CreativeBC

Wrap-Up Of VIFF 2025

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

The 44th annual Vancouver International Film Festival concluded on Sunday, October 12th. The day before Canadian Thanksgiving. There were more facilities and with that, more films. It’s a case where the VIFF is trying to revive itself to its post-COVID state, like most major events. This year’s VIFF was very impressive in making that effort.

This year’s VIFF does not yet have their attendance figures published but you can bet with more films, attendance was up. There were huge crowds for a lot of films and galas were sold out. Films in the Showcase series also received excellent attendance and many did sell out. Films with a lot of Oscar buzz or award winners from Cannes or Venice were also big hits. One of the most noticeable details was that there were sell-outs for many Canadian films. Especially for some films made by local artist. That is another goal of VIFF to promote the films made from local filmmakers.

Set-Up and Strike Adventures

For volunteer work, this was the first year I did the Set-Up And Strike work. It was quite the experience and it could get crazy at times. My first such shift was two days before the start. It involved bringing in supplies to the Granville Island theatre and then to the theatres of the International Village. The activity wasn’t too hard of impact but the International Village had the most supplies to load in.

My second shift took place the day before opening. This involved loading a truck full of items from the VanCity theatre and taking them to both the Alliance Francaise theatre and the SFU theatre. The Alliance Francaise wasn’t too much to load out, but it was a half-hour wait to start moving again. The SFU theatre was more complicated because the garage was secured, cellphone access wasn’t around in the garage and taking things out also meant assembling tents. Assembling tents outdoors in a limited area was a headache!

My third shift took place on the final day, Sunday the 12th. It started at 9pm and it involved taking supplies from theatres we brought in. First was the Rio, then SFU and then International Village. All had complications. For the Rio, we learned the truck we were given by the rental company had a lock from the last customer and we could not get it off! We had to wait for a new truck. After we finished at the Rio, we go to SFU and find the garage door locked just after we finished loading. It was a wait to get moving again! Then the traffic and crowd of people from the Shawn Mendes concert added time for us! Then we see the garage at International Village all locked up! That was another delay in loading stuff. Unloading at the end at VanCity was the easier part and we all left in good time: quarter to midnight!

My fourth and last shift had to be the easiest. It started at noon the day after the Festival ended and it involved returning rented festival supplies to film rental companies. The first trip unloading things from the supply trucks was for Sunbelt Rentals in Burnaby. That move wasn’t too hard as VIFF has a space for their rentals. It took only 40 minutes to unload and pack it all in. Even the big tents didn’t end up as complicated as we feared. The next trip was to Sparky’s Rentals in Vancouver. Finding it was harder than unloading things as Google maps didn’t do things right. The unloading didn’t take as much time as we thought and we ended at 1:40pm; twenty minutes ahead of time!

My Film Watching

With my first two volunteer shifts completed and the last two to take place on the final day and the day after, I used my free time to see as many films as I could. I saw two on opening Thursday (the 2nd) and both were Spanish-language. Actually the very first five days, I saw two films a day and it was quite tiring. Especially since I saw them at various cinemas. I saw most at the International Village, but I also saw some in that time at the Rio, the Playhouse, the Granville Island Stage and the SFU theatre. I like doing different theatres and trying to do it all is tiring. So tiring, I decided to skip film-watching for Tuesday the 7th. Besides I had already completed my yearly major VIFF goals.

On Wednesday the 8th, I saw a shorts segment at the International Village with a friend I had not seen in a long time just for the sake of meeting up. We had a lot of catching up! The next day, I wanted to see a Canadian film at the Cinematheque but it was all sold out! With a free day on Friday the 10th, I saw one film in the morning at the IV, returned to the Cinematheque and got in this time, and ended at the Playhouse. Saturday the 11th was a case I saw my first film at the Alliance Francaise theatre and ended at the Rio. The last film I saw was in the early evening of Sunday the 12th at the Granville Island Stage. In time to do the takedown at the various theatres!

Isn’t it something how I completed all my film reviews and my wrap-up blog all before the end of October? What can I say? While I was waiting for my new job to start in the middle of the month, I used my free time to do whatever blog typing that I could. Boy did it help me get my blogs all completed faster than I expected. Anyways it makes me relax for the rest of 2025. So for those that want me to list all the films I saw during VIFF 2025, here’s my list and the links to my reviews for you listed in the order I saw them and with the film’s nation(s):

2025 VIFF Award Winners

So you’re all now wondering who the Award Winners are? All six juried award categories from last year returned. Two categories for Canadian films expanded to include Indigenous filmmakers from all over. For Audience Awards, the number of awarded categories expanded from nine to eleven. I find it something I saw four feature-length films and one short film that won awards. Here are the award winners for VIFF 2025:

JURIED AWARD WINNERS

SUMMIT Award
for outstanding narrative feature by an established Canadian or Indigenous filmmaker:
-The Things You Kill (dir. Alireza Khatami)

HORIZON Award
for outstanding first or second feature by a Canadian filmmaker:
-Blue Heron (dir. Sophy Romvari)

TIDES Award
for outstanding documentary feature by a Canadian or Indigenous filmmaker:
–The Track (dir. Ryan Sidhoo)

ARBUTUS Award
for outstanding feature film production in BC:
–Blue Heron (dir. Sophy Romvari)

SHORT FORUM Award
open to all short films in the Short Forums
-No Skate (dir. Guil Sela)

VANGUARD Award
open to all feature films in VIFF’s Vanguard section
–Wind, Talk To Me (dir. Stefan Djordjevic)

AUDIENCE AWARDS

Special Presentations
-Kokuho (dir. Sang Il-lee)

Showcase
-In The Room (dir. Brishkay Ahmed)

Panorama
-Meadowlarks (dir. Tasha Hubbard)

Vanguard
-Gazelle (dirs. Nadir Saribacak and Samy Pioneer [Selman])

Northern Lights
-Akashi (dir. Mayumi Yoshida)

Insights
-Free Leonard Peltier (dirs. Jesse Short Bull and David France)

Spectrum
-Khartoum (dirs. Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy, Timmea Mohamed Ahmed and Phil Cox)

Portraits
-The Essence Of Eva (dirs. Alex Fegan and Malcolm Willis)

Altered States
-****toys (dir. Annapurna Sriram)

Spotlight On Korea
-3670 (dir. Park Joon-ho)

Focus
-Bad Girl (dir. Varsha Bharath)

And that does it for another year at the Vancouver Film Festival. It offered a lot more this year and I enjoyed as much as I could. We’ll see what 2026 has to offer next October.

VIFF Is Back For 2025

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

The Vancouver International Film Festival is back for 2025 to make it their 44th annual festival. As has been since the COVID pandemic, it’s a total of eleven days. One noticeable change from different years is this year’s festival is now beginning on the first Thursday of October: October 2nd. That’s a change as it normally begins on the last Thursday of September. I’m assuming they’re doing this change so that the Festival gets a boost when it ends on the Sunday before Canadian Thanksgiving: October 13th.

From the 2nd to the 12th of October, this year’s Film Festival will continue to show films and host VIFF Industry conferences on various vocations of filmmaking as well as VIFF Amp conferences about musicians and music in film. Also returning to VIFF are VIFF Labs forums in skill development VIFF Catalyst forums highlighting work from rising filmmakers. VIFF Talks and Special events also returns but most events are ticketed with prices bigger than the average VIFF ticket. VIFF Live is back with four musical performances and VIFF Signals is back to showcase futuristic media and art.

