DGC Master Class Series
Creator Talks Be inspired by some of the world’s leading creators.
From intimate one-on-one conversations to dynamic panel discussions to live music, engage with the world's leading creators.
Totally Indie Day
Patricia Rozema, Director/Writer, Mouthpiece | OCT. 1 Michael Schur, Creator/Executiver Producer, The Good Place | SEPT. 30
VIFF Immersed Exhibition Paris Barclay, Director, Scandal | OCT. 6 Meet The Show Runners OCT. 3
VIFF Immersed Conference
Paul Austerberry, Production designer, The Shape of Water | OCT. 4
Edge of the Knife
Gwaai Edenshaw, Helen Haig-Brown, Canada, 100 min. WED. OCT 3 THU. OCT 4 FRI. OCT 5
6:15 PM 9:30 PM 10:30 AM
PLAYHOUSE CENTRE FOR ARTS SFU-GCA
Shot on stunning Haida Gwaii and scripted in two Haida dialects, Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen HaigBrown’s 19th-century epic is both a landmark work of cinema and a nod to the grand storytelling traditions that lure us to the big screen. Guilt-ridden after a tragic accident, Adiits’ii (Tyler York) retreats into the wilderness where he’s plagued by spirits and transformed into Gaagiixid, the Haida Wildman. As his loved ones set out to capture and cure him, a riveting tale of survival and forgiveness unfolds.
Maria by Callas Tom Volf, France, 113 min. SUN. SEP 30 THU. OCT 11
3:45 PM 1:15 PM
PLAYHOUSE SFU-GCA
A spellbinding amalgam of previously unseen photographs and performances, personal Super 8 films, private recordings, letters and behind-thescenes archival footage, Tom Volf’s portrait of the world’s most popular opera singer confines itself solely to the words and thoughts of the divine Maria Callas. “An immense celebration… A great gift to music lovers all over the world… Offers the viewer almost two hours in the company of a talented, fascinating, passionate and tragic woman.” —Cineuropa
ANTHROPOCENE: The Human Epoch
Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, Edward Burtynsky, Canada, 87 min. FRI. SEP 28 SUN. SEP 30
1:45 PM 6:30 PM
SFU-GCA CENTRE FOR ARTS
The latest masterful collaboration between Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier and Edward Burtynsky isn’t so much eye-opening as mindblowing as it essays our unprecedented impact on the Earth to stunning effect. The staggering tableaux captured here are at once surreal and sobering, including monolithic machines hell-bent on terraforming their surroundings and potash mines that evoke a bad drug trip. This is filmmaking of the highest order that unfolds on a dizzying, almost inconceivable scale.
Sharkwater Extinction Rob Stewart, Canada, 88 min. FRI. SEP 28 SUN. SEP 30
6:30 PM 2:00 PM
CENTRE FOR ARTS INTL VILLAGE 10
Racing across the globe to document the corruption that’s pushed sharks to the brink of extinction, documentarian/conservationist Rob Stewart demonstrates that activism is always a rush against the clock—if your objective is saving the world, there’s never a moment to waste. Tragically, this marks Stewart’s final film but it ensures that he leaves a legacy of inspiration in his wake. So much more than a call-to-arms, this film encourages all of us to look at the world with a newfound sense of wonder.
