The Cinematheque JAN+FEB 2015

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EXPERIENCE ESSENTIAL CINEMA

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VIOLENT

JANUARY + FEBRUARY 2015

1131 Howe Street | Vancouver | theCinematheque.ca

THREE TIMES

T H E F I L M S O F H O U H S I AO - H S I E N

Also Like Life y JANUARY + FEBRUARY 2015

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THE BEST OF 2014 IN CANADIAN FEATURES, SHORTS, AND STUDENT SHORTS

he year’s best Canadian films are in the spotlight in The Cinematheque’s annual presentation of the Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival.

Established in 2001 by the Toronto International Film Festival, this celebration of excellence in our national cinema showcases Canadian achievements in both feature-length and short-form films. This year, a new category, student short films, has been added to the festival.

The festival’s feature, short, and student short selections are each chosen by a panel of filmmakers and industry professionals from across Canada. To be eligible, films must be directed by a Canadian citizen or resident and have been released commercially or played a major film festival in Canada.

Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival runs January 8-18, 2015, and includes a special onstage conversation with award-winning film and television actress Sandra Oh (Double Happiness, Sideways, Grey’s Anatomy) on January 18.

All Ages Welcome!

Admission to those under 18 will be in accordance with the provisions of the specific rating for each feature film or shorts program.

Annual $3 membership required for those 18+

Acknowledgments: The Cinematheque is grateful to the Toronto International Film Festival for making this Vancouver presentation of the Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival possible. Thanks to Cameron Bailey, Steve Gravestock, Lisa Goldberg, Meaghan Brander, Alex Rogalski , and Magali Simard for their kind assistance.

Program notes adapted from texts provided by TIFF.

Maps to the Stars

Canada/USA/Germany/France 2014.

Dir: David Cronenberg. 112 min. DCP

Mommy

Canada 2014. Dir: Xavier Dolan.

134 min. DCP

Co-winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes, Mommy is the best film yet from Quebecois wunderkind Xavier Dolan, who at age 25 already has five award-winning features under his belt. When single mother Diane (Anne Dorval) brings son Steve (Antoine-Olivier Pilon) home from an institution for troubled youth, it’s both an act of maternal love and a huge risk: Steve is a volatile hellraiser with a hair-trigger temper, and Diane is barely keeping it together herself. When shy neighbour Kyla (Suzanne Clément) takes an interest in mother and son, a surprising trio develops. Daringly filmed in a 1:1 ratio that mimics the aesthetics of Instagram, Mommy is shot through with dazzling displays of colour and movement that intensify its affecting, outsized emotions. – Cameron Bailey, TIFF Coarse Language Persons under 14 must be accompanied by an adult THURSDAY, JANUARY 8 – 6:30 PM FRIDAY, JANUARY 9 – 8:20 PM

Canadian master David Cronenberg strips Hollywood bare in this wicked satire. Julianne Moore – Best Actress at Cannes – is Havana, a desperate middle-aged actress scheming to land the lead in a remake of a film her mother starred in years ago.

Around this imploding star revolves a constellation of shady Tinseltown types: a TV psychologist and self-help guru (John Cusack); his troubled teen-idol son (Evan Bird); a pyromaniac (Mia Wasikowska) hired as Havana’s assistant; a limo driver and struggling actor (Robert Pattinson); and various others. Gleefully dissecting a milieu driven by all the wrong values, Maps to the Stars peels back Hollywood’s skin-deep façade to reveal a dystopia that’s at once utterly alien and eerily recognizable. – TIFF Sexually suggestive scenes Persons under 18 must be accompanied by an adult THURSDAY, JANUARY 8 – 9:00 PM FRIDAY, JANUARY 16 – 6:30 PM

You’re Sleeping Nicole

(Tu dors Nicole)

Canada 2014. Dir: Stéphane Lafleur.

93 min. DCP

A critical hit at Cannes, the third feature by Stéphane Lafleur (Continental, a Film Without Guns) displays his trademark absurdist humour and sense of ennui, honing in on twentysomethings at an existential crossroads. Nicole (Julianne Côté), adrift after college graduation, spends an aimless summer in her small Quebec hometown with best pal Véronique. When her older brother Remi (C.R.A.Z.Y.’s Marc-André Grondin) unexpectedly shows up with his band, it tests the girls’ friendship and makes clear to Nicole that something must – and will – change. Shot in luminous black-and-white and infused with a sultry melancholy, You’re Sleeping Nicole shows one of our finest young filmmakers at the peak of his powers. – Steve Gravestock, TIFF Persons under 14 must be accompanied by an adult FRIDAY, JANUARY 9 – 6:30 PM

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MOMMY

“Canadian movies and Canadian talent have proven themselves among the best in the world. Now it’s our chance to get together and celebrate our best.”

Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director, Toronto International Film Festival

Corbo

Canada 2014.

Dir: Mathieu Denis. 119 min. DCP

Mathieu Denis’s gripping solo debut examines the rise of the Front de Libération du Québec, the militant separatist group that precipitated 1970’s October Crisis, through the eyes of 16-year-old Jean Corbo (Anthony Therrien). Radicalized by a variety of factors – his father’s big-L liberal leanings, his older brother’s pro-independence politics, the prejudices of Quebec’s English minority, and an encounter with a pretty young FLQ activist – the fearless Jean joins a student cell and rises quickly through the FLQ ranks. Beautifully crafted and rigorously intelligent, Corbo is one of those rare historical films that allow us to understand the reasons behind radical actions even as it refuses to gloss over their sometimes dire consequences. – Steve Gravestock, TIFF

Saturday, January 10 Special Canada’s Top Ten

Festival Celebration!

Reception + Screening of Violent + Filmmakers in Person!

Violent

Canada/Norway 2014. Dir: Andrew Huculiak. 102 min. DCP

The feature debut of Andrew Huculiak (drummer for Vancouver rockers We Are the City) won the Best B.C. Film and Best Canadian Film awards at VIFF. Huculiak, intrigued by current Norwegian cinema, shot his distinctive film in Norway with his bandmates and a skeleton crew, few of whom spoke Norwegian. Violent is the tale of Dagne, a Norwegian girl who moves to Germany to escape her smalltown life. Alone in a new country, she finds herself hanging out with other outcasts, including a comically-suicidal young man and the lovelorn owner of the shop where she finds work. An evocative slice of life with a sometimes surreal visual sensibility, Violent establishes Huculiak and company as young filmmakers to watch. – Steve Gravestock, TIFF

SUNDAY, JANUARY 11 – 6:00 PM

Persons under 14 must be accompanied by an adult SATURDAY, JANUARY 10

Special Canada’s Top Ten Festival Celebration with reception, refreshments, and filmmakers in person 7:00 pm - Doors 8:00 pm – Introduction by director Andrew Huculiak followed by screening of Violent, and post-film Q&A

In Conversation With… Sandra Oh Join us for a special evening with award-winning actress Sandra Oh! From an Ottawa childhood, to her studies at Canada’s National Theatre School in Montreal, to her award-winning work on the long-running TV drama Grey’s Anatomy, Oh has carved a place at the heart of pop culture. Along the way, she has acted in groundbreaking independent films on both sides of the border, including Mina Shum’s Double Happiness and Alexander Payne’s Sideways. Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of the Toronto International Film Festival, will sit down with Sandra Oh at TIFF’s very first In Conversation With… event in Vancouver. They’ll discuss her work in film and television, and will be joined by Vancouver filmmaker Ann Marie Fleming to talk about her collaboration with Oh on the upcoming animated feature film Window Horses.

Ticket price for In Conversation With… Sandra Oh:

$20

SUNDAY, JANUARY 18 – 6:00 PM

Passes not accepted for this special event. Membership not required.

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Canada’s Top Ten Student Shorts 2014 NEVER STOP CYCLING - TIFF

Backroads ● In a powerful documentary testimonial, Camillia Stonechild relates her upbringing on a Saskatchewan reserve and reveals the strength of survivors of family abuse. Candy Fox/University of Regina, SK. 15 min.

Dinnertime ● A wolf-man is challenged by a not-so-innocent Little Red Riding Hood in this subversive twist on the famous tale. Alexander Mainwaring/Langara College, BC. 9 min.

Elpis ● Prior to her death during childbirth, the filmmaker’s cousin wrote a series of letters to her unborn child. A moving experimental adaptation of those words. Akreta Saim/York University, ON. 8 min.

Fallow ● Slow-moving life in a pastoral village is exquisitely rendered in animated tableaux, finding great beauty in the ordinary. Breanna Cheek/Emily Carr University, BC. 4 min.

Last Dance on the Main | La dernière danse sur la Main ● Animation documents the demolition of historic buildings in Montreal’s Red-Light District, and the response of citizens who fought back. Aristofanis Soulikias/Concordia University, QC. 3 min.

LIFERS - TIFF

FALLOW - TIFF

Lifers ● A young dishwasher contemplates career options while observing his eclectic coworkers in a busy kitchen.

Joel Salaysay/Simon Fraser University, BC. 9 min.

Light ● Devastated by the death of his newborn son, a Lebanese man living in an adoptive country attempts to perform Islamic pre-burial rituals in the hospital. Yassmina Karajah/University of British Columbia, BC. 13 min.

Never Stop Cycling ● Brilliant, Tim Burton–inspired stop-motion animates the tale of a creature who leaves his dreary apartment in search of a vital organ. Colin Lepper/Sheridan College, ON. 3 min.

Running Season ● Arthur is anxious to sell his late father’s seaside house on PEI after severed feet in running shoes wash up on the shoreline, devaluing the property. Grayson Moore/Ryerson University, ON. 20 min.

Tomonster ● Stunning CGI animation tells the riotous tale of an alien who makes a dangerous landing in a tomato field. Pui Ka Wong/Sheridan College, ON. 2 min.

Persons under 14 must be accompanied by an adult

Canada’s Top Ten Shorts 2014

TUESDAY, JANUARY 13 – 6:30 PM

Bihttoš (Rebel) ● Mixing archival footage, re-enactments, and animation, a poignant documentary exploring how past injustices impacted the marriage of the filmmaker’s Blackfoot mother and Sámi father. Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers/BC. 14 min.

Bison ● A guys’ weekend at a ranch leads to an unwelcome discovery in this disquieting study of the continued colonization of the West. Kevan Funk/SK. 12 min.

The Cut | La coup ● A charming moment between father and daughter is disrupted by a phone call in this sensitive, poetic exploration of family and isolation. Geneviève Dulude-De Celles/QC. 15 min.

