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VIFF 2025 Review: Akashi (あかし)

Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment
Akashi is a film by Mayumi Yoshida (right) who makes peace with her Japanese family’s past during the funeral of her grandmother, played by Hana Kino.

One thing about the Vancouver Film Festival is you will find some unique films from local filmmakers. The Japanese-language film Akashi is one of those films and it was met with great fanfare.

The film begins with Kana returning to Tokyo, Japan from Toronto, Canada. Kana is an advertising professional who dreams of breaking through as an artist. The purpose for the trip is a sad one: her grandmother’s passing. She is welcomed warmly by her parents, siblings, niece, nephew and in-laws. Kana is the only one of the children who has not yet married. In Canada, she’s been more focused on getting a prestigious arts grant and is awaiting the news of her third attempt at it.

As she’s in the home of her grandparents, memories come back to her. As she sees her grandfather’s artwork on the walls, it reminds her of how he used to teach her how to draw when she was younger and how it would lead to her own dream to be an artist. As she sees photos of her grandmother, she is reminded of the last talk she had with her. Her grandmother told her the marriage was arranged shortly after World War II and her grandfather actually loved another woman named Wakaku.

As she’s on a shopping errand before the funeral, she goes to a local store. In the store is Hiro, the boyfriend she had before she left for Canada. As they dated, Hiro had dreams of becoming an actor and the relationship was a case of two lovers with artistic dreams. Kana does not want Hiro to know she’s here and hides, but a sudden phone call from Shelby, her work colleague in Toronto, gives it away. Hiro is surprised to see her and the two talk for a while.

Kana is staying with her family for that week’s period. The funeral happens and they hold the service, tearfully paying their last respects. As Kana spends more time with her family, she starts observing her parents and how they struggled to keep a marriage and a family together while they were pursuing their professions. Now she sees it in her brother and sister and how they’re trying to raise their two children. This causes her to spend more time with Hiro. She starts to sense maybe Hiro was the one she was meant to be with.

Things become more frustrating for Kana as she learns that the drama group he’s with is not that successful. This comes over time she tries to learn more about the love between her grandfather and the other woman Wakaku. It’s in her grandfather’s drawings and notes that she learns more about what was covered up over time. Even though her grandfather was arranged to be marries to her grandmother, his love for Wakaku never died. Any interaction between the two had to be kept private. It’s noticeable as in one encounter in an art gallery, Wakaku and the grandfather had to give small talk and not have people notice. One boyfriend of Wakaku’s did find out about the love in the 1950’s and blamed her miscarried pregnancy on him, but it was the boyfriend that impregnated her.

As Kana is nearing the end of her visit, she has to make decisions. As she’s about to leave, she tells Hiro that she can’t be his. Hiro is heartbroken to hear the news. He takes it as another failure in his life. She gets the news of her attempt for her grant from Shelby. Again, it was unsuccessful. She also has a meeting with Wakaku on the day she is to leave. She sees Wakaku and learns she never married. She hears from Wakaku all that happened. Wakaku even appeared at her grandfather’s funeral. For which, the grandmother had no ill feeling and thanked her for loving him. The film appears to end with a telephone interaction between Hiro and Kana that appears she will live out a similar love story like her grandparents.

One theme of this film is about making resolve of the past and making sense of what love is. Kana sees the strong but difficult marriage of her parents and the marital situations of her own siblings. She has the reflection of her own relationship with Hiro and doesn’t know if it’s worth pursuing again. Then there’s the loveless marriage of the grandparents and knowing of the other woman. It is through talking with the other woman that Kana can resolve the dark secret in her family. Hidden truths no longer have to haunt her or the family. The marriage of her grandparents happened in post-World War II Japan and times were difficult as the nation was rebuilding itself. All personal lives and all family’s lives in Japan were affected by it in some way. It was a hard time for the family and for the grandmother to marry a man she didn’t love, but she held no hard feelings to the other woman in the end.

The film has many more themes to it. Another element of the story is about how things relate to in her own life. Kana is a struggling artist. Despite having a good job with an advertising agency, she still wants to make it as an artist. Meanwhile she reunites with her boyfriend who has still not become too successful as an actor. Her other siblings have bustling but difficult careers and her parents are retiring. This comes as she’s waiting to see if her application for the grant, her third attempt, will come through or not. As this all happens during her grandmother’s funeral, it’s there she finally gets the answers about the ‘other woman’ she learned of years ago. It’s there she learned of grandfather’s true love and gets a look at the relationship of her own parents and her siblings. It’s as she sees and learns what goes around her, she’s trying to question her own life and her own love. All this in a week’s period of time. To add to it, she begins the film as the family member who has been away for so many years and appears out of place at the start. At the end, she gets her feeling of belonging back. It’s almost like everything in question at the beginning was answered in the end.

