Vancity

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 2024 Ends On A Good Note

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

I know that VIFF ended over two months ago, but I lacked the drive to write for a long time. Since we’ve passed Christmas, I figured it’s enough wasting time and to get out the wrap-up blog.

Last year, the Vancouver International Film Festival ended the Sunday before Canadian Thanksgiving. This year, they end on Sunday October 6th: a week before Canadian Thanksgiving. Still, it was an excellent 11 days of cinema. Yes, there was the continuation of downsizing for the festival. There were less than half the number of films there were in past Festivals before the pandemic. The church that used to be the Centre In Vancouver For Performing Arts was not available this year as it has been in past years. Despite that, most facilities that had been available for the VIFF in past years were available again. VIFF also continued to showcase digital films and digital arts as it’s fast becoming a growing art form. The common cinematic films still remained the highlight of the Festival and there were excellent turn outs. There were sellout shows and repeat screenings for many films. I’ll explain more when I talk about my volunteering experience.

For this year, I was only lucky to see twelve films. I still had my goals of watching a shorts segment, a Canadian feature-length film and a Best International Feature Film Oscar contender. I was able to accomplish all three. I often want to go above and beyond it but it didn’t work out. I didn’t have as much free time during VIFF as I normally do. Outside of Monday September 30th that was a national holiday, there weren’t any regular weekdays when I could see films at any time. Another problem was not as many films had a 9:30 start time on the weekdays that’s often the best bet for me. Despite those setbacks, I did make it work. Twelve is the same number of films I saw last year. There were at least two days when I saw three films. Yes, I have a habit of cramming. Actually there were three days I saw three films but one was a day I saw a single one by choice and the other two as an usher.

For volunteering, I worked ushering at the International Village again. The crazy thing about this year is there were a lot of changes in set-up. In the past, there would be a ticket purchase booth at ground level, line control and organizing for the three cinemas on the second and the cinemas on the third floor. This year there was no booth on the main floor, lines were still on the second but ticket purchase was on the third floor just outside the theatre entrance. Even the volunteer meeting room changed. In the past, it was in a room past the theatre admission area. This year it was moved to an area just outside the main entrance. It was a lot of getting used to and sometimes a discomfort. I volunteered for three days.

The first two shifts took place the evening of the first Saturday (September 28th) and the Sunday afternoon the following day. For those two days, they were mostly to do with line control and supervising the Platinum Pass lounge. In both cases, I didn’t have the luck of seeing films. It was after that Sunday afternoon shift completed that I went to see two films after. On Saturday, October 5th, I had the luck of being able to see an Altered States film before I could start my third and last volunteer shift. With it being my last shift for the year, I had the luck of being an usher and seeing two films in the theatre. Both were documentaries.

With only nine films seen before the last day of the Festival (Sunday October 6th), I made the final day my catch-up day. There would be two films I wanted to see but would not be guaranteed a seat because their tickets sold out: the Latvian animated film Flow and the Farsi-language Canadian film Universal Language. I first took a gamble with Flow by being in the standby line-up 45 minutes in advance. After waiting and waiting, I was able to get in. I got in ten minutes after it began. It was that high in demand and it was one of the few films at VIFF open to all ages. I saw it and enjoyed it. Also I wasn’t too disappointed with coming in late because I would later have the luck of seeing it in its entirety at the VIFF volunteer party held a week later! For the rest of the day before attempting to see Universal Language, I tried making judgments of what else to see and when. I saw the Marlina film in between that time and then went back to the International Village to be early enough to see Universal Language. While the gamble with Flow paid off, the gamble with Universal Language didn’t. Being only second in the standby line did not assure me a seat. So with limited time and distance left, I rushed over to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Warehouse to see The End. Although I wasn’t happy with The End, I was glad to see the last film of VIFF 2024 to complete itself.

