VIFF 2014 Program Guide by Vancouver International Film Festival

T H E

C O M P L E T E

SEPTEMBER 25

–OCTOBER 10

G U I D E

2 0 1 4 | VI FF. O R G

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CONTENTS How to VIFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Dragons & Tigers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Festival Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Spotlight on France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Awards & Juries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Nonfiction Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Arts & Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Sponsors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

High School Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Letters of Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Altered States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

VIFF Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Galas & Special Presentations . . . . . . . . . 21

Index of Films by Theme & Genre . . . . . . 92

Canadian Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Index of Films by Country & Region . . . . . 94

Cinema of Our Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Index of Films with Screening Times . . . . 96

Festival Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Index of Directors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Short Films . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

1181 Seymour Street • Vancouver, BC • V6B 3M7 Canada t (604) 685-0260 • f (604) 688-8221 www.viff.org EDITOR Curtis Woloschuk ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jack Vermee DATABASE PUBLISHING Sandy Gow GRAPHIC DESIGN Steve Chow SCHEDULE DESIGN Lawrence Boxall COVER DESIGN Traction Creative PRINTING MItchell Press Published September 3, 2014, Vancouver, BC, Canada, by the Greater Vancouver International Film Festival Society. Errata: VIFF’s 2013 Cover Photography by David Ellingsen.

Cineplex Entertainment LP or used under license. ®/™

THANK YOU TO THE 750 FESTIVAL VOLUNTEERS! THE FESTIVAL LASTS 16 DAYS. THEIR PASSION IS YEAR-LONG.

H O W TO V I F F The 33rd annual Vancouver International Film Festival welcomes some of the world’s finest films to one of the most beautiful cities on the planet. For 16 days, almost 350 films from more than 70 countries will delight Vancouver film lovers. Which perhaps raises the question: Where does one even start?

Pick your films

Flip through our film series, where films are listed alphabetically by title. Are there just a few dates during the festival that you’re available? Then turn to the Screening Schedule in the centre of this guide and find the films that are playing on a given day. Looking for something specific? Jump right to the indexes at the back; there, you can find films by their title, theme, genre or country of origin. Need more info? Visit viff.org for longer film descriptions and additional search tools.

Print your tickets at home

Make things easy at the theatre by printing your PDF tickets at home or having your PDF tickets ready to display on your smart phone. Be sure you include your barcode (and leave it the original size). That’s what we’ll need to scan in order to get you into the theatre.

Showtime

If you’ve purchased (and printed) your tickets in advance, arrive and join the appropriate line outside. If you plan on buying your tickets at the venue, be sure to allow yourself sufficient time. (You can tell how busy a screening is expected to be by checking our online film guide at viff. org.) Should you have any questions at the theatre, ask one of our volunteers wearing a VIFF t-shirt. They’re happy to help!

IMPORTANT REMINDERS • Films are shown in their original language with English subtitles. • You must buy a $2 VIFF membership (or have Membership Plus+) before your first screening and present it at every screening you attend. Lose the card and you’ll need to buy a replacement. • With only a few exceptions, you must be age 18+ to see a film at VIFF. (19+ at the Rio Theatre.) Do you have kids that want to experience VIFF? Turn to Page 93 to see a list of films that “Under Age 18 May Attend.” Or, learn more about our High School Outreach Program on Page 87. • Following VIFF, exchange your 2014 VIFF Membership Card for a FREE Vancity Theatre basic membership by December 31, 2014. STAY IN THE KNOW! Subscribe for daily updates during the festival: viff.org/subscribe FOLLOW US

Buy your tickets

Skip the lines at the theatre box office and purchase your tickets online at viff.org. If you plan on seeing a number of films during the festival, consider buying ticket packs or passes. They’re convenient and can save you money! You’ll find details on all of your options for attending VIFF on Pages 6 and 7.

Enjoy

This may be your only chance to see many of these exceptional films on the big screen. Make the most of it and be sure that you’re considerate to your fellow viewers. Turn off your phones and save your conversation for after the screening. We assure you: these films deserve your full attention.

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viff.org EMAIL info@viff.org CALL 604-683-FILM (3456) VISIT

FESTIVAL INFO

Tickets

Festival Passes

Membership Plus+

REGULAR

$13

WEEKDAY MATINEE

$11

Passes offer flexibility, freedom to move between screenings and potentially the greatest savings of all. Plus: Passholders are the first people through the doors at each screening (and are allowed entry until the generous passholder allotment of seats has been filled.)

All Plus+ Members receive memberships to VIFF and Vancity Theatre AND their first screening at Vancity Theatre for free. Each membership level offers unique perks that enable you to experience more VIFF! Visit: www.viff.org/membershipplus for more details or contact membership@viff.org

PLATINUM PASS $900 Admission to all festival screenings with guaranteed seating until 5 minutes before showtime and immediate entry privileges. No waiting in line!

Charitable #: 118946821RROOO1

FESTIVAL PASS $400 Admission to all festival screenings, excluding Opening and Closing Galas.

Tickets can be purchased up to 30 minutes prior to showtime either online or at any VIFF venue box office. Within 30 minutes of showtime, tickets are only available at the screening venue (subject to availability).

Starting before 6pm.

STUDENT (18+) / SENIOR (65+)

$11

Must present valid ID at screening.

YOUTH (under 18)

Only permitted at limited screenings. See Page 93 for films classified so that “Under 18 Can Attend.”

OPENING OR CLOSING GALA FILM

$15

Prices also apply to repeat screenings of Gala Films.

Membership Plus+ saves you $2 per ticket (until Sept. 24) $1 service charge per ticket ordered online (up to a maximum charge of $4). $1 per ticket exchanged. Must be exchanged in person at a VIFF box office at least 1 hour prior to the screening you no longer want. Exchanges cannot be made for missed screenings.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

T H E R E W I L L BE NO R EF U NDS EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF C A N C E L L ED SCR EEN I NGS.

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP $2 VIFF presents films that have not been classified by Consumer Protection BC. By law, anyone wishing to see these unclassified films must be a member of the VIFF Society and 18 years of age or older, unless otherwise stated. Following VIFF, exchange your 2014 VIFF Membership Card for a FREE Vancity Theatre basic membership by December 31, 2014.

STUDENT/SENIOR PASS $325 Available to students (18+) and seniors (65+). Admission to all festival screenings, excluding Opening and Closing Galas. Must present valid ID at all screenings. WEEKDAY MATINEE PASS $175 Admission to all weekday matinee screenings (starting before 6pm). STYLE IN FILM PASSPORT $99 Six films, exclusive passholder screening, special guests, events and much more! Details on Page 81.

VIFF Industry Passes DELEGATE PASS October 1-4 POWER TO THE INDIE PROGRAM PASS October 1 DAY PASS October 2 or October 3 TOTALLY INDIE DAY PASS October 4

Ticket Packs Buy more, save more. Plus: Select the films you want in advance and you’re guaranteed admission. 5-TICKET PACK

$60

$12 per ticket. Limit of one ticket per screening.

12-TICKET PACK

$144

$12 per ticket. Limit of two tickets per screening.

20-TICKET PACK

$220

$11 per ticket. Limit of two tickets per screening.

30-TICKET PACK

$300

$10 per ticket. Limit of two tickets per screening.

STUDENT (18+) / SENIOR (65+) 5-TICKET PACK

$50

$10 per ticket. Limit of one ticket per screening. Must present valid ID at all screenings.

Membership Plus+ saves you 10% on Passes (until Sept. 24) $2 service charge per 5-Ticket Pack purchased online or in person. $4 per Ticket Pack of 12 or more purchased online or in person. Ticket packs cannot be redeemed for “VIFF Repeats” screenings held after the festival closes on October 10.

NOTES:

Purchasing Tickets

PURCHASE ONLINE. PRINT AT HOME. OR BE “SMART” ABOUT IT.

Avoid the box office lines by purchasing your tickets at viff. org and taking advantage of the Print at Home option. Once your tickets have been emailed to you, you can print them or simply display them on your smart phone at the theatre. (This is the best option if you want to purchase tickets for someone else. Just forward their ticket to them by email!) If you’re printing your tickets, be sure you keep the printed barcode with you. This will need to be scanned at the theatre. Please leave the barcode its original size – don’t shrink or reformat it. THEATRE PICK-UP

$300 $90

If you need us to print your tickets, come to any VIFF office with your order number, photo ID and the credit card used for the purchase. Be sure to allow sufficient time to pick up your tickets before your screening. Arrive at least 30 minutes before showtime.

$125 $90

Combo Passes INDUSTRY+ PASS $600 Valid for all VIFF Industry sessions and VIFF screenings with the exception of galas. Pass is non-transferable. BIZ PASS $900 Valid for all VIFF Industry sessions. Includes 30 membershipincluded tickets to VIFF screenings. Pass is transferrable. LAUNCH PASS $400 Available to students 19+. Must present valid ID at all screenings. Valid for all VIFF Industry sessions and VIFF screenings with the exception of galas. Visit viff.org/industry for more information on VIFF Industry and Combo Passes. IMPORTANT NOTES: $4 service charge per pass ordered online. Passes are available for purchase online at viff.org now or in person at the Vancity Theatre (1181 Seymour Street) starting September 13. If passes are purchased online, they can be collected at the Vancity Theatre starting September 13. (Other VIFF venues will not be able to print your pass.) With the exception of the BIZ PASS, all passes are strictly nontransferable and photo ID may be requested at the theatres. Visit viff.org/festival/passes for more information.

What’s the best deal? • Tickets are best if you want to keep it simple and just attend a few films. • Ticket Packs offer savings and may be your best bet if you plan to attend at least five evening screenings and want guaranteed seats. • Passes are ideal if you want maximum flexibility to see as many films as possible and don’t mind taking your chances with available seats. • Platinum Passes are perfect if you want guaranteed premium seating up to 5 minutes before showtime.

How do I know if I’ll get in? You can tell how busy a screening is expected to be by checking our online film guide at viff.org. You should plan ahead in order to avoid disappointment and arrive at the theatre early.

