FREE | SEPTEMBER 27 – OCTOBER 4 / 2018
Volume 52 | Number 2646
KENNEDY STEWART
Candidate’s housing promises
TESTOSTERONE TEST Show mines masculinity
CANNABIS FINANCES Dental plans for dispensaries
Film Festival
Local filmmakers Sean Devlin and Kat Jayme bring poignant tales to the big screen in When the Storm Fades and Finding Big Country
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CONTENTS
September 27 – October 4 / 2018
11 COVER
B.C. film is looking better and more diverse than ever at this year’s Vancouver International Film Festival By Adrian Mack and Janet Smith Cover photo by Shimon Karmel
6 REAL ESTATE
Independent mayoral candidate Kennedy Stewart has suggested that the city assemble and rezone land, then designate it for affordable rental housing. By Charlie Smith
8 CANNABIS
Courtland Sandover-Sly has helped more than 20 cannabis companies transition to viable businesses. By Piper Courtenay
19 ARTS
More than 50 years after the debut of Quebec playwright Michel Tremblay’s incendiary Les Belles-soeurs, director Diane Brown wants to remain true to his original vision. By Alexander Varty
27 MUSIC
If former Ritalin candidate Yungblud has learned anything since surviving his childhood, it’s the importance of taking a stand. By Mike Usinger
3RD FLOOR
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LEE NICHOLS BAND RETRO FRIDAY OCTOBER 5 & 26
Start Here 6 CONFESSIONS 10 FOOD 9 HOROSCOPE 12 I SAW YOU 13 MOVIE REVIEWS 7 NEWS 31 SAVAGE LOVE 24 THEATRE 24 VISUAL ARTS Listings 26 ARTS 29 MUSIC Services 29 CLASSIFIEDS
Vancouver’s News and Entertainment Weekly Volume 52 | Number 2646 1635 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C. V6J 1W9 T: 604.730.7000 F: 604.730.7010 E: gs.info@straight.com straight.com
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Jean Swanson: We stopped the 4.5 percent rent increase. Man with hammer attacks three people on New West bridge. Vancouver brothel offers clients a chance to forget limitations. Mayoral candidate calls for police probe of one of her rivals. Police chief says his department won’t use Drager DrugTest 5000.
GeorgiaStraight @GeorgiaStraight @GeorgiaStraight
The Georgia Straight is published every Thursday by the Vancouver Free Press Publishing Corp. Copies are distributed free every week throughout Vancouver, Burnaby, North and West Vancouver, New Westminster, and Richmond. International Standard Serial Number ISSN 0709-8995. Subscription rates in Canada $182.00/52 issues (includes GST), $92.00/26 issues (includes GST); United States $379.00/52 issues, $205.00/26 issues; foreign $715.00/52 issues, $365.00/26 issues. Contact 604-730-7087 if you wish to distribute free copies of the Georgia Straight at your place of business. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Vancouver Free Press, Best Of Vancouver, Bov And Golden Plates Are Trade-Marks Of Vancouver Free Press Publishing Corp. SUBMISSIONS The Straight accepts no responsibility for, and will not necessarily respond to, any submitted materials. All submissions should be addressed to contact@straight.com. Canadian Publications Mail Agreement #40009178, return undeliverable Canadian addresses to The Georgia Straight, 1635 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C, V6J 1W9
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PERFORMANCE MANCE TY REALTY
Join us until October 3rd for our annual BIG Cheese Event. Enjoy complimentary tastings of the finest cheeses and accompaniments from around the world. Amazing specials on your favourites and other delicious offerings to inspire the gourmand in you. Need some tips on designing the perfect cheese tray? Our friendly in-store cheese experts would love to help you !
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SEPTEMBER 27 – OCTOBER 4 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 5
REAL ESTATE
Kennedy Stewart wants city to assemble land The mayoral candidate says that buying houses and rezoning these sites would result in more affordable housing
I
by Charlie Smith
ndependent mayoral candidate Kennedy Stewart often says that if he’s elected on October 20, housing affordability will be his top priority. And in a recent interview at the Georgia Straight office, the former NDP MP emphasized that he didn’t want to “overpromise” in his platform. “[Mayoral candidate] Hector Bremner’s 70,000 units in three years is clearly never going to happen,” Stewart said. “But my plan is 85,000 units over a decade.” Of those, 25,000 would be “affordable” rental units developed on city land and operated by nonprofit organizations. According to
Stewart, they would be mainly targeted at families with household incomes of $80,000 or less. He said that allowing for a higher income threshold will generate more money, which can help finance single-room-occupancy units and social housing. The next 25,000 units would be market rentals, with the other 35,000 units being homes that would go on the market. He also promised to renew leases for co-ops on city-owned land and look for opportunities to expand this type of housing beyond the 6,000 units that exist in the city today.
If he’s elected mayor, Kennedy Stewart hopes to sharply increase the number of rental units.
“But if you think about it in the overall scheme of things, there’s 6,000 co-op units and 300,000 homes,” Stewart said. “It is only two percent of our housing stock. To focus on that is a bit too boutique-y for me. “I think that they need to be saved,” he continued. “We have to reinforce that. But, really, we’ve got to move out into the nonmarket rental or else we’re not going to really address our problem here.” Stewart emphasized that the next mayor is also going to have to know how to work with power brokers in Ottawa to attract more federal money for nonprofit housing. He would also like
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The Georgia Straight Confessions, an outlet for submitting revelations about your private lives—or for the voyeurs among us who want to read what other people have disclosed.
Scan to confess Sixteen
nT e D 8 HAU HOu SES & 20 RId ES
All he wants to do is stay up late and eat junk food. He doesn’t want to spend time with the rest of the family, brush his teeth or clean up after himself. I don’t think this will change any time soon, because my 16-year old is a cat.
All’s not fair You know how sometimes in relationships, something is said that is just too far over the line to ever go back? So that even if you still have intense love for that person, what they said hurt you so deeply that you just can’t get past it? Yeah, so that happened. It’s true, I still love him beyond any rationality, but he said it and it was the death blow for sure.
Nic x
SAVE ON ADMISSION AT:
It’s been over 10 years since I quit smoking and I still have the occasional smoke in my dreams. I don’t miss the wheezing, while going up stairs or running; however, there are times that I wish I could just have one more for old times sake. With that all said I am so happy I am no longer addicted to nicotine that I will never allow that monkey on my back again. Here’s to smashing your addictions instead of letting them rule you.
Truths When I was young my dad would tell me two things. 1. Figure things out for yourself. 2. Life’s not fair. He would repeat these when I would complain that someone at... (con’t @straight.com)
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6 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 27 – OCTOBER 4 / 2018
somebody on his team who understands how the power structure works in Ottawa, to increase the likelihood of more money coming to Vancouver. Recently, the B.C. government passed legislation allowing municipal governments to create rental-only zones. Stewart said that if he becomes mayor, he’ll “absolutely” use this power because if real-estate flippers can’t see any opportunities for quick profits, it can protect land from being the subject of speculation. “One thing I’m really thinking about is the city assembling land on its own,” Stewart said. “Why not buy single-family-home lots or a duplex now and then, assemble that ourselves, and then rezone?…Then we can have rental-only that we assemble and we could turn it over to a nonprofit.” In the early 1990s, Stewart worked on CityPlan, which was a document outlining a citywide vision for Vancouver. Only in recent years has that been followed up with neighbourhood area plans for the West End, Downtown Eastside, Marpole, and Grandview-Woodland. Stewart said his priority is to “get the housing stabilized and then look at long-term planning”. And he has no intention of reversing a recent council vote allowing duplexes in almost all of the city that’s zoned for single-family homes, saying he doesn’t want to create uncertainty for people who are affected by the decision. “I was hoping it was going to be kicked back to the next council,” he acknowledged. “I did think there were some good points to the plan, which I incorporated into my own platform.” One of the last council’s more unexpected moves in land-use planning came when it declared First Shaughnessy
Visit
to post a Confession
I look at that area in the Olympic Village. There’s a lot of strata down there now. I really want mixed neighbourhoods. – Kennedy Stewart
a heritage-conservation district to prevent the demolition of homes built before 1940. It was popular with heritage advocates but enraged many local residents, who saw their property values fall sharply. Stewart said he’s “not so keen” on heritage-conservation districts, noting that he prefers it when cities preserve individual properties. As for the city’s large property holdings in False Creek Flats, Stewart’s priority is for mixed-use rental housing, particularly for households with incomes of $80,000 or less. “I don’t want to do strata on cityowned land,” he declared. “I look at that area in the Olympic Village. There’s a lot of strata down there now. I really want mixed neighbourhoods.” The independent mayoral candidate is also concerned about growing speculation in commercial land, which is driving up property taxes for local businesses. He said that demand-reducing measures on residential properties—such as the school tax on homes valued at more than $3 million and the foreign-buyers’ tax—have led investors to pursue other types of land. “I think we definitely need to look at that and take some measures, perhaps, to slow that down,” Stewart revealed. “A business is there for a long time and all of a sudden, boom, a massive [tax] increase and they’re done. Their business no longer works at that location.”
F orum OF THE WEEK October 20 is voting day. Stephen Hui photo.
THIS WEEKEND, Vancouver election junkies can enjoy some pancakes with their politics. That’s because breakfast is on the menu before a candidates meeting at Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood House (4065 Victoria Drive). Food will be dished up at 9 a.m., followed by a serving of campaign fireworks at 10 a.m. when political aspirants will answer questions. Then from 11 a.m. to noon, the public can chat with candidates milling about.
NEWS
Never before have residents in the area seen an election quite like the donnybrook of 2018. A political civil war on the right and centre side of the spectrum has resulted in mayoral candidates for four parties—the NPA, Yes Vancouver, Coalition Vancouver, and Vancouver 1st—vying for the affections of those who ordinarily support the B.C. Liberals. Collectively, these four entities are fielding 27 candidates for 10 council positions. Things aren’t quite as balkanized on the centre-left and left sides of the spectrum, but there are still far more Green, COPE, Vision Vancouver, OneCity, and ProVancouver candidates than there are elected positions on council. That’s to say nothing of the most stellar group of independent council candidates that have run for office in recent Vancouver history.
Ballot-name battle halted
T
by Carlito Pablo
he legal action against the addition of city-council candidate Brandon Yan’s Chinese name to the Vancouver ballot has been abandoned. Ken Denike and Sophia Woo have discontinued their notice of claim that questioned the inclusion of Chinese characters next to Yan’s name. Yan is the only candidate in the October 20 civic election who was able to have an additional Chinese name on the ballot, which Denike and Woo claimed was unfair to others. Denike and Woo are candidates for the school board. For Yan, the controversy over his Chinese name was a “silly” issue. “For someone like me, as I said, who got into this election because I wanted to put myself out there as a renter
and as someone who wanted to make change in Vancouver, and then to have a very silly thing—it seemed silly to me, anyways—kind of distract me from all of that…while I was talking about my name, we weren’t talking about housing or transportation or poverty or drug use,” Yan told the Georgia Straight by phone on September 24. Yan said that it was “all very weird” for him that he became a “target” because he had Chinese characters next to his name. “We see many non-Chinese candidates have Chinese names on their lawn signs, and so why is the criticism only coming my way?” Denike revealed that he and Woo are no longer pursuing their notice of claim before the B.C. Supreme Court. Denike and Woo had suggested that if Yan’s Chinese name was not removed,
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then other candidates should be allowed to have Chinese names on the ballot as well. But then Denike revealed that he and Woo were no longer pursuing their notice of claim before the B.C. Supreme Court. Denike told the Straight by phone that he and Woo abandoned the court action last Friday (September 21) because it became “pretty clear that the city was not going to really back down”. “We didn’t want to hold up the whole process,” Denike said, referring to the election. According to Denike, after the election he and Woo would like to see more conversations by citizens about the use of other names. Yan does not speak Chinese and had claimed that he wanted the Chinese characters in the ballot as a way to honour his father, who gave him the Chinese name.
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SEPTEMBER 27 – OCTOBER 4 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 7
CANNABIS
Industry gets money-wise
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s the first financial adviser in North America to secure health and dental plans for dispensaries, Courtland Sandover-Sly is one of the few allies fighting for small businesses in the shifting cannabis economy. “I was in a unique position to help people who had been ignored outright by the financial-services industry,” he says, adding that business owners are usually shocked to discover that they not only qualify for health benefits but can also use traditional investment and insurance products. The financial consultant began his career in film and theatre, but with his entrepreneurial skill set and thirst for independence, he knew his time in the entertainment industry had an expiry date. After seven years working as a stagehand and grip, he left show biz and pursued a bachelor of commerce from Royal Roads University on Vancouver Island. Graduating in 2014, he joined Freedom 55 Financial and began the training program for financial advisers. It took just six months before he realized his work with the cannabis industry was pulling him away from the company’s traditional approach to advising businesses. He knew then it was time to take the full leap to the world of weed. “To be able to offer that same level of consideration and diligence to the cannabis industry, I branched out on my own to create Sandover-Sly Financial, a boutique financial-services firm for the cannabis industry,” he says. Since starting his outfit, he has helped more than 20 companies transition into viable businesses, including dispensaries, growers, and extractors. As one of Canada’s only financial advisers specializing in the weed economy, Sandover-Sly says the major hurdle for canna businesses stems from political institutions struggling to evolve with the times.
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“One of the biggest challenges…in the prelegalization era has been the reluctance of government, at all levels, to wholly embrace the industry,” he says. “While municipalities like Vancouver and Victoria have been quick to embrace these businesses, provincial governments and, certainly, the federal government have not.” This year, Sandover-Sly launched Groundwork Consulting alongside policy consultant Jamie Shaw and cultivator Travis Lane. The agency was created to help the group’s colleagues transition into the newly regulated market and navigate the “murky waters” of legalization. “The vast economic uncertainty that the industry has been facing has taken a toll, not just on the businesses but on the business owners themselves. Many business owners in the space have simply given up and walked away, which is especially disheartening, as it should be their time to shine.”
Sandover-Sly also dedicates a large portion of his time to volunteering as the president of the B.C. Independent Cannabis Association, a nonprofit organization made up of members from various facets of the province’s longstanding cannabis economy. What started in Victoria as a community forum for B.C.’s thriving cannabis industry has quickly grown into an educational platform, offering industry-focused informational seminars and networking opportunities. Just a few weeks shy of the federal legalization of adult-use cannabis, Sandover-Sly believes many business owners and organizations still feel like they are being pushed out of the legitimate side of the industry. He hopes to change that with his latest venture. “We [Groundwork Consulting] hope to show people that this doesn’t have to be true. There is plenty of room in the legal space for everyone.”
G reat GANJA “I HAVE developed a love for Vancouver Island–grown Super Silver Haze,” Courtland Sandover-Sly says when asked about his go-to strain. The sativa-heavy hybrid scored a High Times hat trick, taking home the first prize at the Cannabis Cup in 1997, 1998, and 1999. The strain garnered its award-winning reputation for combining three steadfast parent phenotypes: Northern Lights, Skunk, and Haze. “It suits my lifestyle,” he says. “I am a busy person. I run two businesses as
well as volunteering as the president for the BCICA [B.C. Independent Cannabis Association], and it provides the energy and clarity at the times when I need it most.” Sandover-Sly says he typically indulges at the end of a long work day—adding that he leans toward smoking flower because a good Super Silver Haze is difficult to find in extract form. “I don’t like how some strains of cannabis can limit my ability to be social, so this allows me to unwind but still go out and have fun.”
HOROSCOPE
O
by Rose Marcus
Worth it.