Cutaway ● A handyman comes to terms with a momentous change. A formally-daring story, told entirely through closeups, from the award-winning makers of Tower and Princess Margaret Boulevard. Kazik Radwanski/ON. 7 min.

REBEL- TIFF

Day 40 ● A darkly-comic animated account of Noah’s Ark from the rarely-told perspective of the animals. Sol Friedman/ON. 6 min.

MYNARSKI DEATH PLUMMET - TIFF

Intermission (15 min.)

Kajutaijuq: The Spirit That Comes ● A modern-day Inuk hunter in the Arctic tries, with difficulty, to live by the traditional skills his grandfather taught him. Scott Brachmayer/NU. 15 min.

Mynarski Death Plummet | Mynarski chute mortelle ● The story of Winnipeg WWII hero Andrew Mynarski, stunningly told in an explosive, expressionistic, and psychedelic envisioning of his final moments. Matthew Rankin/QC-MB. 8 min.

DAY 40 - TIFF STILL - TIFF

Sleeping Giant ● During a boring summer on Lake Superior, Adam and two pals attempt ever-more hazardous stunts – and the arrival of pretty young Taylor could spark their riskiest dare yet. Andrew Cividino/ON. 16 min.

Still ● In this psychological thriller with a sci-fi twist, a young couple’s walk through a wintry forest reveals dangerously unbalanced power dynamics. Slater Jewell-Kemker/ON. 16 min.

The Weatherman and the Shadowboxer ● Blending live action and digital animation, a spellbinding, boundarybending tale of two brothers with conflicting memories of their common past. Randall Lloyd Okita/QC. 10 min.

Persons under 14 must be accompanied by an adult THURSDAY, JANUARY 15 – 7:00 PM

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Felix and Meira

(Félix et Meira)

Canada 2014. Dir: Maxime Giroux.

105 min. DCP

In Maxime Giroux’s latest, named Best Canadian Feature at TIFF, unusual romance blossoms between two lost souls inhabiting the same neighbourhood but different worlds. Meira (Hadas Yaron) is a young Hasidic Jewish mother in Montreal’s Mile End district who secretly rebels against her faith; Félix (Martin Dubreuil) is a loner grieving the death of his estranged father. Intrigued by Meira, Félix hopes her religious devotion will provide insight into his loss; she rebuffs him at first, but a mutual affection soon arises. As Meira’s desire for change becomes harder to hide, she is faced with a stark choice between the community she has always known or an uncertain future outside it. – Agata Smoluch Del Sorbo, TIFF

SUNDAY, JANUARY 11 – 8:15 PM

MOnsoon

Canada/India 2014.

Dir: Sturla Gunnarsson. 108 min. DCP

Veteran filmmaker Sturla Gunnarsson (Air India 1982, Force of Nature – about David Suzuki) returns with one of his most personal projects yet. Monsoon is a visually- stunning, emotionally-powerful meditation on the annual rains that descend upon India, and their alternately disastrous and beneficial impact on the country’s economy, agriculture, and society. For Gunnarsson, the monsoon functions as a godlike entity, capable of sustaining life and destroying it – a duality that sparks profound reflections on the nature of order, chaos, creation, and faith. Monsoon balances an almost religious awe at the weather’s monstrous power with an empathetic appreciation of both the toll it takes and the boons it bestows on those at its mercy. – Steve Gravestock, TIFF

Additional Screenings ● Exclusive First Run See page 7 for details.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23 – 8:40 PM SATURDAY, JANUARY 24 – 8:40 PM SUNDAY, JANUARY 25 – 6:30 PM WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28 – 8:40 PM THURSDAY, JANUARY 29 – 6:30 PM

Sol

Canada 2014.

Dirs: Susan Avingaq, MarieHélène Cousineau. 75 min. DCP

From Susan Avingaq and MarieHélène Cousineau comes this heartwrenching documentary about Solomon Tapatia Uyarasak, a 26-year-old Inuk actor and musician who died under mysterious circumstances while in police custody in Igloolik, Nunavut, in 2012. Stonewalled by the authorities, who can’t explain how or why Sol committed suicide, his family and friends are left with a grief exacerbated by the gaps and contradictions in the police account. The filmmakers use the shocking context of these events to explore why the region has a suicide rate thirteen times the national average. With its profound, lonesome beauty – especially in the opening sequence and home-movie footage – Sol is as heartbreaking as it is important and timely. – Steve Gravestock, TIFF

TUESDAY, JANUARY 13 – 8:30 PM

SATURDAY, JANUARY 17 – 6:30 PM

The Price We Pay

Canada 2014. Dir: Harold Crooks.

92 min. DCP

This incendiary new documentary by Harold Crooks (who collaborated on The Corporation and Surviving Progress) explores the origins, damaging repercussions, and complex moral issues arising from corporate tax dodging – the widespread use of tax havens by multinationals and the super-rich, which deprives governments of billions in taxes every year. Tracing the increase in off-shoring to the City of London in the 1960s and its dramatic rise under Thatcher and Reagan, the film follows the thread through to the present, where tax avoidance has directly contributed to the dominance of the “one percent.” A vital exposé of the flagrant ethical bankruptcy endemic to modern capitalism, The Price We Pay is a forceful call to action. – Agata Smoluch Del Sorbo, TIFF

SATURDAY, JANUARY 17 – 8:40 PM

In Her Place

Canada/South Korea 2014.

Dir: Albert Shin. 115 min. DCP

An affluent couple from Seoul arrives at a farm in the South Korean countryside, where a pregnant teenager and her mother have agreed to let them adopt the girl’s unborn child. The wife is to stay at the farm until the child is born; a quiet unease percolates as the three unnamed women fall into a daily routine. While the impossibly shy teen secludes herself in her bedroom, her mother and the wife attempt to make the arrangement work, but things become complicated when the baby’s father surfaces.

Ottawa-born Alberta Shin directs with the discipline and maturity of a veteran; In Her Place boldly marks the arrival of a bright new filmmaking talent. – Agata Smoluch Del Sorbo, TIFF Persons under 14 must be accompanied by an adult FRIDAY, JANUARY 16 – 8:40 PM

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ER PREMIERES V U O C N A V

E XC L U S I V E F I R ST R U N S

“A Nigerian Gone with the Wind.”

Trevor Johnston, Time Out “An epic and striking adaptation . . .

Driven by powerful and moving performances.”

Mark Adams, Screen Daily Vancouver Premiere!

Half of a Yellow Sun Nigeria/Great Britain 2013. Dir: Biyi Bandele. 111 min. DCP

Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), Thandie Newton (Crash), and Anika Noni Rose (Dreamgirls) head the cast of this polished, prestigious adaptation of Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Orange Prize-winning novel, set during Nigeria’s bloody Biafran civil war of the late 1960s. In 1967, the Igbo-dominated region of south-eastern Nigeria declared independence as the breakaway Republic of Biafra. Newton and Rose play affluent, ethnic-Igbo twin sisters caught up in personal and political turmoil during the terrible conflict. Ejiofor is a charismatic professor and pro-independence radical romantically involved with Newton. First-time director Biyi Bandele, a Nigerian-born, British-based playwright, crafts a lush, sweeping, old-fashioned historical epic and melodrama. A screen adaptation of Adichie’s latest bestseller, Americanah, was recently announced.

Mature themes and sexual content Persons under 14 must be accompanied by an adult Annual $3 membership required for those 18+ FRIDAY, JANUARY 23 – 6:30 PM SATURDAY, JANUARY 24 – 4:00 PM & 6:30 PM SUNDAY, JANUARY 25 – 8:30 PM WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28 – 6:30 PM THURSDAY, JANUARY 29 – 8:30 PM

“Sombrely seductive . . . This tender romance distinguishes itself through its subtlety and sensitivity, offering quiet reflection.” Peter Debruge, Variety “A minutely observed story that thrives on tiny transformations . . . Hadas Yaron is a luminous presence.” Boyd van Hoej, Hollywood Reporter Best Canadian Feature 2014 Toronto International Film Festival Best Feature Film 2014 Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, Montreal Canada’s Top Ten 2014 Vancouver Premiere!

Felix and Meira (Félix et Meira)

Canada 2014. Dir: Maxime Giroux. 105 min. DCP

Writer-director Maxime Giroux’s award-winner, a tale of forbidden love and religious rebellion, is an affecting, observational drama of great sensitivity, subtlety, and beauty. The film is set in Montreal’s Mile End district, home to hipsters and Hasidic Jews, where its two lonely protagonists are neighbours living in different worlds. Félix (Martin Dubreuil) is an eccentric, penniless, godless man grieving the recent death of his estranged father. Meira (Fill the Void’s Hadas Yaron) is a young Hasidic woman, married and a mother, struggling with the strictures of her faith. Félix is drawn to Meira and the prospect that religious devotion can provide solace for our sorrows; Meira hardly encourages his attentions – she’s not permitted to even look a man in the eye – but a mutual interest slowly develops. Giroux’s respectful, humanist film is a moving, miraculous gem.

Annual $3 membership required for those 18+ SUNDAY, JANUARY 11 - 8:15 PM (CANADA’S TOP TEN) FRIDAY, JANUARY 23 – 8:40 PM SATURDAY, JANUARY 24 – 8:40 PM SUNDAY, JANUARY 25 – 6:30 PM WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28 – 8:40 PM

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HALF OF A YELLOW SUN

TWO FROM FRANCE

“Delicate, compassionate . . .

A risk-taking existential adventure . . .

Ferran’s sudden flight of fancy is simply a dazzling stretch of immersive cinema.”

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times “Charming, audacious . . . Spectacular filmmaking . . . Bird People finds new ways to anatomize 21st-century malaise and dares to venture into fantasy.”

Melissa Anderson, Village Voice Vancouver Premiere!

Bird People France 2104. Dir: Pascale Ferran. 128 min. DCP

Free-as-a-bird storytelling and artful experimentation propel director Pascale Ferran’s startling Bird People. This affecting, absorbing mix of formal intensity and soaring whimsy, set within a Hilton near Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport, dramatizes the pull of freedom on two restless souls in our migratory, connected/disconnected world. Gary (Josh Charles) is a stressed-out Silicon Valley executive about to make a momentous decision. Audrey (Anaïs Demoustier) is a melancholic student supporting herself as a hotel chambermaid. An evocative prelude is followed by two chapters, “Gary” and “Audrey.” In the first, Gary deals with the initial fallout of his life-altering decision. In the risk-taking second part, Audrey has her own transformative experience. “There are plot twists, and then there is what Ferran does here, altogether marvellously . . . An entrancing and surprising film” (A. O. Scott, New York Times).