Rush Tickets If advance tickets are sold out for a screening, don’t despair! “Rush tickets” will be available at the venue just before showtime. If you want to explore this option, arrive at the theatre early and join the “Rush Line.” Be advised: When this line is admitted, it will be one ticket per person. You won’t be able to buy tickets for anyone who isn’t present.

FESTIVAL INFO

WATERFRONT STATION

W. CO R DOVA

S HA

SFU

ONLINE AT VIFF.ORG

E ND

Thursday, September 4 (from noon) until Friday, October 10, 24 hours a day

IN PERSON BEFORE THE FESTIVAL

W. HAS TINGS

Box Offices

W. PEN DER

Vancity Theatre – 1181 Seymour Street (at Davie) Saturday, September 13 until Wednesday, September 24, Noon-7pm THEATRE BOX OFFICES DURING THE FESTIVAL

STADIUMCHINATOWN STATION

DUNS M UIR

GRANVILLE STATION

From Thursday, September 25 until Friday, October 10, all of our theatres serve as box offices. You can buy tickets for any film in the festival at any festival theatre (during hours of operation). Box offices open 30 minutes prior to the first screening of the day at that theatre.

PLAY

G EOR G IA

Film and Festival Info STAY IN THE KNOW WITH INSTANT UPDATES!

CENT

B EAT T Y

Subscribe for daily updates during the festival: viff.org/subscribe CAMBIE

HA M I LT ON

HOM ER

R I C HA R D S

SEYM OUR

GR A NV I L L E

HOWE

HOR NB Y

B UR R A D

R OB S O N

S M Y TH E

Visit viff.org Comprehensive and constantly updated. FOLLOW US

twitter.com/VIFFest facebook.com/VIFFest instagram.com/VIFFest INFO LINE:

M A I NL A ND

HA M I LT ON

N EL S ON

604-683-FILM (3456)

Speak to a friendly, well-informed volunteer starting Thursday, September 4. Weekdays: 9am-7pm; Weekends: Noon-7pm.

HEL M CKEN

CINE DAVIE

VCT

YALETOWNROUNDHOUSE STATION

DAILY UPDATES: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 THROUGH FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10

Theatres The Centre for the Performing Arts (CENT) 777 Homer Street (at Robson) The Cinematheque (CINE) 1131 Howe Street (at Helmcken) Cineplex Odeon International Village (IN08, IN09, IN10) 88 West Pender Street (at Abbott) VIFF box office located on ground floor.

SFU’S Goldcorp Centre for the Arts (SFU) 149 West Hastings Street (between Cambie and Abbott inside SFU Woodwards) Vancity Theatre (VCT) 1181 Seymour Street (at Davie) VIFF`s year-round venue Liquor served.

About VIFF The Greater Vancouver International Film Festival Society is a non-profit, tax-exempt, educational and cultural organization incorporated and registered under The Society Act of British Columbia, and a federally registered charity under the Canadian Income Tax Act. Charitable Registration Number BN118946821RROOO1

Vancouver Playhouse (PLAY) 600 Hamilton Street (at Dunsmuir)

Rio Theatre (RIO) 1660 East Broadway (at Commercial) Liquor served. Ages 19+ unless otherwise noted. ID and bag checks are possible. 5

AWARDS + JURIES

Canadian Images Awards

BC Spotlight Awards

Impact Award

While VIFF welcomes films from all over the world, our acclaimed Canadian Images series – the largest exhibition of new Canadian cinema in the world – remains an integral part of the festival. This year, VIFF furthers its commitment to Canadian narrative filmmakers by introducing a cash award to celebrate their outstanding achievements.

VIFF once again invites the latest work by our province’s brightest filmmakers to take centre stage. Furthermore, we offer two significant cash awards to ensure that these local storytellers keep creating and offer film-lovers the chance to vote for their must-see BC features at mustseeBC.viff.org.

Recognizing that documentary filmmaking can be a powerful agent of change, this award is intended for the director of a Canadian documentary that’s deeply concerned with social issues. It’s designed to offer the resources necessary to amplify the film’s message, ensuring that it resonates long after its VIFF screening, potentially transforming the movie into a movement.

BEST CANADIAN FILM

The most anticipated BC film will play the BC Spotlight Gala at the Playhouse on Saturday, October 4 at 6:30pm.

$8,000 cash prize

BEST BC FILM

SPONSORED BY THE DIRECTORS GUILD OF CANADA

$10,000 development bursary

$5,000 development bursary SPONSORED BY AGENTIC DIGITAL MEDIA

+ $5,000 in marketing and strategic in-kind services

Sponsored by:

Tickets and info:

chancentre.com

LETTERS OF WELCOME

A Message from the Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development On behalf of Premier Christy Clark and the Government of British Columbia, I am very happy to congratulate the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) for presenting a world-class calibre cultural event celebrating great film and outstanding filmmakers. This year marks VIFF’s 33rd anniversary. The festival’s success has grown steadily into a testament to the vibrancy of arts and culture in British Columbia. As one of North America’s top five film festivals, VIFF features hundreds of fine productions representing leading-edge filmmakers and film cultures from around the world. VIFF showcases the work of talented filmmakers from British Columbia and Canada. B.C.’s film artists and industry enjoy well-earned global respect. Once again, VIFF Industry will present western Canada’s largest screenbased media conference – always a great opportunity for professional development and networking. Culturally, VIFF entertains, educates and inspires British Columbians, as well as visitors from across Canada and around the world. Socially, the festival brings people together to enjoy great art. Hundreds of screenings at Vancouver theatres provide abundant opportunities for audiences to enjoy and discuss interesting films together with family and friends. Economically, VIFF creates a significant benefit for local businesses and tourism. Last year’s festival drew 130,000 admissions.

A Message from the Mayor of Vancouver

A Message from Telefilm Canada

The Vancouver International Film Festival is among the leading festivals of the world as a showcase for the most creative and innovative productions in international cinema. As television and other mass media move their focus to immediate local news and “reality” programming, film is becoming an even more important medium of artistic expression, reportage and entertainment.

Telefilm Canada is once again delighted to partner with the Vancouver International Film Festival, an ideal opportunity to discover or rediscover Canadian filmmaking—a cinema brimming with talent!

I want to thank the filmmakers and artists taking part in this year’s festival for sharing your craft with us and to the audiences attending the festival, I trust you will be both entertained and enlightened. On behalf of all the citizens of Vancouver, thank you and have a wonderful festival. Yours truly,

Gregor Robertson MAYOR

Our filmmakers share a rich diversity of stories and characters that surprise, touch and entertain us all as well as make us laugh and think. Their expertise is unique. Their profoundly original stories are appreciated worldwide, as attested by tremendous success at the Oscars, Cannes, Berlin, Shanghai as well as many other major festivals and markets. Telefilm hopes that more and more Canadians get to experience their national cinema, now accessible on multiple platforms, and that they identify with its importance for the country. We provide support to dynamic companies as well as to highly talented creators, actors and artisans from all regions. And we also work with the industry and numerous partners to promote Canadian cinema, both at home and abroad. Congratulations to the organizers of the 2014 Vancouver International Film Festival. Enjoy the films!

Michel Roy CHAIR OF THE BOARD, TELEFILM CANADA

I want to express my thanks to the Greater Vancouver International Film Society and the hundreds of local volunteers for making the festival so successful year after year. Best wishes for a successful festival this year and in the future. Sincerely,

Coralee Oakes MINISTER OF COMMUNITY, SPORT AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS PREMIER

GOVERNMENT

PARTNER

SENIOR

ACFC WEST, LOCAL 2020 UNIFOR

CONTRIBUTING

SUPPORTING

ANGELS

MARKETING PARTNERS

@yvrshoots

GET READY THE PREMIER SCREEN BASED MEDIA CONFERENCE ON THE WEST COAST.

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Full program + guest speakers available at www.viff.org/industry Twitter

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All sessions take place at The

Industry Centre

Vancouver International Film Festival: September 25 - October 10 th

MEET THE GATEKEEPERS Executives from Entertainment One Television, FX and more! TELEFILM CANADA Tête-à-Tête and Speed Dating Meetings SEED&SPARK WORKSHOP Crowdfunding to build an audience

ROGERS IS PROUD TO SUPPORT THE VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AND YOUR LOVE OF FILM

OPENING GALA

USA

Wild

JEAN-MARC VALLÉE, USA, 2014, 120 MIN.

6:30 PM 3:00 PM

CENT CENT

Jean-Marc Vallée follows up on Dallas Buyers Club with another enthralling odyssey fuelled by an individual’s remarkable resilience. Working from Nick Hornby’s masterful adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s best-selling memoir, Vallée elicits a powerhouse performance from Reese Witherspoon in the role of the author. Viewers who believed that they had Witherspoon pegged will be astonished by her complex turn here as a woman who’s survived the death of her beloved mother (Laura Dern, glimpsed in flashbacks and certain to be in the thick of the conversation come awards season), drug abuse, sex addiction, divorce and homelessness but who now faces her most daunting challenge.

CAST Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Thomas Sadoski, Michiel Huisman, Gaby Hoffmann, Kevin Rankin EXEC Bergen Swanson, Nathan Ross, Nick Hornby PROD Reese Witherspoon, Bruna Papandera, Bill Pohlad SCR Nick Hornby CAM Yves Bélanger ED John Mac McMurphy, Martin Pensa PROD DES John Paino PROD CO Pacific Standard PRINT Fox Searchlight

OPENING GALA

THU, SEP 25 SAT, SEP 27

Aspiring to achieve both self-discovery and catharsis, Cheryl sets out to hike 1,800 kilometres of the imposing Pacific Crest Trail. This gruelling three-month quest not only pushes her to her physical limits but also forces her to confront the demons that plague her. Vallée and Hornby preserve the unflinching candour and biting humour of Strayed’s book while delivering bold, cinematic storytelling that demands to be experienced on the big screen. “A ruggedly beautiful and emotionally resonant saga of perseverance and self-discovery that represents a fine addition to the recent bumper crop of big screen survival stories... It’s no surprise that the versatile Vallée, who recently directed two Oscar-winning performances in Dallas Buyers Club, has elicited from Witherspoon an intensely committed turn that, in its blend of grit, vulnerability, physical bravery and emotional immediacy, represents easily her most affecting and substantial work in the nine years since Walk the Line.”—JUSTIN CHANG, VARIETY

BUY TICKETS AND READ FULL FILM DESCRIPTIONS AT VIFF.ORG

Fidelity Investments is a proud sponsor of the Vancouver International Film Festival.