SEPTEMBER 27 TO OCTOBER 3, 2018
ne thing leads to another. Through the end of the month, the stars keep the daily get-go running along a relatively smooth track. The Libra sun, in trine aspect to Mars in Aquarius on Thursday, keeps the stimulus in good supply, the conversation and the connection in good flow, and the money changing hands. Friday evening, the moon in Taurus favours good food, date night, and relaxation. Saturday, the Gemini moon is in the mood for something more social, active, or entertaining. Sunday continues the trend. Pluto in Capricorn ends its yearly five-month retrograde tour on Sunday night. We’ll feel this transit as a take-shape, cementing influence. Pluto direct also gets to work to get it under better control and to build it better. No longer out of bounds (extreme latitude) but still on high stakes, Mars in Aquarius continues to keep the social and political action stirred up. It has been a contributor to the recent weather extremes, too. Since mid-May, Mars has been keeping it edgy, uncertain, and stressful. Now on the last third of its tour through Aquarius, Mars hits its most prolific full-steam-ahead, destinyin-the-making peak, favouring all initiatives directed toward breaking new ground, finding higher ground, and personal, professional, and lifestyle reinvention. Next Friday, Venus begins a sixweek retrograde tour. Dredging up unresolved emotions and subconscious content, Venus retrograde is an important reassessment, reevaluation transit regarding relationships, money, and survival issues. Both Mars and Venus have been setting the karmic stage for some time now. Do not downplay what you feel, what you hear, what you see. ARIES
March 20–April 19
Opportunity is in the making as Mars in Aquarius gains a great big boost from the Libra sun on Thursday. Together they push the refresh button in some very significant, advancing, and karmic way. Put yourself out there; try a new angle, option, or choice. Let your instincts lead, not your dilemma. Major strides can be made. Monday/Tuesday, emotions run the show. TAURUS
April 20–May 20
If you hold fear about leaving the past behind, face it; if you have dues to pay, get on it. Venus retrograde, a pull-the-covers-off transit, is around the corner. Thursday, you can make great headway on the job or off it. Impress the boss; make it up as you go along. As of Sunday, Pluto loans you better backbone. GEMINI
May 21–June 21
Thursday can be a windfall or win/win day. Mars/sun could deliver a special event, news, a great social or financial opportunity, a chance to get ahead of the trend or curve. You could learn something new or meet up with someone exciting. The Gemini moon and Pluto on a turnaround keep you going strong for the weekend. Tuesday shifts the plan, opinion, or momentum. CANCER
June 21–July 22
Looking for something better, something more? Sun/Mars revs it up in a positive way on Thursday. This duo benefits all matters to do with home life, real estate, self-employment, and lifestyle reinvention. They also set an optimum backdrop for getting on the same page with your special someone. Monday/ Tuesday, the Cancer moon keeps your emotional push/pull dialled right up. LEO
July 22–August 22
Have fun with it Thursday.
It’s a great people, connect-the-dots, or get-the-show-on-the-road day. You can easily get lost in it this weekend. There’s no end to conversation or interest. Tying up loose ends or finishing what you start gains better momentum from Pluto’s turnaround on Sunday. Monday/Tuesday hits a few triggers. Wednesday/Thursday pumps you up.
That’s what people say. The only problem with Blundstone boots is that they never seem to wear out. Oh, people try. But after a few years of kicking the bejeez out of them, they’re more comfortable than ever and still going strong. Expensive? Nope, they get cheaper by the day.
VIRGO
August 22–September 22
Thanks to sun/Mars, you can get a better handle on it as the workweek finishes out. Even the tough stuff comes easily, especially Thursday. Friday through Sunday should prove smooth rolling. The end of Pluto retrograde helps you to build better stamina and confidence. A sense of rightness or right time is also in the mix. Even so, Monday/ Tuesday can tax emotions. LIBRA
September 22–October 23
Playing it, timing it, saying it right, enjoying yourself; it’s on the checklist. The sun and Mars pump up your inspiration and your game. You should find yourself on a great roll through Sunday. Monday/Tuesday, there’s stuff to get through. You can feel under added pressure or strain. By refresh Wednesday, you should have a better handle on it.
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SCORPIO
October 23–November 21
Never a dull moment, Mars and the sun keep your creative flow in good shape, your mind well stimulated, and your heart beating strong. You’ll time it/piece it together very well through the weekend. The end of Pluto retrograde pumps up your ambition and loans you added resolve. Monday, a finish line or deadline can put you under pressure. Tuesday/Wednesday keeps you/it moving along.
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SAGITTARIUS
November 21–December 21
Conversation and connection are in good flow Thursday through Sunday. Spontaneous choices do it best. Pluto resuming forward march helps you to lay better groundwork for yourself and with others, too. Monday calls for a gentle yet firm touch. Stay the course; get it done. Tuesday, move on to the next thing. By Wednesday, you should feel you are on the gain.
Date: Thursday, November 1, 2018 Start Time: 6:30 pm Early Bird Ticket Price: $150 Price after September 30, 2018:$175
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CAPRICORN
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December 21–January 19
You’ll work it out just fine Thursday/Friday. In general, Mars and the sun make for ease, good communication flow, good sharing, and good timing. The trend continues with Pluto ending retrograde on Sunday. The start of the week calls for more effort or push. Monday, finish it off. Tuesday, go by feel. Wednesday, it adds up to more.
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AQUARIUS
January 20–February 18
Mars in Aquarius keeps you quick on the pickup. You’ll operate at your creative and social best. Thursday to Saturday, synchronicity is on your side. Get to the gym, shop, catch up with friends or yourself; entertainment is on the ready dial-up this weekend. Monday/Tuesday requires extra patience and perseverance. Wednesday, you’ll hit an upswing. PISCES
February 18–March 20
There’s good value in the act or the gesture as the workweek finishes out. The weekend is a smooth sail, especially Saturday. The end of Pluto retrograde can see you surpass a lengthy wait or holdup. Monday, the push is on. Prioritize, finish it, streamline, or minimize as best you can. Tuesday there’s something else/ added to work out. Book a reading or sign up for Rose’s free monthly newsletter at rosemarcus.com/.
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lizrcarney@hotmail.com SEPTEMBER 27 – OCTOBER 4 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 9
FOOD
Chewie’s to bet on biscuits by Tammy Kwan
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6 ARDENT TRIBE 7 10 WEDNESDAY JAZZ
ocal restaurateur Richard Chew is bringing a little bit of southern charm to Kitsilano, and we’re not referring to the bestselling fried chicken and waffles at Chewie’s Steam and Oyster Bar. Chew was responsible for introducing the mouthwatering combo to the popular brunch spot that bears his name, but he’s since sold off his stake in that venture to focus on something that hasn’t been fully explored in the city: biscuits. Chewie’s Biscuit Co. (2822 West 4th Avenue) is slated to make its debut this week, and it’s going to satisfy all the biscuit dreams you never knew you had. “There’s nothing really dedicated to buttermilk biscuits,” Chew explained to the Georgia Straight by phone. “It’s really wildly popular in the south, and the more I started eating biscuits, the more I realized there’s nothing like this in the city or across the country.” The 1,400-square-foot space with 32 seats will be simple and tidy, with unique interior touches like a chandelier feature made with whisks, alluding to the baking effort that goes into creating biscuits. The eatery’s mantra, Better in a Biscuit, is also on clear display in the form of a painted logo. Local design firm Glasfurd & Walker also worked its magic on Chewie’s branding. As for the menu, guests can expect a combination of everything its
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Open Daily 11am-10pm Across from the Gassy Jack statue in Gastown
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owner likes to eat: gourmet bites with a bit of southern and West Coast flair. Biscuits are the star of the show, with options like a fish biscuit with panko-breaded cod, and a Frenchtoast-and-sausage biscuit. If you’re more sweet than savoury, check out the cinnamon-bun creation. According to the Chewie’s Biscuit Co. mastermind, it’s going to be like an inside-out cinnamon bun because the best part is always the centre. Think soft and fluffy buns with lots of cream cheese and brown sugar. Chew has also created the “bonut”: a hot-glazed biscuit doughnut, made with a biscuit batter instead of the traditional yeast dough. But the most popular menu item will likely be the Moose, which is a biscuit sandwich made with fried chicken, house-made sausage gravy, doublesmoked bacon, eggs, and cheese. “It’s just a mess of awesome and the flavours are just really good,” Chew said. What’s better than enjoying a biscuit? Enjoying a biscuit with a drink. Red and white wine will be available on tap, as well as local craft beers from Parkside Brewery and Whistler Brewing Company. So why should Vancouverites be excited about the opening of this little spot? “It’s something Vancouver hasn’t seen yet, so it’ll be a nice change,” Chew added.
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TUESDAY
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At Chewie’s Biscuit Co., slated to open this week, customers can order the Moose—a biscuit sandwich made with fried chicken, bacon, and eggs.
NONALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES don’t
get enough attention in our city, which is a shame because there are many restaurants that serve up great mocktails. If you’re looking for a delicious libation without booze, visit Chinatown’s Kissa Tanto (263 East Pender Street). This establishment is known for its signature cocktails, but its easy refreshments are just as impressive. Go for the Pink Moon, which is made with grapefruit, ginger rose, and soda. It’s sweet and refreshing and pairs well with chef Joël Watanabe’s family-style plates.
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Peaceful
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movies At this year’s VIFF, time to savour B.C. film
VIFF
The West Coast experience hits the big screen in an impressive program of homegrown movies
I
t was only six years ago that the call was raised to Save B.C. Film. Looking at the titles coming this year to the Vancouver International Film Festival’s annual Sea to Sky program, the patient is clearly well into recovery. While Vancouver appears in the background of a number of international features, it’s the striking diversity of the West Coast experience that really distinguishes VIFF’s B.C. Spotlight, from the immigrant’s-eye view of the Lower Mainland presented in Lee Seung-Yup’s ironic black-and-white drama The Darling, to the wilderness culture captured in Grant Baldwin’s This Mountain Life, to the gimlet-eyed view of suburban millennialism gently ribbed in N.O.N. Here are five films we especially liked, all homegrown. That said: each one of this year’s 11 titles can be described, to coin a phrase, as #mustseeBC. FINDING BIG COUNTRY
Consistent with a frame that barely breaks five feet, Kat Jayme packs a lot into the 45 minutes of “Finding Big Country”. A basketball fan since childhood, and no slouch herself on the court, Jayme’s sweet film is a love letter to Bryant “Big Country” Reeves, the Vancouver Grizzlies’ often benighted centre who disappeared without trace not long after the team split for Memphis in 2001. Beyond pursuing that delicious riddle, “Finding Big Country” also wants to restore a chapter of Vancouver’s past that’s been mysteriously redacted in some ways—as when Jayme visits the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame to find those bleak six years of our NBA franchise represented by a single ball. We all bury uncomfortable things from our past, but this is forced amnesia on a citywide scale. “It’s so weird,” says the filmmaker, in a call to the Straight. “On the streets of Vancouver, everyone has a story about the Grizzlies. But there are no physical remnants. If you were a tourist, you’d never know that we ever had a team. No photos in any sports bar, nothing. It might be because we obviously were the worst team in the NBA, so some might say there’s nothing to be proud of. But the Grizzlies are still a huge part of Vancouver’s history, and we should celebrate that.” While nobody’s likely to argue the facts—ample archival footage recalls the team’s hilariously bad rep— “Finding Big Country” is determined to set the record straight on Reeves himself, “a legend in our back yard” in Jayme’s view. Another vintage clip reminds us that Shaquille O’Neal would cosign that statement. “I think true fans understand how good of a player he was,” states Jayme. “But he’s definitely the guy that everyone gets mad about, and I think a lot of people blame him for the fact that the Grizzlies left, which is pretty unfair.” Speaking of unfair: Jayme folds some autobiography into the Storyhivesupported film, paralleling Reeves’s fate with her own disappointments as a player, ultimately turning “Finding Big Country” into what she calls a “redemption story”. “It’s about how you can look at something and see failure, but, after taking a step back, realizing that maybe things worked out the way they were supposed to in the end. In telling Bryant’s story, I’m also able to tell the story of my relationship with and love for basketball—and filmmaking, as well.” by Adrian Mack
“Finding Big Country” screens at the Vancouver Playhouse on Sunday (September 30) and October 10, and International Village on October 8.
forget: for the Pablos, nonactors who shine inside Devlin’s risky construct, climate change is horrendously, lethally real. by Adrian Mack
When the Storm Fades screens at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts next Thursday (October 4) and October 7.
PICKING UP THE PIECES
Agam Darshi and Camille Sullivan take no shit in the darkly funny and somewhat diagonal Kingsway, the latest from director Bruce Sweeney; In a hair-raising performance, Tyler York becomes “the Wildman” of Haida legend in Gwaii Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown’s Edge of the Knife.
“And you leave it there, and then you say, ‘I’m gonna take it out and see if it’s good. Or was I deluding myself?’ Then Twenty-three years and seven you take it out of the drawer and you movies since his Vancouver Inter- see that you were deluding yourself, national Film Festival debut, Live and you start over.” Bait, celebrated local writer-director by Janet Smith Bruce Sweeney should be well into his groove by now. Kingsway screens at the Rio Theatre on And in many ways he is, as is clearly Saturday (September 29) and International proven by his darkly funny new flick Village on Monday (October 1). Kingsway, which finds the filmmaker comfortably mining the territory he knows best—dysfunctional families, EDGE OF THE KNIFE bumpy love lives, and the streets, apartments, and bungalows of Vancouver. Werner Herzog’s insane determinaBut with the same self-effacing, dry tion to haul a 308-tonne steamship over humour that’s become his signature in an Amazonian mountain for Fitzcarraldo films from Dirty to Excited, he admits is the stuff of legend. She laughs at the the preshooting stage is as torturous (admittedly flippant) comparison, but it as ever for him. sounds as if Helen Haig-Brown and her “For me, it’s startlingly the same,” partners on Edge of the Knife were hardly the indie icon quips over the phone less guilty of tempting failure with about the writing process and lead- grand ambition. up to the 17 days of filming Kingsway. “I remember initially just thinking, “Before the shoot, I’m kind of a bas- ‘Jesus, are we for real?’ ” she tells the Straight ket case and a ball of nerves. I keep about the 19th-century period piece, shot telling myself ‘I’ve done this before,’ on Haida Gwaii and told entirely in a but it gets even worse each time, language remembered by fewer than 25 which just is ridiculous. people. Certainly, nobody in the film’s cast “Then 10 minutes into the first of relatively youthful nonactors was fluent shoot, I get with this group of people in the two dialects of Haida. All the same, that I know, and I settle down. And Haig-Brown continues, “We knew that’s then you get into that rhythm: you re- what was right and what had to be done. hearse, you block, you shoot.” But it was certainly scary as a filmmaker.” Sweeney surrounds himself with Directed with Gwaai Edenshaw, Edge a tight family of actors and crew— of the Knife (Sgaawaay K’uuna) tells the people like Gabrielle Rose, who plays story of Adiits’ii (Tyler York), who the highly involved single matriarch retreats into the forest after a tragic to Jeff Gladstone’s self-doubting anti- misadventure with a young boy. Beset hero, a son turned semisuicidal over his by grief and accosted by spirits, he gradwife’s infidelity, and Camille Sullivan’s ually transforms into the Wildman, or assertive mechanic daughter. Gaagiixiit, deriving from a Haida tale In a departure from his usual pro- that surfaced during community screencess, Sweeney says he started Kingsway writing workshops stretching back to by creating characters and back stor- the project’s origins in 2012. ies before plot. “It started with the York’s commitment to the role is hairmother, who comes over from an- raising. In part, Haig-Brown reveals, it’s other country pregnant and has her due to the training he did with stuntman first child, who turns out to be this Clint Carleton, who worked as an Orc alpha blue-collar female, and then movement coach on the Lord of the Rings she has this academic, sort of fragile trilogy. But there’s more to the performson. Her superobjective is to keep the ance than just intense physicality. status quo: happy kids, happy lives,” “We were initially very worried he explains, adding he was picturing about it, and we had different ideas what Rose could do with the part the about how to get him into preparation, whole time: “She’s a dialogue munch- how to have spiritual support,” Haiger like nobody else.” Brown says. “Because, remember, transIt was late in the process that Kings- forming into Gaagiixiit—this is a very way revealed itself as a perfect setting real thing that happens.” for the comedy. One of the actors The filmmaker hesitates to say more, commented that the diagonal street is adding that it might be more appropriconfounding—that you think you’re ate to let her Haida codirector talk about headed one way when you’re headed the it. But, she says, “I know it was a very other—and Sweeney thought it was an emotional journey for everyone because apt metaphor for the sideways direction no one got to see Tyler. We isolated him. the characters’ love lives were headed. When he gets captured and brought into Then the retro-bungalow 2400 Motel the village—there were real tears shed at became the obvious place to stage the that time. It’s the underlying story: how opening’s central act of infidelity. we can lose people, either through madDon’t take any of this, of course, to ness or emotional strife or drug addicmean the process came easily. “You do tion; how people can run from things, the drawer test,” Sweeney says wryly. and how it is part of our responsibility KINGSWAY
as a community to never leave somebody behind, to bring them back. We all relate to that feeling. We’ve all had somebody in our life, you know?” by Adrian Mack
Edge of the Knife screens at the Vancouver Playhouse on Wednesday (October 3), the Centre in Vancouver for the Performing Arts on October 4, and SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts on October 5.