FRIDAY, JANUARY 30 – 6:30 PM SATURDAY, JANUARY 31 – 6:30 PM SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1 – 4:00 PM & 8:30 PM WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4 – 6:30 PM

“A darkly comic, socially potent portrait . . .

This gritty workplace dramedy recalls French films like The Class and Polisse.”

Jordan Mintzer, Hollywood Reporter “Hippocrates is both a scathing indictment of the business of medicine and a heartfelt love letter to the doctors and nurses who toil thanklessly in the field.” Philadelphia Film Festival Vancouver Premiere!

Hippocrates (Hippocrate)

France 2014. Dir: Thomas Lilti. 102 min. DCP

A seriocomic social drama set in a busy Paris hospital, writer-director-doctor Thomas Lilti’s second feature was the closing-night film at the 2014 Critics’ Week at Cannes and, more recently, a box-office hit in France. Boyish intern Benjamin (Vincent Lacoste) is the protagonist; a newcomer on the ward run by his physician father (Jacques Gamblin), he’s confident he has the stuff to be a great doctor, but he quickly makes a serious mistake. Fellow intern Abdel (Zero Dark Thirty’s Reda Kateb) is the film’s moral conscience; although a seasoned Algerian physician, as an immigrant he’s been forced to restart his career at the bottom. “Filmmakers with significant life experience outside the creative arts are becoming ever rarer creatures, but Thomas Lilti exploits his original career to the fullest in his engaging comedy-drama” (Charles Gant, Variety).

FRIDAY, JANUARY 30 – 9:00 PM SATURDAY, JANUARY 31 – 4:00 PM & 9:00 PM SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1 – 6:30 PM WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4 – 9:00 PM

The Cinematheque’s

24 HOUR MOVIE MARATHON It was only a matter of time before it returned! Two years ago, audiences cheered at title cards, power-napped between screenings, and crossed the finish line, caffeinecrazed and elated, after 24 hours of Essential Cinema. Now, due to overwhelming response, we’re opening our doors once again to Vancouver’s most dedicated film lovers for a marathon of movies! Tick tock. The countdown is on.

24 hours of (top secret) finely curated cinema that spans genre, mode, and time! Plus: survival kits, prizes, special guests, treats, and more!

Blankets and pillows encouraged. Snuggling optional.

Tickets $40 Secure your spot online. Seating is limited.

Sponsored by

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THE IMAGE BEFORE US

A HISTORY OF FILM IN BRITISH COLUMBIA Curated by Harry Killas

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t is time to celebrate the innovative, iconoclastic, often astonishing cinematic, television, and video heritage of British Columbia. Our rich legacy of dramatic feature films, shorts, documentaries, television dramas, experimental cinema, and animation will be showcased in this program, which highlights many of the significant works of the past 80 years by looking at their achievements in new ways.

This series of screenings – a history of film in British Columbia – with emphasis on a history, not the history – is inspired by one of my favourite films: The Image Before Us, written and directed by poet, scholar, and filmmaker Colin Browne. In this documentary essay film, within the

genre of the compilation film, Browne investigates and gently critiques the images of Vancouver that have been presented to us in many historic motion pictures, primarily newsreels and travelogues, produced in and about B.C. “What is the image before us?” Browne asks. “And how did it get that way?”

How do we “read” our own films? If one focuses on this story or that image, what about the stories and images that have been left out? What stories and images have been presented and persist in our imaginaries of here? What others are not presented and consequently need to be? Browne’s rich, condensed, pungent, and ultimately moving work asks these questions and sets up our

The Image Before Us Canada 1986. Dir: Colin Browne. 22 min.

Vancouver filmmaker, writer, SFU professor, and film archivist/historian Colin Browne assembled rare historic footage of Vancouver from archives across North America to create this fascinating documentary about how the picture of a place can be constructed (and manipulated) by selective use of film images. Vintage promotional films, designed to attract tourists and investors, depicted a Vancouver where the well-heeled frolicked in beautiful locales, but ignored the daily realities of most citizens.

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Secrets of Chinatown USA 1935. Dir: Fred C. Newmeyer. 63 min.

B.C.’s film industry had its first boom with the “quota quickies” of the 1930s. Protectionist legislation in the U.K. required that a certain percentage of movies on British screens had be produced in Britain or the Empire; Hollywood studios rushed into B.C. to make low-budget films for the British market! In 1935’s raciallyloaded Secrets of Chinatown – “You’re a white girl, what are you doing a place like this?” – a detective is assigned to investigate a crime wave in Chinatown, and discovers that a devilish Asian cult may be at work. A weird, fascinating, xenophobic fever dream almost 80 years old, this Victoria-made, Vancouverset film raises questions about race and representation in cinema, while its production context points to the political economies of cultural production around the world today.

Print courtesy of Library and Archives Canada Introduced by Harry Killas Harry Killas is Assistant Dean, Dynamic Media, at Emily Carr University. His many films about the life and history of British Columbia and British Columbians include Picture Start, Glowing in the Dark, and Spilsbury’s Coast.

MONDAY, JANUARY 12 – 7:00 PM

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series: What do the films of British Columbia represent to us, and what are the cinematic narratives of here?

This series contains a bias, a bias towards the social context of peoples in B.C. and towards the realistic image, reflected in my own interests and work as a filmmaker and educator. Themes and sub-themes weave and, I hope, reverberate through these screenings: Aboriginal stories, characters, and “contact”; the manufactured image; the American archetype; the pictorial and the anti-picturesque; the intensely local and the intensely global. Come to these screenings and be inspired, entertained, and amazed. – Harry Killas, Assistant Dean, Dynamic Media, Emily Carr University of Art + Design

Skidrow

Canada 1956. Dir: Allan King. 38 min.

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THE Pemberton Valley Canada 1957. Dir: Allan King. 60 min.

One of Canada’s pre-eminent documentarians, Vancouver-born, UBC-educated Allan King (Warrendale, A Married Couple) began his career with the film unit at CBUT, the local CBC station. His first films, Skidrow and The Pemberton Valley, were amongst the early works of cinéma-vérité. Skidrow, which earned King his first Canadian Film Award, was described by documentary pioneer John Grierson as “one of the greatest Canadian films ever made.” A study of downand-out men living rough on Vancouver’s poorest streets, it features powerful narration scripted by writer/social worker Ben Maartman, as well as intimate, matter-of-fact interviews with the homeless themselves. The Pemberton Valley is a lyrical look at life in that rural B.C. area, focusing on a farm family and on the nearby First Nations settlement. These two films resonate today with their compassion and poetry.

Introduced by Colin Browne Colin Browne is a filmmaker, poet, scholar, and Professor Emeritus at Simon Fraser University. He is the writer-director of the documentaries The Image Before Us, White Lake, Father and Son, and Linton Garner: I Never Said Goodbye.

MONDAY, JANUARY 19 – 7:00 PM

THE GREY FOX

Vancouver Experimental Films Programmed by Richard Martin

CBC Still Photo Collection/Franz Lindner

How to Break a Quarter Horse

Canada 1966. Dir: Philip Keatley. 60 min.

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The Education of Phyllistine Canada 1963. Dir: Philip Keatley. 60 min.

During his distinguished career with CBC Vancouver, North Vancouver-raised Philip Keatley created the groundbreaking Cariboo Country, the network’s first dramatic series filmed on location – it was set amongst the ranchers and First Nations people of B.C.’s Chilcotin region – and also helped develop and produce The Beachcombers, the longest-running dramatic series in English Canadian TV history. The Cariboo Country dramas, written by Paul St. Pierre, were pioneering for another reason: all First Nations characters were played by aboriginals, including future Oscar-nominee Chief Dan George, a series regular as “Ol’ Antoine.” The two films in this program, both hour-long Cariboo Country specials, treat issues of racism, justice, friendship, and family; both won Canadian Film Awards for TV Entertainment.

“Experimental filmmaking was a significant part of Vancouver’s art scene in the 1970s. An important moment in the history of visual culture and film art in B.C., experimental/visionary/handmade cinema here was marked by outrageous innovation, unbridled experimentation, and outright subversion. This movement flourished for many years, and was dialled into an international discourse, thanks to a visionary and colourful collection of artists, curators, venues, and institutions.” – Richard Martin A Message from Our Sponsor - Al Razutis/1979. 9 min.

Steel Mushrooms - Gary Lee-Nova/1967. 10 min.

In Black and White – Michael McGarry/1979. 10 min.

Seeing In the Rain – Chris Gallagher/1981. 10 min.

Current – Ellie Epp/1985. 3 min.

Far From Quebec (Loin du Québec)

– Kirk Tougas/1971. 15 min.

Diminished – Richard Martin/1980. 7 min You Take Care Now – Ann Marie Fleming/1989. 10 min.

Total length of program: approx. 75 min.

Introduction by Richard Martin Vancouver filmmaker Richard Martin is the producerdirector of Backbone: Vancouver Experimental Cinema (2013), an exploration of experimental cinema as seen through the eyes of Vancouver filmmakers who were active during the cultural revolution of the 1960s and 70s.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23 – 7:00 PM

Introduced by Colin Browne See January 19 description on page 8 for bio.

MONDAY, JANUARY 26 – 7:00 PM

The Grey Fox

Canada 1982. Dir: Phillip Borsos. 110 min. 35mm

Madeleine Is…

Canada 1971. Dir: Sylvia Spring. 89 min.

The first Canadian fiction feature directed by a woman, Sylvia Spring’s Madeleine Is… investigates themes of patriarchy, art, and emancipatory politics in the context of Vancouver’s counterculture. Madeleine (Nicola Lipman), an aspiring painter from Quebec, relocates to Vancouver at the height of the hippie era and has a series of encounters with men – a macho political radical, a fantasy figure-cum-young businessman, an older homeless man – which help her to find herself. The city and its paradoxes and politics are vividly evoked; the era’s emergent feminism informs the film’s perspective. Spring and her film provided a model for indie cinema here. preceded by

Your Name In Cellulite Canada 1995. Dir: Gail Noonan. 6 min.

The trials and tribulations of a woman struggling to conform to societal standard of feminine beauty are depicted in this hilarious animated chamber of horrors. Everything you didn’t want to know about shaving, painting, plucking, squeezing, and curling!

Introduced by Sharon McGowan Sharon McGowan is a filmmaker and an Associate Professor, Film Production, at the University of British Columbia. She is a producer of dramatic feature films, including The Lotus Eaters and Better than Chocolate, and the writer-director of the documentary The Oldest Basketball Team in the World.