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CLOSING GALA

USA

Opportunity here, there and everywhere. Fidelity mutual funds. DAMIEN CHAZELLE, USA, 2013, 105 MIN.

FRI, OCT 10 FRI, OCT 10

Ask your financial advisor.

6:30 PM 9:00 PM

CENT PLAY

Fierce rhythms and ferocious humour drive Damien Chazelle’s riveting film about an ambitious jazz drummer (Miles Teller, overdue for stardom) pushed beyond his breaking point by an instructor who takes tough-love to extremes (J.K. Simmons, elemental). A huge hit at both Sundance and Cannes, Whiplash marks Chazelle as one to watch.

CAST Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, Melissa Benoist, Paul Reiser, Austin Stowell, Jayson Blair EXEC Jason Reitman, Jeanette Brill, Couper Samuelson, Gary Michael Walters PROD Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook, David Lancaster, Michel Litvak SCR Damien Chazelle CAM Sharone Meir ED Tom Cross PROD DES Melanie Paizis-Jones MUS Justin Hurwitz PROD CO Bold Films / Blumhouse Productions / Right Of Way Films DIST/ PRINT Mongrel Media

“Unique, personal, transfixing, and transforming... Chazelle’s passion for the movie musical was evident in Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, his no-budget, 16mm, black-and-white, Harvard-film-student ode to the French New Wave and its love for postwar song ‘n’ dance flicks. A leap up the ladder of professionalism, Whiplash shows Chazelle in command of every aspect of directing and writing, with a pure and uncompromised vision of what movies can and should be. Much more complex than the logline bestowed by Sundance fans—’Full Metal Jacket at Juilliard’—the film is indeed a musical, its live jazz core fused with an ambient score by Justin Hurwitz that keeps your pulse rate elevated from beginning to end. Chazelle’s influences here are less Kubrick than Scorsese (especially the performance-anxiety-driven After Hours) and Fincher (especially Read Thea fund’ Social Network). A pedagogical thrillerbefore andinvesting. an s prospectus and consult your financial advisor Mutual funds are not guaranteed; their values change frequently and past may not be repeated. Investors will as pay an management fees and expenses, may pay commissions or trailing commissions and may experiemotional S&M two-hander, Whiplashperformance is brilliantly acted by Miles Teller eager jazz enceacademy a gain or loss. Fidelity a registered trademark of FMR LLC. ©2014 697324.1.0 drummer at a highly competitive music and J.K.Investments Simmonsis as the teacher whose

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method of terrorizing his students is beyond questionable even when it gets results...”

CLOSING GALA

Whiplash

—AMY

TAUBIN, FILM COMMENT

BUY TICKETS AND READ FULL FILM DESCRIPTIONS AT VIFF.ORG

DRAMATIC LINES THAT DEMAND A CLOSE-UP

2o15

MOZART PLUS!

ALL PERFORMANCES AT THE ORPHEUM

After the resounding success of the first VSO SPRING FESTIVAL, these concerts are sure to sell out! Join Maestro Bramwell Tovey and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra for the 2015 VSO SPRING FESTIVAL, which focuses on the music of one of history’s greatest creative geniuses: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

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MONDAY, APRIL 13, 8PM THE LEGEND OF DON JUAN

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RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Mozart & Salieri MOZART Symphony No. 39 in E-flat Major

MOZART Serenade No. 6 in D Major, Serenata Notturna MOZART Don Giovanni: Deh, vieni alla finestra R. STRAUSS Don Juan MOZART Symphony No. 40 in G minor

HAYDN March for the Royal Society of Musicians HAYDN (LEOPOLD MOZART) Toy Symphony BRAHMS Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn MOZART Symphony No. 41 in C Major, Jupiter

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SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

JAPAN

USA

Welcome to Me

The Vancouver Asahi

SHIRA PIVEN, USA, 2014, 86 MIN.

Vancouver no Asahi

ISHII YUYA, JAPAN/CANADA, 2014, 130 MIN.

S P E C I A L AWA R D P R E S E N TAT I O N

MON, SEP 29 SAT, OCT 4 FRI, OCT 10

6:30 PM 2:30 PM 1:00 PM

CENT CENT PLAY

WORLD PREMIERE. Once upon a time in Vancouver, there was a baseball team called the Asahi, This was in the 1930s, when the city had a small Japantown on the downtown wharves, and the team was formed by the Canadian-born kids of immigrants. At the start they were always wiped out by the burly Caucasian teams, and they encountered their share of racism and prejudice along the way. But they rethought their strategy and began to pull back lost ground … until Canada’s growing worries about Japanese militarism got in the way and Pearl Harbor led to the mass internment of émigré Japanese. The Asahi never really recovered from the war, so its achievements have become the stuff of legend. VIFF is proud to have supported Ishii Yuya from his indie beginnings (Bare-assed Japan, VIFF 2007) and we’ve followed his progress with admiration right through to last year’s wonderful The Great Passage. So we’re happy that he’s turned to a resonant piece of Vancouver history for his new film and delighted that we get to stage its premiere with a number of special guests. The film recreates 1930s Vancouver on a lavish scale, explores the clash between separatist immigrants and their assimilationist kids and has a generous measure of Ishii’s trademark humour and humanity. An old-fashioned entertainment in the best sense. In a word, thrilling. TONY RAYNS CAST Tsumabuki Satoshi, Kamenashi Kazuya, Takahata Mitsuki, Miyazaki Aoi, Katsuji Ryo, Kamiji Yusuke, Ikematsu Sosuke, Kanjiya Shihori, Ishida Eri, Sato Koichi PROD Inaba Naoto, Kikuchi Miyoshi SCR Okudera Satoko CAM Kondo Ryuto ED Fushima Shinichi PROD DES Harada Mitsuo MUS Watanabe Takashi PROD CO Film-makers Inc. PRINT Pony Canyon Inc.

THU, OCT 2 FRI, OCT 3 FRI, OCT 10

6:15 PM 1:00 PM 4:15 PM

PLAY PLAY PLAY

Thanks to a Mega-Millions lottery windfall, Alice Klieg (Kristen Wiig) is free to follow her wildest whims. Unfortunately, her Borderline Personality Disorder-determined impulses drive her to quit her meds, embrace her rampant self-obsession and launch a cable access show as a soapbox for her skewed views on everything from nutrition to neutering. As there’s never been a better time to be a televised train wreck, she builds a mass following and unwittingly assumes a starring role in a cautionary tale about the debilitating side effects of a meteoric rise to infamy. Scripted by Eliot Laurence and directed by Shira Piven, this outrageous dramedy serves as both an uproarious send-up and scathing indictment of the narcissism flourishing in contemporary culture. Whereas UHF—another television station-set comedy—had to wait years to be fully appreciated, Welcome to Me arrives at just the right time to tap into the zeitgeist. Handed her best role since Bridesmaids, Wiig ensures that Alice’s bizarre behaviour is surprisingly plausible. Her unhinged performance is abetted by stellar supporting turns from Linda Cardellini as her dutiful best friend, Tim Robbins as her put-upon shrink and James Marsden and Wes Bentley as wannabe infomercial tycoons who are roped into producing Alice’s show. Having no concept of what they’ve signed on for, they’re soon caught up in her manic thrall. Glued to the screen, we can completely sympathize. CAST Kristen Wiig, Linda Cardellini, Wes Bentley, Joan Cusack, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tim Robbins EXEC Brad Greiner, Keith Kjarval, John Raymonds, Jeff Rice, Burton Ritchie, Robyn Wholey PROD Jessica Elbaum, Will Ferrell, Aaron L. Gilbert, Marina Grasic, Adam McKay, Kristen Wiig SCR Eliot Laurence CAM Eric Alan Edwards ED Josh Salzberg PROD DES Clayton Hartley MUS David Robbins PROD CO Bron Studios / Gary Sanchez Productions DIST/PRINT Dfilms Corporation

The October 2 screening will commence after the Best New Director award ceremony.

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SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

FRANCE

USA

Foxcatcher

Clouds of Sils Maria

BENNETT MILLER, USA, 2014, 134 MIN.

OLIVIER ASSAYAS, FRANCE/SWITZERLAND/GERMANY, 2014, 123 MIN.