New for myself is a new set of volunteer duties. For this year, I have been assigned volunteer duties with the ‘Strike and Load’ team. From what I’ve sensed, the Strike and Load team are the people involved with setting up the theatre venues for the film festival either with VIFF posters or VIFF booths or various other VIFF materials. The team will also be needed to disassemble things at the end of the Festival or whatever last festival day at the venue. My first two shifts will be during the two days before the Festival begins. I’m involved with set-up at Granville Island, International Village and the VIFF Theatre days before the Festival begins. I’m also involved with takedown and return of supplies in the afternoon of Thanksgiving.

Now time to focus on to the films at VIFF. This year, VIFF has rebounded to host a total of 284 films in both short films and feature-length. That’s over 100 more than last year. If you’re like me and continue to have a big interest in VIFF’s running of films that are a nation’s official entry in the Academy Awards category of Best International Feature Film, 24 films here are a nation’s official entry in that category, including Canada’s: the Turkish-language The Things You Kill.

For the returning theatres, International Village is the main venue for most of the films while the Playhouse Theatre hosting the galas and more featured films and the VanCity Theatre hosting major films and events. Rio Theatre, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, Cinematheque, SFU Goldthorp Theatre and Cinema 3 of Fifth Avenue Cinema return as venues for VIFF 2025. New for VIFF this year is four more added venues for film and special concerts:

  • Theatre 7 of International Village: This will expand the number of International Village theatres used for VIFF to four.
  • Alliance Francaise Vancouver: The recently-opened new venue for the Alliance Francaise school has a 165-seat theatre for stage and film. Contrary to popular belief, the venue will not only show French-language films.
  • Granville Island Theatre: Host venue for the Arts Club Theatre, this 440-seat theatre on Granville Island will host VIFF films for the first time and during the last three days of the Festival.
  • H. R. MacMillan Space Centre: The 209-seat space centre is the venue for a special VIFF event. Wilfred Buck’s Star Stories will be showcased on October 10th. The mix of storytelling and visual imager should make for a great spectacle.

Now onto the highlighted films of VIFF 2025:

OPENING GALA: Nouvelle Vague – Normally you would not expect a director like Richard Linklater to direct a timepiece set in Paris in 1959, but that’s what he does. This is a story of Jean-Luc Godard trying to break into the Paris film scene despite tough competition. He meets up with Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo to make the film he hopes to be his breakthrough.

CLOSING GALA: Köln 75 – Interesting the film for the Closing Gala will take place the day before with a live concert. The German film directed by Ido Fluk is the story of American composer Keith Jarrett and his efforts against a stack of odds to do his legendary improvised concert in Cologne in 1975. The film won three awards at the Barcelona-Sant Jordi Film Festival.

After The Hunt – Directed by Luca Guadagnino and starring Julia Roberts and Leonardo Di Caprio, this film focuses on a professor who has to deal with a memory of sexual harassment as a student of hers brings up her own harassment issue. The story promises to cut deep.

Christy – David Michod directs this biopic of Christy Martin who helped pioneer women’s boxing in the 1990’s. Christy, played by Sydney Sweeney, first feels she’s fated for the common female life in her younger years until a punch thrown by her changes everything. The road to the top isn’t easy as her manager/husband is very abusive.

Father Mother Sister Brother – Directed by Jim Jarmusch and featuring a stellar cast including Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Charlotte Rampling, Cate Blanchett and Mayim Bialik, this is a family story of siblings around the world and their parents who they feel are distant, both physically and emotionally.

Franz – Poland’s official submission for the Oscars directed by Agnieszka Holland, this biopic of Franz Kafka explores his life and also tries to put a fictional twist to try to get into Kafka’s mind and create a biopic that’s just as much of an enigma as Kafka himself.

It Was Just An Accident – Winner of the Palme door at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and France’s official Oscars submission, Jafar Panahi’s latest film is a story of a man who does a ‘Good Samaritan’ act to a man on the road whom he later recalls as his violent cellmate from his past prison days. The good deed soon turns into a trigger for revenge.

Jay Kelly – The latest film from Noah Baumbach, Jay Kelly is an A-list Hollywood actor who appears to have it all, but feels empty. He’s tired of playing himself all the time in movies but he doesn’t even know who he is anymore. George Clooney plays Jay Kelly and Adam Sandler plays his manager.

Kokuho – Japan’s official submission for the Oscars, Lee Sang-il creates a story of two brothers adopted by a Kabuki actor and trains then to be Kabuki actors themselves. As they excel over the decades, the two rival each other for greatness while still trying to maintain their brotherly bond.

The Mastermind – Kelly Reichard directs a crime comedy set in a small Massachusetts town in 1970. There, an art lover at the less-than-inspiring art gallery conducts a clumsy hoist to steal four modestly valued paintings only having no clue what to do next. It’s like a crime with no clue!

Mile End Kicks – A Canadian film directed by Chandler Levack. The film takes us back to 2011 as a young aspiring female music critic is pursuing writing a book about Alanis Morisette’s Jagged Little Pill album. Her goal changes as she comes across two members of an indie rock band and decides to be their publicist. The film parodies the sexism of music journalism while also becoming a heartfelt story.

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie – If you think they misspelled Nirvana, you’re wrong. This Canadian comedy directed by Matt Johnson stars Johnson and Jay McCarrol and is based off their hit web series. Their movie is of a band that fails to make it until a soda-fueled Accident sends them time travelling back to 2008. It’s part Back To The Future, part pop culture parody.

No Other Choice – South Korea’s official Oscars submission, director Park Chan-wook does a Korean adaptation of Donald Westlake’s 1997 novel The Ax. A paper mill executive who was laid off from his executive job tries a corporate maneuver to overtake the competition in hopes of it paving the way for his next job. Will it work? The mix of drama and satire will set the scene.

Palestine 36 – Palestine’s official submission for this year’s Oscars, Annemarie Jacir directs a timepiece story of the Palestinian uprising against British rule in 1936. The story follows a man who becomes a soldier of the rebellion after his fellow villagers get their land conquered and are frequently pillage. The story appears to show how the present echoes the past.

A Private Life – Directed by Rebecca Zlotowski and starring Jodie Foster in her third French-language role! Foster plays a psychiatrist who must research information about a patient’s death, but her own neuroses complicate her search. The film is a mystery thriller that mixes satire.

Rental Family – Directed by Japanese director Hikari and starring Brendan Fraser. A lonely American actor who’s hired as part of a Japanese ‘rental family’ system of renting actors to be family members for events finds a family he connects with emotionally and wants to stay with them past his term of work.

The Secret Agent – Brazil’s official submission for this year’s Academy Awards, this film is a Cannes award winner for director Kleber Mendonca Filho and lead actor Wagner Moura. It’s a neo-noir political drama set in Brazil in 1977of a man who ran afoul with an influential politician that’s part of the national dictatorship at the time.

Sentimental Value – Norway’s official Academy Awards submission and a Grand Prix winner at Cannes. Two actress sisters who recently lost their mother have the added burden of dealing with their director father who abandoned the family when they were children. The story is as much about the daughter’s lives as much as the attempt at reconciliation. Stars Stellan Skarsgard, Renate Reinsve and Elle Fanning.

Sirāt – Spain’s official submission for this year’s Oscars and a Jury Prize winner at this year’s Cannes. Director Oliver Laxe delivers a story of a Spanish man and his son in the Moroccan Sahara searching for his missing daughter. An anarchic desert rave party and the aftermath make it hard for them and helpers they meet at the rave deal with the treacherous landscape and an ecstasy that becomes a damnation.

Steal Away – A Canadian horror film directed by Clement Virgo. An overprotected teenage girl is introduced to a refugee girl her mother has taken into shelter. As she becomes overly curious in the girl, even sexually, a terrible secret in her family estate is threatening to expose itself.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery – Director Rian Johnson returns with Daniel Craig again playing detective Benoit Blanc. This mystery is in New England and involves a gothic church with eccentric parishioners. The murder makes it hard to solve when it appears divine intervention could be involved with it.