The gifted Phillip Borsos made good on the promise of his award-winning shorts – and solidified B.C.’s reputation as a film centre in Canada – with his remarkable debut feature. Richard Farnsworth is gentleman bandit Bill Miner, an aging Old West stagecoach robber released into the 20th century after decades in prison. His introduction to modernity includes his first exposure to the movies: Edwin Porter’s 1903 classic The Great Train Robbery, which inspires old-fashioned Miner to attempt some new-fangled larceny. Jackie Burroughs co-stars. Shot by Frank Tidy and written by John Hunter, Borsos’s beautiful film offers a charming evocation of place and an elegiac, film-smart take on the Old West and Old Westerns. It won 7 Genies, including Best Film and Director, and was voted one of the ten best Canadian films of all-time in 1984 and 1993 national polls.

Introduced by Kevan Funk Kevan Funk studied film and media at Emily Carr University.

He directed the shorts A Fine Young Man and Yellowhead, which both premiered at TIFF, as well as Saint Pierre, Destroyer, and This Bleeding Heart. Bison, his latest, was selected for Canada’s Top Ten Shorts 2014.

MONDAY, MARCH 2 – 7:00 PM

“The Image Before Us: A History of Film in British Columbia” continues in March and April!

Details available in our March/April 2015 program guide.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2 – 7:00 PM

9

SUN

TUES

WED

NOW PLAYING

TICKETS

4

Jean-Luc Godard 2

For Ever Mozart – 6:30 pm

5

Jean-Luc Godard 2

Film Socialisme – 7:00 pm

6

THURS

1

2

JANUARY

7

From Our Collection

August 32nd on Earth – 6:30 pm

Film Socialisme – 8:15 pm

HOW TO BUY TICKETS Day-of tickets go on sale at the Box Office 30 minutes before the first show of the evening.

Advance tickets are available for credit card purchase at theCinematheque.ca ($1 service charge applies). Events, times, and prices are subject to change without notice.

MON

8

9

Canada’s Top 10

Mommy – 6:30 pm Maps to the Stars – 9:00 pm

La Promesse – 8:15 pm

FRI

SAT

3

Jean-Luc Godard 2

Jean-Luc Godard 2

For Ever Mozart – 6:30 pm

Éloge de l’amour – 6:30 pm

Éloge de l’amour – 8:15 pm

For Ever Mozart – 8:30 pm

For January 2-5 film descriptions, please consult our previous program guide or visit theCinematheque.ca

Canada’s Top 10

You’re Sleeping

10

Special Canada’s Top Ten Celebration!

Nicole – 6:30 pm

Reception +Violent +

Mommy – 8:20 pm

Filmmakers in Person Doors - 7:00 pm Violent - 8:00 pm

11

12

Canada’s Top 10

Corbo – 6:00 pm

BC Film History

The Image Before Us + Secrets

Felix and Meira – 8:15 pm

13

Canada’s Top 10

Canada’s Top Ten

14

Tomorrow Is Always

15

16

Canada’s Top 10

Canada’s Top Ten

Too Long – 7:30 pm

Student Shorts 2014 – 6:30 pm

of Chinatown – 7:00 pm

DIM Cinema

Canada’s Top 10

Maps to the Stars – 6:30 pm

17

Canada’s Top 10

Monsoon – 6:30 pm

In Her Place – 8:40 pm

Shorts 2014 – 7:00 pm

The Price We Pay – 8:40 pm

Sol – 8:30 pm THE CINEMATHEQUE IS RECOGNIZED AS AN EXEMPT NON-PROFIT FILM SOCIETY UNDER THE B.C. MOTION PICTURE ACT, AND AS SUCH IS ABLE TO SCREEN FILMS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN REVIEWED BY THE B.C. FILM CLASSIFICATION OFFICE. UNDER THE ACT, ALL PERSONS ATTENDING CINEMATHEQUE SCREENINGS MUST BE MEMBERS OF THE PACIFIC CINÉMATHÈQUE PACIFIQUE SOCIETY AND BE 18 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER.

18

19

Cinema Sunday

Superman – 1:00 pm Canada’s Top 10

In Conversation With…

BC Film History

Skidrow + The Pemberton

20

21

Frames of Mind

Troubled Children – 7:30 pm

22

23

Education Department 20th Anniversary – 7:00 pm

Valley – 7:00 pm

Special Ticket Price

First Runs

24

First Runs

Half of a Yellow Sun – 6:30 pm

Half of a Yellow

Felix and Meira – 8:40 pm

Sun – 4:00 pm & 6:30 pm Felix and Meira – 8:40 pm

Sandra Oh – 6:00 pm

25

First Runs

Felix and Meira – 6:30 pm

26

BC Film History

How to Break a Quarter

27

28

Horse + The Education of

Half of a Yellow Sun – 8:30 pm

First Runs

Half of a Yellow Sun – 6:30 pm

29

Felix and Meira – 8:40 pm

30

First Runs

31

First Runs

Felix and Meira – 6:30 pm

Bird People – 6:30 pm

Half of a Yellow Sun – 8:30 pm

Hippocrates – 9:00 pm

First Runs

Hippocrates – 4:00 pm Bird People — 6:30 pm

Phyllistine – 7:00 pm

Hippocrates – 9:00 pm

IN THIS ISSUE CANADA’S TOP 10 2–5 FIRST RUNS 6–7 24 HOUR MARATHON 7

1

First Runs

Bird People – 4:00 pm

BC FILM HISTORY 8–9 CHAN CENTRE CONNECTS 16 FRAMES OF MIND 17

8

Madeleine Is…

Hippocrates – 6:30 pm

+ Your Name in

Bird People – 8:30 pm

Cellulite– 7:00 pm

Cinema Sunday

Journey to the Center of

9

Hou Hsiao-hsien

the Earth – 1:00 pm

DIM CINEMA 17 CINEMA SUNDAY 18

3

4

First Runs

Bird People – 6:30 pm

5

Chan Centre Connects

The Girls in the Band – 7:00 pm

6

Hippocrates – 9:00 pm

Hou Hsiao-hsien

Flowers of Shanghai – 6:30 pm

7

Hou Hsiao-hsien

A Time to Live and a Time to Die – 6:30 pm

Dust in the Wind – 8:40 pm

Flowers of Shanghai – 9:00 pm

10

11

Vancouver Art Gallery

Dust in the Wind – 6:30 pm

Animated Films

The Boys from Fengkuei – 8:40 pm

of Sun Xun – 7:00 pm

12

13

Hou Hsiao-hsien

Hou Hsiao-hsien

The Boys from Fengkuei – 6:30 pm

Taipei Story – 6:30 pm

Growing Up – 8:30 pm

A Time to Live and

14 VIMFF 2014

a Time to Die – 8:45 pm

VIMFF.ORG

Hou Hsiao-hsien

A City of Sadness – 6:30 pm

EDUCATION DEPT ANNIVERSARY 18 FROM OUR COLLECTION 19

BC Film History

FEBRUARY

HOU HSIAO-HSIEN 12–15 VAG – SUN XUN 16

2

15

17

16

18

Frames of Mind

19

20

21

Hou Hsiao-hsien

Good Men,

The Weight of Elephants – 7:30 pm

VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL 2014

Good Women – 6:30 pm

VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL 2014

Café Lumière – 8:40 pm

VIMFF.ORG

VIMFF.ORG SPECIAL GUEST IN ATTENDANCE

ALL AGES EVENT

22

BACKGROUND IMAGES:

Hou Hsiao-hsien

23

BC Film History

24

25

DIM Cinema

26

Hou Hsiao-hsien

27

28

Hou Hsiao-hsien

Café Lumière – 6:30 pm

Vancouver Experimental

The World Question Center:

Cute Girl – 6:30 pm

Goodbye

Taipei Story – 8:30 pm

Films – 7:00 pm

James Lee Byars – 7:30 pm

The Sandwich Man – 8:15 pm

South, Goodbye – 6:30 pm

24 Hour Movie Marathon – 10:00am

Good Men,

TOP: IN HER PLACE

Good Women – 8:40 pm

BOTTOM: A PORTRAIT OF HOU HSIAO-HSIEN

1

Hou Hsiao-hsien

The Puppetmaster – 6:30 pm

2

BC Film History

The Grey Fox – 7:00 pm

3

MARCH 4

Hou Hsiao-hsien

Cheerful Wind – 6:30 pm The Green, Green Grass of Home – 8:15 pm

5

Hou Hsiao-hsien

Three Times – 6:30 pm Goodbye South, Goodbye – 9:00 pm

6

Hou Hsiao-hsien

Millennium Mambo + The

7

Electric Picture House – 6:30 pm Daughter of the Nile – 8:50 pm

Hou Hsiao-hsien

Flight of the Red Balloon + La Belle Epoque – 6:30 pm Millennium Mambo + The Electric Picture House – 8:45 pm

SUN

TUES

WED

NOW PLAYING

TICKETS

4

Jean-Luc Godard 2

For Ever Mozart – 6:30 pm

5

Jean-Luc Godard 2

Film Socialisme – 7:00 pm

6

THURS

1

2

JANUARY

7

From Our Collection

August 32nd on Earth – 6:30 pm

Film Socialisme – 8:15 pm

HOW TO BUY TICKETS Day-of tickets go on sale at the Box Office 30 minutes before the first show of the evening.

Advance tickets are available for credit card purchase at theCinematheque.ca ($1 service charge applies). Events, times, and prices are subject to change without notice.

MON

8

9

Canada’s Top 10

Mommy – 6:30 pm Maps to the Stars – 9:00 pm

La Promesse – 8:15 pm

FRI

SAT

3

Jean-Luc Godard 2

Jean-Luc Godard 2

For Ever Mozart – 6:30 pm

Éloge de l’amour – 6:30 pm

Éloge de l’amour – 8:15 pm

For Ever Mozart – 8:30 pm

For January 2-5 film descriptions, please consult our previous program guide or visit theCinematheque.ca

Canada’s Top 10

You’re Sleeping

10

Special Canada’s Top Ten Celebration!