THU, OCT 2 FRI, OCT 3

9:15 PM 3:30 PM

CENT CENT

The Sils Maria of the title is the glorious above-the-clouds backdrop in the Swiss Alps for Juliette Binoche’s riveting turn as an actor deciding whether or not to revisit the play that made her a star 20 years before. The problem? This time she has been asked to essay the role of the older woman, not the ingenue... Travelling with her ever-present assistant Val (Kristen Stewart, excellent), 40-ish star Maria Enders (Binoche) is dealing with a divorce and the self-reflection that accompanies such things when the opportunity presents itself to take the “senior” role in a taut lesbian drama about a young woman who manipulates her older lover to the point of madness. When her co-star, the wild, Hollywood starlet Jo-Ann (Chloë Grace Moretz) arrives on the scene, Maria is pushed even further into herself... Writer-director Olivier Assayas’ deep meditation on aging, the art of acting and the role of women on film and in life is both moving and profound. “Though deceptively casual on its surface, Clouds of Sils Maria... [is] a multi-layered, femmedriven meta-fiction that pushes all involved—including next-gen starlets Kristen Stewart and Chloë Grace Moretz—to new heights... Binoche leaves audiences with [an] exhilarating feeling here—of having witnessed something precious and rare—answering the challenge of Assayas’ script by revealing a character incredibly close to her soul.”—PETER DEBRUGE, VARIETY CAST Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart, Chloë Grace Moretz, Lars Eidinger, Johnny Flynn, Brady Corbet EXEC Sylvia Barthet PROD Charles Gillibert SCR Olivier Assayas CAM Yorick Le Saux ED Marion Monnier PROD DES François Renaud Labarthe PROD CO CG Cinema DIST/PRINT Mongrel Media

THU, SEP 25 THU, OCT 2 FRI, OCT 10

9:30 PM 3:15 PM 9:30 PM

CENT CENT CENT

Employing an unsettling mix of suspense and absurdity, Bennett Miller’s (Capote, Moneyball) bravura drama delves into the bizarre true story of Olympic wrestling brothers Mark and David Schultz (Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo) and their well-heeled, mentally imbalanced sponsor John du Pont (an unrecognizable Steve Carell, combining arrogance and anguish to monstrous effect). Du Pont, a wealthy heir to the chemical-company fortune, had a history of philanthropic works when, in the 1980s, he built a wrestling complex on the Pennsylvania ranch he called Foxcatcher and invited Olympic hopefuls the Schultz brothers to live there and train for the 1988 Games. Originally, only the inward and inarticulate Mark (Tatum) accepted; the more self-possessed and outspoken Dave (Ruffalo), married and with a child, said no. Until, convinced by his brother (who had been pushed into it by du Pont), he said yes. What follows is a complex, masterfully orchestrated psychological huis clos, brilliantly acted by all involved. “Powerfully disturbing... This insidiously gripping psychological drama is a model of bleak, bruising, furiously concentrated storytelling... What we’re left with... is an acrid, anguished commentary on the temptations of wealth, the abuse of power and the downside of the human drive for success, as well as a picture that, in setting a cold-blooded account of a true crime in the world of competitive sports, retains a faint narrative kinship with both Capote and Moneyball”—JUSTIN CHANG, VARIETY WINNER, BEST DIRECTOR, CANNES 2014. CAST Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo, Vanessa Redgrave, Sienna Miller, Anthony Michael Hall EXEC Chelsea Barnard, Ron Schmidt, Mark Bakshi, Michael Coleman, Tom Heller PROD Megan Ellison, Bennett Miller, Jon Kilik, Anthony Bregman SCR E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman CAM Greig Fraser ED Stuart Levy, Conor O’Neill, Jay Cassidy PROD DES Jess Gonchor MUS Rob Simonsen PROD CO Annapurna Pictures DIST/PRINT Mongrel Media

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

Sils Maria

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SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS HONG KONG

The Golden Era Huangjin Shidai

ANN HUI, HONG KONG/CHINA, 2014, 178 MIN.

SAT, SEP 27

LAMAR

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33 SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS 28

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VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL

FILM FESTIVAL SE PTE MBER 2 5 - O CTO B ER 1 0 , 2014

6:00 PM

CENT

The Golden Era is a fascinatingly unconventional biopic about the woman writer Xiao Hong, who died shockingly young in 1942. We know all the basic facts about her life: her birth in Northeast China, her break with her family, her fraught romance with fellow writer Xiao Jun, her eventual marriage to another writer she never loved. But there are tantalizing gaps. Li Qiang’s brilliant script pieces together episodes from Xiao Hong’s own writings with impressions from her friends to create a picture which acknowledges all the known unknowns and contradictions. This is one biopic which admits that it’s impossible to ever know the objective truth about a person’s life. You could think of Ann Hui’s masterly film as a companion piece to Stanley Kwan’s Ruan Lingyu, looking at a talented woman of the 1930s caught between self-assertion and the upheavals of the times. Tang Wei gives her best performance yet as the sometimes yearning, sometimes heartless Xiao Hong drifting in and out of contact with the literary giants of her day, including Lu Xun and Ding Ling. The Golden Era captures the bigger picture vividly—the Japanese invasion, the hounding of “leftists” by the authorities—but also gets all the intimate details right. By the end, we’re persuaded that Xiao Hong was one of the defining voices in modern Chinese culture. TONY RAYNS CAST Tang Wei, Feng Shaofeng, Zhu Yawen, Wang Zhiwen, Hao Lei, Wang Qianyuan PRINT China Lion Film Distribution EXEC Yuan Mei, Li Qiang PROD Qin Hong SCR Li Qiang CAM Wang Yu ED Manda Wai MUS Eli Marshall PROD CO Stellar Mega Films / China Film Company / Edko Films / Beijing Spring Film & TV Culture Co. / Beijing Cheerland Film & TV Culture Communication Co. / Stellar Mega Pictures DIST China Lion Film Distribution

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS SPAIN

CANADA

Maps to the Stars

Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed

DAVID CRONENBERG, CANADA/FRANCE/GERMANY, 2014, 95 MIN.

DAVID TRUEBA, SPAIN, 2013, 108 MIN.

FRI, OCT 3 WED, OCT 8

MON, SEP 29 1:00 PM 6:00 PM

CENT CENT

The title, of course, comes from the lyrics to The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever.” Likewise, this charming, nostalgic road movie is inspired by the true story of a high-school English teacher—and Fab Four devotee—who drove across Spain in 1966 to meet his idol John Lennon on the set of How I Won the War in Almeria in hopes of clarifying some lyrics he couldn’t quite understand. From this historical tidbit, writer-director David Trueba has concocted an engaging comic drama, imagining the interactions of bookish Antonio (Javier Cámara) with two teenage runaways he picks up along the way: Belén (Natalia de Molina), a pregnant girl fleeing a convent, and Juanjo (Francesc Colomer), a boy escaping a dictatorial father. Trueba lightly evokes a period of transition, when the Franco dictatorship could no longer shield the younger generation from pop culture influences that were opening eyes and ears across Europe and beyond. Most touching, though, is Cámara—familiar to North American audiences from Almodóvar’s Talk to Her and I’m So Excited!—who essays a sweetly affectionate portrait of fandom that’s at once innocent, intelligent and sincere. “This small gem offers a lovely evocation of Spain as well as a touching tribute to an unforgettable moment in time when the Beatles seemed to offer brand new possibilities, the idea that strawberry fields might indeed go on forever.”—STEPHEN FARBER, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER WINNER, BEST FILM, BEST SCREENPLAY, BEST ACTOR, GOYA AWARDS 2014. CAST Javier Cámara, Natalia de Molina, Francesc Colomer, Ramon Fontserè, Jorge Sanz, Ariadna Gil PROD Cristina Huete SCR David Trueba CAM Daniel Vilar ED Marta Velasco PROD DES Pilar Revuelta MUS Pat Metheny PROD CO Fernando Trueba Producciones Cinematográficas / Canal+ España / Televisión Española (TVE) DIST/PRINT A-Z Films This film has been classified so that those under 18 may attend.

6:30 PM

PLAY

Perverse and playful, David Cronenberg’s merciless satire takes dead aim at the Hollywood glitterati’s vanities, psychoses and foolish belief that the past can be rewritten. A powerhouse ensemble that includes John Cusack, Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska and Robert Pattinson brings Cronenberg’s glamourous grotesques to life. Mutiple storylines intersect as teenage burn victim Agatha (Wasikowska) arrives in Hollywood, catches a limo ride with chauffeur Jerome (Pattinson) and soon starts working as a “chore whore” (production assistant) for aging—and decidedly vain and neurotic—actress Havana Segrand (Moore). Meanwhile Segrand’s masseur/shrink Dr. Stafford Weiss (an oily Cusack), a famous-on-TV self-help guru, and his Hollywood agent wife Christina (Olivia Williams) are trying to cope with the precocious outbursts of their 13-year-old son Benjie (Evan Bird), Hollywood’s biggest child star, just out of rehab... With Agatha serving as the glue that cements this group together (no spoilers here!), Cronenberg unleashes a barrage of baroque and occasionally bloody barbs at all things Hollywood. “Mulholland Drive, Sunset Boulevard and The Player wrapped up into one darkly comic, Gothic-tinged package... Wasikowska is the lynchpin of the film’s success, her always believable, sympathetic, occasionally scary performance as a car-crash of a teenager serving to ground the comedy dramatically and tow it into darker waters... There’s a real sting in the satire, and no holds are barred in the dialogue...”—LEE MARSHALL, SCREEN WINNER, BEST ACTRESS (JULIANNE MOORE), CANNES 2014. CAST Julianne Moore, Robert Pattinson, Mia Wasikowska, John Cusack, Olivia Williams EXEC Benedict Carver, Renee Tab, Patrice Theroux PROD Saïd Ben Saïd, Martin Katz, Michel Merkt SCR Bruce Wagner CAM Peter Suschitzky ED Ronald Sanders PROD DES Carol Spier MUS Howard Shore PROD CO Prospero Pictures / Sentient Entertainment / SBS Productions / Integral Film DIST/PRINT eOne Films

Sexually suggestive scenes

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SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

Vivir es fácil con los ojos cerrados

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS USA

The Riot Club

Men, Women & Children

LONE SCHERFIG, UK, 2014, 106 MIN.

SUN, SEP 28 WED, OCT 1

9:15 PM 3:00 PM

CENT CENT

Men, Women & Children follows the story of a group of high-school teenagers and their parents as they attempt to navigate the many ways the Internet has changed their relationships, their communication, their self-image and their love lives. The film attempts to stare down social issues such as video-game culture, anorexia, infidelity, fame hunting, and the proliferation of illicit material on the Internet. As each character and each relationship is tested, we are shown the variety of roads people choose—some tragic, some hopeful—as it becomes clear that no one is immune to this enormous social change that has come through our phones, our tablets and our computers. CAST Kaitlyn Dever, Rosemarie DeWitt, Ansel Elgort, Jennifer Garner, Judy Greer, Dean Norris, Adam Sandler EXEC Michael Beugg, Mason Novick PROD Jason Reitman, Helen Estabrook SCR Jason Reitman, Erin Cressida Wilson PROD CO Right of Way Films / Paramount Pictures DIST/PRINT Paramount Pictures Entertainment Canada Inc.