For those that want a list of the films I saw at VIFF 2024, here they are in the order I saw them in:

Now some of you may want to know which films are the award winners. There were six juried award winners and nine people’s choice award winners. Interesting for this year, they changed the names of the juried categories! Descriptions of the awards are with the named categories:

JURIED AWARD WINNERS

SUMMIT Award
for outstanding narrative feature by an established Canadian director:
–Universal Language (dir. Matthew Rankin)

HORIZON Award
for outstanding first or second feature by a Canadian filmmaker:
–Mongrels (dir. George Yoo)

TIDES Award
for outstanding documentary feature by a Canadian filmmaker:
–Ninan Auassat: We, The Children (dir. Kim O’Bomsawin)

ARBUTUS Award
for outstanding feature film production in BC:
–Inay (Mama) (dir. Thea Loo)

SHORT FORUM Award
open to all short films in the Short Forums
–Strawberry Shortcake (dir. Deborah Devyn Chuang)

VANGUARD Award
open to all feature films in VIFF’s Vanguard section
–78 Days (dir. Emilija Gasic)

AUDIENCE AWARDS

Galas and Special Presentations
–I’m Still Here (dir. Walter Salles)

Showcase
–No Other Land (dirs. Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham & Rachel Szor)

Panorama
–Angela’s Shadow (dir. Jules Arita Koostachin)

Vanguard
–Red Path (dir. Lotfi Achour)

Northern Lights
–The Stand (dir. Christopher Auchter)

Insights
–The Chef and the Daruma (dir. Mads K. Baekkevold)

Spectrum
–Grand Theft Hamlet (dir. Pinny Grylls & Sam Crane)

Portraits
–Luther: Never Too Much (dir. Dawn Porter)

Altered States
–40 Acres (dir. R. T. Thorne)

There you have it! That’s my long-delayed wrap up blog for VIFF 2024. Next year’s VIFF will actually start in the month of October! The Festival is expected to go from October 2 – 12 in 2025. Looking forward to it.

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.

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/

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!

The Return Of VIFF

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

Cinema

Yes, the three most predominant topics on my blog are either the World Cup, the Oscars, or the Vancouver International Film Festival. And VIFF is back! Yesterday began the 38th installment of the Film Festival. Exciting films and exciting events are expected.

Creator Talks and Master Classes are back again. Slated lecturers for this year include Oscar-nominated director Atom Egoyan, director Michael Apted, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia actor/creator/executive producer Rob McElhenny, costume designer Arianne Phillips and Oscar winning sound editor Walter Murch. For the Showrunners events, it will be focusing on women in production featuring five female producers or creators. The Decision Makers event will consist of a lecture from broadcasters, networkers and streamers. There’s even a lecture from Public Enemy rapper Chuck D on Fight The Power and its importance in film as well as fun events like a live score to This Is Spinal Tap and a live feminist read of Some Like It Hot. VR films will again have their exhibit at the VIFF Immersed showcase. It will take place at the Annex this year.

As for volunteering, this year there were 1200 volunteers signing up, just like last year. Also like last year, volunteers are required to do a minimum of four shifts. As for my volunteering, I am assigned to work at the Center For Performing Arts, which is the venue showing the galas and feature events. In fact I signed myself up to do the Opening Gala! Now that will be a night to look forward to! Also if there are any other volunteer shifts in other venues, I could accept as along as it works with my time.

This year’s roster of films promises a lot of attractions This year’s VIFF claims to show about 300 shorts and feature films from 72 countries or regions. As of press time, twelve films are official submissions for the Academy Award category of Best International Feature Film for this year; a re-titling of the Best Foreign Language Film. One thing is that while most films are shown twice or three times during the fest, there will be more films that will get only one showing during the fest. Canadian films will remain the focus as has been in past Festivals. As well, this festival will feature more Asian films than any other film festival.

This year’s top sponsors include Telus, Telefilm Canada, Christie screens, CinePlex, Delta Airlines, Subara and Creative BC. SuperChannel will take over the People’s Choice awards again.