Young Mothers – Belgium’s official Oscars submission. Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne direct a story of five young mothers part of a teenage mothers outreach program. They go through the difficulties of being a mother at such a young age and try to take the next steps in motherhood and trying to make a future for themselves.

And there you go. That’s my preview of VIFF 2025. Lots to look forward to. My reviews of the films I watch will be coming shortly. I hope to see ten or more, despite how difficult my schedule is right now.

VIFF Returns For 2024

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

The Vancouver International Film Festival returned for 2024 to make it their 43rd annual festival. As has been the case since the COVID pandemic, it’s an eleven day festival that started on Thursday the 26th and will end on Sunday October 6th. The Festival will not only show films but there will be live music performances as part of VIFF Live, talks about film insiders and technical people with VIFF Talks, forums as part of VIFF Industry, musical discussions as part of VIFF Amp, forums in skill development with VIFF Labs and promotion of works from promising filmmakers with VIFF Catalyst.

For my volunteer duties, I return to working for the International Village. I’m back to doing common usher duties like scanning tickets, line control, ushering to seats, whatever the venue managers call for me to do. Once again, I have my VIFF goals of hoping to see at least ten films including one shorts segment, one feature-length Canadian film and nation’s official entry in the Best International Feature Film for the upcoming Oscar race. I’ll have no problem with the endurance of watching films. I saw one the day it opened. I may have a problem posting all my reviews in a timely manner. You all saw how long it took me last year. The good news is I have no post-secondary online course so you will get the reviews a lot faster. Not exactly in time before the Festival ends, but enough ample time.

As for films, the Festival will be showing a total of 150 feature-length films and short films during its run. Theatres showcasing the films for this Festival include the VanCity theatre (the main theatre only), the International Village, Rio Theatre, Vancouver Playhouse Theatre, Centre for the Performing Arts, Cinematheque, SFU Goldthorp Theatre and new for the VIFF this year, a single screen from the Fifth Avenue Cinema. And now for the highlights of this year’s VIFF:

OPENING GALA: Ari’s Theme – This year’s VIFF opens with a documentary, and of provincial subject matter. It’s of Victoria composer Ari Kinarthy who won’t let his muscular spinal atrophy destroy the artist inside of him and is determined to compose his work. Eight members of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra are expected to be live and perform a live score to the film.

CLOSING GALA: Emilia Perez – France’s official entry in the Best International Feature Film category for the Oscar race. The director of 2009’s Une Prophete presents a story of a Mexican former drug lord who is on trial for the crimes just after completing gender reassignment surgery. Zoe Saldana plays the lawyer assigned to defend her. Her performance won her a Cannes Film Festival prize for acting.

All We Imagine As Light – This film from India won the Grand Prix Award at Cannes. It tells of three nurses and the difficulties of their lives. One is a workaholic who works to forget about her estranged husband. Another has a Muslim boyfriend and avoids her parents as they want her with a Hindi man. The other is a widow who faces being thrown out on the streets because of land developments. Three different stories in which many women can see themselves in.

Anora – This year’s Palme d’Or winner in Cannes! A bizarre story of a Las Vegas stripper winning both the affection and eventual love of a spoiled Russian son of an oligarch. When the parents learn of the romance, all hell will break loose. Sean Baker, the director of The Florida Project and Red Rocket, promises something unpredictable!

Bird – The latest film from Andrea Arnold. A young 12 year-old girl named Bailey lives in one of England’s shabbiest slums. She has to deal with a childish father, a soon-to-be-stepmother she hardly knows, a half-brother part of a gang and her mother’s new abusive boyfriend. Can an eccentric stranger she just met one day change things for the better for her?

Can I Get A Witness? – A folksy but futuristic Canadian film. Starring Sandra Oh as the mother, it’s a story of a young woman whom, after the brink of an environmental crisis, tries to work with her colleague on a worldwide mandate to protect all life.

Conclave – From the director of the 2022 remake of All Quiet On The Western Front comes a story where a bishop in the Vatican (played by Ralph Fiennes) outlays the plan to have a new Pope elected after the passing of the recent one. This leads to factions, conspiracies and a squabble among seven bishops that leads to disaster.

The End – Joshua Oppenheimer directs a tragic drama that’s also a musical. It stars Michael Shannon, Tida Swindon and George MacKay and it’s about a selfish greedy family whom, two decades after the world’s environmental collapse, have selfish plans from outside their bunker but threaten to have it exposed by an outsider.

The Girl With The Needle – Denmark’s official entry in the Oscar race for the International Feature category. Based on a story of one of Denmark’s most notorious serial killers, a young seamstress left lonely after World War I has an affair with the owner of a clothing factory. It makes things worse and she turns to a man who offers ‘services in need.’

I’m Still Here – Brazil’s entry into the Oscar race. From renowned director Walter Salles comes a story of a Brazilian congressman and his family in the 1970’s while Brazil was under a dictatorship. He tries to prevent his teenage daughters form entering politics but that leads to trouble as he is picked up by armed man one morning. That could tear his family apart.

My Favorite Cake – The winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlin Film Festival. It tells the story of a widowed 70 year-old woman in Tehran who’s going through empty nest syndrome since her daughters moved out. One day, she listens into a conversation of late-in-life romance and soon finds herself fancying a cab driver.

Nightbitch – It’s directed by Marielle Heller and stars Amy Adams. A woman in the suburbs finds her life mundane having to tend her toddler and her husband leaving her alone as he travels city to city for his work. Soon she becomes more dog-like both physically and mentally over time and even attracts all the other dogs of the neighborhood.

The Piano Lesson -The third August Wilson play Denzel Washington brings to the big screen, it’s directed by son Malcolm and stars son John David. A man reunites with his sister in Pittsburgh in the 1930’s with a friend, a gift of a truckload of watermelons and a plan to sell the family piano she owns. The sister, who considers it a family heirloom, refuses to have any of it.

Rumors – A three-director collaboration that includes Guy Maddin. It tells of a G& meeting which world leaders assemble to create a first statement on the current crisis, in a remote gazebo isolated from the rest of the world. Their setbacks are dealing with a vain but incompetent Prime Minister of Canada and mysterious problems coming to light. If it’s from Guy Maddin, you know it will be out of the ordinary and unforgettable.

The Seed Of The Sacred Fig – Germany’s official entry in the Oscar race. It tells of an Iranian man who’s a newly promoted private investigator for the government in the early days of the feminist rebellion of 2022. His handgun goes missing, but neither his wife nor his two daughters will confess to having it. As the protests grow in size, Iman’s anger and paranoia grows and it threatens his relationship with his family.

The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal – Since they formed 40 years ago, The Tragically Hip have become one of Canada’s most beloved rock bands. This documentary directed by former member Mike Downie promises to showcase the Hip as you’ve never seen them or known them before with unseen backstage footage and rehearsal footage.

And there you go. That is my preview for this year’s Vancouver International Film Festival. I hope for this to be another ‘VIFFtastic’ year!

VIFF 2023 Wrap-Up: A Very Late Wrap-Up

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

DISCLAIMER: As most of you know, the Vancouver International Film Festival ended on Sunday, October 8th. That’s the day before Canadian thanksgiving. Also many of my more common readers know I usually delay my VIFF wrap-up until November. The reason why this year’s wrap-up comes so late is because, like Angela in my last VIFF review, I was overworked. Not completely because of jobs but also because of an online learning course that consisted of a lot of assignments. In fact I had only a brief wrap-up at the end of my last VIFF film review in mind at first. When I saw I wrote an awful lot of a review, it was then I felt it was worth its own separate blog.

VIFF 2023 ended well. Hundreds of films from around the world were shown. They came in a wide variety of genres and lengths and formats. They ranged from Canadian to French to Asian to African, from dramas to documentaries to comedies to horror, from three minutes to 3 1/2 hours, and from theatrical films to virtual films and virtual arts.