This film is unique that it has most of the story in black and white, but both the story of the affair of Wakaku and the grandfather and the mental interaction of Kana and Hiro at the end in color. I think Yoshida had a reason to make it that way. I think it may be because the color was to represent the love that’s meant to be, despite the barriers and friction separating them. The story itself is slow and can get intense at times, but it does tell its story very well.

This film is an accomplishment for actor/writer/director Mayumi Yoshida. It’s a feature-length film nine years in the developing. It started as a stage play, adapted into a short film in 2017 and eventually evolved into a feature-length film. The audience at the Playhouse Theatre cheered loudly as a Japanese-born Vancouver local made her dream happen! The story is based on a conversation Yoshida had with her own grandmother back in 2011 shortly after the earthquake and tsunami that year. In an interview, she mentioned she noticed how her grandmother’s generation and her own generation look at love and marriage differently and has often reflected on the popular misconception of the young that the older generations had it better and easier. The film may be slow at times and appears to try and keep solitude even in the biggest moments of friction, but it tells the story well and pieces the puzzle together in good form.

Additional good acting performances are from Hana Kino. Her portrayal as the grandmother who kept secrets and eventually found peace in the end added to the drama of the story. Ryo Tajima is also very good as Hiro. His portrayal as the ex-boyfriend who still loves Kana makes for a very telling situation of modern love in a story about love between three generations. The performances of Kimura Bun as the younger grandfather and Sayaka Kunisada as the young Wakako is acted very well and makes for a believable scenario of the complications of love at the time. Even that single-scene performance of Chieko Matsubara as the older Wakaku makes you feel for the ‘other woman.’ The best technical aspects of the film are the cinematography from Jaryl Lim, the colorizing from David Tomiak, and the piano-driven score from Andrew Yong Hoon Lee.

Akashi is a film that’s simply more than a woman returning home. It’s about making peace and resolve with the past while making decisions about her own life. Although it may be slower than it should be, it’s still nice to see and showcases the skills of a promising director.

VIFF 2025 Review: Death Does Not Exist (La mort n’existe pas)

Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment
Activist Helene is given a second chance in her life after a failed heist in Death Does Not Exist.

The only feature-length animated film I saw at this year’s VIFF is the Canadian French-language film Death Does Not Exist. It is not your typical animated film as it defies expectation.

Helene is part of a group of young radical climate activists. They have the goal of attacking a rich family and brought guns along to make their message heard and to encourage others to follow their act. The attack becomes full-fledged a hail of gunfire on between both the radicals and the family’s bodyguards follow. People on all sides are killed. Helene’s colleagues, the rich family members, the bodyguards, no one is safe. Just as Helene appears to be the only one of the radicals who survives, she runs off into a forest and is completely lost.

The forest she runs into, which is immediately outside the mansion, is treacherous and wild wolves chase her. Lost in the woods, she comes across many wild creatures. The ground is covered with red leaves, resembling the blood of her comrades. In the woods, she comes across wolves chasing after sheep. She senses it’s telling her a message about herself. As she runs away, she falls and knocks herself unconscious.

As she wakes up, she comes across a childhood version of herself. It’s possible she can start a new life. However, she finds Manon: one of her activist comrades who was gunned down. How is she not dead? As Manon makes meat of a rabbit she killed, she makes Helene confront her own cowardice for leaving them all behind to die. She may be unhappy with Helene leaving them behind, but she offers a second chance.

The moment reoccurs again. Helene’s activist group and the rich family are all alive as if the massacre never happened. Will things change? Again, the massacre blows up and all of Helene’s comrades are gunned down. Again, few from the rich family in the golden mansion survive. The grandmother from the wheelchair, the survivor of the rich family Helene noticed most, survives again.

Instead of running into the woods, Helene goes into the mansion. Will shooting the woman be what she needs to do? It is there that the mansion becomes a forest or jungle of its own with the animals themselves also resembling characters of Helene. Helene soon confronts the grandmother in the wheelchair and has a message to give to her that stuns her. Soon after, Helene confronts an older version of herself and received messages from her. She then moves into images of the future, including one of the mansion being swallowed by the ground and flowers growing where it once stood. The film ends with message Manon delivers at the end.