FRI, OCT 3 SUN, OCT 5

6:15 PM 11:00 AM

CENT SFU

The English aristocracy typically enjoys kid-glove treatment in films like The Queen and The King’s Speech and in mini-series like Downton Abbey. The gloves come off in The Riot Club, a searing indictment of Establishment privilege centring on an elite Oxford University society, a lightly fictionalized counterpart to the scandalous Bullingdon Club (which boasts British PM David Cameron, his Chancellor George Osborne, and the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, among its alumni). Adapted by screenwriter Laura Wade from her play Posh, the film begins more than 200 years ago with the inception of the club, a bastion of privilege and entitlement dedicated to the pursuit of hedonism, then jumps to contemporary Oxford and the arrival of undergraduates Miles (Max Irons) and Alistair (Sam Clafin, The Hunger Games). Handsome, intelligent, and— most importantly— from the right families, these two worthies are soon invited to bolster the thinning ranks of the Riot Club. Seduced by the prospect of hijinks today and power tomorrow, they put any reservations aside and throw themselves into the initiation rites. But during a long, increasingly debauched banquet at a country pub, the Rioters’ internal politicking threatens to get out of hand... Be warned: what starts out as an engaging stroll among Britain’s so-called “best and brightest” takes a shocking, violent turn. This is a penetrating, provocative dissection of class entitlement (and the sexism and racism that goes with it); higher learning from An Education director Lone Scherfig. Intense and suspenseful, the movie also functions as an impressive showcase for a whole gallery of brilliant up and coming actors. CAST Sam Claflin, Max Irons, Douglas Booth, Jessica Brown Findlay, Holliday Grainger EXEC Steve Norris PROD Pete Czernin, Graham Broadbent SCR Laura Wade CAM Sebastian Blenkov ED Jake Roberts PROD DES Alice Normington MUS Kasper Winding PROD CO Film4 / Blueprint Pictures DIST/PRINT Soda Pictures (Canada) - A Thunderbird Company

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SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

JASON REITMAN, USA, 2014, 116 MIN.

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS JAPAN

Wherever. Whenever. Whatever. Enjoy unmatched flexibility with Sony’s new multi-format camcorders.

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya Kaguyahime no monogatari

TAKAHATA ISAO, JAPAN, 2014, 137 MIN.

SAT, SEP 27

11:30 AM

CENT

Discovered inside a luminous stalk of bamboo, a magical newborn lights up the life of a childless woodcutter and his wife—even if they’re perplexed by the uncanny speed with which she crawls, walks, talks and transforms into a charming young lady. Kaguya captivates everyone she meets and bestows such bounty on the family that the woodcutter moves them to a city mansion, where she is courted by the most eligible bachelors far and wide. However, the role of “princess” is not to her liking. A wild child at heart, she yearns for the countryside and the carefree life she once knew...

From news to documentaries to events, the new Sony PXW-X180 and X160 XDCAMTM camcorders epitomize versatility in every way. Whether you use it as a main or a sub camera, these handheld dynamos are designed to impress no matter what you throw at them.

Studio Ghibli’s other anime master Takahata Isao (Pom Poko) bows out with a tender, joyful and exquisitely crafted folk tale for all ages. His serene, hand-drawn impressionism is the perfect medium for an enchanting story that dates back to the 10th century. The synergy of colour, line, movement and simple human observation ensures that this will stand as one Studio Ghibli’s very finest achievements, a film that other animators will admire and dream of emulating—and, maybe in our sleep, the rest of us will too. “Princess Kaguya has the feel of a true Takahata film, from its unshrinking emotional fidelity to its sudden, exhilarating leaps into fantasy... There is a deep wisdom in this film, but a deep sadness too. If it is Takahata’s farewell, it’s one that will have a long echo, just like his 1,000-year-old source.”—MARK SCHILLING, JAPAN TIMES CAST Asakura Aki, Kora Kengo, Chii Takeo, Miyamoto Nobuko, Takahata Atsuko, Tabata Tomoko, Shinosuke Tatekawa (voices) PROD Nishimura Yoshiaki SCR Takahata Isao, Sakaguchi Riko CAM Nakamura Keisuke MUS Joe Hisaishi PROD CO Studio Ghibli DIST/PRINT Gkids

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

This film has been classified so that those under 18 may attend.

sonybiz.ca PXW-X180 / PXW-X160

1/3-inch type 3CMOS Solid-state Memory Camcorder

©2014 Sony of Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. ® Sony is a registered trademarks of Sony Corporation. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Features and specifications are subject to change without notice.

Violence

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS TURKEY

Wild Tales

Winter Sleep

Relatos salvajes

Kis uykusu

DAMIÁN SZIFRÓN, ARGENTINA/SPAIN, 2014, 122 MIN.

NURI BILGE CEYLAN, TURKEY/GERMANY/FRANCE, 2014, 196 MIN.

SAT, OCT 4 MON, OCT 6

6:00 PM 3:30 PM

CENT CENT

For sheer entertainment value, you’ll be hard-pressed to beat this outrageous, aptly named anthology film. One of Cannes’ most buzzed about discoveries, Damián Szifrón’s third feature plays like a calling card from a preposterously talented newcomer, it’s so chock-full of crazy ideas and verve. Szifrón gives us half a dozen stories for the price of one. Aside from the Argentine locales, there isn’t much to link them, except that each tale strips away at the veneer of civilized society to reveal something more primal and animalistic underneath. (No doubt that accounts for the gloriously bestial credit sequence, which is truly one for the ages.) Roald Dahl or O. Henry would relish the macabre yarn about the waitress in an empty late-night diner who realizes that the boorish customer she’s serving is the man who ruined her life; then there’s the bride who discovers her husband has been unfaithful and exacts her revenge during an unforgettable wedding party; the best (or worst) road rage episode you’ll ever see; Ricardo Darín taking on Buenos Aires’ municipal parking enforcers, and oh, that incident on the plane! It’s at least a week’s worth of water-cooler conversation in one big fix. “Delicious, horrible, scary and scabrous... Szifrón brings off a very difficult trick: making something genuinely funny and genuinely scary at the same time.”—GUARDIAN CAST Ricardo Darín, Oscar Martínez, Darío Grandinetti, Rita Cortese, Julieta Zylberberg, Erica Rivas, Leonardo Sbaraglia EXEC Pola Zito, Leticia Cristi PROD Agustín Almodóvar, Pedro Almodóvar, Esther García, Matías Mosteirín, Hugo Sigman SCR Damián Szifron CAM Javier Julia ED Pablo Barbieri Carrera, Damián Szifron PROD DES María Clara Notari MUS Gustavo Santaolalla PROD CO Kramer & Sigman Films / El Deseo / Telefe DIST/PRINT Mongrel Media

WED, OCT 1 SUN, OCT 5

8:00 PM 1:00 PM

CENT PLAY

There are no two ways about it, Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s latest is simply a masterpiece. The film largely takes place in the Hotel Othello, carved out of a rocky outcrop in the stunning Cappadocia region of Anatolia. The owner is Aydin (Haluk Bilginer), a retired stage actor of some repute. Aydin considers himself an enlightened individual and an intellectual—he pens a weekly opinion column in the local paper—but he’s not regarded in quite such a glowing light by his pretty, younger wife Nihal (Melisa Sözen), nor by his recently divorced sister Necla (Demet Akbag), nor by some of the local villagers who are his tenants... It’s not that Aydin is a bad man so much as he’s grown inured to suffering due to his own self-righteous complacency. The spirit of Chekhov is never far away and the film is notable for its extensive, knotty dialogue scenes. But to Ceylan’s immense credit (he also wrote the screenplay, with his wife Ebru Ceylan), Winter Sleep merits the comparison. It’s demanding to the extent that complex drama has to be but never dull. The movie puts us up close with four or five characters for more than three hours and rewards us with rare nuance and insight, great crosscurrents of feeling and an illuminating understanding of how—despite the best intentions and even despite love—money, sex and age conspire to wrest couples, families and communities apart. “A richly engrossing and ravishingly beautiful magnum opus...”—JUSTIN CHANG, VARIETY WINNER, PALME D’OR, CANNES 2014. CAST Haluk Bilginer, Melisa Sözen, Demet Akbag, Ayberk Pekcan, Serhat Kiliç, Nejat Isler EXEC Sezgi Ustun PROD Zeynep Ozbatur Atakan SCR Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan CAM Gökhan Tiryaki ED Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Bora Göksingöl PROD DES Gamze Kus PROD CO Zeyno Film DIST/PRINT Mongrel Media

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SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

ARGENTINA

A N I N D E P E N D E N T LY O W N E D B U S I N E S S I N VA N C O U V E R S I N C E 1 9 9 9

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

NETHERLANDS

BRAZIL

Above Us All

Amazonia 3D

EUGENIE JANSEN, NETHERLANDS/BELGIUM, 2014, 99 MIN.

SAT, OCT 4 SUN, OCT 5

7:00 PM 1:30 PM

THIERRY RAGOBERT, BRAZIL/FRANCE, 2013, 79 MIN.