WHEN THE STORM FADES
At the midpoint of When the Storm Fades, a Canadian volunteer on the typhoon-decimated Philippine island of Leyte wonders if he should Photoshoptinker with an image of his relief work to give it “more dimensions”. As gently as she can, his partner chides: “Isn’t it a bit problematic to create an image of something that never existed?” It’s a sly moment in a highly conscientious documentary-fiction hybrid that arrives at VIFF with an astounding plug from Big Short director Adam McKay. “Never seen anything like it,” stated the Oscar-winning filmmaker after a private viewing. Neither have we. Made by Sean Devlin, one of the more powerhouse creative types to call Vancouver home (remember Shit Harper Did?), Storm puts the real-life Pablo family front and centre in a film improvised around their experiences with 2013’s Typhoon Haiyan. Comedians Kayla Lorette and Aaron Read—a long way from his regular gig at the Fox Cabaret with the Sunday Service—are the eager, if hapless, aid workers who want to help. Although his own mother hails from Leyte, Devlin explains during a call to the Straight that those two proxies are there to keep the film honest. “I didn’t feel like I quite had the licence to fully tell the story of these people living in the Philippines,” he says. “Aaron and Kayla had never been to a country in the global South, so we improvised the film in sequence so that it would reflect the actual experience they were having as people, not as actors.” The result is a film (beautifully shot by Jeff Lee Petry) that finds its own delicate ground somewhere between poignancy and queasy humour—particularly for Read’s character, Trevor, in combat with his own well-meaning oafishness. Meanwhile, Devlin finds an “operating principle” in the cinema of Yasujiroˉ Ozu, where “the movie almost keeps you at a distance, through dryness or irony, until certain moments where it really invites you to feel some sort of passion.” There’s also a tempered anger beneath it all. Another Sunday Service vet, Ryan Beil, gets a memorable cameo as a loyal disaster capitalist sermonizing about the opportunities presented by the destroyed community. Here’s where we should mention that Naomi Klein acts as one of the film’s executive producers. And in case we
Of the dozens of wrenching stories codirector Cody Graham witnessed while filming residential-school survivors returning to the sites of their trauma, one stands out at this moment. In the new documentary Picking Up the Pieces: The Making of the Witness Blanket, a woman stares out the window of her old dormitory, and remembers how she would stand there longingly as a child. “It was heartbreaking,” he tells the Straight from the Victoria offices of his company, Media One. “I can still see her looking out there, to where her family lived 12 miles away—she could see it.” There were many more heartbreaking moments on his five-year journey with his codirector, visual artist Carey Newman, a master carver of British, Kwagiulth, and Salish descent whose own father was a survivor. His old friend had approached him for help building a website chronicling his making of The Witness Blanket—a huge installation honouring the 150,000odd children forced into Canada’s residential-school system. The artwork is meticulously constructed from wood and hundreds of artifacts—battered hockey skates, broken angel figurines, bricks, and books—scavenged from residentialschool sites. “But when he described what he was going to do, travelling around the country and gathering pieces of residential schools, I said, ‘Gee, Carey, are you going to be recording that?’ ” Graham relates. “I felt we’d be remiss not recording the stories of the survivors.” Travelling first to Whitehorse, then to other remote spots across the country, Graham, Newman, and their team didn’t quite know they were making a movie yet. But little by little they realized what they had on their hands and secured some funding. “What hit me was how systematic this was, coast to coast to coast, and at the time the government was trying to mitigate the damage within the public’s perception of it,” reflects Graham, who says that off-camera, health workers joined the shoots at the schools to support the survivors returning to the sites. “Sometimes we would just turn the camera on and that would be the only time that they’ve ever told their story.” Picking Up the Pieces also provides a rare look inside the monolithic schools that are still standing—some redeployed as thriving community centres, others fallen into haunting disrepair. “I have good memories of school—as vibrant places,” the lifelong Vancouver Islander explains. “These felt more like institutions.” Those experiences, and the experience of weaving together the stories of the survivors and Newman’s arduous art project, have had an impact on this filmmaker that he’ll never shake. “If anything, it taught me my lifetime’s dedicated to truth,” Graham says. “This film changed my perspective as a Canadian. I was always a prideful Canadian and I still am in a way, but I still recognize there’s a lot of work to be done. We need to get to a place where there are no second-class citizens. “I want kids to be able to watch this and have hope when they leave.” by Janet Smith
Picking up the Pieces: The Making of the Witness Blanket screens at International Village on Monday and Wednesday (October 1 and 3).
SEPTEMBER 27 – OCTOBER 4 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 11
MOVIES
Behold an infinity of screens
Britain’s Georgia King stars as Leena, one of four close-knit app developers who discover a mirror portal to the mulitverse in Isaac Ezban’s playful, Vancouver-shot sci-fi mindbender Parallel, coming to the Vancouver International Film Festival’s cult and midnight movie program, Altered States.
S
addle up, festies, the Vancouver International Film Festival starts Thursday (September 27), but your Georgia Straight correspondents have already been glued to the big screen. Here’s just some of what we’ve seen. Go to Straight.com for even more.
Tue. Oct 9
8:15 pm
BATHTUBS
Orpheum Theatre
> Go on-line to read hundreds of I Saw You posts or to respond to a message < SAVANNA
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: SEPTEMBER 25, 2018 WHERE: Online I couldn’t sleep so I went online for a few hands. I wasn’t expecting you... We talked for some time, until our time runs out. You’re from Calgary, you play drums, you have 12 piercing... and the cutest smile. I’m going away soon but plans can change. I need to see you before I leave, could we?
BRIEF WORDS AT FINCH'S ON PENDER
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: SEPTEMBER 24, 2018 WHERE: Finch's on Pender You sported hoops in your ears and jeans high waisted. I wore a ragged jean jacket and had just arrived from New York for a wedding. Your eyebrows were handsome and striking which I found strange since I never really noticed anyone's eyebrows before. You gave me a coffee, we spoke briefly and you smiled like something blooming. Let's be pen pals.
GRANVILLE ISLAND
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: SEPTEMBER 23, 2018 WHERE: Granville Island Food Court You were with your children waiting by the soup stand... I was in line waiting also across from you. We glanced at each other a couple of times. I totally think we had a connection. I hope you think so too:)
SKYTRAIN CONNECTION
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: SEPTEMBER 20, 2018 WHERE: SkyTrain Patterson Station I was sitting on skyTrain and noticed you standing by the door. You were wearing a hoodie and carrying a black work-out bag. You got out at Patterson station and we smiled at each other through the window when you realized I was watching you get off the train. Coffee?
SATURDAY AT BEAVER LAKE IN STANLEY PARK!
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: SEPTEMBER 22, 2018 WHERE: Beaver Lake! This was in the moment, I just walked up, caught a quick glance of you, smirked then started taking pictures. You didn’t hurry away but stood beside me in silence, after a while I sat where you sat. You went to leave but turned and looked back and I smiled as you did. Then you walked so slowly away... I was like whoa! You had grey backpack, red pants, multi racial. (If anyone there at that specific date saw him, let him know of this).
BLACK DRESS BEAUTY SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOOSE
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: SEPTEMBER 22, 2018 WHERE: The Moose You were sitting at the booth close to the door with your blonde friend. You were wearing a beautiful black gothic dress that matched your dark hair. You left pretty shorty after I got there and before I could talk to you... kicking myself now. We connected eyes a couple times however before you left. I was wearing a jean vest, buzz cut and had hoop earrings.
HANDSOME GUY OUTSIDE COFFEE SHOP - 49TH PARALLEL IN KITS
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: SEPTEMBER 19, 2018 WHERE: 49th Parallel Coffee - 4th Ave. I was sitting on the bench outside catching up with a friend over coffee and donuts. You came over to pet my dog. He really liked you and so did I! I found myself thinking about your piercing eyes and your fancy bike helmet the rest of the day. I guess I’ll have to keep getting a Wednesday morning coffee in the hopes of another sweet encounter.
FAR OUT COFFEE POST
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: SEPTEMBER 21, 2018 WHERE: Far Out Coffee Post I was driving with my co-workers towards downtown for a meeting and were passing by Far Out Coffee Post. Thanks to load off traffic and a lovely red light, we happened to stop right in front of the cafe. You were the handsome gentleman sitting in the corner of the window, staring at me. I couldn’t help by stare back. For some dumb reason I waved at you - maybe I wanted to embarrass you for staring at me. But, sure enough you waved back, with a big grin on your face... and then the light turned green and I sped off. So to the cute man in the window, if you’re single and would like me to treat you to a coffee, please hit this girl up.
GORGEOUS DARK HAIRED GIRL IN A BOOTH AT THE LOCAL (KITS)
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: SEPTEMBER 21, 2018 WHERE: The Local, Kits Friday around 5PM, you were sitting with a guy in a booth close to the street... Our eyes met many, many times. You’re gorgeous... If you’re not into the guy you were with, HMU. I’m the guy in the black hoody sitting at the bar.
SMILES ON 99 B-LINE COMMERCIAL TO CAMBIE
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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: SEPTEMBER 18, 2018 WHERE: 99 B-Line Commercial to Cambie You, beige coloured pants with a black sweater and over the ear headphones Me, blonde in a black leather jacket sitting near the middle doors. You got on the 99 at Commercial stn Tuesday morning around 8am. I heard you say you were heading to Brighouse stn to your friend. You caught me looking at you a couple times, I couldn’t help it, you are very attractive. When you were getting off you said bye to me. I'd like to connect more.
Visit straight.com to post your FREE I Saw You _ 12 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 27 – OCTOBER 4 / 2018
OVER
BROADWAY
(USA) This wildly entertaining film accomplishes what only the best docs can do: takes you inside human obsessions and illuminates them. In this case, the obsesser is long-time David Letterman writer Steve Young, who stumbled onto arcane LPs for a Late Show bit and then plunged down the rabbit hole of “industrial” musicals—fully fledged productions created only for a corporate audience. (The title refers to “The Bathrooms Are Coming!”, the lodestar of this weird subgenre.) From the few artifacts remaining, he discovered that some were actually good, and also gave a foothold to struggling composers and performers, with people like Martin Short and Florence Henderson (seen here) getting early-career paycheques from them. Director Dava Whisenant, herself a veteran editor of The Late Show and other TV series, couldn’t have known where this would lead, so it’s doubly satisfying when Young’s compulsion ends with much deeper human connections. And very satisfying fun for the audience. SFU, September 28 (6:45 p.m.) and 30 (10:30 a.m.) Ken Eisner CHRIS THE SWISS (Switzerland/
Croatia/Germany/Finland) This labour of familial love attempts to reconstruct what happened to Anja Kofmel’s older cousin Christian Wurtenberg, a wouldbe war reporter who kept feeding his adrenaline jones until he fatally fell in with a gang of right-wing criminals and religious fanatics. A talented graphic artist, if tentative filmmaker, Kofmel retraces his final steps during the chaotic Balkan Wars of the 1990s, both with her camera and through increasingly oppressive (but impressive) animation. Turns out he was embedded with religious fanatics with whom he was unfortunately honest. Or, as another colleague puts it, “He forgot he was studying assassins.” International Village, September 29 (1:45 p.m.); Rio, October 4 (6:30 p.m.) KE
COLETTE (U.K.) With its A-list cast and sumptuous belle époque settings, you’d almost count on this U.K. take on the origins of the writer Colette to be a handsome snore. But then you’d be wrong. Keira Knightley has one of her best roles ever as the poor country girl who marries a rich Parisian dandy and discovers her own art. Even more surprising, perhaps, is Dominic West’s in-depth portrayal of her peacock of a husband; he’s a cheating, lying bully, but he teases out her innate talent and becomes a foil for her sexual selfdiscovery as well. Centre, September 29 (3 p.m.) and October 3 (6 p.m.) KE
GENESIS (Canada) Note that Quebec’s Philippe Lesage retains the hypnagogic mood of his 2015 feature Les Démons without relying on that film’s overt horrors. Genesis is still of a piece with that outstanding debut, mining
the haunted vibe of youth inside a bleached-out, weirdly nonspecific period, complete with Smiths posters on the dorm-room wall of gangly, extrovert teen Guillaume (Théodore Pellerin). It’s significant to his undoing that Guillaume bonds over Morrissey’s lyrics with a 14-year-old newcomer to the all-male school, while back home, boy-crazy half-sister Charlotte (Ava’s Noée Abita) learns the full measure of the pleasure-pain principle while twotiming a couple of unfairly matched dudes. A coda set at summer camp with entirely different characters would seem pointless if it didn’t express so gracefully the magical dawn already curdled into pre-adult calamity for both Guillaume and Charlotte. Extra credit for the John Maus on the (excellent) soundtrack, not to mention the random if amusing shot at francophone rocker Jean Leloup. Look for it in Canada’s Top 10 2018 or I’ll eat my Hatful of Hollow. Cinematheque, September 28 (6:15 p.m.); International Village, October 1 (noon) Adrian Mack
LE GRAND BAL (France) This long
but fascinating French doc vividly captures the sprawling Grand Ball that happens in the middle of the Allier countryside in France each year—and also the universal impulse to dance. Thousands of people of all ages converge on the farm to waltz, mazurka, and tarantella the night away in the eight big tents erected there, all serving up different folk-style music. No one sleeps more than a few hours a night, with workshops every day and social dancing to 3 in the morning. As Laetitia Carton takes her cameras not only onto the dance floors, but inside the campgrounds, kitchens, and communal bathrooms, you can feel the exhaustion of the crowd build. But you’re also witness to the almost primal rite of humans connecting—what someone dubs the driving need to be held, and what the director calls, in one of her few poetic voice-overs, “listening to your body’s whispers”. International Village, September 30 (11:30 a.m.); SFU, October 3 (9:30 p.m.) Janet Smith
A LAND IMAGINED (Singapore/ France/Netherlands) The languid pace of this surreal neo-noir effectively conveys the simmering heat of Singapore, as characters drift across industrial and urban landscapes amid themes of labour exploitation, artificially created land, and precognitive dreams. Fatigued Insp. Lok (Peter Yu) is searching for Wang (Liu Xiaoyi), a Chinese migrant worker who vanished in the wake of a workplace injury. Then Wang’s Bangladeshi friend Ajit (Ishtiaque Zico) goes missing too. Instead of depicting Lok’s investigation, the majority of the film immerses itself in Wang’s life through flashback, as he and Ajit try to figure out how to get back the passports that their boss has locked up. The taciturn, sleepless Wang wanders through a nocturnal world of cybercafés, overcrowded dormitories, and construction sites. The film tends to work understatement to the point of haziness, with several curious elements lacking focus. International Village, September 30 (6:45 p.m.) and October 2 (3:30 p.m.). Craig Takeuchi
MICROHABITAT (South Korea) Female
director Jeon Go-woon’s stylishly shot story of a young woman who can’t afford a rent hike in Seoul will hit brutally close to home to Vancouver millennials struggling to make ends meet. You have to admire hard-working house cleaner Mi-so’s resolve to give up her unheated, one-room apartment so she can still afford her daily smokes and whisky. Pulling her bright-orange suitcase around with her, she couchsurfs at the wildly different homes of her former college bandmates. And you start to wonder who’s better off: freespirited Mi-so (played by the magnetic Esom) or her friends, who have given in to the expectations of modern Korea. A bittersweet and quirky commentary on contemporary Korean society. International Village, September 30 (6:30 p.m.) and October 2 (4 p.m.) JS
PARALLEL (Canada) Upwardly mo-
bile genre whiz kid Isaac Ezban travels from Mexico to fake-Seattle for his latest, characteristically playful swipe at the quantum nature of reality. This time, four young app developers discover that their enormous rented house (okay, definitely not Vancouver) contains an entire hidden wing, complete with mirror portal to parallel universes and well-timed gags about the Mandela Effect. Naturally, they plunder their alternative lives for profit, then just as naturally regret it. Parallel starts strong and its logical inconsistencies are forgivable; the flatness that gradually overtakes the film—especially stacked against the crisp economy of Ezban’s debut, The Incident (2014)—perhaps less so. Still fun all the same, but expect more vital work in the future, or at a different VIFF in some other 2018. Rio, September 29 (8:30 p.m.); SFU, September 30 (1 p.m.) AM
THE PRAYER (France) A nondenominational character study that is ultimately more spiritual than religious, this docu-like effort from L’Ennui’s Cédric Kahn follows an apparent nohoper through a rigorous mountain retreat designed to get addicts off booze and drugs. It’s also intended to get them hooked on the Catholic Church, and the tension between individual growth and groupthink—even the relatively healthy kind—drives the movie into increasingly unpredictable territory. This surprisingly pleasurable Prayer is effective in its mix of nonprofessional actors with veterans, including Fassbinder stalwart Hanna Schygulla as a somewhat twisted sister. Highly recommended. International Village, October 2 (7 p.m.); SFU, October 4 (10:45 a.m.) KE
PUTIN’S WITNESSES (Latvia/ Switzerland/Czech Republic) This up-close-and-personal look at Vladimir Putin’s inexorable rise to power is both frightening and oddly reassuring. The latter because filmmaker Vitaly Mansky, who documented some of that ascension for then-public TV, shows the ex–KGB man to be a mere mortal—albeit one who knew how to amorally play figures like Boris Yeltsin (and many future enemies) with just the right shuck and jive at a pivotal moment in Russian history. It’s scary see page 14
Moore brings the heat with Fahrenheit by Ken Eisner
Tribalism, greed, and misogyny align in the impressive figure of President Donald J. Trump.