The film does have a message. It’s that we’ve always lived in a world full of opposites, especially in terms of beliefs and convictions. It’s just now people on either side don’t talk. They just promote their belief and vilify those that believe otherwise. The massacre at the beginning is symbolic of such a situation as incidents that have happened in the past and what could happen in the future if we’re not careful. The world may be in crisis right now, but violence is simply making things worse.

Often the point of this film is that you should stand for what’s right but be cautious about your own actions at the same time. With Helene as the central character, it’s Helene’s consciousness that needs to be examined and exposed to her as she runs away. She’s exposed to her moral weaknesses and what she failed to become, but she also is shown enlightened images of what could happen, if she gets a second chance.

The film does a good job of being picturesque and telling in its imagery. Its images do catch your eye and can captivate the audience, but it can also lead them astray as they watch the story. Often there’s too much imagery happening and it doesn’t always make sense of whether the film is trying to tell a story or dazzle the viewer. Often, the audience can be led astray and become confused of what the whole message is. It does have a lot to say in both dialogue and imagery. It just doesn’t do it in too orderly of a fashion.

This is a good feature-length film directed by Felix Dufour-Laperriere. He’s had over 20 years of experience directing and producing animated film with 2021’s Archipelago being his biggest. Here, he creates a film that is so full of imagery, it took four years to complete. A lot of the imagery works in telling the story, while a lot of it can also lead the viewer astray. It is well done, but its imperfections are noticeable. Zeneb Blanchet does an excellent job in voicing Helene. She is good at capturing Helene’s confusions and insecurities well. She’s also great at making the character of Helene one of the best qualities of the film.

Death Does Not Exist is a slow and confusing animated film, but it’s also very picturesque. It deals with a deep subject matter and a deep message and allows the audience an escape to the beyond as images most tell its intended message.

VIFF Is Back For 2025

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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

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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!

The VIFF Is Back For 2022

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

I know it’s been a long time since I blogged. Normally I would fill my summer blogging with a major football event. However the World Cup doesn’t start until November. In addition, this summer I was involved in a heavy duty post-secondary course that took up a lot of my time. However the VIFF is starting up soon so now I’ve got my drive back.

The Vancouver International Film Festival returns. This year, the Festival is an eleven-day event from Thursday September 29th to Sunday October 9th. The Festival this year is a move to having less streaming on VIFFConnect and more getting people to return to the theatres. This year, VIFF returns to having films at the International Village like they did back in 2019.

Me, I will be volunteering this year at the International Village as an usher. This is the first time in three years I will volunteer there. Each year, I talk about my VIFF goals including the three that stand out: Canadian feature, shorts segment, foreign-language Oscar contender. This year is different as I will be leaving Vancouver in the middle of the Fest to attend a wedding. I will have to cut my film-watching short. However I do still have a goal of seeing at least seven films. We’ll see how the week goes. Also it depends if I’m lucky with my volunteer position for each film. Yes, you will get reviews from me. Some of you remember I still had reviews to post but I ran out of energy. You can thank an accounting class for that. But I’m sure I’ll have the energy to post reviews for all the films I see this year.

The Vancouver International Film Festival isn’t just about films. It also has a wide variety of events related to film and the industry including talks from business insiders, high school programs, interactive exhibitions and even an orchestrated replay of a silent film taking place at a church. Here’s what’s on the roster for this year’s VIFF:

VIFF Talks: This year’s VIFF Talks include Brother director Clement Virgo; Avatar costume designer Deborah Lynn Scott who will deliver a masterclass, Dean Fleischer Camp who will showcase his new short film Marcel The Shell With Shoes On.

VIFF Industry and VIFF Labs: VIFF Industry holds talks from industry professionals this year include such topics as filmmaker’s influence on climate change, showrunners of sci-fi talking of their craft, the challenges and opportunities of international coproduction in Canada, shooting analog and guests from the Directors Guild of Canada. VIFF Labs allow people in film to cultivate their craft and is for invitation-only groups.

VIFF Amp: Once again, VIFF Amp explores the connection of music and sound in film. Guest speakers include film score composers, music supervisors, songwriters and managers. Events include masterclasses, case studies, panel discussions, networking, breakout sessions and musical showcases. All are meant to promote up and coming musicians, especially from marginalized communities, to a thriving future in film.

Signals: In the past, it was VIFF Immersed that showcased the latest in virtual reality. Now it’s renames Signals. The interactive exhibitions are back. There’s more variety of new technologies including virtual production, volumetric capture, holograms, and VR/AR/XR technologies.