As for highlights, here are some of the films headlining the VIFF this year:

  • OPENING GALA: Guest of Honour – Canadian Oscar-nominated director Atom Egoyan returns with his latest film about a daughter trying to remember her complicated father. Review coming soon.
  • CLOSING GALA: La Belle Epoque – A French comedy by director Nicolas Bedos of a man who goes time-travelling thanks to his son’s invention. Looks to be something very personal.
  • SPECIAL PRESENTATION: Parasite – Winner of the Palme D’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. South Korean director Boon Jong Ho delivers a dramatic comedy of a poor family scheming their way to prosperity and things going all wrong.
  • A Hidden Life – This film won the Ecumenical Jury prize at Cannes. Terrence Malick tells the true story of a Nazi evader who refuses to bow down to pressure.
  • Jojo Rabbit – Winner of the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Fest. Similar to A Hidden Life but contrary, this film by the Thor: Ragnarok director is an anti-hate comedy set in Nazi Germany.
  • Just Mercy – A film starring Jamie Foxx and Michael B. Jordan about legendary lawyer Bryan Stevenson who successfully battled incidents of injustice and racism in Alabama.
  • The Lighthouse – Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson play two lighthouse keepers in 19th Century Maine who struggle to keep their sanity.
  • Motherless Brooklyn – Set in the 30’s or 40’s, Edward Norton directs and stars as a detective trying to solve the murder of his mentor and one friend.
  • Mr. Jones – Agnieszka Holland’s latest is of a Welsh journalist who visits Ukraine in 1933 and discovers a famine forced by the Communist government and attempts to hide it from the Western World.
  • No. 7 Cherry Lane – Hong Kong director Yonfan delivers his animation debut in a story of a student in 1967 Hong Kong living between love and revolutionary times.
  • Pain And Glory – Pedro Almodovar’s latest, and he reunites with Antonio Banderas! But this is of a distraught director trying to regain his passion for film, and life as a whole.
  • The Painted Bird – This Czech film starring Stellan Skarsgard and Harvey Keitel is of a Jewish boy escaping the Nazi Concentration Camps of World War II.
  • Portrait Of A Lady On Fire – This film set in 18th Century France is a story of a female painter commissioned to paint the daughter of a noblewoman. Only to fall in love in the process.
  • The Song Of Names – From Quebec director Francois Girard comes a film of a Holocaust orphan who becomes a big musician but is searching for the son of the British family who adopted him.
  • Sorry We Missed You – This is a drama/comedy by director Ken Loach of a construction worker during the 2008 financial crisis who takes a freelance commercial driver, and regrets it!
  • The Two Popes – City Of God director Fernando Meirelles directs a story of Pope Benedict and Pope Francis meeting and sometimes clashing as Benedict is to leave the Papacy. Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce star.
  • Young Ahmed – This Belgian film is of a Belgian-Moroccan student who goes from your normal 13 year-old to suddenly showing off an evil side.

So this is what VIFF has to offer fans this year. Not just films to enjoy but events focusing on various aspects of the craft as well. It starts September 26th and ends October 11th. Definitely sixteen days of excitement!

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 Is Back!

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

Cinema

Yes, the Vancouver International Film Festival is back for 2018. Yesterday began the 37th installment of the Film Festival. This year promises more excitement, more films and more events.

The biggest thing VIFF will have for this year is Creator Talks and Master Classes. Slated lecturers include The Good Place writer Michael Schur, Canadian writer/director Patricia Rozema, production designed Paul Austerberry, director Paris Barclay, rapper RZA and a Showrunners event where they feature nine writers all on one stage. There will be other events too like giving director Jean-Marc Vallee a Tribute Award and a fundraiser event featuring Jane Goodall.