This year, I only saw twelve films at the Festival. Actually it’s a better number than I first thought I would do. In the past, I wouldn’t have problems taking time off from my job and seeing some films in that time. This year, time was harder to book off and I did a single weekday off. Despite that, I still had an enjoyable time. I made a lot of effort to see films as often as I could during whatever free time I could muster. When I was volunteering, I was lucky to see three films during my volunteer shifts. More on my volunteering later.

This year I was successful in fulfilling my three main VIFF goals. I saw a shorts segment consisting of eight Canadian films. The Best Foreign Language Film Oscar entries I saw were two films but they were my first VIFF film and my last VIFF film. I saw a Canadian feature, despite it being animated. I don’t have a problem with that. I support Canadian film of any genre. I went to a VR exhibit. This was my first in five years. A lot has changed with VR film and the exhibit even included interactive art. I also saw two Altered States films. Both were over the top and fit the format well of what VIFF picks for an Altered States film. To my surprise, I saw more documentaries than usual. I saw five this year. They were all a case of a film being available while I was free. If I didn’t enjoy them, I did find them all intriguing. The most bizarre film I saw ended up being a Christmas horror film. Since Christmas is coming up, should I watch it again?

As for volunteering, I was back at the International Village. This year, they asked volunteers to do a minimum of three shifts. I started out with three but the number eventually grew to five. I first did two shifts on the opening weekend. One thing they introduced this year was the Platinum Lounge: a section at the theatre where Platinum Pass holders can relax before their show. I did some supervision there. Other duties I did was line control and ticket scanning. I also did a Thursday morning show that was slated exclusively as a showing for high schools. It went well, but it was a bit of a headache with some students playing games and straying off. Teenagers never change! Sunday became a case I was willing to combine two volunteer shifts into one: seven straight hours of volunteering! I didn’t mind as long as I can end the last day of VIFF seeing a film. Funny how the last film I saw at the VIFF wasn’t the last VIFF film to start but the last VIFF film to end. Film is a funny art!

Some of you may wonder who the Award Winners are. For those that care, here’s a list of the Award Winners of the 2023 Vancouver International Film Festival. There were jury award categories and audience awards for the VIFF categories of movies:

JURIED AWARD WINNERS

Best Canadian Film:
–Fitting In (dir. Molly McGlynn)

Best Canadian Documentary:
–Someone Lives Here (dir. Zachary Russell)

Best Canadian Short:
–Katshinau (dirs. Julien G. Marcotte and Jani Bellefleur-Kaltush)

Emerging Canadian Director:
-Anna Fahr for Valley of Exile

Best BC Film:
–WaaPaKe (dir. Jules Arita Koostachin)

Vanguard Award:
–Animal (dir. Sofia Exarchou)

AUDIENCE AWARDS

Galas and Special Presentations:
-Monster (dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda)

Showcase:
–The Monk and The Gun (dir. Pawo Choyning Dorji)

Panorama:
–Irena’s Vow (dir. Louise Archambault)

Vanguard:
–Let Me Go (dir. Maxime Rappaz)

Northern Lights:
–Altamaako’tamisskapi Natosi: Before The Sun (dir. Banchi Hanuse)

Insights:
–Physician, Heal Thyself (dir. Asher Penn)

Spectrum:
–Asog (dir. Sean Devlin)

Portraits:
–Call Me Dancer (dirs. Leslie Shampaine and Pip Gilmour)

Altered States:
–Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (dir. Ariane Louis-Seize)

And there you have it. That does it for my look at VIFF 2023. For those wondering when VIFF 2024 will be, September 26th to October 6th. I plan to be back and volunteering then.

VIFF 2022 Wraps Up With Excitement

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

In the past, you’d have to wait until late in November for my VIFF wrap-up blog. However this was one of those years I could only stay for half the Festival. I will get into my reason why I didn’t take in the full festival later in my blog.

Anyways the Vancouver International Film Festival wrapped its 2022 Festival up on Sunday, October 9th. Just in time for people to have their Thanksgiving dinner! The Festival consisted of over 200 short and feature-length films from 74 countries. The films were a wide range including Oscar contenders, documentaries, short films, animation and various Canadian films. With the return of the VIFF to the International Village, it allowed for more opportunities for films to be seen on the big screen and less through the VIFF Connect streaming service. The Festival also brought back more features of VIFF Amp and VIFF Immersed and also allowed for some fun with a classic church performance of Nosferatu!

The showcasing of films went well. Once again, people were up to giving their opinions with the ballots they were handed after the film. And awards were handed out. Here are the award-winning films:

JURIED AWARDS

Best Canadian Film
Presented by the Directors Guild of Canada
Winner: Riceboy Sleeps (dir. Anthony Shim)
Special Mention: Queens Of The Qing Dynasty (dir. Ashley McKenzie)

Best Canadian Documentary
Presented by Rogers Group Of Funds
Winner: Geographies Of Solitude (dir. Jacquelyne Mills)
Special Mention: Ever Deadly (dirs. Tanya Tagaq & Chelsea McMullan)

Vanguard Award
Presented by the Lochmaddy Foundation
Winner: Other Cannibals (dir. Francesco Sossai)
Special Mention: Tortoise Under The Earth (dir. Shishir Jha)

Emerging Canadian Director
Presented by Directors Guild of Canada
Winner: Charlotte LeBon – Falcon Lake
Special Mention: Sophie Jarvis – Until Branches Bend

Best BC Film
Presented by Creative BC and Company 3
Winner: Until Branches Bend (dir. Sophie Jarvis)
Special Mention: The Klabona Keepers (dirs. Tamo Campos & Jasper Snow-Rosen)

Best Canadian Short Film
Presented by VIFF and William F. White International
Winner: Baba (dirs. Meran Ismaelsoy & Anya Chirkova)
Special Mentions: Heartbeat Of A Nation (dir. Eric Janvier) and Agony (dir. Arnaud Beaudoux)

AUDIENCE AWARDS

Galas And Special Presentations
Winner: The Grizzlie Truth (dir. Kathleen S. Jayme)

Showcase
Winner: Crystal Pite: Angels’ Atlas (dir. Chelsea McMullan)

Panorama
Winner: The Blue Caftan (dir. Maryam Touzani)

Vanguard
Winner: Harvest Moon (dir. Amarsaikhan Baljinnyam)

Northern Lights
Winner: Riceboy Sleeps (dir. Anthony Shim)

Insights
Winner: The Klabona Keepers (dirs. Tamo Campos & Jasper Snow-Rosen)

Spectrum
Winner: The Hermit Of Treig (dir. Lizzie MacKenzie)

Portraits
Winner: Lay Down Your Heart (dir. Marie Clements)

Altered States
Winner: Rodeo (dir. Lola Quivoron)

And now for my volunteering experience this year. This was a rare year I could only stay for half of the Film Festival. My sister was to have her wedding in Winnipeg on Saturday October 8th. She and her husband married two years earlier, but it was a private ceremony due to the pandemic. They still aimed for that particular day in October 2020 because it would mark the milestone of the anniversary of the day they first met. They tied the knot that day, pandemic or no pandemic. Nevertheless they still wanted a ceremony for the family. After two long years, they got sick of waiting and decided to have it in Winnipeg that day.

For me and my love for the VIFF, that meant I had to cram my volunteering. When I applied, I let them know that it may be possible I can’t do the full amount of expected shifts and explained why. The person in charge of volunteering was good about it. They said they understood and had no problem. Especially since they checked back with my past supervisors and they gave me good word. When shifts were allotted, I rushed to book to the best of my availability and to have it completed in good time before my departure.