VCT VCT

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE. A daring formal experiment lies at the heart of this exploration of loss. Eugenie Jansen films her story—a young, half-Aboriginal girl copes with being transplanted from Australia to Belgium after her mother’s death—in 50 fps 3D and uses 360-degree pans to evoke time’s inexorable movement. The result is a boundary-pushing drama that is as affecting as it is bold in execution. CAST Shayleah Sands, Kaleb Sands, Maarten Baes, Pearl Davern, Greg Griffiths EXEC Mariette van Sisseren PROD René Goossens, Annemiek van Gorp, Digna Sinke SCR Kim Niekerk, Patrick Minks CAM Adri Schrover ED Nico Leunen PROD DES Vinz Kulik PROD CO De Productie / Minds Meet / KRO Television PRINT New Europe Film Sales

SAT, SEP 27 SAT, OCT 4 SUN, OCT 5

IN10 IN09 IN10

A circus-trained capuchin must quickly adapt to life in the wild when it suddenly finds itself lost in the Amazon rain forest. This unwitting, endlessly expressive little guide leads us through Thierry Ragobert’s awe-inspiring, family-friendly docudrama, acquainting us with this lush wonderland’s exotic denizens and other breathtaking splendours. “A thrilling tale... the cinematography is exceptionally vivid throughout...”—HOLLYWOOD REPORTER PROD Stéphane Millière, Laurent Baujard, Fabiano Gullane, Caio Gullane, Debora Ivanov, Gabriel Lacerda SCR Johanne Bernard, Luiz Bolognesi, Louis-Paul Desanges, Luc Marescot, Thierry Ragobert CAM Manuel Teran, Gustavo Hadba, Jérôme Bouvier ED Nadine Verdier, Thierry Ragobert MUS Bruno Coulais PROD CO Bilboa / Gullane Filmes / Canal+ / EVA-Film GmbH / France 2 Cinema / Stopline Films / Vereda Filmes DIST/PRINT eOne Films This film has been classified so that those under 18 may attend.

No advisory.

FRANCE

Cathedrals of Culture WIM WENDERS, MICHAEL GLAWOGGER, MICHAEL MADSEN, ROBERT REDFORD, MARGRETH OLIN, KARIM AÏNOUZ, GERMANY/DENMARK/AUSTRIA/NORWAY, 2014, 165 MIN.

TUE, SEP 30 SAT, OCT 4

5:45 PM 11:00 AM

IN09 CENT

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE. Six stunning buildings, six auteurs and glorious 3D come together in this hymn to the art of architecture. The Berliner Philharmonie concert hall (Wim Wenders), California’s Salk Institute (Robert Redford), the National Library in St. Petersburg (Michael Glawogger), Denmark’s Halden prison (Michael Madsen), the Oslo Opera House (Margreth Olin) and the Pompidou in Paris (Karim Ainouz) are brought to life like never before. EXEC Wim Wenders PROD Erwin M.Schmidt, Gian-Piero Ringel CAM Øystein Mamen, Wolfgang Thaler, Ali Olcay Gözkaya, Ed Lachman, Christian Rein ED Søren Schumann, Kornelia Theune, Flemming Hedegaard Larsen, Tore Tomter MUS Karsten Fundal, Moby PROD CO Neue Road Movies / Final Cut for Real / Lotus Film / Mer Film / Les Films d’Ici 2 / Sundance Productions / RadicalMedia PRINT Cinephil - Distribution & Co Productions IMPORTANT NOTE:

The October 4 screening will be projected in 2D.

Goodbye To Language 3D Adieu au langage

JEAN-LUC GODARD, FRANCE, 2014, 70 MIN.

Preceded By 130919 A Portrait of Marina Abramovic p. 67

FRI, SEP 26 SUN, SEP 28 FRI, OCT 3

6:00 PM 3:30 PM 2:30 PM

IN09 IN09 IN10

“Jean-Luc Godard’s 3-D opus, was easily [Cannes’] defining event... Less a culmination of the polyphonic mode that is Late Godard than an acceleration, the film is a furiously associative meditation on humanity and history, cinematic and linguistic meaning, the world of nature and the nature of reality—all refracted through fragmentary episodes involving an adulterous couple and dog’s-eye-view roamings through a light-streaked forest.”—ART FORUM

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

GERMANY

2:15 PM 4:00 PM 7:30 PM

WINNER, PRIX DU JURY (EX AEQUO), CANNES 2014. CAST Héloïse Godet, Kamel Abdelli, Richard Chevallier, Zoé Bruneau, Christian Gregori, Jessica Erickson PROD Brahim Chioua, Vincent Maraval, Alain Sarde SCR Jean-Luc Godard CAM Fabrice Aragno ED JeanLuc Godard PROD CO Wild Bunch DIST/PRINT Kino Lorber International Corporation

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ONTARIO

CANADIAN IMAGES One of the largest showcases of new Canadian cinema on the planet and a true point of pride for VIFF. This series is also home to the BC Spotlight, which focuses on the best and brightest of our homegrown talent.

October Gale RUBA NADDA, CANADA, 2014, 91 MIN.

FRI, SEP 26 SUN, SEP 28

6:45 PM 2:00 PM

CENT IN10

Writer-director Ruba Nadda (Sabah, Cairo Time) delivers layers of fear and distress with this taut psychological thriller. Helen Matthews (Patricia Clarkson) is a big-city doctor mourning the recent death of her husband (Callum Keith Rennie) by spending time alone at their cottage on an island in Ontario’s picturesque Georgian Bay. As she works through her grief, the remote cabin conjures memories of her dearly departed and their love. When Will (Scott Speedman) arrives at her dock, badly injured by a gun shot, the Hippocratic Oath takes effect and she nervously nurses him back to health. He’s tight-lipped and evasive about both his past and his current predicament. Their isolation from the world and connection to each other increase as the weather worsens. Whoever shot him is clearly coming back to finish the job and Helen is inexorably drawn into Will’s tenebrous world. Cinematographer Jeremy Benning captures the majestic beauty of Georgian Bay with powerful wide angles. However, it’s his creepy, voyeuristic camera techniques that really enhance the looming threat of a storm’s onslaught and other vicious attacks. Clarkson’s performance is nuanced and compelling and you won’t soon forget Tim Roth as the relentless, cold-as-ice villain. CAST Patricia Clarkson, Scott Speedman, Tim Roth, Callum Keith Rennie EXEC Emily Alden, Kirk D’Amico, Christine Vachon PROD Daniel Iron SCR Ruba Nadda CAM Jeremy Benning ED Wiebke von Carolsfeld PROD DES Gordon Barnes MUS Mischa Chillak PROD CO Killer Films / Foundry Films

CANADIAN IMAGES

QUEBEC

Mommy

Elephant Song

XAVIER DOLAN, CANADA/FRANCE, 2014, 134 MIN.

WED, OCT 1 FRI, OCT 3

9:00 PM 11:15 AM

PLAY IN10

An eminent psychiatrist disappears from his office. The last person known to have seen him is Michael, a handsome and seemingly inoffensive young patient, played here by Xavier Dolan in a tour-de-force performance. The director of the hospital, Doctor Green (Bruce Greenwood) comes in to investigate the disappearance before the word leaks out to the public. He interviews Michael without bothering to read his file, trusting his superior skills and despite the pointed warnings of the head nurse (Catherine Keener) to be wary. Dolan’s Michael responds to every question put to him by going off on tenuous tangents about elephants and opera, all the while hinting at deep, dark secrets. Michael’s Machiavellian mind games keep raising the stakes and the doctor is helpless in his self-righteous frustration. After all, the good doctor has problems of his own and they simmer beneath the surface in Greenwood’s rigorously contained performance. Elephant Song is adapted for the screen by Nicholas Billon from his own stage play, with table turning dialogue reminiscent of Ionesco’s 1951 classic play The Lesson and David Mamet’s Oleanna. Charles Binamé (Eldorado, Le coeur au poing, The Rocket) directs this taut psychological drama with a sure and subtle hand and a dream cast. CAST Xavier Dolan, Bruce Greenwood, Catherine Keener PROD Richard Goudreau, Lenny Jo Goudreau SCR Nicolas Billon CAM Pierre Gill ED Dominique Fortin PROD DES Danielle Labrie MUS Gaëtan Gravel, Patrice Dubuc PROD CO Melenny Productions DIST/PRINT eOne Films

MON, SEP 29

9:00 PM

PLAY

No movie inspired more extreme reactions at Cannes this year than Xavier Dolan’s latest. And none was cheered more loudly at the awards ceremony, where Canada’s wunderkind shared a special jury award with French New Wave veteran Jean-Luc Godard. Dolan is 25 now and Mommy is already his fifth feature as writer-director. (Godard was 29 when he made Breathless.) He shows no signs of slowing down or wising up: like his previous features, Mommy is raw, vibrant, prickly, bold... A film aimed at both the heart and the gut—and, perhaps, the womb. Returning to the single mother-troubled son dynamic of his debut (I Killed My Mother), the movie begins as a kind of aggressive social satire: it imagines a near future Canada in which parents commit their children to state care as a sort of default safety net. The indomitable, staunchly devoted Diane (Anne Dorval) would never contemplate such a thing. But her teenage son, Steve (Antoine-Olivier Pilon) is more than a handful. Borderline psychotic, he’s an accident impatient to happen. Still, he’s got a heart of gold and he starts to blossom under the home-schooled influence of shy neighbour Kyla (Suzanne Clement). But for how long? With characteristic audacity Dolan has elected to present Mommy in a brand new aspect ratio, 1.1, a square format evocative of cellphone displays, CD covers and the restricted horizons these characters keep beating their heads against—sometimes breaking through in moments of giddy liberation and love. It’s in these outpourings of compassion and humanity where Dolan truly excels and which make Mommy a movie to remember. WINNER, PRIX DU JURY (EX AEQUO), CANNES 2014. CAST Anne Dorval, Antoine-Olivier Pilon, Suzanne Clément PROD Nancy Grant, Xavier Dolan SCR Xavier Dolan CAM André Turpin ED Xavier Dolan PROD DES Colombe Raby MUS Noia PROD CO Metafilms DIST/ PRINT eOne Films

CANADIAN IMAGES

CHARLES BINAMÉ, CANADA, 2014, 110 MIN.

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CANADIAN IMAGES YUKON

BRITISH COLUMBIA

1987

All the Time in the World

Black Fly

RICARDO TROGI, CANADA, 2014, 105 MIN.

SUZANNE CROCKER, CANADA, 2014, 89 MIN.

JASON BOURQUE, CANADA, 2014, 96 MIN.

