|
Having trouble viewing this email? Read it online
HISTORY AT VIFF 2012
EUROPEAN HISTORY |
Spain | Dir: Eloy Enciso Cachafeiro Related Links: Official Website | Trailer | Trailer 2 North American PremiereThu. Oct 11, 1:30 pm, Vancity
Fri. Oct 12, 6:30 pm, Vancity An unconventional portrait of a small village trapped out of time and located on the Galicia-Portugal border, Eloy Enciso Cachafeiro’s moving mix of documentary and staged fictional moments is one of those rare films where description is inadequate: like the landscape of the village of Arraianos itself, this beautiful visualization of oral history is something to experience. |
 |
Germany | Dir: Christian Petzold Related Links: Official Website | Trailer Fri. Oct 5, 9:15 pm, Granville 3
Thu. Oct 11, 3:00 pm, Granville 3 Christian Petzold’s (Dreileben: Beats Being Dead, Yella) masterful direction and Nina Hoss’ tightly wound, wonderful performance as the titular character anchor this taut drama about a sophisticated East German doctor (Hoss) exiled to a small village in 1980, who finds her plans to escape to the West complicated by a burgeoning romance. Winner, Best Director, Berlin 2012. |
(L’ ordre et la morale)France | Dir: Mathieu Kassovitz Related Links: Official Website | Trailer Fri. Oct 5, 10:45 am, Vancity
Wed. Oct 10, 9:30 pm, Granville 7
Fri. Oct 12, 3:30 pm, Granville 7 Mathieu Kassovitz (La haine) directs and stars in this powerful docudrama centred on a principled police negotiator caught up in New Caledonia’s struggle for emancipation on the eve of France’s 1988 presidential election. The film pairs high-octane action sequences with an intricate plot about how the insidious nature of politics and pride can undercut the efforts of even the most admirable of men. |
|
Germany | Dir: Philip Scheffner Related Links: Official Website Fri. Oct 5, 11:40 am, Granville 3
A stunning documentary that… [unearths the 1992] case of… two Romanian refugees killed mysteriously in a cornfield along the German–Polish border at a time of intensified post-Wall racism, ethnocentrism, and illegal border-crossing… [Director Philip] Scheffner uses a wealth of nonfiction techniques to question the occurrence, its aftermath, and the changing contours of Europe.—Film Quarterly |
(Róza)Poland | Dir: Wojtek Smarzowski Related Links: Trailer Sun. Oct 7, 10:30 am, Granville 2
Wed. Oct 10, 7:00 pm, Granville 7 Wojciech Smarzowski’s riveting period drama reveals a little-known chapter of Polish history: the post-WWII persecution of the Mazurians, indigenous residents of what is now northeastern Poland. Boasting strong direction, impeccable performances and top-of-the-line craft credits, the tragic tale of war, ravishment and survival bears comparison with masterworks such as Elem Klimov’s Come and See..—Variety. Winner, Audience Award, Warsaw 2011. |
|
(En kongelig affære)Denmark/Sweden/Czech Republic | Dir: Nikolaj Arcel Related Links: Facebook | Trailer Wed. Oct 3, 1:45 pm, Granville 7
Sat. Oct 6, 9:15 pm, Granville 7
Tue. Oct 9, 10:30 am, Granville 7 Mads Mikkelsen and Alicia Vikander play the romantically entwined royal physician and the queen of 17th-century Denmark in this sumptuous period drama. "A gripping chapter of European history is recounted with elegance, intelligence and clarity in Danish director Nikolaj Arcel’s… meaty tale of romance, tragedy and court intrigue."—Hollywood Reporter. Winner, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Berlin Competition 2012. |
(Après mai)France | Dir: Olivier Assayas Related Links: Clip Wed. Oct 3, 2:45 pm, Vogue
Fri. Oct 5, 6:15 pm, Granville 3
After the mammoth artistic triumph that was Carlos, Olivier Assayas switches gears to tell the loosely autobiographical story of Gilles (newcomer Clément Metayer), a high-school student in early 70s Paris who is torn between his artistic inclinations and the political activism favoured by his friends, especially the volatile Christine (Lola Créton). |
|
Germany | Dir: Marten Persiel Related Links: Official Website | Director’s Website | Trailer Sat. Oct 6, 10:30 am, Granville 2
You don’t have to care one whit about skateboarding to be dazzled, astonished and supremely entertained by Marten Persiel’s remarkable chronicle of 1980s East German rebels whose love of the board and its accompanying lifestyle presaged the sweeping changes about to hit Eastern Bloc nations. A delight from beginning to end. Winner, Dialogue en Perspective prize, Berlin 2012.  Guest In Attendance
|
(Djeca)Bosnia-Herzegovina/Germany/France/Turkey | Dir: Aida Begic Wed. Oct 3, 9:30 pm, Granville 3
In war-ravaged Sarajevo, Rahima (a mesmerizing Marija Pikic) has rebuilt herself through her faith. Now, she yearns to be her delinquent brother’s salvation. An intense sensory experience, Aida Begic’s drama offers us "a passionately stark story of the strength of family, driven by an intense sense of honour and compassion…"—Screen. Winner, Special Jury Prize (Un Certain Regard), Cannes 2012. |
|
|
|
SOUTH AMERICAN HISTORY |
Chile/USA/France | Dir: Pablo Larrain
Thu. Oct 4, 10:30 am, Granville 7
