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FOCUS ON THE ENVIRONMENT AT VIFF 2012
Germany/UK | Dir: Giovanni Giommi Canadian Premiere
Tue. Oct 2, 9:15 pm, Granville 5
Already beset by social and economic hardship, a Bangladeshi brothel island now finds its very existence threatened by rising sea levels and devastating storms. Initially an unflinching account of the island’s ostracized but remarkably spunky women and children, Giovanni Giommi’s unforgettable documentary gradually evolves into a humane but Breughelian vision. |
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USA/Brazil | Dir: Annie Eastman Related Links: Official Website | Trailer International Premiere
Mon. Oct 8, 9:15 pm, Granville 1
Tue. Oct 9, 3:30 pm, Granville 6
Annie Eastman’s compassionate documentary transports us inside Bahia’s palafitas—dilapidated shacks teetering on stilts over a bay teeming with trash—and distinguishes itself with its “fearless and engaging storytelling [and] its flights of humor and lyricism, which nevertheless don’t obscure the seething anger and desperation of Brazil’s most needy.”—Slant. Winner, Audience Award: Documentary, SXSW 2012.
 Guest In Attendance
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Canada/France | Dir: Denis Côté Related Links: Trailer
Mon. Oct 1, 11:00 am, Vancity
Director Denis Côté weaves together beautiful, haunting and disquieting images in this filmic essay. Close, lingering observations of animals in an open-air zoo are both heavy with emotion and intriguing to watch. The result is a fascinating meditation on nature, civilization and human perception. |
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USA | Dir: Jeffrey Kimball Related Links: Trailer International Premiere
Mon. Oct 8, 3:15 pm, Granville 1
Wed. Oct 10, 6:15 pm, Granville 4
The more birds can’t find hospitable landings, the more they need places like Central Park. While Manhattan’s chaos hardly seems conducive to a meditative pursuit like birding, amateur ornithologists flock there to catch glimpses of over 117 species. Bolstered by stellar cinematography, Jeffrey Kimball’s documentary catalogues these beguiling creatures and their equally colourful admirers (including author Jonathan Franzen).
Guest In Attendance |
USA/India | Dir: Micha X. Peled Related Links: Official Website | Trailer | Facebook | Twitter | Interview Canadian PremiereMon. Oct 1, 6:15 pm, Granville 1
Tue. Oct 2, 12:00 pm, Granville 4 With industrial agriculture seemingly thriving in India, why has the suicide rate amongst farmers spiked to unthinkable levels? Micha X. Peled’s stirring piece of investigative journalism travels to Telung Takli to expose the human cost of genetically modified crops and celebrates the aspiring reporter who’s trying to sound the alarm. Winner, Green Screen Award, Oxfam Global Justice Award, IDFA 2011.