The venue I was given was the International Village Cinemas. The dates I chose were the opening day, Thursday the 29th, Saturday the 1st and Sunday the 2nd. All were evening shifts. On the first day, Vancouver was going through a heat wave that wouldn’t end. I swore if it continued to be hot on the weekend, I’d wear shorts. On my first shift, I was given line control. Lines for the films were to be separate from the regular Cineplex patrons to the cinema on the third floor. Those who wanted to see films had to stand in line on the second floor, or if there was a film with huge demand, the standby line on the ground level. Thursday’s line control wasn’t as tiring. Saturday’s line control was a lot busier as I had to do line control for many films that were big attractions. The most annoying thing about line control for the International Village wasn’t exactly the lines, but the smell of the garbage area. The mall didn’t have their main-floor garbage area doors locked and you could smell it even on the second floor!

For Sunday, I lucked out. I was an usher. I could lead people to their seats, take ballots for films finishing, do some clean-up, scan tickets, and even watch some of the films! That was the treat since line control wouldn’t have me see the films. I had no problem with it. I knew for years when we volunteer, our top duty is to be an usher. Watching films depends on the luck of the position. Sunday ended up being my lucky day as I was able to see Music Pictures: New Orleans and Like A Fish On The Moon. For watching films outside of volunteer times, my first chance was the evening of Friday the 30th where I saw two films at the Cinematheque: Love Will Come Later and The Word. My next chance was the afternoon of Saturday the 1st when I saw Klondike. That fulfilled one of my annual VIFF Goals to see a nation’s Oscar entry for Best International Feature Film, and would end up being the only one of my three annual VIFF Goals that I achieved!. My last chance to see a film was the late evening of Monday the 3rd. The last film showing that night was Riverside Mukolitta. That was a delight to see.

And that was it: six films. With my work and having to finally fly out to Winnipeg on Wednesday the 5th, that ended up being it. During the Festival, I attempted to see films on VIFF Connect from a computer in Winnipeg. I was even willing to pay the regular box office fee to do so. VIFF Connect only allows viewership in BC! So six ended up being it. I didn’t fulfill all my film goals and I didn’t have too much opportunity to chat with others I had not seen in a long time, but I’ll make up for it next year! Yes, I’m glad I went to the wedding. It would be ridiculous for me to hold it against my short time at VIFF. Nevertheless I still look forward to a good full VIFF next year.

So to end my wrap-up, I have to say it was great being back at the International Village. It was enjoyable getting to talk with other volunteers and reconnecting with others. Also I was happy with all six of the films I saw. It was a shame I could only do half of the festival. But I intend to make up for it big time at the Vancouver Film Festival of 2023!

VIFF 2020 Wraps Up Its First Online Fest

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

It does seem awkward to do a wrap-up for the Vancouver International Film Festival. Not just because it’s way into December, but because most of the film festival was online! Plus all my VIFF activity for 2020 was online! Nevertheless I feel it’s worth it.

2020 was an interesting festival as it had to resort to mostly online viewing of films. There were airings of films at theatres like the VanCity and Cinematheque, but they were very few and had limited capacity. Despite all this, the online system did give the opportunity to watch many of the films that were part of this year’s Film Festival. There were 102 feature films, 98 short films and 19 talks and events at this year’s VIFF. The number of VIFF Gold passes sold out. Despite the lower number of films, viewership was still good as it totaled over 50,000 online views.

For me, this was a unique experience to view a film festival all all online. I first had a goal of seeing ten films online. There was some time where I thought I had a lot of catching up to do as there were days I didn’t watch. Then it was like the last five days I did a lot of cramming. Like two films a day each day. In all honesty, I prefer watching films in the theatre. Having them in the theatre is better for demanding my attention. If I watch it on a computer, I will easily be distracted by other things online or want to sneak a websearch in. If I’m in the theatre, it’s nothing but that film.

Nevertheless I was successful in seeing fifteen feature films and two shorts segments. I saw six Canadian films or film segments, one multinational set of shorts, four American films, four European films, and two Asian films.Those who know me know my film goals for the VIFF consist of three main goals: one Canadian feature-length film, one shorts segment, and one contenders of the Best International Feature Film Oscar. The goal of a Canadian film was accomplished with Monkey Beach: the first VIFF film I saw this year. The shorts segments I did twice with Programme 2 and Reel Youth. The International Feature contender I was not able to do. During VIFF, there weren’t even ten countries that gave their official submissions to the AMPAS Academy. At the time, none of them were shown at the VIFF. The reason why so few is because the 2020 Oscars will be held on the last Sunday of April 2021 and the other countries were in no rush. During that time, I went with films I felt would best contend: Undine, Father and There Is No Evil. As time passed, it would eventually be revealed none of those films became their nation’s official submission in the category. Looks like this was one goal I had to put on hold this year.

One thing that was not absent from this year’s VIFF was their award winners. Awards were still given out. I’m happy to say that three of the films I saw won awards. One thing about this year’s awards was that because of the nature of the festival, most of the people’s choice or audience award categories could not happen. Thus only one audience award. Included for this year are VIFF Immersed awards for virtual reality that is sponsored by VeeR VR network. Here’s a list of the award winners from this year’s VIFF:

BC Spotlight Awards

Sea To Sky Award
Presented by Telus
WINNER: Nuxalk Radio (dir. Banchi Hanuse)
Special Mention: Cosmic (dir. Meredith Hama-Brown)

Best BC Film Award
Presented by CreativeBC, Encore by Deluxe
WINNER: The Curse of Willow Song (dir. Karen Lam)

BC Emerging Filmmaker Award
Presented by UBCP/ACTRA, AFBS & William F. White
WINNER: Jessie Anthony for Brother, I Cry

Best BC Short Film
Presented by Telus Storyhive
WINNER: Cake Day (dir. Philip Thomas)
Special Mention: Sunken Cave And A Migrating Bird (dir. Qiuli Wu)

Canadian Film Awards

Best Canadian Film
Presented by Directors’ Guild of Canada
WINNER: Beans (dir. Tracey Deer)
Special Mention: Nadia, Butterfly  (dir. Pascal Plante)

Emerging Canadian Director
Presented by Directors’ Guild of Canada
WINNER: Violation (dirs. Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Macinelli)

Best Canadian Documentary
Presented by the Rogers Documentary Fund
WINNER: Call Me Human (dir. Kim O’Bomsawin)
Special Mention: Prayer For A Lost Mitten (dir. Jean-Francois Lesage)

Best Canadian Short Film
Presented by Side Street Post
WINNER: Bad Omen (dir. Salar Pashtoonyar)
Special Mention: Moon (dir. Zoe Pelchat)

Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film
Presented by Delta Air Lines
WINNER: Acadiana (dirs. Guillaume Fournier, Samuel Matteau and Yannick Nolin)
Special Mention: Labour/Leisure (dirs. Jessica Johnson, Ryan Ermacora)

VIFF Impact Award
Presented by The Lochmaddy Foundation
WINNER: The Reason I Jump (dir. Jerry Rothwell)

Rob Stewart Eco Warrior Award
Presented by RBC and Cineplex
WINNER: The Hidden Life Of Trees (dir. Peter Wohlleben)

VIFF Immersed Awards

Best Cinematic Live Action
WINNER: Kowloon Forest (dir. Alexei Marfin)

Best In Documentary
WINNER: By The Waters Of Babylon (dirs. Kristin Lauth Schaeffer and Andrew Halasz)

Best In Animation
WINNER: The Book Of Distance (dir. Randall Okita)

Honorable Mention In Animation
In The Land Of Flabby Schnook (dir. Francis Gelinas)

Audience Award
WINNER: Ecosphere: Raja Ampat (dir. Joseph Purdam)

VIFF Immersed Volumetric Market Awards
Sponsored by VeeR

  • Uninterrupted (dirs. Nettie Wild and Rae Hull)
  • A Vocal Landscape (dirs. Omid Zarai and Anne Jeppesen)

Before I wrap up my blog, I’ll give you the other films in which I saw at the fest. All films listed below are Canadian unless otherwise noted:

And there you have it. That’s my wrap-up of the film festival. I know it took me a long time to finish it all up, but I finally mustered the energy after all my work and courses. As for next year, we’ll see how the VIFF is carried out. Will they do more online films? Will they reduce the number of theatres or keep the same number they had in 2019? All I can say is I hope to see the VIFF films back in theatres. I like volunteering and being part of events. Only time will tell how VIFF 2021 is played out.