Nicole – 6:30 pm

Reception +Violent +

Mommy – 8:20 pm

Filmmakers in Person Doors - 7:00 pm Violent - 8:00 pm

11

12

Canada’s Top 10

Corbo – 6:00 pm

BC Film History

The Image Before Us + Secrets

Felix and Meira – 8:15 pm

13

Canada’s Top 10

Canada’s Top Ten

14

Tomorrow Is Always

15

16

Canada’s Top 10

Canada’s Top Ten

Too Long – 7:30 pm

Student Shorts 2014 – 6:30 pm

of Chinatown – 7:00 pm

DIM Cinema

Canada’s Top 10

Maps to the Stars – 6:30 pm

17

Canada’s Top 10

Monsoon – 6:30 pm

In Her Place – 8:40 pm

Shorts 2014 – 7:00 pm

The Price We Pay – 8:40 pm

Sol – 8:30 pm THE CINEMATHEQUE IS RECOGNIZED AS AN EXEMPT NON-PROFIT FILM SOCIETY UNDER THE B.C. MOTION PICTURE ACT, AND AS SUCH IS ABLE TO SCREEN FILMS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN REVIEWED BY THE B.C. FILM CLASSIFICATION OFFICE. UNDER THE ACT, ALL PERSONS ATTENDING CINEMATHEQUE SCREENINGS MUST BE MEMBERS OF THE PACIFIC CINÉMATHÈQUE PACIFIQUE SOCIETY AND BE 18 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER.

18

19

Cinema Sunday

Superman – 1:00 pm Canada’s Top 10

In Conversation With…

BC Film History

Skidrow + The Pemberton

20

21

Frames of Mind

Troubled Children – 7:30 pm

22

23

Education Department 20th Anniversary – 7:00 pm

Valley – 7:00 pm

Special Ticket Price

First Runs

24

First Runs

Half of a Yellow Sun – 6:30 pm

Half of a Yellow

Felix and Meira – 8:40 pm

Sun – 4:00 pm & 6:30 pm Felix and Meira – 8:40 pm

Sandra Oh – 6:00 pm

25

First Runs

Felix and Meira – 6:30 pm

26

BC Film History

How to Break a Quarter

27

28

Horse + The Education of

Half of a Yellow Sun – 8:30 pm

First Runs

Half of a Yellow Sun – 6:30 pm

29

Felix and Meira – 8:40 pm

30

First Runs

31

First Runs

Felix and Meira – 6:30 pm

Bird People – 6:30 pm

Half of a Yellow Sun – 8:30 pm

Hippocrates – 9:00 pm

First Runs

Hippocrates – 4:00 pm Bird People — 6:30 pm

Phyllistine – 7:00 pm

Hippocrates – 9:00 pm

IN THIS ISSUE CANADA’S TOP 10 2–5 FIRST RUNS 6–7 24 HOUR MARATHON 7

1

First Runs

Bird People – 4:00 pm

BC FILM HISTORY 8–9 CHAN CENTRE CONNECTS 16 FRAMES OF MIND 17

8

Madeleine Is…

Hippocrates – 6:30 pm

+ Your Name in

Bird People – 8:30 pm

Cellulite– 7:00 pm

Cinema Sunday

Journey to the Center of

9

Hou Hsiao-hsien

the Earth – 1:00 pm

DIM CINEMA 17 CINEMA SUNDAY 18

3

4

First Runs

Bird People – 6:30 pm

5

Chan Centre Connects

The Girls in the Band – 7:00 pm

6

Hippocrates – 9:00 pm

Hou Hsiao-hsien

Flowers of Shanghai – 6:30 pm

7

Hou Hsiao-hsien

A Time to Live and a Time to Die – 6:30 pm

Dust in the Wind – 8:40 pm

Flowers of Shanghai – 9:00 pm

10

11

Vancouver Art Gallery

Dust in the Wind – 6:30 pm

Animated Films

The Boys from Fengkuei – 8:40 pm

of Sun Xun – 7:00 pm

12

13

Hou Hsiao-hsien

Hou Hsiao-hsien

The Boys from Fengkuei – 6:30 pm

Taipei Story – 6:30 pm

Growing Up – 8:30 pm

A Time to Live and

14 VIMFF 2014

a Time to Die – 8:45 pm

VIMFF.ORG

Hou Hsiao-hsien

A City of Sadness – 6:30 pm

EDUCATION DEPT ANNIVERSARY 18 FROM OUR COLLECTION 19

BC Film History

FEBRUARY

HOU HSIAO-HSIEN 12–15 VAG – SUN XUN 16

2

15

17

16

18

Frames of Mind

19

20

21

Hou Hsiao-hsien

Good Men,

The Weight of Elephants – 7:30 pm

VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL 2014

Good Women – 6:30 pm

VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL 2014

Café Lumière – 8:40 pm

VIMFF.ORG

VIMFF.ORG SPECIAL GUEST IN ATTENDANCE

ALL AGES EVENT

22

BACKGROUND IMAGES:

Hou Hsiao-hsien

23

BC Film History

24

25

DIM Cinema

26

Hou Hsiao-hsien

27

28

Hou Hsiao-hsien

Café Lumière – 6:30 pm

Vancouver Experimental

The World Question Center:

Cute Girl – 6:30 pm

Goodbye

Taipei Story – 8:30 pm

Films – 7:00 pm

James Lee Byars – 7:30 pm

The Sandwich Man – 8:15 pm

South, Goodbye – 6:30 pm

24 Hour Movie Marathon – 10:00am

Good Men,

TOP: IN HER PLACE

Good Women – 8:40 pm

BOTTOM: A PORTRAIT OF HOU HSIAO-HSIEN

1

Hou Hsiao-hsien

The Puppetmaster – 6:30 pm

2

BC Film History

The Grey Fox – 7:00 pm

3

MARCH 4

Hou Hsiao-hsien

Cheerful Wind – 6:30 pm The Green, Green Grass of Home – 8:15 pm

5

Hou Hsiao-hsien

Three Times – 6:30 pm Goodbye South, Goodbye – 9:00 pm

6

Hou Hsiao-hsien

Millennium Mambo + The

7

Electric Picture House – 6:30 pm Daughter of the Nile – 8:50 pm

Hou Hsiao-hsien

Flight of the Red Balloon + La Belle Epoque – 6:30 pm Millennium Mambo + The Electric Picture House – 8:45 pm

o s Al

e k Li

e f Li

f o s lm i F e Th

n e i s h o a i s H u o H

I

t is entirely apt that Hou Hsiao-hsien, a leading figure of Taiwan’s New Wave of the 1980s, and widely recognized as one of the most important filmmakers alive since the 1990s, would direct a film – 2003’s Café Lumière – in honour of the centenary of the great Japanese master Yasujiro Ozu. Hou’s work – an episodic, unhurried, contemplative, richlyobservant, deeply-humanistic, visually-accomplished cinema of calm, still, elegant long takes; long and medium shots; and elliptical storytelling – often recalls Ozu’s, and is also often compared to traditional Chinese poetry and landscape painting.

Hou’s subject matter, however, is intensely contemporary: the tensions and contradictions of a traditional culture caught up in the mad rush of modernity, and buffeted by the harsh geopolitical realities of its particular place in 20thcentury history (Japanese militarism and imperialism; China’s Communist revolution and the establishment of a Nationalist government in Taiwan; American cultural domination).

A graduate of Taiwan’s National Academy of Arts, Hou was born on the Chinese mainland, to Hakka parents in Quangdong (formerly Canton) province, in 1947. His family, fleeing China’s civil war, relocated to Taiwan in 1948. The sometimes-tense relations between immigrant Mainlanders and native Taiwanese have frequently informed Hou’s films. Yet it is ordinary, everyday life that is Hou’s grandest theme – as it was Ozu’s. “I make films,” Hou has said, “because I love this world and I believe in people.”

It has been 15 years since The Cinematheque last mounted a Hou retrospective. This new exhibition, currently touring internationally, is the most comprehensive we have ever presented. It includes all 17 features Hou has released to date – including, rarest-of-the-rare, his three earliest features, a trio of romantic comedies – as well as Hou shorts and important Hou collaborations with other filmmakers.

Acknowledgements: “Also Like Life: The Films of Hou Hsiao-hsien” is an international retrospective organized by Richard I. Suchenski (Director, Center for Moving Image Arts at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY) in collaboration with the Taipei Cultural Center, the Taiwan Film Institute, and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The book Hou Hsiao-hsien (Vienna: Österreichisches Filmmuseum and New York: Columbia University Press, 2014) has been released in conjunction with this retrospective.

12

film e v ati

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a r r Vo i c e n e s t i l l ag e t a e gr man, V s ’ d orl . Hober w J e “Th

35mm Prints!

“Th e his 21st tor ian centu , it ry Jo s p bel na r op o n g th an het s t FLI Ro GH , a o A TO se FT nd nb sia HE RED au BA i t m, LLO s p , and ON New 35mm Print!

Ch oet ic Ho ag u i o l Flowers a Re u r ad eat s its e r of Shanghai e.”

Dust (Hai shang hua)

Taiwan/Japan 1998. Dir: Hou Hsiao-hsien.

113 min. 35mm

Ravishing visuals and remarkable rigour are hallmarks of Hou’s exquisite 1998 masterpiece, set in several ornate brothels (or “flower houses”) in late-19th-century Shanghai. There, amidst the opium haze, courtesans (“flower girls”) and their gentlemen callers enact elaborate rituals of commerce, courtship, and romance. Hou tells the story of five such “flowers”; his sensitivity to the social position and inner emotional lives of these women recalls the great geisha films of Japanese masters Naruse and Mizoguchi. Shooting entirely within the studio, Hou employs long takes, breathtaking compositions, subtle camera movements, and blackout transitions to conjure up a lavish, insular lost world of extraordinary intricacy. Tony Leung and Michiko Hada star. “Perfect . . . One of the most beautiful films ever made” (Phillip Lopate, New York Times). In Shanghainese and Cantonese with English subtitles.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6 – 6:30 PM SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7 – 9:00 PM

in the Wind

(Lian lian feng chen) Taiwan 1987. Dir: Hou Hsiao‑hsien.

110 min. 35mm

Hou’s warm, wonderfully-observant films of the mid-1980s, often about young Taiwanese torn between traditional village life and the lure of the modern city, first brought him to enthusiastic international attention. In Dust in the Wind, teenage lovers Wan and Huen quit high school and relocate to Taipei, where their dreams of urban wealth quickly fade to a reality of dead-end jobs, and the strong emotional pull of home remains constant. Hou’s lyrical film is told with his characteristic sensitivity, sympathy, humour, and restraint. “Dust consolidates Hou’s reputation as Taiwan’s leading humanist director – a Chinese counterpart to Ozu and Satyajit Ray” (London F.F.).

“The images are absolute cinematic poetry” (Toronto I.F.F.). In Mandarin and Taiwanese with English subtitles.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6 – 8:40 PM MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9 – 6:30 PM

THE

BO YS

FRO

A Time to Live and a Time to Die

MF

EN

GK

UEI

(Tongnian wangshi)

Taiwan 1985. Dir: Hou Hsiao‑hsien.