Guest In Attendance |
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(Nestlés Geschäfte mit dem Wasser)Switzerland | Dir: Urs Schnell Related Links: Official Website | Trailer Canadian Premiere
Fri. Oct 5, 10:45 am, Cinematheque
Thu. Oct 11, 3:20 pm, Granville 5
Why is it that Nestlé—the biggest name in bottled water—doesn’t want to talk about its success? When denied interview requests, journalist Res Gehriger and documentarian Urs Schnell instead investigate the company’s suspect business practices and unsubstantiated claims of social responsibility. A trickle of unsettling information quickly becomes a flood. |
USA | Dir: Karin Hayes, Victoria Bruce Related Links: Official Website | Facebook | Twitter | Trailer Canadian PremiereThu. Oct 4, 3:30 pm, Granville 4
Wed. Oct 10, 6:45 pm, Granville 1 Failing economies = austerity measures = cutbacks in social programs + job creation trumping environmental protection. Is this the big lie? Victoria Bruce and Karin Hayes’ hard-nosed polemic squares off with the American corporations that gallingly shirk their duties as taxpayers. And while the machinations of multinationals like Exxon and Google will leave you seething, the film also offers an inspirational view of informed activism. |
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(Jardin en el mar)Mexico/Germany | Dir: Thomas Riedelsheimer Related Links: Official Website | Trailer Wed. Oct 3, 6:30 pm, Granville 7
Mon. Oct 8, 10:30 am, Granville 7
Fri. Oct 12, 4:00 pm, Vancity VIFF favourite Thomas Riedelsheimer (Rivers and Tides, Touch the Sound) returns with another visually transfixing exploration of art and nature, this time chronicling the efforts of Spanish artist Cristina Iglesias as she installs an environmentally enhancing and aesthetically daring sculpture in the Sea of Cortez at Candelor Bay. |
(Herz des Himmels, Herz der Erde)Germany/USA/Guatemala | Dir: Frauke Sandig, Eric Black Related Links: Official Website | Trailer North American PremiereMon. Oct 1, 6:00 pm, Granville 4
Wed. Oct 3, 3:30 pm, Granville 1 The location of the world’s largest—and possibly toxic—gold-mine pit, Guatemala is also the homeland of the Maya and their decidedly holistic cosmology. Frauke Sandig and Eric Black’s kaleidoscopically beautiful documentary follows the daily and ceremonial lives of six articulate young Maya as they struggle to maintain their way of life.
Guest In Attendance |
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USA | Dir: Scott Elliott Related Links: Official Website | Trailer Canadian PremiereTue. Oct 9, 6:00 pm, Granville 5
Thu. Oct 11, 2:30 pm, Granville 4 Boarding a tall ship with a team of scientists and sailors, filmmaker Scott Elliott voyages to the North Atlantic Gyre and explores the full extent of plastic pollution. An eye-opening document of the damage that’s been done to our oceans. |
USA/France/UK | Dir: Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Véréna Paravel Related Links: Official Website | Article Sun. Oct 7, 9:15 pm, Vancity
Tue. Oct 9, 4:15 pm, Granville 2 Off the New Bedford coast, bobbing on the ink-black Atlantic, a roaring vessel harvests nets full of fish from the great deep. Having pushed the boundaries of the documentary form with Sweetgrass (VIFF 09) and Foreign Parts (VIFF 10), Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel now collaborate on a "gorgeous-looking paean to the world of fishing… a breathtakingly lyrical take on the ritualistic hunting process at its center."—Indiewire. But beware! Leviathan is also a monster, an abstract, anarchic horror film. Winner, FIPRESCI prize, Locarno 2012. |
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Switzerland/Germany/Austria | Dir: Markus Imhoof Related Links: Trailer
Tue. Oct 2, 3:00 pm, Granville 3
Thu. Oct 4, 6:20 pm, Granville 3
Millions of bees have disappeared worldwide over the past few years. Given the importance of bees to life on earth, are we facing a total system collapse? Looking for answers, Markus Imhoof travels from the Alps to the Arizona desert, interviewing experts ranging from beekeepers to scientists. Unlike earlier films on the subject, Imhoof’s offers up a possible solution… |
Canada | Dir: Velcrow Ripper Related Links: Official Website | Facebook Thu. Oct 4, 9:00 pm, Granville 1
Sat. Oct 6, 12:00 pm, Granville 4
Wed. Oct 10, 12:45 pm, Vogue In early 2011, inspired by the massive demonstration in New York City, people the world over came together to demand an inclusive redistribution of social and economic power. Going straight to the heart of the Occupy movement, Velcrow Ripper’s hopeful documentary chronicles this global paradigm shift.