Gael García Bernal is superb as an advertising whiz who masterminds the "No" campaign against General Pinochet’s continued rule of Chile in Pablo Larrain’s period-perfect and very moving drama. "Weirdly funny and rousing, both intellectually and emotionally… the nightmare legacy of the coup d’état [is] vanquished by a brilliant coup de théâtre."—New York Times |
|
(La nuit d’en face)Chile/France | Dir: Raúl Ruiz Fri. Oct 5, 9:15 pm, Vancity
Mon. Oct 8, 1:30 pm, Vancity
Wed. Oct 10, 3:45 pm, Granville 2
Filmed during Raúl Ruiz’s final months, this resplendent tale of a dying man’s descent into a labyrinth of memories is lent a wondrous poignancy. "It’s a whimsical and tender leavetaking note to the world, to cinema and to his native Chile… one of the jolliest hearted valedictories that cinema has ever produced."—Screen |
CANADIAN HISTORY |
Canada | Dir: Timothy Wolochatiuk World Premiere Wed. Oct 3, 10:45 am, Cinematheque
Timothy Wolochatiuk’s film explores not just the individual experiences of children forced into Aboriginal residential schools but also the impact that the schools have had on the lives of survivors and Aboriginals as a whole. Guest In Attendance |
|
Canada | Dir: John Fuller, Ron Kelly Tue. Oct 9, 6:30 pm, Granville 4
Fri. Oct 12, 12:20 pm, Granville 1 Videomatica’s Graham X Peat pulls four films from the CBC Vancouver vault. Each mirroring the grit and glory of our city, with imaginative visions when darkness falls, fuelled by jazz and neon: The Seeds, PNE Midway, The Outcast, and City Patterns—in glorious black & white! Guest In Attendance |
WORLD WAR II |
USA | Dir: Michele Midori Fillion Related Links: Official Website International PremiereMon. Oct 8, 6:00 pm, Granville 5
Wed. Oct 10, 2:30 pm, Granville 5
Journalists Martha Gellhorn, Ruth Cowan and Dickie Chappelle shattered the gender barrier by defying their disbelieving (male) sexist colleagues (including Gellhorn’s husband Ernest Hemingway) and covering WWII from the front lines. Michele Midori Fillion gives these pioneering legends their due. A perfect companion piece, James Spione’s Academy Award-nominated short Incident in New Baghdad—about the slaying of two Reuters journalists, along with a group of mostly unarmed men, on the streets of Baghdad by American attack helicopters—will also screen. Guest In Attendance |
|
USA/Japan | Dir: Linda Hoaglund Related Links: Trailer | Official Website North American Premiere Fri. Oct 12, 9:30 pm, Granville 1
Utilizing photographer Ishiuchi Miyako’s images of objects and clothing "left behind" after the atomic bomb decimated Hiroshima, Linda Hoaglund—who shot part of the film at Ishiuchi’s exhibition at Vancouver’s Museum of Anthropology—crafts a moving and evocative meditation on memory and loss. |
AMERICAN HISTORY |
USA | Dir: Todd Warger, Brian Young Related Links: Official Website | Trailer International PremiereSat. Oct 6, 6:15 pm, Cinematheque
Mon. Oct 8, 12:00 pm, Granville 4
Thu. Oct 11, 10:45 am, Cinematheque In 1911, 14 amateur athletes risked life and limb to clamber up Mount Baker in America’s inaugural endurance race, spawn to today’s annual Ski to Sea race. Todd Warger and Brian Young’s delightful docudrama celebrates the brave souls who were lured by prize money but endured thanks to their sense of adventure and pioneer spirit. Highly recommended! Guest In Attendance |
|
USA | Dir: Matt McCormick Related Links: Official Website Canadian PremiereWed. Oct 10, 3:30 pm, Granville 1
In 1958, four friends explored 5,200 kms of the Pacific Northwest and assembled a comprehensive scrapbook of photographs, notes and ephemera. Fifty years later, Matt McCormick uncovered their scrapbook in a thrift store, endeavoured to duplicate their journey and produced this poetic examination of how majestic landscapes and roadside attractions have transformed over time. |
AFRICAN HISTORY |
South Africa | Dir: Sara Blecher Related Links: Official Website | Trailer Canadian PremiereThu. Oct 4, 4:00 pm, Vancity
Tue. Oct 9, 12:20 pm, Granville 1
Thu. Oct 11, 7:00 pm, Granville 1 In 1989, the country still in the grip of apartheid, three black South African boys escape their township lives through surfing, before jealousy and the vestiges of apartheid makes themselves felt… Sara Blecher’s vibrant first narrative feature—drawn from her work as a documentarian on the surfer way of life—captures a subculture as it confronts a historical turning point. |
|
Algeria/France/Ireland/UAE | Dir: Safinez Bousbia Related Links: Trailer | Official Website | Review Canadian Premiere Wed. Oct 10, 6:30 pm, Vogue
Thu. Oct 11, 12:00 pm, Granville 4 Uplifting and entertaining, Safinez Bousbia’s doc celebrates the power and the passion of her native Algeria’s musical form known as "Chaabi" (a precursor to Rai) as well as the streets and courtyards of Algiers. "Toe-tapping and infectious on emotional and intellectual levels, El gusto is… Bousbia’s heartwarming tribute to her native country’s lost egalitarianism as much as to the elderly exponents of the popular music… Comparisons are being made to The Buena Vista Social Club…"—Variety |
Vancouver International Film Festival | VIFF 2012
September 27 - October 12, 2012 | Film Info: 604.683.FILM (3456) | VIFF Office: 604.685.0260
|