136 min. 35mm

“One of the great works of childhood and memory in the Chinese or any other cinema” (Film Comment), Hou’s deeply affecting semi-autobiographical film was inspired by his own experiences growing up in rural Taiwan after his family relocated from the mainland. Ah‑Hsiao is a sweet‑looking kid who wagers money pilfered from his mom.

By the time he’s a teenager, Ah-Hsiao’s gambling has become an obsession, and he has become a sullen, surly, small‑town lout.

The film, structured around three deaths, offers an honest, unsentimental look at life, loss, and the end of innocence. The affinity between Hou’s cinema and Ozu’s is evident.

“A superbly controlled piece of classical filmmaking, full of warmth and emotion” (Derek Malcolm, The Guardian). In Mandarin and Taiwanese with English subtitles.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7 – 6:30 PM FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13 – 8:45 PM

13

A City of Sadness

(Beiqing chengshi)

Taiwan 1989. Dir: Hou Hsiao‑hsien. 158 min. 35mm

“A family epic as expansive as The Godfather” (Godfrey Cheshire, Film Comment), the magnificent A City of Sadness is perhaps Hou’s finest achievement.

Winner of the Golden Lion at Venice, Hou’s panoramic tale takes in the four tumultuous years from 1945, when Japan surrendered Taiwan to China, to 1949, when Chiang Kai‑shek established his Nationalist government on the island after losing the mainland to the Communists. Events are related from the complex perspective of one family: aging widower Lin, his four sons, and their wives. The film is dark, richly textured, and visually exquisite, and ignited controversy at home for its treatment of a long-taboo subject: 1947’s notorious 2-28 incident and the brutal repression of the Taiwanese independence movement by the Nationalist Chinese.

“One of the supreme masterworks of the contemporary cinema.” (Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader). In Mandarin, Taiwanese, Cantonese, Shanghainese, and Japanese with English subtitles.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8 – 6:30 PM

The Boys from Fengkuei (Feng gui lai de ren)

Taiwan 1983. Dir: Hou Hsiao‑hsien. 101 min. 35mm

Hou’s fourth feature is considered his first mature masterwork and is one of the breakthrough works of the Taiwanese New Wave. The rights-of-passage tale has three bored, aimless young men leaving their downbeat provincial fishing village for a fling in the southern port city of Kaohsiung.

There, they link up with an equally restless young woman determined to make her way to the even brighter lights of Taipei.

Carefully composed in widescreen, unfolding in the episodic, unhurried Hou style, and nodding at Italian neorealism, the film was rapturously received at European festivals.

Cinematographer Chen Kun-hou - whose Hou-penned directorial effort Growing Up also screens in this series – shot many of Hou’s early features. In Mandarin and Taiwanese with English subtitles.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9 – 8:40 PM THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12 – 6:30 PM

Growing Up (Xiao Bi de gu shi)

Taiwan 1983. Dir: Chen Kun-hou. 100 min. 35mm

Hou Hsiao-hsien co-wrote this central work of Taiwan’s New Wave, made by a creative team central to his own cinema. In 1950s Taiwan, adolescent Little Pi experiences the travails of first love, youthful rebellion, and his mother’s remarriage. Charming nostalgia is nicely balanced with nuanced attention to social context, including the tensions between native Taiwanese and newcomers from Mainland China. The film was directed and shot by Chen Kun-hou, Hou’s mentor and frequent cinematographer. The screenplay was Hou’s first collaboration with writer Chu Tien-wen (adapting her own novel), hereafter an important Hou partner. Growing Up won Golden Horse Awards (Taiwan’s Oscars) for best film and director, and turned young lead Doze Niu into a Taiwanese star.

In Mandarin and Taiwanese with English subtitles.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12 – 8:30 PM

14

Taipei Story

Cute Girl

Taiwan 1985. Dir: Edward Yang. 110 min. 35mm

(Jiu shi liu liu de ta)

(Qingmei zhuma)

Hou Hsiao-hsien had a major hand in friend and fellow Taiwanese master Edward Yang’s acclaimed second feature; Hou played the male lead, co-wrote the screenplay (with Chu Tien-wen), and even mortgaged his house to finance the film! Yang’s elegant, Antonioni-like tale casts Hou and pop chanteuse Tsai Chin (Yang’s future wife) as an upwardly-mobile, profoundly-dissatisfied couple. She’s a successful property developer; he’s a former baseball prospect now toiling for the family textile business.

Their prosperous façade of Western tastes and material comforts provides but flimsy protection against a series of personal and professional setbacks. Yang extracts fine performances from the principals and serves up a clear-eyed, chilling portrait of contemporary Taiwan adrift between traditional values and modern soullessness.

In Mandarin and Taiwanese with English subtitles.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13 – 6:30 PM SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22 – 8:30 PM

New 35mm Print!

Good Men, Good Women (Haonan, Haonu)

Taiwan/Japan 1995. Dir: Hou Hsiao-hsien.

108 min. 35mm

Hou’s multi-layered masterpiece is the third film (after A City of Sadness and The Puppetmaster) in his remarkable trilogy of historical epics. Annie Shizuka Inoh (Annie Yi) plays Liang, an actress preparing for the lead role in a film about Chiang Bi-Yu, a heroine of the anti-Japanese resistance of the 1940s who was imprisoned as a subversive in the 1950s during the repressive “White Terror,” Taiwan’s version of the red scare (and a once-taboo subject). Liang receives an unwelcome reminder of her own troubled past when someone starts faxing her pages from her old diary. Hou’s bold film operates in three tenses: Liang’s present, her remembered past (rendered in vivid, vibrant colour), and her mind’seye imaginings of the film she is about to make (shot in rich black-and-white).

In Mandarin, Taiwanese, Cantonese, and Japanese with English subtitles.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21 – 6:30 PM FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27 – 8:40 PM

Cafe Lumiere (Kohi jiko)

Japan/Taiwan 2003. Dir: Hou Hsiao-hsien.

103 min. 35mm

An ode to Japanese cine-master Yasujiro Ozu – it was, in fact, commissioned to mark the centenary of his birth – the solemn, quietly contemplative Café Lumière ranks as one of Hou’s most exquisitely realized films.

Shot in Japan with an all-Japanese cast, and adopting the tenor of Ozu’s distinct aesthetic (tatami-mat angles, interstitial “pillow” shots), its deceptively simple, Tokyo-set story centres on a pregnant music writer (pop star Yo Hitoto) who’s unwilling to wed the father of her future child. Meanwhile, her bookshop-owner friend (Ichi the Killer’s Tadanobu Asano) is too reticent to reveal his true feelings.

“Unassuming and utterly ecstatic … Hou can do anything” (Amy Taubin, Film Comment).

In Japanese with English subtitles.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21 – 8:40 PM SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22 – 6:30 PM

aka Lovable You

Taiwan 1980. Dir: Hou Hsiao-hsien. 90 min. 35mm

Hou Hsiao-hsien made his near-invisible directorial debut with this commerciallyminded, boy-meets-girl charmer starring Cantopop heartthrob Kenny Bee and Taiwanese pop sensation (and hat aficionado) Feng Fei-fei. A featherweight romantic comedy in the mold of Taiwan’s then-popular cinema, it involves a fetching young bride-to-be (Feng) who falls for a laid-back land surveyor (Bee) while visiting her family in the countryside. Though mostly an exercise in genre box checking, some contemplative images of (and ideas around) the pastoral landscape, and an early knack for mise-en-scène and frame control, offer glimpses of the signature interests and aesthetics Hou will exhibit over the next decade. In Mandarin with English subtitles.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26 – 6:30 PM

The Sandwich Man Taiwan 1983. Dirs: Hou Hsiao-hsien, Zeng Zhuangxiang, Wan Jen. 100 min. 35mm

Two important anthology films of the early 1980s helped launch Taiwan’s New Wave. In Our Time, from 1982, introduced Edward Yang; the three short cuts in 1983’s The Sandwich Man included one by Hou Hsiao-hsien. “Son’s Big Doll,” Hou’s tale, has a man taking a humiliating job in order to support his family. In Zeng’s “Vicki’s Hat,” two travelling salesmen hawk cheap Japanese rice cookers. In Wan’s “Taste of Apples,” things improve for a poor family after an accident with a U.S. military vehicle. All three episodes are adapted from stories by Huang Chunming; all three were scripted by Wu Nien-jen and shot by Chen Kun-hou (both regular Hou collaborators). Government censors, alarmed by the social criticism and satire, sought to ban the film’s export. In Mandarin and Taiwanese with English subtitles.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26 – 8:15 PM

Goodbye South, Goodbye (Nanguo zaijian, nanguo) Taiwan/Japan 1996. Dir: Hou Hsiao-Hsien.

112 min. 35mm

Small-time hoods attempt to scam their way across southern Taiwan in Hou’s first film in a decade with an entirely contemporary setting. The motley characters include tattooed thirtysomething thug Kao (Hou regular Jack Kao); his volatile teenage protégé Flathead (pop star Lim Giong, who also contributed the soundtrack); and Flathead’s suicidal, flaky, debt-ridden date Pretzel (Good Men, Good Women’s Annie Shizuka Inoh). Inhabiting a Mean Streets-milieu of neon, karaoke bars, and gambling dens, these slack-jawed, Nintendoplaying lost souls suggest a modern Taiwan adrift between traditional values and money-crazed Western soullessness. Hou described his stylish, visually-beautiful, uncharacteristically-mobile movie as an attempt “to create a new rhythm, different from my previous films.” In Mandarin and Taiwanese with English subtitles.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27 – 6:30 PM THURSDAY, MARCH 5 – 9:00 PM

The Puppetmaster Three Times (Xi meng rensheng)

Taiwan 1993. Dir: Hou Hsiao‑hsien. 142 min. 35mm

Hou’s gorgeous follow-up to A City of Sadness uses the memoirs of puppet master Li Tien-lu to trace an intimate history of Taiwan under the half-century of Japanese occupation that ended in 1945. Li was declared a Living National Treasure by the Taiwanese government in 1989; he also appeared as an actor (in “Grandfather” roles) in three previous Hou films. The Puppetmaster juxtaposes episodes from Li’s often-harrowing life with scenes from his puppet plays and with Li’s earthy, often wildly-funny direct addresses to the camera.

Hou’s innovative feat of storytelling and filmed history won a Jury Prize at Cannes.

“Truly something new in movies, collapsing fact and fiction into one moving and penetrating inquiry into the past . . . The work of a genuine master” (Film Society of Lincoln Center). In Mandarin, Taiwanese, and Japanese with English subtitles.