VIFF 2019 Wraps Up On A Great Note

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

CinemaYep, it’s been a month since VIFF 2019 ended, but the enjoyment of the Festival is still there. The VanCity Theatre will bring back a lot of the films that were shown during the festival. I hope to catch what I missed out the first time.

The 2019 Vancouver International Film Festival ended on Friday October 11th. There were big crowds throughout the festival as the films had a lot to attract. There were over 300 films from 72 countries or regions.

This year, there weren’t the Hub events, but there were a lot of ‘VIFF Live’ events. One was a lecture from rapper Chuck D, another was a pair of humorous film critics, a couple of airings of some cult classics, and even a feminist read of Some Like It Hot. There were two Master Classes organized by the Directors Guild of Canada. The first was with Atom Egoyan and the second with Batwoman director Holly Dale. Creator Talks were back and they ranged from costumers to producers and sound designers to even decision-makers like networkers, broadcasters and executive producers. VIFF Immersed was back but it was very restrictive in attendance. I will elaborate on that later.

The award winners were announced at the closing gala on Friday:

BC Spotlight Awards

Sea To Sky Award

Presented by Telus

WINNER: The World Is Bright (dir. Ying Wang)

Special Mention: Anthem Of A Teenage Prophet (dir. Robin Hays)

Best BC Film Award
Presented by CreativeBC, Encore by Deluxe
WINNER: The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open (dirs. Elle-Maija Tailfeathers & Kathleen Hepburn)

BC Emerging Filmmaker Award
Presented by UBCP/ACTRA, AFBS & William F. White
WINNER: Elle-Maija Tailfeathers for The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open

Canadian Film Awards

Best Canadian Film
Presented by Directors’ Guild of Canada

WINNER: One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk (dir. Zacharias Kunuk)

Special Mention: Blood Quantum (dir. Jeff Barnaby)

Emerging Canadian Director
Presented by Directors’ Guild of Canada
WINNER: Murmur (dir. Heather Young)

Special Mention: Kuesippan (dir. Myriam Verrault)

Best Canadian Documentary
Presented by the Rogers Documentary Fund
WINNER: Jordan River Anderson, The Messenger (dir. Alanis Obomsawin)

Special Mention: My Dads, My Moms and Me (dir. Julia Ivanova)

Best Canadian Short Film
Presented by Side Street Post
WINNER: At The Bottom Of The Sea (dir. Caroline So Jung Lee)

Special Mention: The Physics Of Sorrow (dir. Theodore Ushev)

Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film
Presented by Delta Air Lines
WINNER: Acadiana (dirs. Guillaume Fournier, Samuel Matteau and Yannick Nolin)

Special Mention: Labour/Leisure (dirs. Jessica Johnson, Ryan Ermacora)

VIFF Impact Award
Presented by The Lochmaddy Foundation

WINNER: Resistance Fighters (dir. Michael Wech)

Rob Stewart Eco Warrior Award

Presented by RBC and Cineplex

WINNER: The Pollinators (dir. Peter Nelson)

Women In Film And Television Award

Artistic Merit Award

WINNER: The Whale And The Raven (dir. Mirjam Leuze)

Audience Awards

Super Channel People’s Choice Award
WINNER: Parasite (dir. Boon Jong Hoo)

VIFF Most Popular International Documentary
WINNER: Coup 53 (dir. Taghi Amirani)

VIFF Most Popular Canadian Feature
WINNER: Red Snow (dir. Marie Clements)

VIFF Most Pupular Canadian Documentary Award
WINNER: Haida Modern (dir. Charles Wilkinson)

As for my volunteer experience, it was a unique experience volunteering for the Centre for the Performing Arts this year. This was the cinema that would have the biggest attractions this year. The very first film I officiated for was the Opening Gala and for Guest Of Honour. Yes, one of the best things about volunteering for VIFF: seeing Gala shows! For that, I was mostly in charge of line control and directing people to standing in the right line. It went quite well. After the show, I was one of the people who collected ballots for people to rate the film on a scale of 1-5.

I was scheduled for a total of four shifts, but there were some changeabouts on the schedule. So that meant after the Opening Gala, I only did two more. The second Centre shift was a case where I did line control for the film Parasite. That was something because the show sold out well in advance. I had to direct people to not only stand in line at the end of the line, but make way for the entrances of the stores. The line-up was three-quarters around the block before things got moving. I did mark the end of the line well and direct them all into the theatre. By the time I got them all in, I was too tired to see Parasite for myself. My third shift at the Centre involved scanning tickets for two shows. Scanners worked fine during the first show, but mine couldn’t work for the second show. So my shift ended there. That gave me enough luck to see Mr. Jones.

I did three at the Centre, but volunteers are to do a minimum of four. I was able to make up for it by doing three other shifts whose requests were sent via email. I took two of them at the Playhouse and another at the main VanCity theatre. Both times at the Playhouse, it was a case of giving people ballots before the show and taking the ballots after the show. For VanCity, I did it for a three hour-long documentary that had an intermission. It was possible to take ballots during the intermission, but I got very few. Each time I took ballots, I joked “This is one case where democracy works!”

Once again, there was a volunteer party one week later. It was good as I was able to make conversation with people I volunteered with. I also met up with some people I hadn’t seen in a long time. They served Chinese food, BC wine and craft beer. There wasn’t anything too big for a show. Just music played by the DJ. Nevertheless it was a good night.

As for the films I saw, here’s a list of them as well as the hyperlinks to the reviews. I have the country of origin in brackets and an asterisk marking those that are their country’s official Best International Feature Film entry for this year’s Oscars:

I fulfilled my film-watching goals for this VIFF. Shorts segment? I did it on the first Sunday with To Live In Infamy. Feature-length Canadian film? I did it on the Opening Gala and added one more in the final week. A country’s official Oscar entry in the Best International Feature Film category? I saw three. Minimum ten films? I saw eighteen in total.

I didn’t see everything I wanted. I was hoping to see a VIFF Immersed exhibit again this year. This time instead of the Centre for Digital Media, it was at the Annex Centre and there was a limit of fifteen tickets per ninety-minute exhibit. The one show I had the availability to see was sold out online and I was told to come back for the volunteer line-up. However it was a school showing and it was all reserved. Whenever I don’t get what I want, I try to find a show to see at the last minute. That’s how I saw To Live To Sing. Volunteers had a very good chance of getting into shows for free, but it was always a risk with films in huge demand. That would be my case when I wanted to see Those Who Remained. All the passholders and ticket holders filled the theatre and there was no room for volunteers. You take your chances.

One additional thing about my filmwatching. I was hoping to have again this VIFF that they did away with this year was the late-night showings at the Rio Theatre. The VIFF would have shows on the Friday or Saturday nights that started at either 11:00 or 11:30 and usually ended at 1am or shortly after. They would be films that were part of their Altered States selections. I would take full advantage of it and even watch the one shown on the last day of the VIFF as a way to end my VIFF experience that year with a bang. They didn’t have them this year because they didn’t really draw that huge of numbers. Despite that, I was able to see two or three of the Altered States films at the Rio during the 930/945 times. For Friday the 11th, I saw Greener Grass at the Rio which started shortly after 7. However I didn’t end my VIFF at the Rio. Instead I ended my VIFF at the Playhouse with The White Snake. Despite the change, I still ended my VIFF with a bang!