FAHRENHEIT 11/9
A documentary by Michael Moore. Rated PG
A FITTING BOOKEND for the era that began with Fahrenheit 9/11, the latest from people’s polemicist Michael Moore takes its title from the date when the worst person in the USA became the most powerful man in the world. The orange menace is only occasionally seen and heard here, fortunately. But the film’s bad news is that the tribalism, greed, and naked misogyny he represents are now pretty well entrenched in the remnants of liberal democracies just about everywhere. The gadfly filmmaker gained extra cred in the fall of 2016 by being one of the few voices to get it right about the chances of Trump winning. (Cue clips of supposedly smart pundits laughing at the notion.) He doesn’t always get it right; in 2007, Moore told this writer he was certain that Hillary Clinton would be elected in 2008. Obviously, the timing of this cinematic pronouncement is connected to the midterm elections. While it’s hard to imagine any Cult 45 member being swayed by this nifty encapsulation of everything that went wrong in the past two years—including Russian interference, rampant voter suppression, and Republican blindness to their new leader’s ill intent—it doesn’t really seem aimed at them. Indeed, the movie is fairly tough on the Democratic Party establishment. Moore oversimplifies the process that Bernie Sanders fans feel “robbed” him, but there can be no doubts about the smug complacency of the old guard, and its timidity in the face of norm-smashing crooks intent on serving the NRA, big banks, and filthy-rich oligarchs, foreign and domestic. Here, there’s some hope, in that the post-Parkland climate has unleashed a new slate of grassroots candidates, mostly female and including many people of colour. As usual, the big guy skips around like crazy, sometimes at the expense of depth and coherence. At first, the side trip to Flint, Michigan—his hometown, and main locale for the breakthrough Roger & Me—seems like a digression. But he builds a strong criminal case against Gov. Rick Snyder, who made millions for his rich friends by hollowing out the state’s black-majority cities and poisoning the people of Flint for his own profit. Then-president Obama comes off particularly bad in this (ongoing) episode, since his much-heralded visit to Flint turned out to be a meaningless photo op—followed menacingly by explosive army exercises about which no one bothered to warn the residents. The militarization of police, demonizing of immigrants, suppression of dissent, and cruelty to women and children are just some of the parallels drawn with the rise of European fascism in the 1930s. Some of Moore’s trademark stunts, like going to the Michigan statehouse to “arrest” Snyder, feel like tired time-wasters. But his j’accuse at 100 million Americans who didn’t bother to vote in 2016 rings loud, clear, and now.
MOVIES
Filmmaker hits hard with Holiday
It comes with a trigger warning, but Isabella Eklöf’s film is an intensely moral work
T
by Adrian Mack
hey streamed from the theatre in disgust. The year was 1990, and the Vancouver International Film Festival had elected to give Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer its B.C. premiere, triggering outrage from viewers who didn’t care to see Michael Rooker packing his dismembered girlfriend into a suitcase. Paraphrasing Nick Hornby, who watched a similar phenomenon unfold in London, “What did people expect? It isn’t called Henry: Portrait of an Elephant.” Like any good film festival, VIFF brings a lot of classy product to the city while keeping its margins open for a good ruck. Headlining this year’s Altered States program, Lars Von Trier’s The House That Jack Built reportedly makes mincemeat out of Henry, offering a portrait of a serial killer so unremittingly vile that it had people vomiting into their hands at Cannes. Isabella Eklöf sure liked it, though. “He’s so ill, all of his films are so flawed, but they’re still great art,” says Von Trier’s fellow Dane, calling the Georgia Straight from Copenhagen. “The House That Jack Built is cold and clinical, and really boring sometimes, but what I realized is that, shit, for the first time in my life, I feel like I’ve been inside the mind of a sociopath.” Interestingly, Eklöf pointedly ignores the inner lives of the characters in Holiday, her debut feature and one of the titles besides Jack most likely to keep VIFF’s complaints department working late this year. In contrast to the kind of psychological narrative Eklöf deems “cheap, pointless, even dangerous”, Holiday simply observes opaque, waifish Sascha (Victoria Carmen Sonne) as she meanders around a high-end Turkish vacation spot at the pleasure of her loathsome drug kingpin boyfriend, Michael (Lai Yde). She drops mollies, flirts with other men, admires her own reflection, and appears largely unmoved by the escalating brutalities Michael visits on those around him, herself included. But the film isn’t an indictment of its characters. As Eklöf states in her own press notes, Holiday is “a film about materialism”, bathed in the ironic glow of a sun-drenched Turkish holiday resort, with a detachment that turns from unnerving to unbearable once we arrive
intensely moral work. Take away the sexual violence and it would still unsettle the viewer. Its very form challenges the way we’ve come to receive commercial cinema itself, smuggled through a fable about the corrosive effects on humanity of late-stage capitalism. “Some people have never seen a socalled sociological film before and they don’t know how to decode it,” Eklöf says. “I get that. It’s one step at a time. Maybe next time they see a film like this, it’s easier for them to decode.” So the long game here is deconditioning the viewer? “Yeah,” she replies with a laugh. “It’s the master plan!”
“GLENN CLOSE IS A MARVEL OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND CONTROL. SHE IS A HURRICANE.”
-Leah Greenblatt, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
“GLENN CLOSE DELIVERS WHAT MIGHT BE HER GREATEST BIG-SCREEN PERFORMANCE — A MASTER CLASS IN SCREEN ACTING. JONATHAN PRYCE MATCHES HER EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. A SIMPLY EXTRAORDINARY FILM THAT COMES JUST AT THE RIGHT TIME.” -Pete Hammond, DEADLINE
“AN INTELLIGENT SCREEN DRAMA THAT UNFOLDS WITH REAL JUICE AND SUSPENSE.” -Ben Kenigsberg, THE NEW YORK TIMES
To me, it’s a feminist thing. I like to look at cock, you know?
“FUNNY AND FIERCE. GLENN CLOSE TAKES IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL WITH A POWERFULLY IMPLOSIVE PERFORMANCE. YOU CAN’T TAKE YOUR EYES OFF HER.”
– Isabella Eklöf
at the film’s most talked-about scene: a graphic rape captured in a single unflinching take, complete with cords of flying jism. Eklöf reports that she was accosted by screaming audience members after a screening in Sweden. “I think that strong reaction partly has to do with the simple fact that there’s an erect cock in the film,” suggests the filmmaker. “And it was a very silly argument. ‘We already know he’s an asshole, so why do you have to show it?’ The reasoning is just so odd. That’s not why the scene is there. Not at all!” At the risk of seeming flip, it’s worth remembering here that the dick isn’t real, Eklöf concocted the semen herself out of icing sugar, and that Holiday is just a film—albeit the work of a fierce new talent who seems driven, on some level, to troll the more squeamish or puritanical filmgoer. That stiff member is no big deal in Denmark, Eklöf notes, chuckling as she remarks, “Von Trier has been slowly building this whole ‘Let’s see more male genitalia’ thing for years. To me, it’s a feminist thing. I like to look at cock, you know? I think they’re beautiful, so why can’t I?” More to the point, Holiday is also an
Victoria Carmen Sonne plays Sascha, an opaque waif who seems oblivious to the violence of her loathsome drug-kingpin boyfriend in the brilliant but sure to be controversial film Holiday.
-Peter Travers, ROLLING STONE
Glenn Close
Jonathan Pryce
The Wife
A FILM BY
BJÖRN RUNGE
SCREENPLAY BY
JANE ANDERSON
BASED ON THE BOOK BY
MEG WOLITZER
COARSE LANGUAGE
NOW PLAYING
FIFTH AVENUE 2110 Burrard St. • 604-734-7469
STARTS FRIDAY
LANDMARK
ESPLANADE 6 200 West Esplanade • 604-983-2762
Check theatre directories for showtimes
SEPTEMBER 27 – OCTOBER 4 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 13
A Palestinian teen deals with the trauma of fractured family and her own fiery nature in the NFB’s extraordinary What Walaa Wants, filmed over a six-year period by Canadian director Christy Garland.
from page 12 because we see that the operator who would become the richest man in the world isn’t even fake-interested in improving the place; instead, he ensures his niche in history by breaking up the European Union and pitting Americans against each other. Then there’s the little matter of what actually happens to witnesses who speak out. International Village, September 28 (3:45 p.m.) and 30 (9:30 p.m.) KE
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SAMOUNI ROAD (France/Italy) Twenty-nine members of the Samouni family were slaughtered during Israel’s attack on Gaza in 2009, a story told here through the words of remaining family members (principally Amal, a cheerful child with shrapnel in her head) and Simone Massi’s wonderful line-drawn animation. Hamas and Fatah circle the tragic event—“Every political group would seize the opportunity,” says the mother of young Mahmoud, fearing his radicalization— but the film gives no quarter to Israeli forces who targeted this innocent farming clan. Matching declassified audio with reconstructed drone footage, we hear a commander grow testy over an unanswered order to shoot a group that includes children. As such, Samouni Road dispenses with “objectivity”—a myth under these circumstances, too often employed by western media to excuse atrocities. See it and weep. Vancity, September 30 (6 p.m.); International Village, October 2 (noon) AM
SHARKWATER EXTINCTION (Canada) A moment of sheer wonder near the end of Rob Stewart’s final film pictures the conservationist lingering face to face with a gigantic, curious hammerhead shark against the whitesand floor of a shallow bay. Like so many other vividly shot scenes of his communion with the creatures here, it’s intensely moving. His 2017 diving death hangs over almost every moment, but it also gives the film a weight and urgency that ensure its place as a legacy to his work. With the same signature energy as in his 2006 Sharkwater, the affable activist travels to dangerous places to track the accelerating demise of shark populations—flying drones over mob-owned fin-harvesting docks in Costa Rica, diving into night waters to secretly film creatures caught in gillnets, and toting hidden cameras into the frozen holds of fishing boats stacked with tens of thousands of sharks in Cabo Verde. “My parents worry about me all the time, yeah. I just have this belief that I’m gonna be okay,” he says in one haunting voice-over. Besides offering fascinating underwater footage, the film acts as an ode to that fearlessness—but also to the wonder and curiosity that drove his vision. Centre, September 28 (6:30 p.m.); International Village, September 30 (2 p.m.) JS SPLINTERS (Canada)
www.aarm-dental.com 14 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 27 – OCTOBER 4 / 2018
Coming out with same-sex attraction can be hard enough. But how do you handle coming out with different-sex attraction after that? That’s the predicament that Belle
(Sofia Banzhaf), known to her family as a lesbian, faces when she returns to her family’s apple farm in Nova Scotia. She has a secret, and his name is Rob (Callum Dunphy). She struggles to keep her relationship with her boyfriend hidden from her controlling, change-resistant mother (Shelley Thompson), who is grieving her husband’s death. Thom Fitzgerald’s gentle adaptation of LeeAnne Poole’s stage play convincingly articulates small-town dynamics as tensions mount during preparations for the funeral of Belle’s father. Yet, even when the characters are being inappropriate (frequently hilariously so), a pervasive tameness, coupled with an overextended musical-performance scene, unfortunately dulls the potentially sharp edges of the proceedings. International Village, September 28 (1:30 p.m.); Rio, September 30 (6 p.m.). CT WHAT WALAA WANTS (Canada/
Denmark) Another in a strong slate of films this year examining the Middle East, this NFB coproduction covers six years in the life of Palestinian teen Walaa. She’s a spark plug and a motor mouth—Mom is missing for most of Walaa’s youth, incarcerated for attempting to aid a suicide bomber—so Walaa’s undisciplined fire isn’t exactly ideal when she begins training with the Palestinian Security Forces. Filmmaker Christy Garland’s camera gets remarkably close to this lively, if damaged, family, where domesticity, cheerful or otherwise, is always underlined by fear and a permanent sense of assault. It’s a high-resolution picture of occupation as destiny. Walaa prevails inside a world with severely curtailed choices, but as for brother Mohammed: “When I’m away from her it’s as if my soul has left me,” says the strikingly sensitive boy, at 11 years old, of his absent mother. What lies ahead is gutting to watch. International Village, October 1 (10:45 a.m.) and 3 (9:15 p.m.) AM
THE WHISTLEBLOWER OF MY LAI
(USA) The Kronos Quartet has always displayed a social and aesthetic conscience in its music, mixing the modern western canon with littleknown sounds from Asia and Africa while rediscovering forgotten composers from many traditions. Here, the Bay Area stalwarts are seen rehearsing (and occasionally performing) a new work excavating the real-life story of a U.S. army helicopter pilot who put his life and career in jeopardy by protecting Vietnamese civilians from the worst massacre of that benighted war, which remains largely uncomprehended by the American public. It’s called an opera, but the piece is really an extended, and deeply affecting, study for quartet with stellar Vietnamese instrumentalist and tenor Rinde Eckert as the titular hero, who was vastly mistreated, and is seen in vintage footage. The film’s another success for activist filmmaker Connie Field, best known for her series on apartheid, Have You Heard From Johannesburg?. International Village, October 1 (7:15 p.m.); Vancity, October 2 (1:45 p.m.) KE
Information viff.org Film Infoline: 604-683-3456
September 27 to October 12
37th Edition
VIFF Tribute Award: Jean-Marc Vallée TUE. OCT 2
6:00 PM
PLAYHOUSE
ANTHROPOCENE: The Human Epoch
Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, Edward Burtynsky Canada, 87 min. 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 hellbent 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.