Guest In Attendance |
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Brazil | Dir: Cao Hamburger Related Links: Official Website | Trailer Tue. Oct 9, 2:00 pm, Granville 7
Fri. Oct 12, 6:45 pm, Granville 7 Recounting the origins of Brazil’s immense Xingu National Park, Cao Hamburger’s breathtaking epic charts two key journeys in the lives of the renowned Villas-Bôas brothers: their bold trek to the remote central Amazon in 1943 and subsequent transformation from callow adventurers to passionate activists for indigenous people’s rights. "Compulsive viewing."—Screen Daily |
Germany/Switzerland | Dir: Bettina Borgfeld, David Bernet Related Links: Trailer | Official Website North American Premiere
Mon. Oct 1, 3:30 pm, Granville 1
Genetically modified soy has been taking over more and more farmland in Paraguay—a situation that has put enormous strain on subsistence-farming campesinos determined to provide for their families the old-fashioned way. Bettina Borgfeld and David Bernet’s cogent documentary explores the big business model vs. traditional methods with an insight that leads to universal truths. |
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Canada | Dir: Rob Stewart Related Links: Official Website | Clip Sat. Oct 6, 6:15 pm, Granville 7
Sun. Oct 7, 12:45 pm, Granville 2
Wed. Oct 10, 1:30 pm, Vancity The true-life adventures of Rob Stewart, this follow-up to his acclaimed Sharkwater takes him through 15 countries over four years, where he’ll discover that it’s not only sharks that are in grave danger—it’s our oceans and, indeed, humanity itself. |
USA | Dir: James Benning Canadian PremiereSun. Oct 7, 4:15 pm, Cinematheque
Tue. Oct 9, 6:45 pm, Cinematheque The love affair of the open road merges ideally with filmmaker James Benning’s vision of time, sound and landscape… With characteristic majesty and attention to earth and sky, the pic makes a trip from California east to Louisiana and back again on routes ignored by interstate highway maps. A beautiful paean to mobility…—Variety |
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Netherlands | Dir: Daan Veldhuizen Related Links: Trailer | Official Website | Facebook North American PremiereSun. Oct 7, 6:30 pm, Granville 5
Thu. Oct 11, 8:45 pm, Granville 5 Beach resort tourism in this gorgeous part of Africa has been slow to recover from Sierra Leone’s civil war of the 1990s. Daan Veldhuizen’s charming and visually exquisite documentary finds a gentle community bereft of the tourists that once flocked to it but teeming with philosophical stories and plans for a better future. |
USA/Canada | Dir: Benjamin Greené Related Links: Trailer | Director’s Website International PremiereSat. Oct 6, 6:00 pm, Granville 5
Mon. Oct 8, 2:45 pm, Granville 5 As Haida Gwaii’s residents gather and prepare food for the winter, Benjamin Greené celebrates their sacred relationship with the land and praises their vital environmental stewardship. Rhythmic and sensitive, Greené’s film gradually assumes the form of a ceremonial prayer: poetic, lilting and magical. With Nangchen Shorts, three new short films by Bari Pearlman documenting life in Tibet—at elevation 14,000 feet. |
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USA/ Mexico | Dir: Peter Bo Rappmund Related Links: Trailer | Official Website Canadian PremiereMon. Oct 1, 9:45 pm, Vancity
Thu. Oct 4, 12:00 pm, Granville 5 A refreshing antidote to the burgeoning genre of films that focus on illegal immigration and cross-border violence, Peter Bo Rappmund’s experimental portrait of the US-Mexico boundary surveys this wide swath of land’s physical qualities and metaphysical quandaries with an artist’s gaze. Special Mention, Filmmakers of the Present, Locarno 2012. |
India/USA | Dir: Musa Syeed Related Links: Official Website | Trailer Canadian Premiere
Tue. Oct 2, 10:30 am, Granville 2
When violent protests curtail Gulzar and Afzal’s escape from Kashmir’s picturesque-but-impoverished Dal Lake, the lifelong friends butt heads over the beguiling scientist who’s studying the polluted lake. Political tensions, personal conflicts and environmental concerns conspire in Musa Syeed’s absorbing drama. Winner, Audience Award (World Cinema: Dramatic), Sundance 2012. |
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September 27 - October 12, 2012 | Film Info: 604.683.FILM (3456) | VIFF Office: 604.685.0260
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