It’s funny how back in 2012 when the Granville theatre was about to close, newspapers said VIFF was in trouble. It’s 2019 and the VIFF is still active. It does make steps to adapt to the changes but it’s doing very well. Again in 2019, VIFF did a great job of bringing the world of film to the big screen. For many, this may be the only chance to see such films on the big screen. There have already been big screen releases for Jojo Rabbit, The Lighthouse, and Parasite, and there are more to come like White Snake. However we’re in a time nowadays where more is expected of a film to hit the big screen. The pressures of blockbuster superhero movies and other action films to bring in box office money demonstrates how much more restrictive box office releases are. There will be a lot of films at this film festival that will either be shown on Netflix or other streaming sources. The numbers of such are increasing. It’s a very tight time for independent film. It’s not like the breakthrough years of the late-80’s or early 90’s. It’s a good thing we have film festival like the VIFF to give such films a chance for better exposure.

So to conclude, I have to say it was an excellent experience I had this year. I didn’t have the Platinum Pass this year and I didn’t see everything I wanted, but I was happy with what I saw. No real disappointments. No film I thought was a waste of my time. VIFF 2020 is anticipated to be from September 24th and go until October 9th. Yes, I plan to be back to watch and to volunteer!

VIFF 2018 Wraps Up Another Good Year

Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

Cinema

I know I’m late in doing my VIFF Wrap-Up blog. It’s been a crazy time. It’s not just seeing a total of twenty-one films but craziness involving work, a computer with faults, illnesses and injury, and post-secondary classes. Nevertheless I finally have the ambition to complete it today.

The 2018 Vancouver Film Fest ended on Friday, October 12th. There were big crowds throughout the festival. There was a lot to see with over 300 films from almost 70 countries and territories.

Oscar Bingo
How about that? I got 21 out of 24 at VanCity’s Oscar Bingo…

The VIFF again offered Hub events and special lectures on film making topics from various professionals in its many fields.  There was the VIFF Immersed virtual reality exhibit in which I will reflect on later in this blog. The Director’s Guild of Canada held Creator Talks. The first Saturday was Totally Indie Day with focuses on independent film from project to creation to promotion. There was the VIFF AMP conference which was a series of talks about musical promotion, primarily in film. There was even a Sustainable Production Forum on topics of how to makes films through environmentally-friendly means to promoting environmentalism in films.

The award winners were announced at the closing gala on Friday:

BC Spotlight Awards

Sea To Sky Award

Presented by Telus

WINNER: Broken Bunny (dir. Meredith Hama-Brown)

Special Mention: Anthem Of A Teenage Prophet (dir. Robin Hays)

Best BC Film Award
Presented by the Harold Greenberg Fund, Encore by Deluxe
WINNER: Edge Of The Knife (dirs. Gwaii Edenshaw & Helen Haig-Brown)

BC Emerging Filmmaker Award
Presented by UBCP/ACTRA & William F. White
WINNER: Freaks (dirs. Zac Lipovsky & Adam Stein)

Canadian Film Awards

Narrative Features

Best Canadian Film
Presented by Directors’ Guild of Canada

WINNER: Edge Of The Knife (dirs. Gwaii Edenshaw & Helen Haig-Brown)

Special Mentions: Genesis (dir. Philippe Lesage) & the Grizzlies (dir. Miranda de Pencier)

Emerging Canadian Director
Presented by Directors’ Guild of Canada
WINNER: When The Storm Fades (dir. Sean Devlin)

Special Mention: M/M (dir. Drew Lint)

Documentary Features

Best Canadian Documentary
Presented by the Rogers Documentary Fund
WINNER: The Museum Of Forgotten Triumphs (dir. Bojan Bodruzic)

Special Mention: A Sister’s Song (dir. Danae Elon)

Short Film Awards
Best BC Short Film
Presented by CreativeBC
WINNER: Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes) (dir. Amanda Strong)

Best Canadian Short Film
Presented by Lexus
WINNER: Fauve (dir. Jeremy Comte)

Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film
Presented by Delta Air Lines
WINNER: EXIT (dir. Claire Edmonson)

VIFF Impact Award
Presented by The Lochmaddy Foundation

WINNER: The Devil We Know (dir. Stephanie Soechtig)

Special Mentions: The Silence Of Others (dirs. Almudena Carraceco & Robert Bahar) & Samouni Road (dir. Stefano Savona)

Vancouver Women In Film And Television Artistic Merit Awards:

Award For Drama:

WINNER: Mouthpiece (dir. Patricia Rozema)

Award For Documentary:

WINNER: What Walaa Wants (dir. Christy Garland)

Audience Awards

Super Channel People’s Choice Award
WINNER: Finding Big Country (dir. Kathleen Jayne)

VIFF Most Popular International Feature
WINNER: Shoplifters– Japan (dir. Kore-eda Hirokazu)

VIFF Most Popular International Documentary
WINNER: Bathtubs Over Broadway (dir. Dava Whisenant)

VIFF Most Popular Canadian Feature
WINNER: Edge Of The Knife (dirs. Gwaii Edenshaw & Helen Haig-Brown)

#mustseebc Presented by Storyhive
WINNER: Finding Big Country (dir. Kat Jayme)

As for my volunteer experience, this was a different time. I was originally given office work to do over at the head office. One of the more difficult things was that the office positions were only announced just two days or even a single day before the shift. That didn’t fit very well with me as I work a job from 830 to 430 and if I were to take one of those positions, I would have to let my place know a good three working days in advance, especially this time of year. I did however do a variety of volunteering. I did some ushering over at the SFU and International Village cinemas as well as the Centre For Performing Arts. I did some work over at the virtual reality exhibit, which I will focus on a bit later. I helped serve one morning at the VIFF AMP conference over at The Annex which I will also touch on a bit later. I ended my volunteering with the takedown at the International Village. Their takedown was Thursday the 11th: the day before the VIFF concluded. It was late at night and we finished at midnight. We were rewarded with free passes to VanCity Theatre films. The rewards of being a volunteer.

There was a volunteer party at the VanCity the following Friday. It was great. We had catered food with a Southern USA atmosphere. It consisted of a mix of vegetables and meats like pulled pork and roast chicken. There was also the VIFF bank playing bluegrass.

Platinum Pass
…and I won a VIFF Platinum Pass!

For those who didn’t know, I won a Platinum Pass on the day of the Oscars. How did it happen? The VanCity Theatre, the main venue for the VIFF, had their annual Oscar party and their Oscar Bingo Contest. How Oscar Bingo works is you fill out your predictions for all 24 categories on the bingo squares. Here’s how good my predictions were. I was the first to get a row. I soon got a second row, but that was it for minor prizes for me. At the end of the night, I got 21 out of 24 right. The Oscars were that predictable. Plus I took a gamble on guessing The Shape Of Water to win Best Picture, and it paid off! As the night ended, I found out one other person had 21 out of 24 right. We both won Platinum Passes! It was exciting as I would experience having a Platinum Pass for the first time.

As for the films I saw, here’s a list of them. I have the country of origin in brackets and an asterisk marking those that are their country’s official Best Foreign Language Film entry:

I’m happy with the choices I saw. Some I was able to choose well in advance while some I chose because of the time. Some I wanted to see I did. Some I wasn’t so lucky. Like Can You Ever Forgive Me? showed at the same time as Boy Erased. I can only choose one! However I did achieve my usual VIFF goals of seeing one shorts segment, one Canadian feature and one nation’s entry for the Best Foreign language Film Oscar. It was crazy juggling having my volunteer pass and my Platinum pass on the same chain. Often if I wanted to see a film, I’d use my Platinum Pass and I’d get any seat I wanted! That was the best thing about having a Platinum Pass.