Sept. 29 Totally Indie Day, presented by STORYHIVE, is an opportunity for independent content creators to learn more about the art and business of motion pictures. The event will feature experienced industry professionals and rising new talents alike; they’ll be sharing stories, offering insights, passing on tips and more. Day Pass Only $96 | $70 Student
Sept. 30 - 0ct. 2 Come experience some of the best in immersive storytelling. Presented by Samsung VR Video, this 3 day event provides participants with exclusive, original and cutting edge VR experiences from across North America. 90 minute session only $15 Info & registration: goviff.org/immersedexhibition
Day Pass Only $96 Full Conference Pass Only $149 Info & Registration: goviff.org/immersed
The Old Man & the Gun Vox Lux David Lowery. USA, 93 min. SAT. SEP 29
Colette
Wash Westmoreland, UK, 112 min. SAT. SEP 29 WED. OCT 3
3:00 PM 6:00 PM
CENTRE FOR ARTS CENTRE FOR ARTS
Keira Knightley gives the performance of her professional career in Wash Westmoreland’s sparkling look at the early life of Collette, the French writer and feminist icon who turned fin de siècle Paris upside down with her liberal life and work. Co-starring a perfectly cast Dominic West as Colette’s libertine first husband, the critic known as “Willy” who took credit for Colette’s first four novels, this is “a fun, frothy, feminist biopic about the relationship between sex and freedom.”—IndieWire
Shoplifters
Kore-eda Hirokazu, Japan, 121 min. SUN. SEP 30 MON. OCT 1
3:30 PM 6:00 PM
CENTRE FOR ARTS CENTRE FOR ARTS
VIFF favourite Kore-eda Hirokazu is back with the top prizewinner from Cannes 2018. Also a smash hit in his native Japan, Shoplifters is a bittersweet story of love and crime—tear-jerking and provocative in equal measure. When an abused child (Sasaki Miyu) is rescued by Osamu (Lily Franky), she’s glad to join his family. The Shibatas are poor, but they seem content—though they have some risky ways of getting by… “[T]hrilling, beautiful… a film that steals in and snatches your heart.” —Daily Telegraph
Premier Sponsor
Cold War
Burning
Pawel Pawlikowski, Poland/UK/France, 88 min. TUE. OCT 2 TUE. OCT 9
6:30 PM 8:45 PM
Lee Changdong, South Korea, 148 min. CENTRE FOR ARTS CENTRE FOR ARTS
Shot in exquisite black and white, Pawel Pawlikowski’s (Ida) searing love story begins in the late 1940s when pianist Wiktor (Tomasz Kot), recording folk music in the Polish countryside, meets singer Zula (a riveting Joanna Kulig). What follows is an intense location- and time-jumping tale, based on the director’s parents’ story, fuelled by the music that both brings the couple together and drives them apart. “Visually stunning, passionate, wistful and thoughtful in equal measure.” —New York Magazine
SUN. OCT 7 FRI. OCT 12
8:30 PM 3:00 PM
CENTRE FOR ARTS PLAYHOUSE
Riffing nimbly on a Murakami Haruki short story, Lee Changdong’s masterful thriller flickers with mystery. Jongsoo (Yoo Ahin, Veteran) reunites with classmate Haemi (Jun Jongseo), who seduces him and then scoots off to Africa. She returns with suave, moneyed Ben (Okja’s Steve Yeun), who makes Jongsoo roil with envy and self-pity; a creepy confession plunges him into tormenting despair. The critics’ favorite at Cannes, Burning imbues South Korea’s simmering social unrest with universal resonance.
Becoming Astrid
Brady Corbet, USA, 112 min.
CENTRE FOR ARTS
SUN. OCT 7
5:30 PM
CENTRE FOR ARTS
Robert Redford has announced that this will be his final film as an actor, and, as such, David Lowery’s (the great A Ghost Story) charming, comedic caper—the real-life story of Forrest Tucker, an amiable septuagenarian who just happens to be an inveterate bank robber and prison escapologist—serves as a fitting capper to a legendary career. The cast includes Sissy Spacek, Casey Affleck, Elisabeth Moss, Danny Glover and Tom Waits, all doing fine work here, but the screen belongs to Mr. Redford...
A star is born in Brady Corbet’s incandescent feature which follows the rise of Celeste (Natalie Portman), an indomitable, foul-mouthed pop saviour, from the ashes of a major national tragedy to superstardom. Spanning 18 years and featuring original songs by Sia and an original score by Scott Walker, this is an origin story about the forces that shape us, as individuals, nations and gods. “A deliciously rich treatise on toxic fame and weapons of mass seduction.”-- Hollywood Reporter
The Grizzlies
Transit
Leto
Pernille Fischer Christensen, Denmark, 123 min. SUN. SEP 30 TUE. OCT 9
9:00 PM 3:30 PM
RZA, Composer, Writer, Director, Leader of Wu-Tang Clan OCT. 9
Kirill Serebrennikov, Russia, 126 min.
