense of community, where local audiences are afforded the opportunity to mingle with visiting filmmakers and share their experiences, and react to the work they have seen.

protests

We live in very troubled times.
Polarization is a trend best opposed. And what better way to break down prejudices than through cinema. Is it not that most of today’s troubles are caused by misunderstanding of how different people live? Or how they love, work or play in different cultures with different religions?
And what better way to break down this misunderstanding than to take an audience to these different worlds and show how life really is?

“We love cinema at VIFF,” says VIFF associate programmer Alan Franey.

“And we love when an audience comes out from a screening feeling as if they have seen something cutting edge, something culturally informing, or something just plain straight entertaining. VIFF is known for showcasing issues and ideas that cannot be mass-communicated due to local laws and cultural taboos. And that’s why we continue, year after year, to bring the very best of independent cinema to the heart of our province.”

In fact, the 40th annual Vancouver International Film Festival is set to get underway in October, and will run for 11 days from Friday, October 1st thru Thanksgiving Monday, October 11th.
Roughly 110 feature films and 100 shorts will screen in Vancouver venues — with a selection of films also available for online viewing via the VIFF Connect streaming platform — at this year’s festival.
VIFF 2021 will showcase a vibrant programme of films and events, including a kaleidoscopic collection of revelatory Canadian work, visionary East Asian cinema, powerful and provocative documentaries, narrative cinema from some of the world’s leading lights, and elevated genre fare.
Curated short film programmes will allow audiences to discover inventive storytellers, while VIFF Talks aims to take viewers behind the camera. The Totally Indie Day, VIFF AMP, and VIFF Immersed conferences provide extraordinary support for local creative communities.
Every film in the 40th annual Vancouver International Film Festival lineup to be screened in-cinema this year will follow strict COVID-19 health and safety protocols, with seating capacity in the well-ventilated venues reduced to 50%, or a figure mandated by B.C.’s Public Health Officer.
As per usual, in-person VIFF box office will open at the VIFF Centre, located at 1181 Seymour Street just across from Emery Barnes Park, noon to 6pm daily, beginning Thursday, September 16th.
Before VIFF40 kicks off, though, there are four important film festivals which will precede ours.

Cannes Film Festival

Following on the success of the 73rd annual Cannes Film Festival in July, programmers with the Telluride Film Festival (September 2nd through Labour Day, September 6th) will programme some of Cannes’ best, as will the prestigious Venice Film Festival (September 1st through 11th), many of which films on their programmes will make it to the 40th annual Vancouver International Film Festival programme, as well, in early October.

Titane, Palme d’Or winner at Cannes this year, and rock solid to make it into VIFF40.

Titane, the Palme d’Or winner at Cannes this year is all but certain to screen at all festivals this late summer and early autumn. David Chase’s Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark, Clint Eastwood’s Cry Macho, King Richard with Will Smith, Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch and Michael Showalter’s The Eyes of Tammy Faye are all festival bound, and certain Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Oscar contenders.

The Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto Film Festival (September 9th to 18) is probably the world’s most prestigious film festival, not only celebrating world cinema, but presenting most of the films that will feature in the Oscar race early next year. The 59th and heavily curated New York Film Festival (September 24th thru October 10th) always shares half of their programme lineup with Vancouver’s homegrown film festival — something to anticipate in 2021.

Jessica Chastain, the odds on favourite for Best Actress, for The Eyes of Tammy Faye.

Ottawa at night, all lit up in colour

Even though VanRamblings is taking a three-day break from coverage of the exceedingly dull, verging on enervating 40th Canadian federal election, as they become available, we’ll still provide you with the latest edition of David Herle, Scott Reid and Jenni Byrne’s Curse of Politics podcast.

The David Herle, Scott Reid & Jenni Byrne Curse of Politics podcast for August 20, 2021