The biggest thing I learned about having a Platinum Pass this year is that they’re best for people who have all sixteen days of the festival available. I see a lot of seniors with the Platinum Passes and they make good use out of it. They are the ones that can see five films in one day, if they have the tenacity to do so. I still had my jobs to attend to during the time so that really kept me from seeing a lot. Also volunteering kept me from seeing a lot too. I remember I told one of the VIFF supervisors during Oscar night “Even though I won, I still plan to volunteer.” It was a double-edged sword to do both volunteering and own a platinum pass as most of the time, you’re outside the action. If I ever pay $900 for a Platinum Pass in the future, it will be after I retire.

Virtual Reality
The VIFF isn’t all about big screen films. It also includes virtual reality films.

There were two things I attended as a volunteer that I could not attend for free via my Platinum Pass. That was the VIFF Immersed virtual reality exhibit and the VIFF AMP conference. If I wanted to attend it, I would have to pay full admission. Being a volunteer was a good experience in both cases. For virtual reality, I learned quite a lot about a new means of film making and animation. I’ll admit I haven’t caught onto the VR craze. I had my first experience with VR at the exhibit as volunteers were allow to try things out. It was nice to try two of the VR films; both films were made in BC. I also assisted in showing a VR exhibit to students from a Vancouver high school who were on a field trip. My shift was ending just as they were about to set the place up for ticketholders. As my shift ended, I tried a state-of-the-art animated VR show called Fire Escape. It was too technical for me to handle. It’s good that the VIFF have a virtual reality exhibit. One thing we shouldn’t forget is that VIFF focuses on all formats of film: not just feature-length. They also focus on writing in film and even music in film. It was a good experience to attend the VIFF AMP conference for the morning. I was given the duty to have musicians onstage sign waivers for VIFF promotional videos. I learned a lot from some of the musicians and producers and agents about the challenges of getting music promoted in your film as well as the worldwide promotion of music in general.

So overall I’d say it was an excellent VIFF and a unique experience this year. This was the first year I saw over twenty films! Next year’s VIFF is anticipated to be from September 26th to October 11th, 2019 and should also be a unique experience. No doubt I will be back to volunteer!

VIFF 2017 Wraps Up

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

Cinema

This year, I’m late again in wrapping up my experience at the VIFF. Actually I’m way earlier than last year. This time, I publish my wrap-up just three weeks after it ended.

The 2017 Vancouver Film Fest ended on Friday, October 12th. Crowds came again and again. There was a lot to offer with over 300 films from 69 countries. There were 19 films that are official entries for the Academy Awards category of Best Foreign Language Film for this year. Eleven films made their World Premiere at the Festival, nine their International Premiere, 37 their North American and 46 their Canadian Premiere.

The VIFF again offered Hub events and special lectures on film making topics from various professionals in its many fields. There was the Buffer Festival dedicated to the topic of online film making which included lectures on such filmmaking and even a Q&A featuring a lot of top Canadian YouTube personalities.

The award winners were announced at the closing gala on Friday:

BC Spotlight Awards

Sea To Sky Award

Presented by Telus
WINNER: Never Steady, Never Still (dir. Kathleen Hepburn)

Best BC Film Award
Presented by the Harold Greenberg Fund, Encore by Deluxe
WINNER: Luk’l Luk’l (dir. Wayne Wapeemukwa)

BC Emerging Filmmaker Award
Presented by UBCP/ACTRA & William F. White
WINNER: Never Steady, Never Still (dir. Kathleen Hepburn)

Canadian Film Awards

Narrative Features

Best Canadian Film
Presented by Directors’ Guild of Canada
WINNER: Black Cop (dir. Cory Bowles)

Emerging Canadian Director
Presented by Directors’ Guild of Canada
WINNER: Never Steady, Never Still (dir. Kathleen Hepburn)

Documentary Features

Best Canadian Documentary
Presented by the Rogers Documentary Fund
WINNER: Unarmed Verses (dir. Charles Office)

Short Film Awards
Best BC Short Film
Presented by CreativeBC
WINNER: Rupture (dir. Yassmina Karajah)

Best Canadian Short Film
Presented by Lexus
WINNER: Shadow Nettes (dir. Phillip Barker)

Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film
Presented by Delta Air Lines
WINNER: The Crying Conch (dir. Vincent Coi)

VIFF Impact Award
Presented by The Lochmaddy Foundation

WINNER: BLUE (dir. Karina Holden)

Audience Awards

Super Channel People’s Choice Award
WINNER: Indian Horse (dir. Stephen Campanelli)

VIFF Most Popular International Feature
WINNER: Loving Vincent – Poland & UK (dirs. Dorota Kobiela & Hugh Welchman)

VIFF Most Popular International Documentary
WINNER: Faces Places – France (dir. Agnes Varda Jr.)

VIFF Most Popular Canadian Documentary
WINNER: Shut Up And Say Something (dir. Melanie Wood)

#mustseebc Presented by Storyhive
WINNER: Shut Up And Say Something (dir. Melanie Wood)

As for my volunteer experience, this was a unique experience in doing driving for the VIFF for a change. It wasn’t all about driving VIPs or those involved in film. There was one Friday just days before the VIFF where we had to bring two cars, an SUV, a moving van and a hauling truck from a Langley rental agency over to the VIFF theatre. It was crazy because this was my first time learning on how to drive an automatic car. All my life, I’ve started cars by turning the key. This was completely different and even had me freaked out. Nevertheless things got easier over time.

Our shifts were mostly simple. We’d wait at the Sutton Hotel to find out who we’d be picking up and from where. My first day was a Tuesday and it was confusing as I was getting used to driving the downtown Vancouver streets for the first time. Believe me, Burrard St. has very limited left-turn options and it was annoying. The second trip on my first day driving was crazier as we had to drop some people off at the back entrance of a hotel. The entrance is located at a ramp to a parkade and there was a car being us trying to enter the parkade as I was dropping the people off. vacating the hotel was a headache. The days after were easier as I mostly had to pick people up either at the Sutton Hotel or at the theatres and drive them to the airport. There were even a couple of times I had to pick people up from the airport and bring them to the Sutton Hotel. One of which I was transporting an orchestra’s musical instruments in the moving van. That was definitely interesting. On closing Friday, I was with five people who had to bring five of the ten vans back to the auto dealer’s headquarters. I thought I knew my way, but Surrey’s highway system is extremely confusing and I got lost. I did make it there, half an hour late.

As for films, I feel I saw a good variety of film. I saw thirteen feature-length films and at least one shorts segment. I was lucky to see at least three Canadian features. I saw a lot of foreign films. I saw two films that were official Oscar entries for the Best Foreign Language Feature category. I even saw an African film for the first time. I saw at least three Altered States films that were either bizarre or ridiculous. The biggest standout for this year’s films I saw had to be experimental films. I saw three such films: two Canadian. One was good while the two others came off as either a failed experiment or just something ridiculous. That’s one thing about experimental films. You have to welcome them first and then make your own judgement after.

For the end of the VIFF, there was a volunteer party held the Saturday after closing. Volunteers were treated to films shown at this year’s VIFF. Three of the best. After that, they were treated to a Mexican buffet and to karaoke singing. It was fun and I even sang three numbers. I always sing at least one Elvis number at a karaoke party!

So there you go. The 2017 Vancouver International Film Festival ended very well and it was another good year of films and volunteering for me. Next year’s VIFF is anticipated to be from September 27th to October 11th, 2018 and should offer a lot, if not more. I may end up being an usher or I may end up driving again next year. I’ll see what they have to offer me. In the meantime, see you next year!