CENTRE FOR ARTS PLAYHOUSE
Astrid Lindgren is famous the world over for creating the indefatigable Pippi Longstocking, and Pernille Fischer Christensen’s vibrant biopic chronicling Lindgren’s (Alba August) difficult years between the ages of 16 and 21 in 1920s Sweden— when the ever-questioning young woman did the unthinkable and had a child out of wedlock— shows that Pippi’s moxie was not created out of whole cloth… “Gorgeous… Christensen takes to period filmmaking like a duck to water, and brings to it an uncommon energy.”—Variety
FRI. SEP 28 THU. OCT 4
1:00 PM 9:15 PM
INTL VILLAGE 9 PLAYHOUSE
Leningrad rocks! This biopic, set in the early 80s, surveys the Russian rock scene of the time through the experiences of rock legend Viktor Tsoi (Teo Yoo). Great cinematography and an eclectic soundtrack push the movie to tour de force level as it depicts a subculture that serves as a form of rebellion. And speaking of rebellion: director Kirill Serebrennikov, a truly subversive artist, is now under house arrest on dubious charges. May he be freed to make more superb movies like this one.
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20 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT SEPTEMBER 20 – 27 / 2018
6:00 PM
Sept. 29 - 30 Dedicated to exceptional narrative storytelling in Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality, this two-day conference is where art, technology and business intersect.
VIFF.org Film Infoline: 604-683-FILM
Box Office • ONLINE at viff.org • IN-PERSON Vancity Theatre 1181 Seymour Street, at Davie (Mon – Sat, Noon – 7 pm, Sun 2 -7pm)
Miranda de Pencier, Canada/USA, 104 min. MON. OCT 1 MON. OCT 8
6:30 PM 1:00 PM
PLAYHOUSE PLAYHOUSE
With sub-zero temperatures and staggering suicide rates, Kugluktuk, Nunavut, isn’t conducive to dreaming big. After introducing his students to lacrosse in a bid to boost morale, a teacher (Ben Schnetzer) learns that a restoration of pride can only come from within the community. With a cast composed of both established Indigenous performers and remarkable new discoveries (including Nunavut’s own Paul Nutarariaq and Emerald MacDonald), Miranda de Pencier’s film is a stirring tale of collective rebirth.
Christian Petzold, Germany/France, 101 min. SAT. SEP 29 MON. OCT 8
9:30 PM 3:45 PM
PLAYHOUSE PLAYHOUSE
With occupying forces closing in, a haunted refugee (Franz Rogowski, Germany’s Joaquin Phoenix) assumes a dead writer’s identity—and transit papers—and flees to Marseille in hopes of sailing to safety. However, he soon becomes entangled in the lives of those who’ve been left behind, including the widow (Paula Beer) of the man he’s posing as. Christian Petzold (Phoenix) masterfully conjures a fever dream-fuelled, noir-tinged romantic thriller that’s equally indebted to Casablanca and current affairs.
Birds of Passage
Cristina Gallego, Ciro Guerra, Colombia/Denmark/Mexico, 125 min. SUN. OCT 7 THU. OCT 11
6:30 PM 4:00 PM
PLAYHOUSE SFU-GCA
Beginning in 1968 and spanning 12 years, Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego’s terrific drama focuses on one desert-dwelling indigenous Waayu family and its rise and fall in the early days of the Colombian drug trade. Structured around five chapters and replete with Waayu traditions and costumes, this is a crime story like you’ve never seen before. “A textured and utterly unique re-imagining of the family crime saga [that] offers… a fascinating glimpse into a little-understood community.”—Sight & Sound
Non-Fiction
Olivier Assayas, France, 106 min. SAT. OCT 6 THU. OCT 11
3:00 PM 6:15 PM
CENTRE FOR ARTS CENTRE FOR ARTS
VIFF fave Olivier Assayas (12 of his films have played the festival, ranging from A New Life, VIFF 93, to Personal Shopper, VIFF 16) turns his eye to the publishing world and the disruption caused by the digital age with this relationship drama starring Juliette Binoche and Guillaume Canet. He’s a besieged book exec confronted by “the death of print” and she’s an actress tired of her job—and perhaps her relationship. Assayas’ intelligent film for thinking adults says a lot about the way we live now.
SEPTEMBER 20 – 27 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 21