Dressage
Guest
Pooya Badkoobeh Iran, 95 min. WED. OCT 3 FRI. OCT 5
6:30 PM 2:00 PM
INTL VILLAGE 9 INTL VILLAGE 10
First-time director Pooya Badkoobeh’s tale of a 16-year-old girl who participates in a robbery, gets away with it and then faces unexpected consequences serves as an indictment of the Iranian middle and upper classes, which seem to be more interested in acquiring money and luxury goods than in anything else. As the young protagonist Golsa, newcomer Negar Moghaddam is a dazzling presence. “Expertly acted and lensed, Dressage has a quiet authority that goes beyond most first films.”—Hollywood Reporter BEST FIRST FILM, FAJR 18
Discover viff.org
Dallas Buyers Club
VIFF is thrilled to have this opportunity to celebrate the storytelling accomplishments of Jean-Marc Vallée, director of C.R.A.Z.Y., Wild and Dallas Buyers Club. This special event will commence with an encore screening of the series premiere of Sharp Objects, the acclaimed adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s bestselling book that had Vallée at the helm for every episode. Jean-Marc will then receive a VIFF Tribute Award and engage in an extended ‘in conversation’ event presented by the Directors Guild of Canada and hosted by Tim Southam, President.
FRI. SEP 28 SUN. SEP 30
Box Office Online: viff.org In person: Any VIFF venue, starting 30 minutes prior to the first screening at the theatre
Guest
Jean-Marc Vallée USA, 117 min. WED. OCT 3
Sharkwater Extinction Rob Stewart Canada, 88 min.
4:00 PM
SFU-GCA
Director Jean-Marc Vallée will introduce this retrospective screening of his multiple Oscar-winning breakthrough drama. Playing a Texas homophobe who contracts HIV in the 80s, Matthew McConaughey is transfixing as a cadaverous cowboy who refuses to go down without a fight—or without making a quick buck peddling unauthorized meds. “A fierce celebration of the unpredictable power that belongs to the outcast, the despised, the pariah. That’s not a story of the ‘80s, it’s a story of always.”—Salon
FRI. SEP 28 SUN. SEP 30
6:30 PM 2:00 PM
Carmine Street Guitars
WED. OCT 3 FRI. OCT 5
TUE. OCT 2 SUN. OCT 7
Jia Zhangke China/France, 136 min.
CENTRE FOR ARTS PLAYHOUSE
A Family Tour
Ying Liang Taiwan/Hong Kong/Singapore/Malaysia, 107 min. 6:15 PM 1:30 PM
Guest
SFU-GCA INTL VILLAGE 10
Exiled Chinese filmmaker Yang Shu (Gong Zhe), mired in Hong Kong, yearns to see her mother Chen Xiaolin (Nai An), who lives in China. They can only meet in Taiwan using a scheme to send Chen there with a mainland Chinese tour group. As Yang, along with her husband and son, shadows the tour, the family’s emotional reunion and uncertain future generate a poignant tension. Ying Liang has based this story on his own life, which he transforms, with quiet intensity, into a beautiful political drama.
6:15 PM 4:30 PM
Dogman
Matteo Garrone Italy/France, 103 min.
Ron Mann Canada, 80 min.
Thought to be the greatest working filmmaker— not just in China but, by some, in the world—Jia Zhangke has been making masterpieces for at least two decades, and here he gives us another one. The film begins in 2001. Once again, the heroine is played by the beautiful Zhao Tao; her boyfriend is gangster Bin (Liao Fan), for whom she winds up going to prison. Upon her release she goes looking for him, and what follows is a journey of discovery and disillusionment that takes us all the way to 2018...
SAT. SEP 29 MON. OCT 1
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.
Ash Is Purest White 8:45 PM 3:30 PM
Guest
RIO SFU-GCA
THU. SEP 27 MON. OCT 1 WED. OCT 3
6:00 PM 9:00 PM 3:30 PM
RIO CENTRE FOR ARTS PLAYHOUSE
Nestled in Greenwich Village, Carmine Street Guitars is a showcase for Rick Kelly’s custom instruments—and heaven on earth for music fans. Repurposing wood from storied New York establishments, Kelly crafts stunning Telecasters that double as lightning rods for musical luminaries. Ron Mann’s documentary invites us into this singular establishment where the esteemed likes of Bill Frisell, Nels Cline, Eleanor Friedberger, Jim Jarmusch and Charlie Sexton stop by to sample the wares and share some songs.
Matteo Garrone returns to the criminal milieu that made his name in Gomorrah with this spellbinding look at a sympathetic dog groomer (Marcello Fonte, Best Actor at Cannes) whose sideline as a coke dealer leads inexorably to greater criminal misdeeds—and tragedy. Tense, tough and thoroughly grounded in its seedy suburban Neapolitan locations, this is Garrone in peak form. “Terrific… A compelling opera of beta-male criminal martyrdom… [This is] a movie with incomparable bite and strength.”—Guardian
Firecrackers
Giant Little Ones
Jasmin Mozaffari Canada, 93 min. FRI. SEP 28 SUN. SEP 30
9:30 PM 1:15 PM
BEST ACTOR, CANNES 18
Keith Behrman Canada, 94 min. INTL VILLAGE 10 INTL VILLAGE 9
Teens Lou (Michaela Kurimsky) and Chantal (Karena Evans) have only one thing on their minds: getting the hell out of their rural Ontario backwater and never looking back. Scouring their stifling surroundings for any source of income, these resilient girls butt heads with a place and a populace that threaten to rob them of their free spirits. A tribute to youthful aspiration, Jasmin Mozaffari’s feature debut offers us the chance to feel as rebellious, as animated, as alive as its protagonists.
SAT. SEP 29 SUN. SEP 30
6:45 PM 4:15 PM
PLAYHOUSE SFU-GCA
After sharing an experience that permanently alters their long-standing friendship, Franky (Josh Wiggins) and his childhood pal Ballas (Darren Mann) engage in a protracted feud that serves as an outlet for their repressed feelings. Returning to feature filmmaking after a 16-year hiatus, Flower & Garnet (VIFF 2002) director Keith Behrman mounts an impressive comeback with this finely observed and frequently poignant study of identity and its boundaries.
SEPTEMBER 27 – OCTOBER 4 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 15
Engage with the world’s leading creators in intimate one-on-one conversations, dynamic panel discussions, workshops and live music events.
VIFF Immersed Exhibition
VIFF Immersed Conference
Sept. 30 – 0ct. 2, The Centre For Digital Media 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
Sustainable Production Forum
Oct. 5 – 6, Vancity Theatre The world’s first and leading conference focused on advancing the greening of the motion picture industry. Come learn, explore, exchange and help drive change at all levels of the motion picture eco-system.
Day Pass Only $96 • $70 Student
Day Pass Only $96 Full Conference Pass Only $149
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Day Pass Only $96 Full Conference Pass Only $149 Info & Registration: goviff.org/immersed
Info & Registration: goviff.org/immersedexhibition
Oct. 4, Annex Music supervisors, composers and post-production experts engage in panels and workshops that explore the essential role of music in film and highlight growing opportunities for recording artists.
Sept. 29 – 30, The Reliance Theatre, Emily Carr Dedicated to exceptional narrative storytelling in Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality, this two-day conference is where art, technology and business will intersect.
DGC Master Class Series
Totally Indie Day
Sept. 29th, Vancity Theatre 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 Info & Registration: goviff.org/totallyindie
Creator Talks
Oct. 1
Sept. 30
Patricia Rozema
Michael Schur
Oct. 6
Oct. 3
Director/Writer, Mouthpiece
Creator/Executiver Producer, The Good Place
Meet The Show Runners
Paris Barclay Director, Scandal
Oct. 4
Paul Austerberry
Production designer, The Shape of Water
Oct. 9
RZA
Leader of Wu-Tang Clan
VIFF LIVE Artist Showcase Oct. 3, 8pm, Annex
Premier Partner
Music BC’s SOUNDOFF Oct. 4, 7pm, Annex
KID KOALA Presents: Satellite Oct. 5–7, Annex
RZA: Live from the 36th Chamber of Shaolin Oct. 8, 8:15 pm, Orpheum Theatre
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18 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 27 – OCTOBER 4 / 2018
arts Michel Tremblay play remains a radical act
Les Belles-soeurs still speaks sharply to the power of women on-stage and the ongoing “envy economy”
I
by Alexander Varty
f he were to say it today, playwright Michel Tremblay would undoubtedly find himself on some kind of no-fly list, or at least in Facebook jail. But in 1968, at the height of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec, his comment made all kinds of sense. Maybe it still does. “I want to put a bomb in the family cell,” Quebec’s modern-day Shakespeare famously wrote. “I hate what the family and the church did to me and the people of my country.” Gay, working-class, and fabulously talented, Tremblay was expressing his disgust with a system that was conspiring against his potential. And although things have changed in Quebec, and Canada as a whole, enough has remained the same that Diane Brown, who’s helming the first local, Englishlanguage production of Tremblay’s theatrical debut, Les Belles-soeurs, is taking his remark as a kind of touchstone. “You know, that’s a pretty extreme thing to say,” the director tells the Straight, on the line from a Richmond rehearsal hall. “But the notion of the idealized French-Canadian family was very strong at the time, and he blew that up. And another great quote of his that I’d like to share with you is about his idea of putting women on-stage. He put 15 women on-stage because, he said, nobody else was. The quote is: ‘One woman complaining is pitiful. Five women saying they are unhappy with their lives at the same time is the beginning of a revolution.’ ” Given what’s playing out south of the border, nothing else should be necessary to establish Les Belles-soeurs’ relevance, even if this year marks the 50th anniversary of the 1965 script’s on-stage debut. And Brown points out that while the Catholic Church’s grip on Quebec has radically lessened, unfettered capitalism—the other target of Tremblay’s righteous ire—is still an existential threat to our freedom. Les Belles-soeurs’ bitterly pointed satire of “the envy economy”, she says, still holds true.
In 1965’s Les Belles-soeurs (with, left to right, Melissa Oei, France Perras, and Agnes Tong), a Montreal housewife wins a small fortune in customer-loyalty stamps, prompting excitement in her family and all-out jealousy from her neighbours. David Cooper photo.
“This is what ‘everyone out for themselves’ looks like—especially in this era of [Donald] Trump, with racism and misogyny and all those hate values that are a product, really, of rudderless capitalism,” Brown contends. “These hate values are being normalized, so it’s disturbing for me to realize how incredibly timely this piece is. “What we see is how this everyoneout-for-themselves mentality ends up
in utter chaos and ruin, and costs the characters everything, personally.” It’s true that the framing device—a Montreal housewife, Germaine Lauzon, wins a small fortune in customerloyalty stamps, exciting her family and neighbours’ envy—now seems almost antique. Redeemable stamps have been replaced by credit-card “rewards”, but human nature hasn’t changed. “These stamps have to be pasted
into booklets. They’re redeemable for furniture and appliances, and she’s won an extraordinary amount, so she invites her sisters and her daughters and her neighbours to come over and help her paste them into these booklets,” Brown explains. “Over the course of the evening we get to know these women, and we hear how they treat each other, how they treat their children… There’s a lot of strife between the older generation
and the younger generation; it’s very explosive there, in terms of the old values of the Catholic Church versus the newer, secular values. They also just steal from her, eventually. They shamelessly just steal her stuff, because they can’t stand that she’s raised her status within the tribe. “It’s competitive, it’s ugly, and we profess that it isn’t,” she adds. “And the hopelessness of their situation is really beautifully and brutally brought to life by Tremblay’s writing.” There’s another factor at play here, beyond the ongoing significance of Tremblay’s script and the 50th anniversary of its debut. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of Brown’s Ruby Slippers Theatre, and mounting Les Belles-soeurs is a near-perfect way of celebrating the company’s mandate. A key aspect of Ruby Slippers’ mission statement is promoting “crosscultural pollination with FrenchCanadian plays in English translation on the West Coast; nobody else does that,” Brown says. Another core value, she continues, is “furthering the voices of women and diversity in theatre”, and while Les Belles-soeurs was written by a man, the act of bringing 15 women together on-stage remains a radical act. And then there’s the fact that the cast, which encompasses rising stars, established actors, and beloved veterans of the Vancouver stage, is a rare example of truly multigenerational theatre, another of Brown’s directorial concerns. So far, all of those things seem to be coming together in a gratifying way. “The spirit in the rehearsal hall is really high. Morale is really high—and there’s a lot of laughter,” Brown says. “It’s a dark comedy. It’s a very dark comedy, but there’s a lot of humour that can come out of pain and tragedy. I think we all know this; that’s what satire and dark comedy are based on.” Ruby Slippers Theatre presents Les Bellessoeurs at the Richmond Gateway Theatre from Thursday (September 27) to October 6.
B.C. Culture Days event mixes the right ingredients
At the annual arts celebration, Poets in the Kitchen blends spoken word and Southeast Asian cooking
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by Janet Smith
ood, spoken word, and different cultures getting together under the same roof: these are the magic ingredients of Poets in the Kitchen. One of scores of events taking place in the Lower Mainland this weekend (September 28 to 30) as part of B.C. Culture Days, it captures the spirit of community engagement that drives the annual celebration. And it’s being run by one of eight Culture Days special ambassadors, interdisciplinary artist and spokenword poet Johnny D. Trinh. “My whole family has had experience in food services, and we’ve been surrounded by food our whole lives,” Trinh tells the Straight over the phone. “I wanted to share family recipes and my recipes, and I wanted to share the work of other artists. So at Poets in the Kitchen, I interview them, we talk about food we like, we make it, we share it, they each perform, and, if we have time, we have a jam session.” For the free event on Saturday, to be broadcast live on Instagram at @johnnydtrinh, he’ll be demonstrating a salmon recipe, to tie into the North Vancouver Community Arts Council’s current Journey of a Salmon exhibit in the space where his event will take place.
Canadian poet Ian Keteku once said: where food is huge.” “He says when you’re communicating a story where you’re telling it to Poets in the Kitchen is at CityScape Community someone who’s completely foreign to Arts Space (335 Lonsdale Avenue) on Saturday you and has a completely different (September 29) as part of B.C. Culture Days; background than you—well, that’s register via email to camila@northvanarts.ca.
B.C. Culture Days
TIP SHEET
B.C. Culture Days ambassador, Johnny Trinh, says his main goal is to get people from different cultures under the same roof to break bre ad together and to share the work of artists.
“To stick with the theme I’ll be making a soy-ginger-scallion steamed salmon with a few side dishes,” he says of the Southeast Asian food he’ll demonstrate and hand out before the performances take place. He also plans to emphasize the importance of salmon to local Indigenous people. For Trinh it’s a chance to celebrate and share his own cultural traditions through food, and his larger interest in
providing a space to hear the stories of others. “Back at school, bringing cultural food for lunch—the friends or the bullies would say, ‘That’s so gross!’ And all you wanted was a peanut-butter-andjelly sandwich,” he recalls of growing up. “Then there was that moment of switch where we’re proud of our food, proud of our culture.” He says the event he’s hosting reminds him of something Ghanaian-
B.C. CULTURE DAYS LAUNCH (Friday [September 28] from 2 to 8 p.m. at šxʷƛ̓exən Xwtl’a7shn, formerly Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza) Hit the outdoor space for everything from singing coaches from City Opera to papier-mâché workshops and host Mandy Rushton’s Pop Culture Cabaret and Sing-a-Long. BEHIND THE SCENES WITH BALLET BC (Saturday [September 29] from 3:15 to 6:15 p.m.) See our top-flight ballet company up close in its home studio, as dancers rehearse work for the upcoming season. (Sessions take place at rotating 15- to 20-minute intervals for small groups.)
PLANTS TO NET (Saturday [September 29] at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre) Get hands-on to help create a flowing net with nettle stalks and local linen, an art project inspired by “sheep-to-shawl” crafting competitions. It’s helmed by EartHand Gleaners Society. PUBLIC ART WALKING TOUR: YALETOWN AND FALSE CREEK (Friday [September 28] at 10:30 a.m., and Saturday and Sunday [September 29 and 30] at 1:30 p.m., starting at YaletownRoundhouse transit station) A 75-minute jaunt reveals the artworks tucked into the bustling neighbourhood and its parks, plus all the stories behind them.