SUNDAY, MARCH 1 – 6:30 PM

Cheerful Wind (Feng er ti ta cai)

Taiwan 1981. Dir: Hou Hsiao-hsien. 90 min. 35mm

The pop-star leads from Hou’s first feature, Cute Girl, are reunited in the director’s follow-up, a brisk work of bubble-gum romance that begins to experiment with the rules of the genre. This time, Taiwanese singing sensation Feng Fei-fei plays Hsinghui, a trendy photographer visiting a seaside village in Penghu with her successful boss/fiancé. When she happens upon a flute-playing medic blinded in an ambulance crash (Kenny Bee), sparks fly, songs are sung, and she’s left with the tough decision of who to say “I do” to. Despite the eye-rolling premise, Hou infuses the film with enough formal ingenuity (long takes, telephoto lenses, on-location shooting) that a case can be made for its auteurial significance.

In Mandarin with English subtitles.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4 – 6:30 PM

The Green, Green Grass of Home

(Zai na hepan qing cao qing) Taiwan 1982. Dir: Hou Hsiao-hsien. 91 min. 16mm

Hou’s final film in the Taiwanese romanticcomedy mode, The Green, Green Grass of Home is the most nuanced, fulfilling, and recognizably HHH-esque of these early commercial works. Again, the director brings along Hong Kong songster Kenny Bee as his lead, but swaps Feng Fei-fei for new ingénue Chiang Ling, who plays an elementary-school teacher in a will-theywon’t-they relationship with Bee. Though Hou concedes to some of the genre’s predictabilities, more often he’s pursuing his own interests: the joyful spontaneity of improvised acting, the natural beauty of the Taiwanese countryside, and the growing socio-economic concerns of an industrialized nation. “Compares favourably with Ozu’s lyrical comedies of the 1930s” (David Bordwell). In Mandarin with English subtitles.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4 – 8:15 PM

(Zui hao de shi guang)

Taiwan/France 2005. Dir: Hou Hsiao-hsien.

130 min. 35mm

An undisputed masterpiece and Best-ofthe-Decade staple, Three Times is Hou’s breathtaking, tripartite tale of love (and love lost) from three periods in Taiwanese history: 1966, 1911, and 2005. Starring Shu Qi and Chang Chen as decade-hopping courters, its splendour comes from the way Hou contemplates time within each chapter.

“A Time for Love” elliptically jumps from month to month at a 1960s pool hall, where a soldier on leave tries to (re)connect with an attractive bargirl. “A Time for Freedom” adopts the period-proper intertitles of the silent era to portray a 1910s brothel during the Chinese revolution. And “A Time for Youth” returns to the modern-day Taipei of Millennium Mambo to consider a nihilistic singer who sells herself as an object without past or future. “This is why cinema exists” (A. O. Scott, New York Times). In Mandarin and Taiwanese with English subtitles.

THURSDAY, MARCH 5 – 6:30 PM SUNDAY, MARCH 8 – 8:20 PM

Millennium Mambo (Qian xi man po)

Taiwan/France 2001. Dir: Hou Hsiao-hsien.

119 min. 35mm

Hou Hsiao-hsien entered the aughts with this atmospheric tone-poem set and shot in Taipei. Lensed by revered cameraman Mark Lee Ping-bin, who shot Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love, the film is noticeably more intimate than Hou’s past efforts, favouring shallow-focus cinematography and close-quartered settings to evoke the claustrophobic character of Taiwan’s capital city. It also brings a visual candour to the story’s central thread: the stifling inability of a listless young woman (an entrancing Shu Qi) to escape her abusive boyfriend.

Told as a techno-scored, neon-lit memory from the year 2011, Millennium Mambo taps into the modern-day malaise of a generation longing for the future so that the present may be past. In Mandarin and Japanese with English subtitles.

preceded by

The Electric Picture House France 2007. Dir: Hou Hsiao-hsien. 3 min.

Hou’s contribution to To Each His Own Cinema, an anthology film commissioned for the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival.

FRIDAY, MARCH 6 – 6:30 PM SATURDAY, MARCH 7 – 8:45 PM

Flight of the Red Balloon

(Le voyage du ballon rouge) France/Taiwan 2007. Dir: Hou Hsiao-hsien.

115 min. 35mm

“A movie of genius” (J. Hoberman, Village Voice), Hou’s first film made outside Asia pays fond tribute to Albert Lamorisse’s 1956 children’s short The Red Balloon, and features Juliette Binoche in a standout performance. Binoche is Parisian puppeteer Suzanne, harried mother of young son Simon. Absorbed in her latest project, Suzanne hires Taiwanese film student Song to nanny Simon. Song is a devotee of Lamorisse’s classic film; when she takes Simon to visit the Paris sites of its making, they are often followed, mysteriously, by a red balloon! “A charmer: a love letter to the French capital [and] a tough, telling study of the pressures facing (and caused by) professional single parents” (Geoff Andrew, Time Out). In French and Mandarin with English subtitles.

preceded by

La Belle Epoque Taiwan 2011. Dir: Hou Hsiao-hsien. 5 min.

Shu Qi stars in Hou’s segment from 10+10, an anthology film in which 10 established and 10 emerging Taiwanese filmmakers were asked to reflect on the “uniqueness of Taiwan.”

SATURDAY, MARCH 7 – 6:30 PM WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11 – 8:30 PM

A Summer at Grandpa’s (Dong dong de jia qi)

Taiwan 1984. Dir: Hou Hsiao-hsien. 100 min. 35mm

A clear influence on Hayao Miyazaki’s similarly-themed My Neighbour Totoro – albeit without the fantasy elements – Hou’s gentle fifth feature is an affecting, unsentimental tale of childhood lost, told from the perspective of the film’s young protagonists. When their mother falls ill, siblings Ting-ting and Tung-tung are carted off to the countryside to live with their grandfather, a small-town doctor. There, they try to adjust to the slowed-down tempo of rural living while grappling to understand the enigmatic, often violent, actions of their elders. The film won the Jury Prize at Locarno – Hou’s first major festival honour – and is considered the first in an informal coming-of-age trilogy that includes A Time to Live and a Time to Die and Dust in the Wind. In Mandarin and Taiwanese with English subtitles.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11 – 6:30 PM

Daughter of the Nile (Ni luo he nu er)

Taiwan 1987. Dir: Hou Hsiao-hsien. 93 min. 35mm

A neglected item in the Hou filmography is this neon-lit, pop-culture-soaked contemporary drama, titled after a Japanese manga character, and made just before the director’s celebrated trio of epic historical films. With Hou’s customary warmth, humour, and gentle observation, the film follows teenaged Hsiao-yang as she juggles night-school classes, a part-time job at KFC, and caregiver duties in her motherless family.

She also mediates between her policeman father and petty-gangster brother, while nursing a crush on her brother’s pal, a gigolo. Taiwanese pop star Yang Lin made her film debut in the lead. “Hou’s attention to the anomic rhythms of Taipei youth culture reminds one of Godard’s early 1960s portraits of Paris” (James Quandt, Artforum). In Mandarin with English subtitles.

FRIDAY, MARCH 6 – 8:50 PM SUNDAY, MARCH 8 – 6:30 PM

GOODBYE SOUTH, GOODBYE

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The Chan Centre Connects Series and The Cinematheque present

The Girls in the Band USA 2011. Dir: Judy Chaikin. 88 min.

“They wiggled, they jiggled, they wore low-cut gowns and short shorts, they kow-towed to the club owners and smiled at the customers . . . and they did it all, just to play the music they loved. The Girls in the Band tells the poignant, untold stories of female jazz and big band instrumentalists and their fascinating, groundbreaking journeys from the late 1920s to the present day. These incredibly talented women endured sexism, racism, and diminished opportunities for decades, yet continue today to persevere, inspire, and elevate their talents in a field that seldom welcomed them” (official synopsis). “Everything a worthwhile documentary should be, and then some: engaging, informative, thorough, and brimming with delightful characters” (Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times).

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5 – 7:00 PM

This screening is presented in conjunction with the Chan Centre presentation of Terri Lyne Carrington’s Mosaic Project and Cécile McLorin Salvant on Sunday, February 15, at 7:00 pm (at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC).

The Chan Centre Connects series is programmed in conjunction with the Chan Centre Presents concert season and includes film screenings, panel discussions, and talks which explore the role of arts and artists in society. www.chancentre.com

FREE ADMISSION Presented in conjunction with the Vancouver Art Gallery’s exhibition Unscrolled: Reframing Tradition in Contemporary Chinese Art

Animated Films of Sun Xun The meticulous hand-made animated films of Hangzhou-based Chinese artist Sun Xun (b. 1980) use traditional materials such as charcoal, paint, ink, and woodblock to create stunning sequences that depict the destructive force of human impulses. Sun Xun’s films take their inspiration from political cartoons, biology books, instruction manuals, and newsreels.

Blending a deep interest in history with a sense of fantasy and metaphor, they explore themes of societal development and revolution while avoiding didactic (or politically dangerous) conclusions. Couching criticism in surreal metaphor, and using recurring characters such as animals, insects, and a black-suited magician, Sun Xun’s works reveal a search for another world, while placing viewers in one of his own making – both dreamlike and apocalyptic.

Mythos (2006). 12 min.

Beyond-ism (2010). 8 min.

Some actions which haven’t been defined yet in the revolution (2011). 12 min.

21G (2010). 27 min.

Total length of program: approx. 60 min.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11 – 7:00 PM

Unscrolled: Reframing Tradition in Contemporary Chinese Art November 15, 2014 to April 6, 2015 Vancouver Art Gallery 750 Hornby Street Info 604-662-4719 www.vanartgallery.bc.ca

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THE WEIGHT OF ELEPHANTS

A Monthly Mental Health Film Series Presented by The Cinematheque and the Institute of Mental Health, UBC Department of Psychiatry

T

he Cinematheque is pleased to join with the Institute of Mental Health, UBC Department of Psychiatry in presenting “Frames of Mind,” a monthly event utilizing film and video to promote professional and community education on issues pertaining to mental health and illness. Screenings, accompanied by presentations and audience discussions, are held on the third Wednesday of each month.

Series directed by Dr. Harry Karlinsky, Director of Public Education, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia.

Programmed by Caroline Coutts, film curator, filmmaker, and programmer of “Frames of Mind” since its inception in September 2002.

Vancouver Premiere!

Vancouver Premiere!

(Kinderen met kopzorgen)

New Zealand/Denmark/Sweden 2013.