As for volunteering, this year there were 1200 volunteers signing up. Bigger than last year. One thing that’s changed is now volunteers are all owed to do a minimum of four shifts. That’s different from the old minimum of 32 hours. Volunteers and free films are the same situation as last year. As for my volunteering, I will do a wide variety of things like assist with the virtual reality exhibit over at the Centre for Digital Media, do ushering duties at the International Village, or do office work for the Exhibitions team.

This year’s roster of films promises a lot of attractions This year’s VIFF claims to show over 300 shorts and feature films from 84 countries or regions. As of press time, 14 films are official submissions for the category of Best Foreign Language Film for this year’s Oscars. One thing is that while most films are shown twice or three times during the fest, there will be more films that will get only one showing during the fest. There will even be a fourteen-hour three-film trilogy at the VanCity Theatre. La Flor by director Mariano Llinas will be shown as the three films will be aired consecutive nights. Canadian films will remain the focus as has been in past Festivals.

This year’s top sponsors include Telus, Telefilm Canada, Christie screens, CinePlex, Delta Airlines, Lexus and Creative BC. SuperChannel will take over the People’s Choice awards again.

As for highlights, here’s a list of some of the films headlining the VIFF:

  • OPENING GALA: The Hummingbird Project. Canadian director Kim Nguyen highlights competitive stock trading in this film starring Salma Hayek and Jesse Eisenberg.
  • CLOSING GALA:  The Front Runner – Jason Reitman delivers a film chronicling the rise and fall of Democratic candidate Gary Hart. Hugh Jackman plays Hart while Sarah Paxton plays ‘other woman’ Donna Rice.
  • Boy Erased – Rising star Lucas Hedges stars in this film about a young gay male forced into conversion therapy by his heavily-religious family.
  • Can You Ever Forgive Me? – Melissa McCarthy stars in this biographical film of Lee Israel: one of the biggest literary fraudsters of modern time.
  • Cold War – A Polish film about a showbiz couple who try to love and perform just shortly after the end of World War II. Director Pawel Pawlikowski won Best Director at this year’s Cannes festival.
  • Collette – Keira Knightley stars in this film of revolutionary French writer Sidonie-Gabrielle Collette. Her relationship with her husband comes into play.
  • Everybody Knows – Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, who’s won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar twice, directs Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz in a story about mistrust and deceit.
  • The Favorite– Yorgos Lanthimos, whose most famous work is The Lobster, returns with Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz starring in this comedy on who can win the most praise from the queen.
  • The Grizzlies – The story of a teacher who tries to start pride in a Nunavut town by building up a local lacrosse team.
  • The Happy Prince– British actor Rupert Everett writes, directs and acts in this film of the last years of Oscar Wilde.
  • Non-Fiction – Olivier Assayas tells a humorous story of the marriage of an actress, played by Juliette Binoche, and her publisher husband who’s fearing the ‘death of print.’
  • The Old Man And The Gun – David Lowery directs what is believed to be Robert Redford’s last film as an actor as bank-robber Forrest Tucker.
  • A Private War –  Rosamund Pike stars in this biographical film of war correspondent Marie Colvin.
  • Shadow – Chinese film from Zhang Yimou directs a kung fu romance that promises to be an unforgettable story.
  • Sharkwater Extinction – Rob Stewart directed 2006 documentary Sharkwater highlighting how important sharks are to the ecosystem. This sequel shows the threats sharks face in today’s world.

So this is what this year’s VIFF has in store. It all starts September 27th and it all ends October 12th. Definitely lots to enjoy

It’s VIFF Time Again

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

Cinema

Yes, the Vancouver International Film Festival is back for 2017. Today begins the 36th installment of the Film Festival. This year promises more excitement, more films and more events.

The biggest thing VIFF will have for this year is its Films+ talks. This is where there will be talks and lectures on film and its technicalities. The Creator Talk events promise big names and top experts in the field such as: Carlton Cuse, showrunner for Bates Motel; director Jeremy Podeswa and cinematographer Greg Middleton from Game Of Thrones; and costume designer Ane Crabtree from The Handmaid’s Tail. The festival also includes Industry Hub events which are full-day events focusing on industry activity and promoting film in the future. Such events include VR: Expanding frontiers In Storytelling, one day focused on the indie film industry, industry exchange events and a Buffer Festival.

