M/A/D
USA
Gimme Danger
JIM JARMUSCH, USA, 2016, 108 MIN.
THU, SEP 29 SAT, OCT 8 WED, OCT 12
9:15 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM
RIO IN10 RIO
The Stooges are the greatest rock and roll band ever. Try and argue that assertion with Jim Jarmusch and he’ll counter with this documentary that makes its persuasive case by cranking the volume for archival footage and imparting anecdotes with as many hooks as “Search and Destroy.” Engaging Iggy Pop as an iconoclastic equal, Jarmusch illustrates these glamorous degenerates’ influence on music and the maverick director’s own filmmaking. “One of the great rock documentaries of recent times.”—Sight & Sound Featuring Iggy Pop, The Stooges Prod Carter Logan, Fernando Sulichin, Rob Wilson Selected Filmography Stranger Than Paradise; Dead Man; Broken Flowers
France
Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story DANIEL RAIM, USA, 2015, 96 MIN.
FRI, SEP 30 SUN, OCT 2 THU, OCT 13
6:00 PM 3:30 PM 6:00 PM
VCT SFU VCT
Francis Ford Coppola, Mel Brooks, Danny DeVito and others testify to the remarkable lives of storyboard artist Harold Michelson, who worked with, among others, Hitchcock, and his film-researcher wife Lillian Michelson, who once wanted to travel to South America to study drug kingpins in order to enhance Al Pacino’s role in Scarface. “The [Hollywoodinsider] stuff walks hand in hand with a great romance, and this movie winds up being a rather wonderful paradox: an educational tearjerker.”—Vanity Fair Cast Mel Brooks, Francis Ford Coppola, Danny DeVito Prod Daniel Raim, Jennifer Raim
Relève
THIERRY DEMAIZIÈRE, ALBAN TEURLAI, FRANCE, 2016, 110 MIN.
4:15 PM 7:00 PM
IN10 IN10
Canadian Premiere. Just as Benjamin Millepied’s dynamic choreography for Black Swan immersed us in the emotional tumult of a ballerina facing her breaking point, this documentary imbeds us in the creative chaos surrounding Millepied’s greatest trial: his debut as the Paris Opera Ballet’s director. “Thierry Demaizière and Alban Teurlai’s vibrant account of the run up to Millepied’s first gala presentation reflects the [dancer’s] energetic, assured, occasionally anarchic approach... It is electrifying viewing...”—Screen Featuring Benjamin Millepied Prod Falabracks Selected Filmography (Thierry Demaizière) Les troufions; Couple(s); (Alban Teurlai) Les troufions
Spain
I Called Him Morgan
Playing Lecuona
KASPER COLLIN, SWEDEN, 2016, 91 MIN.
THU, OCT 6 MON, OCT 10
6:30 PM 1:45 PM
RIO IN10
Jazz fans know Lee Morgan for his 1964 hit “The Sidewinder” and his work with Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, et al. But you don’t have to dig bebop to appreciate the tragic ironies that make this such a sucker punch of a crime story, delivered here with palpable love and respect... and bittersweet regret. Tracing how a good woman saved Morgan’s life only to put him in the grave, Kasper Collin’s poignant and evocative documentary shines new light on Morgan’s rise, fall, resurrection and ultimate demise. Featuring Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Art Blakey Prod Kasper Collin Filmography My Name Is Albert Ayler
JUAN MANUEL VILLAR BETANCORT, PAVEL GIROUD, SPAIN/CUBA, 2015, 110 MIN.
THU, SEP 29 WED, OCT 5 SUN, OCT 9
8:00 PM 4:00 PM 9:15 PM
VCT SFU SFU
Juan Manuel Villar Betancort and Pavel Giroud’s doc will thrill casual fans of Cuban music, while aficionados will be in seventh heaven. That’s because this is one of those comparatively rare films that isn’t content to be just a performance piece, but which holds the music up to the light and explores each silvery note. Three contemporary Cuban piano stars—Chucho Valdés, Michel Camilo and Gonzalo Rubalcaba—take turns paying homage to Ernesto Lecuona, the acknowledged inventor of the Cuban sound. Best Documentary, Montreal 15
Selected Filmography The Man on Lincoln’s Nose; Something’s Gonna Live
Israel
UK
Reset SAT, OCT 1 TUE, OCT 11
Sweden
USA
Vita Activa: The Spirit of We Are X STEPHEN KIJAK, UK/USA/JAPAN, 2015, 93 MIN. Hannah Arendt
Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach
ADA USHPIZ, ISRAEL/CANADA, 2015, 125 MIN.
LOUISE OSMOND, UK, 2016, 93 MIN.
FRI, SEP 30 SUN, OCT 2 WED, OCT 5
10:30 AM 8:15 PM 8:30 PM
UK
VCT VCT VCT
North American Premiere. Emerging from retirement to claim the Palme d’Or at Cannes for I, Daniel Blake, 79-year-old Ken Loach served notice that he remains amongst the elite directors and that his brand of socially engaged, deeply humanist filmmaking strikes a resounding chord in these tumultuous socioeconomic times. Delving into Loach’s uncompromising oeuvre, Louise Osmond (Dark Horse) fashions “a fitting tribute to a director who has made a career out of telling the stories that most urgently need to be told.”—Observer Featuring Ken Loach, Cillian Murphy, Gabriel Byrne, Alan Parker Prod Rebecca O’Brien Selected Filmography Deep Water; Dark Horse
SAT, OCT 1 WED, OCT 5
1:00 PM 9:15 PM
IN09 IN09
Canadian Premiere. One of recent history’s most profound and provocative thinkers gets the rigorous, fair-minded documentary she deserves. Everyone knows Hannah Arendt’s memorable phrase “the banality of evil,” but her ideas about the Holocaust were just one aspect of a complex and evolving political philosophy and an intellectual life that drew from, but transcended, her experiences as a German Jew, refugee, academic and woman. Ada Ushpiz illuminates these ideas through archival footage, interviews and Arendt’s own words.
SAT, OCT 1 WED, OCT 5 SUN, OCT 9
3:45 PM 6:30 PM 4:15 PM
PLAY RIO IN10
Canadian Premiere. Watch this documentary and be rocketed into the outer realms of rock ‘n’ roll extravagance as you meet X, the Japanese band that’s captivated audiences worldwide with their operatic musical stylings, outlandish costumes and over-the-top theatrics. The backstage story explores some darker territory, but Stephen Kijack’s film remains a riveting, often inspiring movie. “Bound to become a favorite among fans and to persuade others to join the ranks of those under the loud spell of X.”—IndieWire Best Editing Award, Sundance 16
Featuring Hannah Arendt Prod Ina Fichman, Ada Ushpiz
Featuring X Japan Prod Jonathan McHugh, Jonathan Platt, John Battsek, Diane Becker
Filmography Detained
Selected Filmography Scott Walker: 30 Century Man; Stones in Exile
Buy tickets and read full film descriptions at viff.org
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