Preceded By The Chaperone p. 67

TUE, SEP 30 THU, OCT 2

6:30 PM 12:45 PM

IN10 IN09

Director Ricardo Troggi (1981) delights with this hilarious and sometimes caustic souvenir of his own life when he was 17 years old. Jean-Carl Boucher plays young Ricardo as a cockeyed Quixote, fearlessly tilting at the repressive tyranny of everyday adolescence. Inspired by a surreal vision, he’s on a quirky quest that involves raging hormones, family drama and petty crime. CAST Jean-Carl Boucher, Sandrine Bisson, Claudio Colangelo PROD Nicole Robert

WED, OCT 1 SAT, OCT 4

6:30 PM 11:00 AM

SFU SFU

WORLD PREMIERE. Suzanne Crocker’s deeply personal documentary offers a poignant commentary on what today’s day-to-day digital existence has devolved into. A courageous family opts to simplify things considerably by moving to a wilderness cabin in the Yukon with no electricity, television, Internet or running water. There are no neighbours, either, which results in a very unique and touching celebration of Halloween. PROD Suzanne Crocker

SAT, SEP 27 TUE, SEP 30

The Boy From Geita 6:30 PM 4:00 PM

VIC SARIN, CANADA, 2014, 79 MIN.

RIO IN10

WORLD PREMIERE. Jake Henson (Dakota Daulby) is a troubled teen haunted by the deaths of his parents—his father in a hunting accident and mother by suicide—who escapes an abusive uncle to reconnect with his older brother (Matthew MacCaull). In director Jason Bourque’s thriller, their reunion on an isolated island shows that blood may be thicker than water but it’s still blood. And it’s messy as hell. CAST Matthew MacCaull, Dakota Daulby, Christie Burke PROD Jason Bourque, Ken Frith, Robyn Wiener

BRITISH COLUMBIA

QUEBEC

CANADA

Corbo

The Creation of Meaning

ANNE WHEELER, CANADA, 1989, 117 MIN.

MATHIEU DENIS, CANADA, 2014, 119 MIN.

La creazione di significato

7:00 PM 2:30 PM

VCT VCT

6:30 PM 1:15 PM 10:00 AM

SFU IN08 CINE

Born with albinism, Adam is ostracized in his Tanzanian village and violently assaulted by witch doctors who believe that his limbs possess mystic properties. A Canadian born with the same condition hears of Adam’s plight and takes action. “Harrowing and poignant... Vic Sarin’s [documentary], with its searing images, is both ode to human resilience and ingenuity, and indictment of human cruelty and stupidity.”—GLOBE AND MAIL

ONTARIO

Bye Bye Blues WED, OCT 8 FRI, OCT 10

SUN, SEP 28 SAT, OCT 4 THU, OCT 9

PROD Tina Pehme, Kim Roberts

Coarse language; sexually suggestive scenes

This film has been classified so that those under 18 may attend.

Preceded By The Blue Marble p. 67

SUN, SEP 28 WED, OCT 1

9:15 PM 2:30 PM

CINE CINE

Anne Wheeler’s most decorated film is an upbeat musical melodrama based on her mother’s wartime memories. Daisy Cooper (Rebecca Jenkins) is a wife and mother who joins a dance band to provide for her family while her husband is at war. Beautifully shot by cinematographer Vic Sarin, it’s bittersweet and poignant, with fine performances by Jenkins and Robyn Stevan, both of whom won Genies for their work.

In the crackpot mosaic that is Montréal in 1966, Jean Corbo, an idealistic 16-year-old, befriends two far-left political activists and joins the FLQ (Liberation Front of Québec), an underground movement determined to spark a socialist revolution and Québec’s separation from Canada. Director Mathieu Denis brings the true and tragic story of a decisive moment in Canadian history into sharp focus.

CAST Michael Ontkean, Rebecca Jenkins, Robyn Stevan PROD Arvi Liimatainen, Anne Wheeler

CAST Anthony Therrien, Antoine L’Écuyer, Karelle Tremblay PROD Felize Frappier, Roger Frappier

SIMONE RAPISARDA CASANOVA, CANADA/ITALY, 2014, 94 MIN.

SAT, SEP 27 MON, SEP 29

6:15 PM 5:15 PM

CINE VCT

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE. The Apuan Alps in northern Tuscany serve as the stunning backdrop to Simone Rapisarda Casanova’s deeply felt film about a farmer, his vanishing way of life and the echoes of history... “Remarkable for its vibrancy and generosity... Under the rustic relics of the past and the calamities of the present, Rapisarda Casanova uncovers a few traces of the infinite...”—CINEMA SCOPE

A Different Drummer: Celebrating Eccentrics JOHN ZARITSKY, CANADA, 2014, 100 MIN.

WED, OCT 8 FRI, OCT 10

7:00 PM 1:15 PM

RIO SFU

WORLD PREMIERE. Academy Award-winning director John Zaritsky (Leave Them Laughing), a bit of an oddball himself, returns with an engaging, light-hearted look at eccentrics. From a desert hermit to Denman Street’s Duck Lady, we’re introduced to those who dare, or are driven, to be different. Eccentrics are healthier and happier, as we discover in this funny, touching and thoughtprovoking film.

CANADIAN IMAGES

QUEBEC

PROD Anne Pick, Bill Spahic

WINNER, BEST EMERGING DIRECTOR, LOCARNO 2014. FEATURING Pacifico Pieruccioni, Alexander Auf der Heyde, Benjamin Auf der Heyde,

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directors second unit directors production managers unit managers first assistant directors

proud sponsor of the 2014 vancouver international film festival second assistant directors third assistant directors additional assistant directors/ background coordinators location managers assistant location managers location scouts production assistants www.dgc.ca

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CANADIAN IMAGES

ONTARIO

BRITISH COLUMBIA/ALBERTA

QUEBEC

ONTARIO

Dirty Singles

Everything Will Be

An Eye for Beauty

Fall

ALEX PUGSLEY, CANADA, 2014, 80 MIN.

JULIA KWAN, CANADA, 2013, 85 MIN.

La règne de la beauté

TERRANCE ODETTE, CANADA, 2014, 82 MIN.

Preceded By Broken Palace p. 67

DENYS ARCAND, CANADA, 2014, 102 MIN.

TUE, SEP 30 WED, OCT 1

7:00 PM 2:00 PM

RIO RIO

Jack (Paul Campbell) and Meagan (Alex Paxton-Beesley) have got it all. They’ve just bought a house, they’re thinking about a family and they have a close-knit circle of zany friends that love them. A few hookups, breakups and breakdowns later, the circle unravels and then regroups in this sharpedged and libidinous comedy from writerdirector Alex Pugsley. CAST Paul Campbell, Alex Paxton-Beesley, Lauren Ash PROD Melanie Windle

MON, SEP 29 WED, OCT 1 FRI, OCT 3

9:00 PM 11:00 AM 10:30 AM

SFU SFU IN09

Director Julia Kwan documents the pivotal changes affecting the culture and economy of Vancouver’s Chinatown, one of the oldest in North America. With humour and sympathy, Kwan introduces us to residents who see their way of living eroding and to others who welcome the transition, including real estate consultant Bob Rennie. PROD David Christensen

THU, OCT 2 SUN, OCT 5

3:45 PM 9:15 PM

PLAY PLAY

The latest from Denys Arcand (The Decline of the American Empire, The Barbarian Invasions) is the story of Luke (Éric Bruneau), a brilliant young architect who’s beginning to earn acclaim while leading a peaceful, seemingly perfect life with his wife Stephanie (Mélanie Thierry) in Québec’s Charlevoix region. Invited to sit on a architecture jury in Toronto, he meets a mysterious woman who will change his life...

FRI, OCT 3 SUN, OCT 5

7:00 PM 12:30 PM

CINE CINE

WORLD PREMIERE. Terrance Odette’s (Heater, Saint Monica, Sleeping Dogs) drama centres on a Catholic priest (Michael Murphy) in a Niagara Falls parish whose world is turned upside down after he receives a letter alleging sexual transgression. Our sympathies are put to the test as he comes to terms with his memories and deals with the fallout. CAST Wendy Crewson, Katie Boland, Michael Murphy, Suzanne Clément, Cas Anvar PROD Mehernaz Lentin

CAST Éric Bruneau, Mélanie Thierry, Melanie Merkosky, Marie-Josée Croze, Mathieu Quesnel, Michel Forget PROD Denise Robert, Daniel Louis

QUEBEC

Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story GRANT BALDWIN, CANADA, 2014, 75 MIN.

SUN, SEP 28 TUE, SEP 30 MON, OCT 6

6:30 PM 10:30 AM 1:30 PM

RIO SFU PLAY

We devour countless cooking shows, culinary magazines and foodie blogs. We love food and yet--thanks to our expensive obsession with expiration dates and perfect produce-we throw nearly half of it away. Attempting to live waste-free, Grant Baldwin and Jen Rustemeyer subsist on discarded food for six months. Their documentary charts the experiment’s shocking revelations. WINNER, EMERGING ARTIST AWARD, HOT DOCS 2014

BRITISH COLUMBIA

QUEBEC

Marinoni

Martin’s Pink Pickle

Miraculum

TONY GIRARDIN, CANADA/FRANCE/ITALY, 2014, 90 MIN.

RENÉ BRAR, CANADA, 2014, 79 MIN.

DANIEL GROU, CANADA, 2014, 110 MIN.

