With the 2011 Vancouver International Film Festival fading into memory, today’s post constitutes VanRamblings’ final entry covering the 30th annual VIFF, the focus on the films which garnered an overall audience appreciation, based on the many thousands of ballots cast, according to meticulous VIFF calculation the top 10% of films screened at VIFF, receiving an audience score of between 4.4 and 5.0, for 28 films in total.

That many of VanRamblings’ favourites — including Corpo Celeste, My Little Princess, Wish Me Away, Michael, Mitsuko Delivers, Tyrannosaur, Without, The Singing City, The Jewel, Like Crazy, Martha Marcy May Marlene and Restoration, among many, many others, did not make the final ‘audience favourites’ list just goes to show how subjective is the experience of filmgoers seeking a window on the world through their attendance at VIFF.

Here, then, are the top VIFF 2011 vote-getters, in alphabetical order …

Continue reading VIFF 2011: The Wrap Up Post, Audience Award Winners & More →

The 30th annual Vancouver International Film Festival wrapped its 16-day run last evening, Friday, October 14th. The winners of two juried awards, and five audience awards were announced prior to the screening of The Kid With a Bike, the Cannes’ Palme D’or winner from the Dardenne brothers, Jean-Pierre and Luc, which screened at the Vogue theatre Friday night.
Without further ado, here then are the 2011 VIFF award winners …

The Canadian Images jury announced two awards. The jury included Beth Barrett, programme manager of the Seattle International Film Festival; photographer, filmmaker and educator Dana Claxton; and filmmaker and chinlone (the national sport of Myanmar) expert Greg Hamilton.
First up, the Shaw Media Award for Best Canadian Feature Film for feature directorial début - and its $20,000 cash prize - went to Anne Émond of Québec for Nuit #1. The jury selected Émond’s film “for its unflinching intimacy and atmosphere of containment with candour and lucidity.”
Guy Édoin’s Wetlands received an honourable mention for Canadian feature film, the Canadian Images jury noting that VIFF presents one of the largest showcases of Québec films outside of Québec. Canadian Images jury member Dana Claxton presented a $2,000 cash prize to Ontario’s Andrew Cividino of Ontario for We Ate The Children Last, praising the film’s director for Children’s “creation of an apocalyptic, yet fully believable world.”

Continue reading VIFF 2011, Day 16: Awards to Films Screened at VIFF30 →

The 30th annual Vancouver International Film Festival wraps today, and weary filmgoers are preparing to return to their lives, once again assuming the mantle of responsibility that comes with being a conscious person — living life with a purpose — in our troubled, and often troubling, times.
As it happens, there are a handful of bloggers who live for film just as much as the most diehard VIFF patron. These bloggers perform no small feat: rewarding employment for themselves arising from the uncommonly acute, and for those of us who count themselves as fans of their work, the much appreciated decision to dedicate a significant portion of their lives to coverage of film from across the globe. Insightful, informative coverage.
Emerging each autumn, leading up to the nominating and awarding of the Oscars these bloggers not only write about film passionately — having attended many, many of the critically most audacious film festivals held in far-flung places across our globe — they also become the ‘experts‘ in the burgeoning field of Oscar prediction, setting the agenda for who and what will be nominated. These bloggers assume the bully pulpit of film coverage.

Continue reading VIFF 2011, Day 15: Where To Go For Film News Post Festival →