SEPTEMBER 27 – OCTOBER 4 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 19
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20 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 27 – OCTOBER 4 / 2018
ARTS
Testosterone finds laughs in locker-room masculinity by Janet Smith
THE “DON’T MISS EVENT” THIS FALL!
In his fantasy- and music-fuelled Testosterone, Kit Redstone (right) recounts his hilarious and yet intense first venture into a men’s locker room after transitioning to being male. Luke Forsyth photo.
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our men are dressing in a sweaty men’s locker room at the local gym. For one of them, it’s an intense turning point in his life: Kit Redstone has transitioned to being male, and after a year of testosterone injections, this is his first foray into the all-dude domain. That’s the very real premise of U.K. writer-performer Redstone’s rollicking, pop-music-and-comedy fuelled Testosterone, a play that looks at masculinity from a unique perspective. “Before I transitioned I was very androgynous, so I didn’t really get treated like a woman,” explains Redstone, the affable Rhum and Clay Theatre Company artist who’s bringing his Edinburgh Festival Fringe hit to the York Theatre here, speaking over the phone from late-night London. “So for me, transitioning, rather than changing gender, felt more like becoming an adult. Having existed in this Peter Pan androgynous world, I was then very firmly positioned in a man’s world, and being treated like sort of a man’s man, and not really knowing or understanding that dynamic.” For the upbeat Redstone, having fun with one of his most excruciating moments came naturally. “A lot of narratives about transition focus on pretransition and making the decision to do that. And that in a way bored me: ‘Oh, I’m trans and no one’s accepting me; poor me.’ I personally have no interest in writing about those aspects of transition,” he says. “When you deal with a subject like being transgender, people think it will be very serious and a little bit dry and that the audience is going to get preached to. I really wanted it to be a show where I could laugh at myself and the audience could laugh with me, rather than me telling them how to think.” It’s not just laughter that Redstone and his team use to tell the story, based
on a true incident that happened when the performer was 33. Rhum and Clay infuses the show with music, dancing, and a generous sprinkling of fantasy sequences—sometimes imagining the other guys in the gym as everything from swaggering cowboys to preening mafia bosses. A drag disco diva even bursts into the action. “That’s the beauty of the power of art: you can tell a story that people can relate to in an everyday sense, and then you can add magic,” Redstone says. “The show is mostly about stuff that goes on in my head—so the naturalistic is about five minutes of the work. Everything else is memory and fantasy.” Many reviews have praised Redstone for his bravery and noted how much the audience gets behind him over the course of Testosterone—roaring their support by the end of his increasingly tense situation. But Redstone doesn’t really see revealing his innermost fears and his private journey into manhood as an act of courage. “If anything it feels almost like it’s therapeutic, because our show is very fun and joyous. It has some dark parts, but for the most part it’s a comedy,” he reflects, “so that when it gets to the end, when it is more hard-hitting and literally very exposing, I feel like the audience is my friend at that point.” His entry into the male world has gotten more comfortable, too, he says, as he’s negotiated new codes and languages of masculinity—and found an endearing vulnerability there that he never noticed before. “Before, I found men very threatening. When people don’t know your gender, people can be… Aggressive to you,” he says. “And suddenly I just became this normal bloke.” Testosterone runs at the York Theatre from Tuesday (October 2) to October 13.
THUR & FRI NOV 22 & 23 7:30PM
TICKETS: TICKETMASTER.CA • 855.985.5000
© Photo : Thierry du Bois - Cosmos Image | Artistes/Artists : Mark Sampson, Yosmell
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Pacific Institute
El Santo
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of Culinary A rts
Restau ra nt
SEPTEMBER 27 – OCTOBER 4 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 21
.COM
ARTS
Hawaii’s poet laureate left physics lab for stage
T
by Alexander Varty
Immersive Sculpture Exhibition
Now Open Until Dec 15 | 11 - 7 Daily
“Absolutely amazing! Perfect location choice. Love it!” “The world is more beautiful with these creatures in it” “Fascinating and painstaking labour of love” “Truly unbelievable, thought provoking... poignant, tender”
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he language of theoretical physics is dense and difficult; that of performance poetry plainspoken and accessible. So Steven Kealohapau’ole Hong-Ming Wong’s abrupt decision to exit the lab and enter the stage makes a great deal of sense, given that he is one of those rare individuals who seem born to puzzle out and communicate the truths of this world. But there’s another reason why Hawaii’s poet laureate, who performs as Kealoha, wanted a change: he needed to see the sun. “For me, I found out pretty quickly that spending my days in a laboratory, a basement laboratory with fluorescent lighting—going into work in darkness and having it be dark when work was done—just wasn’t me,” he explains, on the line from his Honolulu home. “I also saw things going on, politically, that were disheartening. I was particularly involved with fusion energy; that was my whole jam. And, you know, back in those days the amount of funding going towards fusion research and the amount of interest going towards alternative energies, politically, just wasn’t happening—even though we were screaming about global climate change in the ’90s. So I felt like I could play a bigger role by becoming a communicator of not only science, but of life things.” It wasn’t, Kealoha adds, as radical a shift as it might seem. “What I found was that poetry spoke to me, and it exercised parts of my brain that had atrophied a bit during my college experience,” he notes. “There’s another part of it, too, which is that in order to understand physics and really dig deep into it, you do have to have some amount of the right side of your brain, the creative side of your brain, going. It’s not like you can see particles; you have to imagine them. You have to really get your imagination going.”
Kealoha established his poetic reputation on the slam scene, where excellence is established by crowd consensus. As poet laureate, however, he’s stepped back from competition; his job, like the court orators of the Hawaiian past, involves writing poetic texts for state occasions, as well as promoting poetry in schools and elsewhere. And he’s also stepped away from slam’s wham-bam delivery in a big way. Rather than focus on five-minute sprints, he’s currently working on a full-length multimedia show—which he’ll draw on when he headlines a Chan Centre for the Performing Arts survey of performance poetry next week—that essentially offers a unified-field theory of life. “It’s called The Story of Everything,” he explains, adding that it will cover approximately 13.7 billion years of astronomical time, from the creation of the solar system to the rise of the human race. “What I’ve recognized is that there’s a lot of great myths in this world that tell amazing stories.…but they’re based on knowledge from hundreds or thousands of years ago. What I realized was ‘Man, where’s the myths of today that draw from the science that we know now? Where’s the myths that draw from our new knowledge?’ So I started to write where we come from, via the scientific lens but using the skills that I’ve been working on in my profession, which is poetry and storytelling.” In his text, he adds, the personified forces of matter and antimatter battle for supremacy but ultimately find a way to coexist in peace—and the implications for today’s warring human tribes are obvious. Kealoha performs as part of the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts’ Beyond Words series on Wednesday (October 3).
october 9 — 13, 2018 8 PM Studio 16
ENGLISH
SURT I T L ES LYDIA AVSEC/COPILOT DESIGN
T UE, WED, T HU & S AT.
BABY-SIT TER T I C K E T S AVA I L A B L E AT SEI Z IE ME. C A
22 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 27 – OCTOBER 4 / 2018
DURUFLÉ REQUIEM AND BERNSTEIN CHICHESTER PSALMS OCT 13 2018 AT 7:30PM I ST. ANDREW’S-WESLEY UNITED CHURCH KATHLEEN ALLAN CONDUCTOR EMMA PARKINSON MEZZO SOPRANO I TYLER SIMPSON BASS-BARITONE ANDREAS DALA BOY SOPRANO I EDWARD NORMAN ORGAN I JANELLE NADEAU HARP I DANIEL TONES PERCUSSION I RESERVED SEATING
TICKETS & INFO: VANCOUVERBACHCHOIR.COM
ATHLETES OF SOUL CO. PRESENT
CAGE takes improv to bold new extremes by Janet Smith
W
e can’t tell you exactly what veteran dance renegade Katie Duck’s CAGE will look or sound like when it hits the Scotiabank Dance Centre next week—and that’s exactly the point. The die-hard improviser changes the piece wherever she goes, the only constants three wigs, four texts, and a black dress, along with a projected film and a soundtrack she alters for every performance. Working with guest musicians from whatever spot she’s visiting—whether it’s Hong Kong or Argentina—she lets these props, words, and sounds inspire everything that unfolds on-stage. “I’ve just watched four documentaries about your culture to see what your pop culture is,” says the U.S.– born, Amsterdam–based pioneer over the phone from the Netherlands, hinting the Cranberries’ late Dolores O’Riordan and the Biebs himself may have worked their way onto her soundtrack. “It’s not about the piece. It’s about the relationship. And I need to understand how to relate to you. I need everyone to know I’m a visitor.” Duck says her wish to connect to different cultures probably stems in large part from being a lifelong nomad. “I’ve always been a touring artist,” she says. “I was born in the U.S., but came here when I was 24. I’m in so many cultures and translation is part of that, so I get interested in seeing how flexible I can be.” From the late 1970s into the ’80s she experimented on Europe’s cutting edge, and it was during a stint starting in 1979, at her company Gruppo, which studied with Italian theatre icon Dario Fo, that she began pushing improvisation beyond its usual bounds. In the mid-’80s she began looking more toward music, and especially its concepts of spontaneity within time frames, for her inspiration than toward dance or theatre. “I was working with improvisation toward a set piece. I was working with my own soundtracks—and because it was the ’80s, it was reel-toreel then,” says the artist, who’s influenced several generations of dancers. “And I realized I don’t like taking a piece and packaging it and moving it around the world. By ’85, I was getting interested in mixing this music. And I really looked at [composer John] Cage quite severely…and saying ‘I’m going to make a composition that’s played improvised.’ “I decided it was more interesting for my public relationship for something to be chosen right in that moment.” In fact, the title of the work here refers to one of her art’s huge influences, Cage, and the way he offered similar choices to his musicians. But the deeply feminist artist also refers to the cages that imprison us in society, from sexism to violence. Musicians Ben Brown, James Meger, and Roxanne Nesbitt help bring the piece to life here. Joining them on-stage, Duck bares her body and soul, giving herself to the moment—something three decades of practice, and meticulous research into subjects including neuroscience, have made her comfortable doing. She says being able to make choices on the spur of the moment takes rigorous study. “And I would say for myself, personally, it’s been having 30 years to get out in front of the public with these odd situations and fail a lot,” she says, adding that her world-view also fuels her particularly bold practice: “Because I see things in a feminist way, I say you’re not a victim of the situation; you’re a survivor.” Katie Duck’s CAGE is at the Scotiabank Dance Centre on Friday (September 28).
JOHN PATRICK SHANLEY’S
DANNY AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA DDIIRREECCTTEEDD BBYY JJAAYY BBRRAAZZEEAAUU NGG SSTTAARRRRIIN HN NN NYY GGH HOORRBBAAN NII JJOOH NIIAA IIN NDDEELLIICCAATTOO && SSTTEEFFAAN MBBEERR 2255 TTOO OOCCTTOOBBEERR 77 SSEEPPTTEEM W.. 77 AAVVEE AATT SSTTUUDDIIOO 1166 -- 11555555 W I CKKEETTS SAAVVAAI L I LAABBL LEEAATT TTI C HEEAATTRREEW WIIRREE..CCOOM M TTH
ACTION AT A DISTANCE
A FIREHALL ARTS CENTRE PRESENTATION
ARTS
VANESSA GOODMAN
NEVER STILL
MUSIC BY
LOSCIL
SEP 26-29 2018
2 8 0 E C o rd ova S t re e t
WED-SAT 8PM
604.689.0926
firehallartscentre.ca Never Still Vanessa Goodman
THE HILARIOUS MISFORTUNES OF ONE WOMAN’S FORTUNE
Ben Didier photograph
18/19
CANADIAN COMEDY
g/ª /gg/ªВ SOEURS Sept. 27 – Oct. 6, 2018 MainStage
By Michel Tremblay Translated by John Van Burek & Bill Glassco Directed by Diane Brown Produced by Ruby Slippers Theatre
STUDIO 58 /LANGARA COLLEGE & NEWORLD THEATRE PRESENT
INCOGNITO MODE: DE: A PLAY ABOUT PORN RN
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A generational exploration of pornography in the digital age. WARNING: This project contains coarse language, explicit sexual content, depiction of sexual violence, and is recommended for audiences aged 16 and older.
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Melissa Oei, France Perras & Agnes Tong. Photo: David Cooper.
SEPTEMBER 27 – OCTOBER 4 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 23
ARTS
Urban Indian takes viewers on offbeat ride by Darren Barefoot
THEATRE
TALES OF AN URBAN INDIAN
By Darrell Dennis. Directed by Herbie Barnes. A Talk Is Free Theatre production. At Presentation House Theatre and aboard a bus on Friday, September 21. Continues until September 30
O C TO B E R 2 018 KEALOHA
Wed Oct 3, 7:30pm Presented by the Chan Centre Hawaii’s first poet laureate Kealoha delivers a captivating slam poetry performance that stems from his identity as a modern Indigenous artist. Telus Studio Theatre
UBC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Fri Oct 5, 7:30pm
Presented by the UBC School of Music Led by conductor Jonathan Girard, the UBC Symphony Orchestra performs a world premiere by Deborah Carruthers, among other works.
EVGENY KISSIN, PIANO Tue Oct 9, 7:30pm
Presented by the Vancouver Recital Society Pianist Evgeny Kissin’s extraordinary virtuosity have earned him the kind of admiration reserved for only the most gifted classical musicians.
JERUSALEM QUARTET WITH PINCHAS ZUKERMAN AND AMANDA FORSYTH Sun Oct 14, 3pm
Presented by the Vancouver Recital Society Six incredible musicians play a varied program of string sextets.
VSO WITH JEFFREY KAHANE AND KAREN GOMYO Oct 19 + 20, 8pm
Presented by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Renowned violinist Karen Gomyo joins conductor Jeffrey Kahane and the VSO for a program of Brahms, Mendelssohn, and Schumann.
GORAN BREGOVIC AND HIS WEDDING AND FUNERAL BAND Sun Oct 21, 7pm
Presented by the Chan Centre Composer and bandleader Goran Bregovic draws on Balkan rhythms and soulful Romani folktunes for concerts that are always triumphant affairs.
UBC CHOIRS
Fri Oct 26, 7:30pm Presented by the UBC School of Music Led by conductor Graeme Langager, the UBC Choirs perform a program of wide-ranging vocal selections.
CHAN CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS 6265 Crescent Road, Vancouver (UBC)
Tickets and info at chancentre.com SERIES SPONSOR:
24 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 27 – OCTOBER 4 / 2018
I HAVE SEEN plays on lawns, in living rooms, and once, memorably, in a prison cell. But until Darrell Dennis’s Tales of an Urban Indian, I hadn’t watched a play on a bus. And it’s not just any bus, but a sweet vintage B.C. Transit ride complete with retro ads familiar to older Vancouverites. You board the bus at Presentation House in North Vancouver and performer Craig Lauzon hops on around the corner. As you journey around the city, Lauzon tells the semiautobiographical story of Dennis’s youth on and off the reserve. Prowling up and down the bus’s aisle, he spins a bittersweet story of
being stretched between two worlds— his home in the Shuswap Nation and life in the big city of Vancouver. Lauzon has a lot to do. It’s a wordy 90-minute show full of characters and voices, from his kyé7e, his grandmother, to a brief visitation from a very Hebrew God. On top of that, he needs to perform on a moving bus, roving around and climbing all over his tiny corner “stage” on the front seat. It’s as much a feat of athleticism as acting—I imagine it’s quite a core workout—and not a recipe for subtlety. But Lauzon, a veteran of the Royal Canadian Air Farce, pulls it off admirably. In the early part of our trip, I tried to decode the bus’s route. Would we, for example, drive through Xwemelch’stn, formerly known as Capilano Indian Reserve No. 5? There is a poignant payoff in the bus’s course that I won’t spoil. The story’s route is less twisty than the bus’s. Maybe it’s just oneman-show–itis from the recent Vancouver Fringe Festival, but the play’s structure is a little too familiar. Like
every Hollywood biopic, it follows a straightforward path from childhood to adulthood and from a fall toward redemption. I admired the honesty of the storytelling, but would have welcomed a little more invention in its technique. I wondered if director Herbie Barnes might have found an alternative to the bus’s generic fluorescent lighting. I felt quite conspicuous as an audience member and would have welcomed a more theatrical choice. It was a miserable evening when I saw Tales of an Urban Indian. An inch of rain fell that day. All that precipitation, combined with the lighting, meant that there wasn’t much of a view out the window. Which is too bad, because what we see out the windows has a role in the play’s impact. If you have some late-summer visitors coming to town, Tales of an Urban Indian is a perfect, offbeat recommendation for them. It’s amusing, but also unflinching in its portrayal of the life of a First Nations kid in B.C. And it’ll be the weirdest bus tour they’ve ever taken.