Dir: Daniel Joseph Borgman. 87 min. DCP

Troubled Children

The Weight of Elephants

Netherlands 2013. Dir: Ingeborg Jansen. 60 min. Blu-ray Disc

Gebraiel is a sweet-natured little boy who doesn’t show much emotion and won’t look you in the eye when you speak to him. His worried mother has brought him to Riagg Rijnmond, the Dutch Youth Mental Health Centre in Rotterdam, for an assessment. That some of the patients at the Riagg are still in preschool gives added significance to the work that goes on there. Bolstered by seemingly endless cups of coffee, child and adolescent therapists meet daily with troubled children and their parents, providing assessment, counselling, and therapy for concerns ranging from ADHD and autism to trauma and anxiety disorders. This intimate, sensitive documentary, filmed cinema-vérité style, limns without sentimentality the daily routine at Riagg Rijnmond, where all victories are hard-won and well-fought.

Post-screening discussion with Dr. Charlotte Johnston, a professor and the Director of Clinical Training in the Clinical Psychology Program in the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Johnston’s research focuses on families of children with ADHD or disruptive disorders, with a particular focus on how these problems impact parent-child interactions.

Moderated by Dr. Harry Karlinsky, Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia.

Premiered in both the Forum and Generation sections of the Berlin IFF, this worthy addition to the coming-of-age genre is the assured, poetic feature debut of New Zealand-raised, Denmarkbased writer-director Borgman. Lars von Trier’s company Zentropa co-produced the film, which was shot in rural New Zealand. Elevenyear-old Adrian (the amazing Demos Murphy, who won the role over 800 other boys) is an introspective, sensitive child bullied at school and neglected at home. Abandoned by his mother early in life, Adrian is being brought up by his gruff, exhausted Gran, who is also caring for a bipolar adult son, Adrian’s muchloved Uncle Rory. The story centres on Adrian’s burgeoning friendship with the mysterious girl who just moved in across the street – an outsider like himself, who also has secrets to hide.

Post-screening discussion with Dr. Carolyn Steinberg, an Infant/Preschool Child Psychiatrist who has been working at Richmond Hospital in the Early Childhood Mental Health Program for the past seven years. Trained at the Universities of Toronto, Western Ontario, and Alberta, Dr. Steinberg is now a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia.

Moderated by Dr. Harry Karlinsky, Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21 – 7:30 PM

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18 – 7:30 PM

TOMORROW IS ALWAYS TOO LONG

Moving-image art in dialogue with cinema Programmed by Michèle Smith. Michèle Smith is co-editor of the art journal Drawing Room Confessions.

www.dimcinema.ca

Tomorrow Is Always Too Long

The World Question Center: James Lee Byars

Scottish artist Phil Collins giddily mixes genres — documentary and musical, silhouette animation and late-night television — in this love letter to the city of Glasgow. At the heart of the film is a song cycle by Cate Le Bon, interpreted by non-professionals filmed in their everyday environments to the accompaniment of the Royal Scottish Orchestra. Punctuating the musical sequences are public-access broadcasts by people from every walk of life to whom Collins opened the doors of a disused 1960s TV studio, and a series of short animations by Matthew Robins, soundtracked by Mogwai’s Barry Burns, which follows a group of characters on a night out. From children to pensioners, from poets to prisoners, Collins’s Glaswegians talk, sing, and dance us deep into the soul of their city and beyond, exploring the need for human interaction amid the alienating information-overload of the digital age.

“Could you offer us a question that you feel is pertinent in regards to your own evolution of knowledge?” asks the voice at the end of the line. It’s James Lee Byars, the American performance and installation artist, “whose idiosyncratic, Zen-influenced blendings of Minimal and Conceptual art stressed questions over answers, absence over presence, and a lush momentary experience of beauty over permanence” (Roberta Smith, New York Times).

The original idea was to lock 100 brilliant minds together behind closed doors and invite them to ask each other the question they had been asking themselves. It evolved into The World Question Center, a live broadcast on Belgian TV, during which the artist, supported by a panel of guests (including Marcel Broodthaers) and a ring of university students (the entire cast dressed in pink robes, but, alas, filmed in B&W) telephoned thinkers, scientists, and artists with his question. Filmmaker Jef Cornelis documented the proceedings: “That the network even broadcast this adventure, let alone at 10 o’clock on a Friday evening, is still a puzzle to me.”

Great Britain 2014. Dir: Phil Collins. 82 min. DCP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14 – 7:30 PM

James Lee Byars, Antwerpen 18 April – 7 Mei 1969 | Jef Cornelis/Belgium 1969. 32 min. DCP The World Question Center | Jef Cornelis/Belgium 1969. 63 min. DCP WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25 – 7:30 PM

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The Cinematheque’s Education Department presents

An Afternoon Film Program for Children and Their Families $6 Children & Youths (under 18) $9 Adults (Cinematheque membership not required)

If there’s one thing the movies do best, it’s whisking audiences away on incredible journeys and fantastic voyages.

Travel with us to points unknown in our 2015 Cinema Sunday series, “The Spirit of Adventure.” Teeter on the edge of your seat over perilous pursuits of ancient artifacts, expeditions of eternal enlightenment, quests for fortune and glory, and missions to vanquish the vile villain. We are thrilled to present amazing adventures of the ages… for all ages!

Films will be introduced by Vancouver film history teacher, critic, and dashing man of adventure Michael van ben Bos. In-theatre giveaways courtesy of Cinema Sunday community sponsors Videomatica Sales and Kidsbooks.

Superman

USA/Great Britain 1978. Dir: Richard Donner. 151 min. Blu-ray Disc

“You’ll believe a man can fly,” read the tagline. And boy, did we ever! Richard Donner’s live-action take on the iconic DC Comics’ superhero was a burst of sky-soaring, earthspinning, blockbuster fun that proved that capes and cowls could make it on the big screen. Featuring an insta-classic score by John Williams, and a remarkable supporting cast including Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, and a fall-in-love-able Margot Kidder, Superman really belongs to Christopher Reeve. In the dual role of Kal-El/Clark Kent, he brings a wit, charm, and palpable sense of goodness to the character that deservedly ranks him as the only Man of Steel in many eyes. “A pure delight” (Roger Ebert).

Ever wanted to create a comic, but didn’t know how to get the creative juices flowing? Try Cloudscape’s hero-themed comic jam after the movie! These collaborative drawing exercises are guaranteed to improve your storytelling skills, expand your drawing skills, and give you a chance to laugh and draw with new people. For more on Cloudscape, visit www.cloudscapecomics.com

SUNDAY, JANUARY 18 – 1:00 PM

Journey to the Center of the Earth USA 1959. Dir: Henry Levin. 132 min. DCP

Adapted from the 19th-century page-turner by adventure author extraordinaire Jules Verne (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea), this wonderfully campy sci-fi staple is a what-if tale of CinemaScope proportions. James Mason plays Professor Lindenbrook, a Scottish geologist who discovers an ancient passage into the Earth via an extinct volcano in Iceland. Joined by a band of likeminded explorers (and, ahem, Gertrude the pet duck), they descend into a mysterious subterranean world where fungi grow tall, dinosaurs still exist, and a long-lost city awaits rediscovery. Big sets, clever effects, and a few iguanas in costume make this “one of the very best Hollywood adventure movies” (Geoff Andrew, Time Out).

Want to know what it would really be like to travel to the centre of the Earth? Join the Pacific Museum of Earth after the screening for a tour below the Earth’s crust, where we’ll explore the guts of our dynamic planet. The Pacific Museum of Earth (PME) is located at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. For more info, visit www.pme.ubc.ca

Pacific Museum of Earth

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8 – 1:00 PM

FREE EVENT

n Department o ti a c u d E e u q e th a m The Cine Celebrates 20 Years

S

ince its creation in 1995, The Cinematheque’s awardwinning Education Department has been a leader in media education in British Columbia, offering challenging and innovative film and media programs and resources for youths, teachers, and community groups across the province. Join us on January 22nd as we celebrate two successful decades. The evening will feature participant stories and screenings of select films produced by youths in our programs, followed by a reception. Connect with the Education Department and find out how The Cinematheque is inspiring a new generation of critical thinkers and independent filmmakers.

18

THURSDAY, JANUARY 22 – 7:00 PM

FROM OUR

Collection 35mm prints from The Cinematheque archive

By Denis Villeneuve

August 32nd on Earth

(aka 32nd Day of August on Earth) (Un 32 août sur terre)

Canada 1998. Dir: Denis Villeneuve. 88 min. 35mm

The stylish, striking August 32nd on Earth was the first feature of leading Quebec filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, subsequently a four-time Best-Director Genie/Canadian Screen Award winner (for Maelström, Polytechnique, Incendies, and Enemy). Pascale Bussières stars as a young Montreal woman who, after a terrible car accident, asks an old friend (Alexis Martin) to father her child. He’s involved with someone else, but agrees – provided they procreate in the middle of the desert. The gorgeous cinematography – including location shooting in the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah – is by talented André Turpin, who recently filmed Xavier Dolan’s Mommy (screening in our Canada’s Top Ten festival).

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7 – 6:30 PM

By Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

La Promesse (The Promise)

Belgium 1996. Dirs: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. 93 min. 35mm

Belgium’s Dardenne brothers – two-time Palme d’Or-winners, for Rosetta and L’enfant, and recently the directors of Two Days, One Night – first came to world attention with their powerful third feature. A raw, realist drama set in the industrial city of Liège, La Promesse centres on the moral awakening of 15-year-old Igor (Jérémie Renier), whose father (Olivier Gourmet) runs a shady business employing illegal immigrants. Igor adores his dad, and helps out in the family business. But when an African labourer is fatally injured in a workplace accident, Igor makes the dying man a promise that sets father and son on a collision course. The semi-documentary style, naturalistic performances, and sense of moral purpose are all hallmarks of these master filmmakers.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7 – 8:15 PM

LA PROMESSE

Punishment by stretching the criminal on a wooden bench and cangue barrel, Part of the album with scenes of punishments and executions, mid 19th century, 21.5 x 29 cm (p), Asian Art Purchase Fund, AGGV

Visualizing a Culture for Strangers: Chinese Export Paintings of the Nineteenth Century On now until March 29, 2015 This exhibition is on tour from the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, and is guest curated by Barry Till.

Join Barry Till on February 26, 7-9pm for a curator’s talk and tour of the exhibition.

6344 Deer Lake Avenue, Burnaby | burnabyartgallery.ca |

burnabyartgallery |

@BurnabyArtGall | Suggested Donation: $5

Terri Lyne Carrington’s Mosaic Project and Cécile McLorin Salvant SUN FEB 15 2015 / 7pm C H A N C E N T R E AT U B C Tickets and info chancentre.com

Don’t miss The Cinematheque screening of The Girls in the Band Thursday, February 5!

See guide for details.

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