An Evening With Michael Abels: The composer who composed scores to Jordan Peele films like Get Out, Us, and Nope will be at the Vancouver Playhouse for a night of insight, creativity and his music performed by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

Nosferatu 100 by Big Kill: Pop group Big Kill set the score of gothic pop for a resurrection of Nosferatu in what is it’s 100th anniversary. Set at St. Andrew’s-Wesley Church for the right goth feel, this promises to be an experience like no other!

And of course with the Vancouver Film Festival comes films. There are 130 films and 100 shorts from 74 countries. Theatres include the VanCity theatre (the main theatre only), the International Village, Rio Theatre, Vancouver Playhouse Theatre, Centre for the Performing Arts, Cinematheque and the SFU Goldthorp Theatre. There’s a lot to look forward to and to watch at the Film Festival. Here’s a sneak peak of some of the biggest highlights:

OPENING GALA: Bones Of Crows-Marie Clements directs a story of a Metis woman who goes through the 20th Century enduring the harsh systemic racism forced upon her from residential schooling to enlisting in the army for World War II.

CLOSING GALA: Broker- Directed by Hizoraku Kore-eda, this story starring Parasite’s Song Hang-Ko about a man conducting a baby adoption scam in Korea. It’s described to be as touching as it is comedic. Song’s performance won the Best Actor award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

The Banshees Of Inisherin- directed by Martin McDonagh, this story starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson is of two good friends in Ireland in the 1920’s whose friendship takes a turn for the worse and their enmity has the whole village consumed.

Corsage- directed by Marie Kreutzer, this Austrian film is a comedy of 19th Century Austrian empress Elisabeth. Elisabeth is nearing 40 and struggles with her appearance. Meanwhile she has been politically sidelined against her will and starts acting out. Vicky Krieps’ performance won a special award for performance at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Decision To Leave-Another South Korean film with buzz. By director Park Chan-wook, this story is of a homicide director who falls in love with the Chinese widow of a bureaucrat who committed suicide. At this year’s Cannes Festival, Park won Best Director.

Empire Of Light-Directed by Sam Mendes, this is a story of an English woman who works a cinema job in the early 80’s. Soon she is taken aback by her black co-worker. She strikes up a romance, but it does not go well in the Thatcher-dominated UK of the 1980’s.

EO-Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski directs a story of a donkey who first starts life as a circus performer in Poland. Animal rights activists change everything and his life is changed where he goes from being a part of a petting zoo to playing a Polish soccer game to encountering a countess. Shared winner of the Prix du Jury at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

The Grizzlie Truth-Directed by Kathleen S. Jayme, this is a documentary of the ill-fated Vancouver Grizzlies of the NBA. Despite the Grizzlies’ short life in Vancouver, Jayme remained a true fan and she goes in and connects with former players and fans alike.

One Fine Morning-Directed by Mia Hansen-Love, this is a film situated in Paris. Sandra, played by Lea Seydoux, is going through financial difficulties and it’s made even more complicated as her father is suffering with Benson’s syndrome and needs to be place in a care facility. During that time, she has an affair with a past friend she meets again by chance.

The Son- Directed by Florian Zeller, this film is the story of a 17 year-old boy struggling to find himself. He feels he has to leave his mother to be with his father (played by Hugh Jackman), but the father’s new family and the son’s struggle with depression may prove to be too much.

Stars At Noon- Directed by Claire Denis, this film is a story of a young American journalist who has her passport seized. She tried to do whatever she can to make it out, but when she falls for a British man, what she thought was her way out was a path to worse trouble. Shared winner of the Cannes Grand Prix.

Triangle Of Sadness-Winner of the Cannes Palm d’Or. Directed by Ruben Ostlund, An influencer couple go on a luxury cruise for the mega-rich. During that time, they contemplate their status and their relationship. Along with a captain (Woody Harrelson) that is arrogant and quotes Marx, this cruise is bound to hit stormy weather.

The Whale-Directed by Darren Aronofsky, this film focuses on a morbidly obese teacher, played by Brendan Fraser. Turns out his eating is a suicide attempt in order to be reunited with his dead boyfriend. Will reuniting with his estranged teenage daughter change that?

Women Talking- Sarah Polley directs a story adapted from the novel by Miriam Toews. News has hit a Mennonite community in Canada that a colony in Bolivia has systematically abused over 100 women over a two year period. Eight women in the Canadian community were among the victims and they try to make sense of it all.

And there you go! There’s a sneak peak of what to expect at the 2022 Vancouver Film Festival. For more information and to buy tickets for yourself, just go to: https://viff.org/