Show captures wide array of Wong’s work by Robin Laurence
VISUAL ARTS
ANNA WONG: TRAVELLER ON TWO ROADS At the Burnaby Art Gallery until November 3
OCCURRING FIVE YEARS after her death, the Burnaby Art Gallery’s Anna Wong retrospective spans the career of one of our most accomplished and yet underappreciated printmakers. Composed of some 70 artworks, including ink drawings, etchings, serigraphs, lithographs, block prints, and textiles, and complemented by a major catalogue, the show reveals significant aspects of her life, times, travels, and creative aspirations. Born in Vancouver in 1930, into one of the city’s most distinguished Chinese-Canadian families, Wong was the fifth of 10 children of Wong Kung Lai and Chu Man Ming. She greatly benefited from her parents’ desire to give their offspring a comprehensive education, ensuring that their western schooling was supplemented with teachings in Chinese language, history, culture, and, significantly in Anna Wong’s case, calligraphy. Early on, she also worked in the family business, Modernize Tailors, and gained experience in cutting and sewing that, many years later, would inform her largescale, screen-printed and quilted textile works. Wong’s art education took place over a long period, arguably beginning with those calligraphy lessons in her childhood and enriched, when she was in her late 20s, by Chinese brush painting studies in Hong Kong. The show features four of Wong’s untitled ink works on paper from 1957, their depiction of traditional, nature-based subjects revealing her quick fluency in the medium. Hung next to these is a grid of 16 small pen-and-ink drawings—again untitled—that Wong produced while attending the Vancouver School of Art in the early to mid-1960s. Characterized by either densely layered networks of crosshatched
lines or swirls of jots, dashes, and squiggles, they demonstrate her deft shift from brush to nib, her developing interest in markmaking and overall abstraction, and the influence of a few important instructors, particularly Ann Kipling. At the VSA, Wong encountered the printmaking that would seize her imagination and define her career. Her subsequent works are executed with amazing technical skills through many different processes, techniques, and motifs, from geometric abstraction to Chinese symbology. The resulting images, such as Praying Wheel and Pi, are extended experiments with colour, texture, layered imagery—and transcendence. On graduating from the VSA, Wong travelled to New York to further her studies at the famed Pratt Graphic Art Centre, and stayed on there for nearly 20 years as an instructor. During this time, she established a pattern of teaching in New York through the fall and winter and returning to the West Coast each summer to spend time with her family, teach again, and work in her Vancouver and Quadra Island studios. Among notable prints she created during this period are Pine II and Weeds #10, from a series of lithographs based on humble and overlooked natural forms such as leaves, grasses, and, yes, weeds. Significantly, Wong made seven trips to China following its opening to the West in 1978, and a large body of her prints and mixed-media works is based on photographs she shot on her extensive travels there. Subjects range from humble village architecture to Buddhist sculptures, and from tea thermoses to snowy mountain landscapes. Often, as in The Great Wall #6, Wong incorporated images of family members, reinforcing her deep commitment to her personal and cultural origins. Anna Wong: Traveller on Two Roads is both visually and emotionally arresting. Kudos to the BAG’s Ellen van Eijnsbergen and Jennifer Cane, and to the Wong family, for bringing together a comprehensive show and catalogue that honour an artist whose modesty and indifference to self-promotion might otherwise have allowed her work to slip into obscurity.
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CURIOUS IMAGININGS Vancouver Biennale 2018–2020 is excited to present the groundbreaking immersive sculpture exhibition Curious Imaginings. For the first time ever, renowned Australian artist Patricia Piccinini is taking her hyper-realist, fantastical creatures outside the museum. The intimate setting of a wing of 18 rooms in Strathcona’s historic Patricia Hotel will be transformed for the Curious Imaginings exhibition. To Dec 15, Patricia Hotel (403 East Hastings). Tix $16-40. BACK TO SCHOOL THEATRESPORTS Vancouver TheatreSports improv show dedicated to school days takes short-form improv games and adapts them to parody
classroom clichés and cliques. To Oct 6, The Improv Centre (1502 Duranleau, Granville Island). Tix from $10.75. THE MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY AT UBC 6393 NW Marine Drive, 604-822-5087. IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT: REFLECTING ON NORTHWEST COAST ART to spring 2019 ARTS OF RESISTANCE: POLITICS AND THE PAST IN LATIN AMERICA to Sep 30 BARD ON THE BEACH Annual Shakespeare theatre festival features performances of As You Like It. To Sep 28, Vanier Park (1000 Chestnut). Tix from $24. VANCOUVER ART GALLERY 750 Hornby, 604-662-4719. CABIN FEVER to Sep 30 A CURATOR'S VIEW: IAN THOM SELECTS to Mar 17 THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME The Arts Club Theatre
Company presents a play about a 15-yearold who, when his neighbour’s dog is killed, challenges his own barriers to uncover the truth about the dog, his family, and himself. To Oct 7, Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage (2750 Granville). Tix from $29. VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FLAMENCO FESTIVAL Flamenco Rosario presents performances by local and international flamenco artists, with free workshops and ticketed performances at various Vancouver venues. To Sep 29, Vancouver Playhouse. Free to $65 (plus service charge). WORD VANCOUVER Free literary arts festival includes a one-day event in the blocks surrounding Vancouver Public Library featuring Vikram Vij, Charlie Demers, Evelyn Lau, and Lorimer Shenher. Sep 26-30, Vancouver Public Library (350 W. Georgia).
Arts
HOT TICKET THE HEART’S REFLECTION
(September 28 at Pacific Spirit United Church) Vancouver Chamber Choir continues its quest to replace maestro John Washburn. Finnish bright light Kari Turunen is one of the candidates, and the acclaimed conductor opens the season with transcendent choral pieces from her homeland in a wide-ranging program. Think Jaakko Mäntyjärvi’s haunting ode to the sinking of the Estonia, Canticum calamitatis maritimae, and more.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 THE COMEDY MIX 1015 Burrard. Comedy club with pro-am night Tue at 8:30 pm, showcase Wed at 8:30 pm, and headliners Thu at 8:30 pm and Fri-Sat at 8 and 10:30 pm. CHARLIE DEMERS Sep 27-29 LES BELLES-SOEURS Ruby Slippers Theatre presents Michel Tremblay's play about the hilarious misfortune of one woman's fortune. Sep 27–Oct 6, Gateway Theatre (6500 Gilbert., Richmond). Tix from $29-55. INCOGNITO MODE: A PLAY ABOUT PORN Studio 58 and Neworld Theatre present a generational exploration of pornography in the digital age. Sep 27–Oct 14, Studio 58 (Langara College, 100 W. 49th). NEW WORKS SEASON LAUNCH New media dance performance dealing with themes of migration, modernization, ethnic heritage, and decolonization, created by Dong Mei and Sammy Chien. Sep 27, 1 pm, 8 pm, Waterfront Theatre (1412 Cartwright St., Granville Island). Tix $10-25.
CHARLIE DEMERS
(September 27 to 29 at the Comedy MIX) He’s written three East Van Pantos and a comedy crime novel, and often appeared on CBC’s The Debaters. But where the politically charged funnyman really finds his stride is in standup; head to the MIX and just wait till he gets on a roll.
BLAKE WARD: THE SPACE WITHIN (September
27 to October 18 at the Petley Jones Gallery) Yellowknifeborn, Paris-trained Blake Ward pushes the bounds of figurative sculpture, evoking the classical but also venturing into abstraction. The result are partial “angels” and “phantoms”, as he calls them.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 BC CULTURE DAYS VANCOUVER LAUNCH Hosted by Vancouver-based vocalist and BC Culture Days ambassador Mandy Rushton, event showcases a diverse lineup of cultural contributions. Sep 28, 2-8 pm, šxʷƛ̓exən Xwtl’a7shn (630 Hamilton). Free. KATIE DUCK: CAGE Improvisation pioneer brings her dance/music collaboration to Vancouver with her first visit to the city in 30 years. Sep 28, 7 pm, Scotiabank Dance Centre (677 Davie). Tix $30/$24.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10 CHRIS HEDGES An eloquent speaker who bluntly calls out the corporate coup d’état in American politics. Presented by the BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts. Oct 10, 8 pm, BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts (2055 Purcell Way). $12/$10, www.capilanou.ca/centre/.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18 VANCOUVER SLOW MOVEMENT PANEL Forget being the greenest city. This panel discussion on how to reclaim a sane pace of life aims to make Vancouver the slowest city. Presented by the BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts. Oct 18, 8 pm, BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts (2055 Purcell Way). $12/$10, www.capilanou.ca/centre/
“Without question he is a phenomenal pianist, a deeply intuitive and sensitive musician” — The New York Times
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TUE OCT 9 at 7:30pm CHAN CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS Don’t miss the opportunity to hear one of the true ‘Greats’ of the piano on one of his very rare visits to the West Coast.
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26 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 27 – OCTOBER 4 / 2018
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music Yungblud connects with a new generation Always opinionated and outspoken, Dominic Harrison found his voice through music, but not without a struggle
P
by Mike Usinger
roving he knows not only who his fans are, but, more importantly, what he means to them, Dominic Harrison made sure his first-ever gig in America was as inclusive as it was memorable for all involved. The genre-blurring English artist officially known as Yungblud is just hours removed from his debut stateside when he’s reached on a cellphone in a van headed to Scottsdale, Arizona. Coming on like a man whose four main food groups are Red Bull, white sugar, brown sugar, and black coffee, the easily excitable 20-year-old recounts the gig, in San Diego, as an unqualified life highlight. First off, despite being something of an unknown quantity in the mainstream, he received a messiah’s welcome. “Oh, man, it was just crazy to be in America and have a venue full of people singing my music in a place I’d never been to before,” Yungblud says proudly. “That has me so energized for the rest of the tour. To be honest, the first time I go places, I don’t know what to expect. If it’s 10 people, that’s fuckin’ better than none. But to have a packedout room jumping up and down and singing my songs—that’s fucking mad.” What happened outside the licensed club was just as memorable as the show itself. “Because the venue was 21-plus, I did a meet-and-greet beforehand for all the people who were under 21,” Yungblud says. “That’s a huge part of my fan base. I did it at a famous chicken stop. It was amazing to meet them and also to hang around after the show, signing merch and talking to people. The essence of
Dominic Harrison, aka Yungblud, resisted attempts to turn him into the next Justin Bieber.
Yungblud is connection. That’s all I want to do: connect with people. Initially, I started writing music because I wanted to express my thoughts and get what was going on in my head out to the world. When I saw how many people I was connecting with, it turns into this family, and so fucking quickly. It’s really blown my mind.” That Yungblud is somewhat excited by life won’t surprise anyone who’s heard his debut album, 21st Century Liability. The record is in many ways autobiographical, with more than one reference to the drug favoured by four out of five
teachers, parents, and doctors who see ADHD as a curse rather than a blessing to artists. Consider “I’m employee of the month at a Ritalin club” from the anthemic “Anarchist”, and “They tried to put me on Ritalin/Hoping I don’t make a sound” from “California”. Yungblud acknowledges that school was, indeed, a challenge. “Teachers, people, and, to be honest, some of my classmates didn’t understand me,” he says. “I was the person they didn’t like because I would always speak my mind and had a lot of energy. I’d be bouncing around all the time, being very opinionated. That taught me that people in power don’t like to be confronted, especially by someone younger than them. I didn’t understand why that was—I was someone who just wanted to say what he thought.” And that’s exactly what Yungblud does on 21st Century Liability, tackling issues ranging from America’s insane obsession with guns (“Machine Gun [Fuck the NRA]”) to the commodification of art and the artists who make it (“Die for the Hype”). Stylistically, the record aims squarely at the Spotify nation, moving frenetically from amphetamined electroclash (the aforementioned “Die for the Hype”) to ska-tinged Britpop (“I Love You, Will You Marry Me”) to American slacker pop (“Kill Somebody”). Pay attention and you’ll notice clever nods, including the rapmetal banger “21st Century Liability” riffing on Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name”, and the keys in the G-funk–dusted “California” paying homage to Dr. Dre’s “Still D.R.E.”.
Yungblud thinks he knows why he’s resonating with a new generation: teens have adopted the attitude that the best way to effect change is to mobilize, whether taking to the streets to protest
gun violence in the States or walking out of Ontario schools to protest regressive changes to sex education. Like those kids, he’s found his voice at a see next page
3 Q&As Q. What motivated you to write “Polygraph Eyes”? A. I grew up in a place where a
fucked mentality was so readily accepted that it became normal. I wrote the song because I wanted to create conversation. How does somebody know that something isn’t wrong if they are taught otherwise? At the end of the day, the way to stamp these issues out is if you talk about them.
Q. What was your childhood like? A. I always tell this story of
me getting massively into Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails. My mom bought me a pair of new-rock boots—really big goth boots—for Christmas, and I dyed my hair red and painted my nails. My mom took me down to London with my little
sister. We’re walking down Oxford, and this other family—which has their kids in nice little velvet suits—turns to my mom and says “How can you let your kid dress like that?” And that’s when my mum went totally mad on them. People don’t understand things they don’t know. Q. Why was mixing styles important to you? A. At the end of the
day I never want to be a genre-defined artist. Yes, I represent rock ’n’ roll, but to me rock ’n’ roll is freedom. It’s attitude—not just four idiots banging the shit out of their instruments. I wanted to create an album that was full of the different genres that I listen to and that I fell in love with and that helped me feel understood.
