Ran into Festival Director Alan Franey following a mid-afternoon screening of the Christopher Kenneally / Keanu Reeves documentary, Side by Side: The Science, Art and Impact of Digital Cinema, and spent a few minutes catching up with Alan (who looked great on Sunday in his cream coloured suit), touching on a range of Festival-related subjects.
Alan expressed a concern that, in VIFF’s final year at the Empire Granville 7, the patron experience has not been everything that he might have hoped it would be, that he would have liked to “go out on a higher, better note.” We both agreed, though, with the changes Alan implemented on Friday that the ship had been righted, that following a review at the end of the first week arising from the ongoing consultation / seeking of feedback from staff, volunteers and festival-goers, the patron experience had improved measurably, to patron satisfaction, over the course of the past 72 hours.
VanRamblings suggested that where it mattered most, VIFF is experiencing an exceptionally rewarding year: the films. From The Hunt, Any Day Now, When The Night, Thursday Till Sunday, The Late Quartet, Bay of All Saints, Egg and Stone, Teddy Bear, Rose, Nuala — well, the list could go on and on, couldn’t it? — VIFF is experiencing an exceptional year. The films we see at VIFF don’t arrive as if by magic, they’re curated by Alan, PoChu AuYeung, Mark Peranson, Terry McEvoy, Stephanie Damgaard, Shelly Kraicer, Tony Rayns and Sandy Gow, as well as being juried by a dedicated, hard-working group of cinephiles. This year, the VIFF programmers have outdone themselves, as the Vancouver International Film Festival grows from strength to strength to strength.
Of course, we touched on the issues which Alan must address respecting the re-locating of VIFF in 2013 to a new site(s). Alan indicated that he doesn’t want to rush into anything, or react precipitously, that he and his team will take some time to review the options available to VIFF. For now, though, following a hard-fought year of working to bring to Vancouver the best curated and juried film festival in North America, Alan will take a brief, well-deserved break, before settling down to the tasks at hand.
Then VanRamblings rushed off to the Empire Granville 7 for an early evening screening of Lucy Mulloy’s wondrously delightful, heart in your throat Cuban narrative, Una Noche where we arrived late to meet COPE Executive Director, Sean Antrim, our companion for the screening. Sean had to rush off to a late Thanksgiving dinner (VanRamblings sets aside all prosaic concerns during the Festival, so no turkey dinner for us on Sunday, as we took in five powerfully affecting VIFF screenings).
A few notes to complete VanRamblings’ shorter than usual VIFF post …
Our Children: VIFF has secured a pristine DCP print of Belgium’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nominee, following the almost week-long psychodrama that occurred following last Monday’s screening of Our Children at the VanCity. The film’s producers had supplied a degraded production screener with a time code running across the top, with a critical two minutes of the film missing (VIFF didn’t know that a portion of the film was missing). We’re looking forward to attending today’s 3:45pm screening at the Empire Granville 7. Given that Our Children looks to be a solid Oscar contender (Amour would appear to be its only serious competition), and given that the word VanRamblings heard from friends who actually stayed for the entirety of the Our Children screening last week, who told us they felt the film to be among the strongest of the films they had seen at VIFF in 2012, well .. given that most of these friends/VIFF patrons are not given to engaging in the kind of hyperbole that defines our ‘review’ approach (we either love a film, or really don’t care for it, there’s ain’t no in between with us), the comments of these friends would have to be considered high praise, indeed. Bottom line: Our Children is one of today’s must-see films.
Come As You Are: As patrons were exiting Cinema Three late Sunday morning, we were approached by several VIFF regulars, who told us, “Raymond, I don’t know what you’ve got scheduled for the late show on Tuesday, but whatever it is, cancel it. You absolutely have to see the 9:30pm screening of Come As You Are on Tuesday night.” So that’s where we’ll be. Ahhhh, how wonderful to be taken care of by the VIFF family.
Any Day Now: Talking about films that are can’t miss, the final screening of Any Day Now occurs at 9:30pm this evening, in the Empire Granville 7. There are very few films which we will guarantee any VIFF patron and cinéaste will love, but let us tell you: Any Day Now is amongst the best American independents of the year. You really oughta do youself a favour and take in a screening of this powerfully affecting period drama.
Monday’s screenings represents one of the potentially strongest VIFF days, thus far, film wise. Must-sees on Monday include: Ernest et Célestine, The Sessions, The Angels’ Share, Amour, Our Children, No Job for a Woman: The Women Who Fought to Report WWII, All in Good Time, Kinshasa Kids, Revolution, The Flat and Any Day Now.
And, finally for this post: we were told by VIFF staff that a screening of The Hunt had to be cancelled on Sunday, for technical reasons. Apparently, there’ll be an additional screening announced today. Given that The Hunt is probably the most well-crafted and accessible film at VIFF in 2012, The Hunt would have to be considered yet another must-see.