As for volunteering, this year there were 1100 volunteers signing up. That is as big as it was during last year. Because of that, they’ve developed a new system for how volunteers can see a film for free. They would now have to wait in the rush line and wait until availability is know in order to get a seat for the film. Makes sense since it is quite common for volunteers to horde a lot of free showings during the fest. There is a plus: volunteers that serve their shift in its entirety can receive a voucher to get their own free ticket for certain films. It has to be done online. That makes better sense. I anticipate to see a lot of good films. I’m doing something new for volunteering. This year, I’ll be a driver. I am to drive people from the Sutton Hotel to the cinemas, the hotel to the airport, or pick people up from the airport to the Sutton Hotel or wherever they want to be dropped off. They will range from actors to directors to film crew to special guests. This is something new to look forward to. And I drive a Lexus SUV!

This year’s roster of films promises a lot of attractions This year’s VIFF claims to show over 300 shorts and feature films from 84 countries or regions. As of press time, 11 films are official submissions for the category of Best Foreign Language Film for this year’s Oscars. A footnote worth adding is Quit Staring At My Plate from last year’s VIFF is Croatia’s official entry in the category for this year. Canadian films will remain the focus as has been in past Festivals.

This year’s top sponsors include Telus, Telefilm Canada (which is celebrating its 50th year), Christie screens, Delta Airlines, Lexus and Creative BC. SuperChannel will take over the People’s Choice awards again.

As for highlights, here’s a list of some of the films headlining the VIFF:

  • OPENING GALA: Meditation park – Chinese Canadian director Mina Shum directs a live-action story set in Vancouver. Stars Sandra Oh..
  • CLOSING GALA:  Wonderstruck – Todd Haynes worked with Julianne Moore in 2002’s Far From Heaven. Here, Haynes and Moore return in a film that promises to be another delight.
  • Borg vs. McEnroe – A film starring Shia LaBeouf about one of the greatest tennis rivalries of all-time.
  • Breathe – Andy Serkis’ directorial debut about a young couple (Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy) whose young marriage is threatened by the husband’s sudden disability.
  • Call Me By Your Name – Stars Armie Hammer. A story about sexual awakening in the 1980’s.
  • A Fantastic Woman – A Spanish film of a trans woman dealing with life after losing the man she loves. won Best Screenplay at the Berlin Film Festival
  • The Florida Project – Willem Dafoe stars in this film about a hotel manager with a hard heart who changes thanks to a six year-old girl.
  • Happy End – Michael Haneke is back! This is a story of a privileged family living alone in their estate with their fortunes threatened over time.
  • The Hidden Sword– Considered to be the biggest highlight of Asian film in the festival. This promises a lot of sword action.
  • Indian Horse– This is a Canadian story that’s far-reaching. It focuses on a boy who’s a victim of the Canadian Residential School System but finds an escape in dance.
  • The Killing Of A Sacred Deer – Yorgos Lanthimos, director of The Lobster,  is back along with Colin Farrell to create another dark comedy. This time Nicole Kidman joins in this bizarre dark story. won Best Screenplay at Cannes.
  • Loving Vincent – An animated film with a focus on the artwork of Vincent Van Gogh. More than 120 paintings are involved in this film.
  • Okja–  A South Korean drama about a young girl who develops a friendship with a giant animal in the mountains.
  • The Square – Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year, this is a bizarre comedy about an artist who creates his own eccentric world and bounds.
  • The Party – British film about a politician (Kristin Scott Thomas) who holds a dinner for her contemporaries, only to wreak a lot of verbal havoc.

So this is what this year’s VIFF has in store. It all starts September 28th and it all ends October 13th. Looking forward to it.