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SEPTEMBER 27 – OCTOBER 4 / 2018 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 27
OCT
OCT
16 PARADISE LOST
1 TERRY BOZZIO
OCT
4 IDLES
BAMBARA & BRASS
OCT
5 PROTOMEN
MAKEUP AND VANITY SET & BIT BRIGADE
OCT
17 POND
SOLSTAFIR & THE ATLAS MOTH
W/ GUESTS
RICKSHAW WRESTLING
OCT
SCENIC ROUTE AT THE TO ALASKA WISE HALL AT THE OCT TY SEGALL A WILHELM AT THE 7 & WHITE FENCE RICKSHAW SCREAM WISE HALL HEAVY TRIP & KILLER DEAL OCT THE MAD ALCHEMY LIQUID 10 EARTHLESS FEATURING LIGHT SHOW
OCT
11 THE MARIACHI GHOST
27 HALLOWEEN FAMJAM
OCT
SHE WANTS
6 REVENGE
AT THE RICKSHAW
OCT OCT
12 STRUNG OUT
OCT
COMEDY
13 SHOCKER XVIII
OCT
TBA
20 RICH HOPE & LA CHINGA 21 KING KHAN & THE SHRINES
OCT
26 RANDOM RAB
GABRIELLA COHEN
AVERAGE GYPSY, BOTE, CASE OF THE MONDAYS, DJ SURGEON, NOSTALGIX, SHEPS
EVERLAST ‘WHITEY FORD’S HOUSE OF PAIN CANADIAN TOUR’ THE ALARM W/ GUESTS
14 UNLEASH THE ARCHERS
AT LANALOU’S
MATSYA & FIREWOOD POETRY
RISE & SHINE
OCT
MIKE PLUME
DOUBLE RELEASE PARTY
OCT
‘TWENTY YEARS OF OCT ‘TWISTED BY DESIGN’ TOUR’ 29 W/ THE BOMBPOPS & COUNTERPUNCH ALBUM RELEASE *LATE OCT *EARLY* W/ TREMBLERS SHOW* SHOW 30 OF SEVENS STRIKER, THE ORDER OF CHAOS OCT & OPHELIA FALLING 31
REAL PONCHOS
AT THE
19 THE HORROR ON HASTINGS RICKSHAW
LOST GIRLS BURLESQUE
W/ GUESTS
W/ SATAN’S ANGEL
from previous page young age, but not without a struggle. Obsessed with Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails in his formative years, he realized early on that he wanted to do music. An initial move from Doncaster to London had him working with producers who tried to make him the next Justin Bieber or Shawn Mendes. “At the end of the day,” Yungblud recounts, “when you are 16 years old and some manager who’s actually recognized by record companies walks you into a record label and says, ‘I want to turn you into this,’ you go, ‘Fuck it, man—whatever will get me on the radio.’ It was like, ‘I’ve moved to London and I have 20 quid in my pocket and I want to make my mom and dad fucking proud.’ But then a year went by and I was like, ‘This is just not what I represent. I’m playing a fucking acoustic guitar on my own in a Gap T-shirt but still jumping on the fucking speakers and doing flying kicks.’ It just didn’t add up.” One of the most powerful moments on the album is the track “Polygraph Eyes”, where, over drifting Dream Whip synths, Harrison uses lyrics like “She slurs when she speaks/But you hear what you want when she can’t even talk” to paint a picture familiar to those who’ve survived being a teenager. The singer’s timely #MeToo message to her predator? That would be “Fuck off and leave her alone.” “That’s an issue that I grew up around in the north [of England],”
Yungblud says. “Their drinking age is 18, but where I’m from I was going out with fake ID at 15 and 14. I’d see these girls stumbling out of nightclubs with boys who weren’t nearly as drunk as they were. The fundamental, fucking messed-up crazy thing was that I didn’t realize how wrong this was until I moved out of the city, learned to be my own person, and grew up.” The 21st Century Liability kickoff track, “Eulogy”, has Yungblud declaring himself “A beloved friend/A beloved brother/A beloved son”, following with “He just didn’t give a fuck really.” What’s obvious from the career he’s just beginning to carve out is that the opposite is actually true. What he’s tapped into is that there are plenty of people just like him: misunderstood kids looking for someone to articulate what it’s like to be young and tired of the bullshit. “In this day and age, a lot of people try and be someone else to impress the masses,” he relates. “I went through that stage. And I had to go through it to make me realize, ‘You know what? I don’t give a fuck what people think.’ And at the end of the day, all you can ever be is yourself. If people don’t like who you are, they aren’t meant to be in your life. That’s what’s so amazing about the fan base that’s growing right now. It’s a bunch of people from all different walks of life that just want to be heard.” Yungblud plays the Fox Cabaret on Saturday (September 29).
DAVE ALVIN AND JIMMIE DALE GILMORE ON STAGE TOGETHER
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SUNDAY SEPT
30th
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28 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 27 – OCTOBER 4 / 2018
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TORD GUSTAVSEN TRIO Tord Gustavsen’s exquisitely crafted, melodic compositions are the work of a master pianist. Presented by the Blueshore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts. Sep 29, 8 pm, BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts (2055 Purcell Way). $30/$27, www.capilanou.ca/centre/. STEVE EARLE AND THE DUKES American country-roots rocker performs on his 30th Anniversary of Copperhead Road Tour, with guests the Mastersons. Sep 29-30, doors 7 pm, show 8:30 pm, Commodore Ballroom (868 Granville).
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 I’M WITH HER Grammy-winning Americana trio composed of Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, and Aoife O’Donovan. Sep 30, Chan Shun Concert Hall (6265 Crescent Rd., Chan Centre at UBC). CHILDISH GAMBINO Singer, songwriter, and rapper from the States, aka actor Donald Glover, with guest Rae Sremmurd. Sep 30, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Rogers Arena (800 Griffiths Way). Tix $139.50/89.50/59.50 (plus service charges and fees)
MONDAY, OCTOBER 1
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20
TERRY BOZZIO American rock-pop drummer known for his work with Missing Persons and Frank Zappa. Oct 1, 7 pm, Rickshaw Theatre (254 E. Hastings). $35 (plus service charges and fees) at Red Cat Records JOURNEY AND DEF LEPPARD Multiplatinum rock acts from the ’70s/’80s play a coheadlining show. Oct 1, 8 pm, Rogers Arena (800 Griffiths Way). Tix $249/189/119/89/49
MAD DOGS & VANCOUVERITES: A RE-IMAGINING OF THE CLASSIC JOE COCKER ALBUM Featuring CR Avery, Steve Dawson, Roy Forbes, Rich Hope, Khari Wendell McClelland, Ndidi Onukwulu, Dawn Pemberton, and Matt Andersen. Presented by the Blueshore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts. Oct 12, 13, 8 pm, Kay Meek Arts Centre (1700 Mathers Ave., West Van). Tix $56/$53, www.capilanou.ca/centre/.
AN EVENING WITH PAT METHENY A careerspanning showcase from the 20-time Grammy-winning guitarist, with drummer Antonio Sanchez, bassist Linda May Han Oh, and pianist Gwilym Simcock. Presented by the BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts. Oct 20, 8 pm, Vogue Theatre (918 Granville). Tix $69/$59/$56, www.capilanou.ca/centre/.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2 JAY-Z AND BEYONCE American hip-hop/ R&B superstars perform on their On the Run II Tour. Oct 2, 7:30 pm, BC Place Stadium (777 Pacific Blvd). Tix at www.livenation.com/. FIRST AID KIT Folk duo from Sweden tours behind latest album Ruins. Oct 2, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Queen Elizabeth Theatre (650 Hamilton).
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7 KANDACE SPRINGS Soul-jazz singersongwriter and pianist from Nashville. Oct 7, 8 pm, The Imperial (319 Main St.). Tix $32.
LUKE BRYAN American country singersongwriter performs on his What Makes You Country Tour. Oct 13, doors 4 pm, BC Place Stadium (777 Pacific Blvd).
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19 COLIN LINDEN Prolific doesn’t begin to describe this roots guitarist whose dusky voice and blues-style playing are sought after by everyone. Presented by the BlueShore Financial Centre for the Perforrming Arts. Oct 19, 8 pm, BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts (2055 Purcell Way). Tix $30/$27, www.capilanou.ca/centre/.
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is HIRING BAKERS. Perm, Full Time, Shifts, Weekends. Salary: $ 15.00 /hour, company-paid Extended Health Benefits. Requirements: Good English, Previous experience as a baker is an asset. Education: Secondary school. Main duties: Mix ingredients and prepare dough according to recipes; Bake breads, pastries, and other baked goods;Operate commercial size baking equipment; Ensure that the quality of products meetsestablished standards; Frost and decorate pastries or other baked goods.Job location and business address: Solodko Ukrainian Bakery, 444 Sixth St, New Westminster, BC V3L 3B3 Please apply by e-mail: employment@solodko.ca
Tech
Audio Visual Systems Installation Technicians Wanted
(Greater Vancouver Area) Western Audio Visual Enterprises Ltd. is looking for experienced commercial AV installation technicians. Installations of boardroom video/teleconference systems. Minimum 1 – 3 years. Full Time Position – 35 to 50 hours/week. Compensation - $18 to $35/hr Language of Work – English Apply with resume to info@westernav.ca
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FALL SPECIAL Bodyscrub $79/70min. Waxing 20% off. Massage $28/half hour 8 - 4287 Kingsway 604-438-8714 Support Groups Healthy & loving relationships alluding you? CODA: Co-dependency Anonymous 12 step Recovery: 604- 515-5585
AL-ANON FAMILY GROUPS Does someone else's drinking bother you? Al-Anon can help. We are a support group for those who have been affected by another's drinking problem. For more information please call: 604-688-1716 Anorexics & Bulimics Anonymous 12 Step based peer support program which addresses the mental, emotional, & spiritual aspects of disordered eating Tuesdays @ 7 pm @ Avalon Women's Centre 5957 West Blvd - 604-263-7177
604.986.8650
Fertility Support Group Discover new perspectives make positive changes and learn simple tools to take charge of your reproductive wellness while connecting with other women. The meetings provide a space for open discussion. 2nd Tuesday of each month 7:45 - 8:45pm (Sign up required) Reg & Info call: 604-266-6470 or www.familypassages.ca Genital Herpes Support Group for Women Are you living with Genital Herpes in Vancouver? We are a group of women that draws upon each others knowledge and strength to grapple with this sometimes trying condition. Through mutual support and honest conversation we aim to address the physical and emotional health implications of this virus and how it affects romantic relationships, sex, dating & life in general. Contact: ghsupportgroup@gmail.com IBD Support Group Suffer from Crohn's and ulcerative colitis? Living with IBD can often be overwhelming, but you're not alone! 3rd Wed of each month the GI Society holds a free IBD support group meeting for patients & their families to come together in an open, friendly environment. 7:00pm at RavenSong Community Health Centre (2450 Ontario St). or more information call 604-875-4875. Is your life affected by someone else's drug use? Nar-Anon Family Group Meeting Every Friday 7:30-9:00 pm at Barclay Manor, 1447 Barclay
Nar-Anon 604 878-8844
Join a FREE YWCA Single Mothers support group in your local community. Share information, experiences and resources. Child care is provided for a nominal fee. For information call 604-895-5789 or Email: smacdonald@ywcavan.org
Join Our Support, Education & Action Group
July 11th 6:30–8:30pm (8 weeks) Women who experienced any form of male violence CALL Vancouver Rape Relief & Women's Shelter 604-872-8212
LifeRing - Sobriety your Way
Sound Different? Men & Women supporting each other in a friendly, non-judgemental environment based on abstinence, secularity & self-help Van: @ Vancouver Daytox 377 E. 2nd Sat @ 4pm Maple Ridge: @ The CEED Centre 11739 - 223 St Sundays 1:30pm www.liferingcanada.org or www.lifering.org WAVAW - Rape Crisis Centre has a 24-hour crisis line, counselling, public education, & volunteer opportunities for women. All services are free & confidential. Please call for info: Business Line: 604-255-6228 24-Hour Crisis Line: 604-255-6344
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TALK MEN OFF GET TALKED OFF 30 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 27 – OCTOBER 4 / 2018
SAVAGE LOVE
Partners’ needs and deeds don’t always jibe by Dan Savage
I’M A 62-YEAR-OLD woman. I was fit and attractive for my age, and (used married for 33 years and left five years to) enjoy feeling desired and valued ago. We hadn’t gotten along for years, sexually. Can I get to the place of letbut he never stopped wanting or valu- ting go of that and enjoy the rare occaing me for sex—in spite of treating me sions of physical congress? like a household appliance and cheat- Sex Advice Please ing on me regularly. Not long after the marriage ended, I met a guy online “Good for her for getting out of a mar(my same age) who ticked nearly every riage where she was treated like a box on my partner checklist—one of ‘household appliance’ and getting back which was an ongoing interest in main- in the dating game,” said Joan Price, taining sexual relations. In the begin- author of the books Naked at Our Age: ning, things were hot and crazy—but Talking Out Loud About Senior Sex and they cooled after a few months (going The Ultimate Guide to Sex After 50. “But from once or twice a day to maybe her new relationship, while it sounds once a month). Other than that, the comfortable and affectionate, doesn’t relationship continued to grow and we sound sexually fulfilling.” This relationship doesn’t just enjoyed being together. I tried to carefully broach the subject, but he was sound unfulfilling sexually, SAP, it not forthcoming. I’m not proud of it, sounds infuriating generally. You but I checked his Internet history. Big entered into this relationship under surprise: lots of porn. No animals or chil- false pretences. You let your partner dren, but pretty much everything else, know that “an ongoing interest in with an accent on trans. Eventually, maintaining sexual relations” was a I admitted my sleuthing and asked priority for you, and he allowed you if his viewing habits were an indica- to believe it was a priority for him. tor of his interests or the reason he In fairness to him, SAP, he may not had turned away from me. After the have known himself to be incapable anger subsided, he explained that he of sustaining a strong sexual conhad been single most of his life and nection, seeing as he’s been single had more or less gotten used to tak- for most of his life. But even if he ing care of business solo. Also that the wasn’t aware he couldn’t meet your women he had been with who floated needs then, that doesn’t change the his boat sexually had been bad (crazy/ fact that you aren’t valued/fucked unstable) in the partner department, the way you want to be valued/ and the good partners (me) had been fucked now. less than satisfying for him in bed. “I think her best option is to stay The bottom line is that we are com- friends with this guy but start dating patible in most every other area and and having sex with others,” said Price. have built a comfortable life together. “She could continue to have occasional We have intercourse every four to six sex with this man if they both agree to weeks, and maybe once in between he a nonexclusive, friends-with-benefits will pleasure me. I enjoy both, and also arrangement. Or they could become take care of myself once a week. The platonic pals, if that’s better for them. struggle for me is more ego-driven. I’m But it’s imperative that she talk canno raving beauty, but I am reasonably didly with him.”
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You write that you tried to “carefully broach the subject, but he was not forthcoming”, but Price wonders whether you were forthcoming yourself. “ ‘Carefully broach’ usually means ‘I was vague,’ ” said Price. “Suppose, instead, she said, ‘I really value you, but I don’t think we’re well-matched sexually. How can we adjust our relationship so we’re not putting sexual pressure on each other and we’re both free to find other sexual outlets?’ ” Your partner has an outlet that works for him and pretty much meets all his needs—porn and his own hand—but you don’t have an outlet that provides you with the feeling of being desired and valued sexually. Watching porn and/or “taking care of yourself” isn’t going to meet your needs. So the question is this: do you have to exit this loving relationship to get your needs met, or can you stay with your current partner, a man who meets your emotional and social needs, while getting your sexual needs met elsewhere? “SAP deserves a partner who matches her sexually,” said Price. And I agree. If you’re telling yourself that you’ll have to settle for someone who claims he can’t perform for you because you’re not unstable enough to turn him on— you do realize that compliment he paid you (you’re so good!) was actually a dishonest bit of blame-shifting/ responsibility-dodging, right?—then you’re selling yourself short. “I know from personal experience and from the swelling of my inbox that many of us find hot, fabulous sexual partners in our 60s, 70s, and beyond,” said Price. “It’s never too late. She shouldn’t settle for sex that’s less than satisfying, and neither should he. If that means she looks for
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WHEN I WAS younger and more stupid, I let my husband have intercourse with me or have me blow him or jack him off while I was on the phone with my sister. It was not something that I wanted to do, but I wasn’t strong enough then to resist his pressure. For the last five years, I’ve asked him to respect me and not do this. He was good about it for a while, and I thought that we were on the same page. Now he has resumed pressuring me to do this. When I am on the phone with my sister, he will come in and harass me, grope me, and attempt to remove my clothes. So I get off the phone. This makes him mad. If I say no, he emotionally withdraws, stops conversation about it, and tells me, “No sex, no
doesn’t-always-apply adage “What you don’t know can’t hurt you” applies where your unwitting sister is concerned—so long as she doesn’t know you’re multitasking during your phone conversation, PHONES, no harm is done to your sister. But you know it’s happening and you don’t like it, and your husband knows you don’t like it but insists on doing it anyway. And when you shut him down—which is your absolute right—he gets angry, engages in emotional blackmail, and threatens to leave you (“No sex, no marriage”). But you are having sex with your husband—sex that includes some of his other kinks— so what he’s really saying is, “All the sex I want, however I want it, whenever I want it, regardless of how you feel about it, or I’ll divorce you.” My advice: divorce him yourself.
On the Lovecast, Dan chats with Lizz Winstead of The Daily Show: savagelovecast. com. Email: mail@savagelove.net. Follow Dan on Twitter @fakedansavage. ITMFA.org.
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