THU, OCT 2 SAT, OCT 4

9:15 PM 4:00 PM

PLAY PLAY

Giuseppe Marinoni has been making some of the most desirable bicycle frames in Canada for decades. A former competitive cyclist, he decides, at age 75, to attempt a world record for distance cycled in an hour for his age group. His perfectionism, combined with a curmudgeonly nature, leaves him impatient with director Tony Girardin, adding a lot of humour to this inspiring film. FEATURING Giuseppe Marinoni PROD Tony Girardin, Noah Couture-Glassco

Preceded By Land of the Sun p. 67

MON, SEP 29 WED, OCT 1

6:30 PM 1:30 PM

IN08 IN08

WORLD PREMIERE. A boy follows his girlfriend to Hope, an ironically named town where his dreams die a slow death. However, his settled lifestyle is disrupted by a trip back to the city for a medical appointment, where he and a friend become stranded for 24 hours. René Brar tells the story of two troubled kids who never really grew up while examining the complex nature of relationships. CAST Quincy Newton, Kerry Knuppe, Alexis Quednau PROD Rene Brar, Sarah Brar

SUN, SEP 28 SAT, OCT 4 MON, OCT 6

10:00 AM 9:30 PM 4:45 PM

CINE VCT CINE

Daniel Grou (aka PODZ) directs this riveting ensemble film about interlocking lives. We have Xavier Dolan playing against type as a buttoned-down Jehovah’s Witness; Julien Poulin and Louise Turcot as casino employees with secrets; Robin Aubert as a high-powered man with gambling issues; Anne Dorval as his perpetually plastered wife and Gabriel Sabourin as a tortured drug mule. Wow.

CANADIAN IMAGES

BRITISH COLUMBIA

CAST Marilyn Castonguay, Xavier Dolan, Anne Dorval PROD Marie-Claude Poulin, Pierre Even

PROD Jenny Rustemeyer

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CANADIAN IMAGES QUEBEC

BRITISH COLUMBIA

british columbia’s creative industry catalyst

Monsoon

Preggoland

STURLA GUNNARSSON, CANADA/FRANCE, 2014, 104 MIN.

JACOB TIERNEY, CANADA, 2014, 106 MIN.

FRI, OCT 3 SUN, OCT 5

9:15 PM 3:30 PM

CENT CENT

Sturla Gunnarsson’s latest is a personal reflection on chaos, creation and faith in a land of believers. He explores the incomparably vast seasonal weather system that permeates and unifies the immense and varied cultures of India. As the huge system gradually engulfs every region of the country, we meet a remarkable array of individuals whose lives are fundamentally affected by the phenomenon.

TUE, SEP 30 THU, OCT 2

6:15 PM 4:00 PM

PLAY IN10

Ruth (Sonja Bennett, who also penned the screenplay) fakes being pregnant to fit in with her child-rearing friends. This uproarious comedy from Jacob Tierney (The Trotsky) will have you cringing in between fits of uncontrollable laughter as Ruth’s web of lies becomes increasingly tangled. The road to acceptance has never been so baby-bumpy; you’ll be laughing until you birth. Sorry, burst. CAST Sonja Bennett, Danny Trejo, Laura Harris, James Caan, Paul Campbell PROD Kevin Eastwood

PROD Ina Fichman, Luc Martin Gousset

Proud Sponsor of the 2014

QUEBEC

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Vancouver International Film Festival

The Pristine Coast

HAROLD CROOKS, CANADA, 2014, 92 MIN.

SCOTT RENYARD, CANADA, 2014, 110 MIN.

CANADIAN IMAGES

SAT, OCT 4 SUN, OCT 5 SUN, OCT 5

visit our website to Find out more: creativebc.com Financial support provided by the province oF british columbia

The Price We Pay 1:00 PM 4:30 PM 8:45 PM

IN09 VCT IN09

SAT, SEP 27 FRI, OCT 3 TUE, OCT 7

8:30 PM 4:00 PM 10:00 AM

IN09 SFU CINE

In his latest incendiary investigative documentary, Harold Crooks (Surviving Progress) examines the sordid history of offshore tax havens and the dire contemporary ramifications of such corporate malfeasance. It seems that it’s big business’ world and we’re just picking up the tab. But how long can the middle class and poor bear the tax burden? This is shocking look at an unsustainable system poised to implode.

WORLD PREMIERE. Wild fish populations in BC have been declining since the late 70s, at about roughly the same time the opennet fish-farm industry began to grow fish in marine waters. Focusing on the research of biologist Alexandra Morton, filmmaker Scott Renyard links the crash of many fish species on Canada’s West coast to diseases spread from fish farms in this persuasive and urgent call to action.

PROD Nathalie Barton

FEATURING Alexandra Morton PROD Scott Renyard

CANADIAN IMAGES BRITISH COLUMBIA

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Sitting on the Edge of Marlene

Songs She Wrote About People She Knows

ANA VALINE, CANADA, 2014, 90 MIN.

KRIS ELGSTRAND, CANADA, 2014, 80 MIN.

WED, OCT 1 FRI, OCT 3

6:30 PM 3:30 PM

RIO IN09

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE. Ana Valine’s darkly comic drama centres on mother/ daughter con artists who just can’t catch a break. Seen through the eyes of 16-year-old Sammie (Paloma Kwiatkowski)—who lives with her pill-popping, alcoholic mom Marlene (Suzanne Clément)—this bittersweet journey leads us through dysfunction, love and addiction, before culminating with an unusual deliverance for this compelling pair. WINNER, BEST DIRECTOR, LEO AWARDS 2014

SAT, SEP 27 TUE, SEP 30

9:15 PM 4:45 PM

RIO VCT

Carol (Arabella Bushnell) has a unique way of dealing with her frustrations with family, friends and co-workers: writing brutally honest songs (that frequently feature threats of violence) and leaving them on their voicemail. Carol’s creative catharsis has some immediate and unexpected consequences in this hilarious, offbeat comedy from writerdirector Kris Elgstrand. CAST Arabella Bushnell, Brad Dryborough, Ross Smith PROD Amy Belling, Thea Grivakes, Kris Elgstrand

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Turbulence

Two 4 One

SORAN MARDOOKHI, CANADA, 2014, 90 MIN.

FRI, OCT 3 SUN, OCT 5

6:00 PM 1:00 PM

MAUREEN BRADLEY, CANADA, 2014, 74 MIN.

IN09 IN09

WED, OCT 1 FRI, OCT 3

9:00 PM 11:00 AM

RIO IN08

WORLD PREMIERE. Writer-director Soran Mardookhi brings us the moving story of Sherzad (Kamal Yamolky) and his estranged young daughter, Jina. A former electrical engineer in Iraqi Kurdistan, he’s now trying to make a new life for himself in his adopted home of Canada. Jina (Camillia Mahal) numbs her harrowing childhood memories with drugs. But even among other misfits, she has a hard time fitting in...

Maureen Bradley’s debut feature is a bittersweet romantic comedy with a transgender hero in an unimaginable predicament. Oddball couple Miriam and Adam have an ill-advised and pivotal one night stand that sees them both wind up pregnant. Engagingly shot by Amy Belling,the film features standout performances from Gavin Crawford (This Hour Has 22 Minutes), Naomi Snieckus (Mr. D) and Gabrielle Rose.

CAST Kamal Yamolky, Camillia Mahal, Nasyar Awil PROD Soran Mardookhi

CAST Gavin Crawford, Naomi Snieckus, Gabrielle Rose PROD Daniel Hogg

CAST Suzanne Clément, Paloma Kwiatkowski, Callum Keith Rennie PROD Amber Ripley

BRITISH COLUMBIA

QUEBEC

The Valley Below

Violent

KYLE THOMAS, CANADA, 2014, 87 MIN.

ANDREW HUCULIAK, CANADA/NORWAY, 2014, 104 MIN.

Preceded By Back Streets p. 67

SUN, SEP 28 TUE, SEP 30

9:00 PM 3:00 PM

IN08 SFU

This multi-narrative drama chronicles life in a small town in the Alberta badlands over the course of one year. As we’re introduced to a pregnant teenager, a hard-drinking musician, a reclusive taxidermist and an ambitious RCMP officer, the intertwining stories in director Kyle Thomas’ ambitious, eloquently executed film render a rich portrait; four circles of Drumheller, if you will. CAST Stephen Bogaert, Kris Demeanor, Alejandro Rae PROD Kyle Thomas, Alexander Carson, Cameron Macgowan

TUE, SEP 30 THU, OCT 2 FRI, OCT 10

9:30 PM 4:00 PM 3:45 PM

QUEBEC

What Are We Doing Here? RIO RIO SFU

CANADIAN PREMIERE. Best known as the drummer for Vancouver-based We Are the City, Andrew Huculiak makes his directorial debut with this beautiful, atmospheric film shot in Norway and inspired by the band’s latest album. It stars newcomer Dagny Backer Johnsen as a young woman who, after enduring a catastrophic event, loses herself in memories of the people who loved her most. CAST Dagny Backer Johnsen, Tor Halvor Halvorsen, Tomine Mikkeline Eide, Yngve Seterås PROD Amy Darling, Josh Huculiak

You’re Sleeping Nicole Tu dors Nicole STÉPHANE LAFLEUR, CANADA, 2014, 93 MIN.

Qu’est-ce qu’on fait ici? JULIE HIVON, CANADA, 2014, 99 MIN.

MON, SEP 29 WED, OCT 1

6:15 PM 1:30 PM

SFU SFU

Yan, Simon, Roxanne, Maxime and his sister Lily are in their early 20s and absolutely anything seems possible. They’ve been friends forever and the future is bright. Then, on a lovely summer’s day, Yan dies in a car crash... Director Julie Hivon follows their desperate attempts to make some kind of sense of life without Yan. CAST Maxime Dumontier, Sophie Desmarais, Charles-Alexandre Dubé PROD Francois Delisle, Maxime Bernard

THU, OCT 2 SAT, OCT 4

9:30 PM 2:00 PM

IN10 IN10

Nicole (Julianne Côté) has some growing up to do in this sweetly absurd, wryly comic third feature from Stéphane Lafleur (Continental, a Film Without Guns). Vibrantly shot in textured black-and-white 35mm, the appealing dramedy displays a disciplined visual sense, a good ear for dialogue and characters that become more endearing as the episodic action progresses. “Unconventional and slyly entertaining...”—SCREEN

CANADIAN IMAGES

ALBERTA

CAST Julianne Côté, Marc-André Grondin, Catherine St-Laurent PROD Kim McCraw, Luc Déry This film has been classified so that those under 18 may attend.

Coarse language; nudity

BUY TICKETS AND READ FULL FILM DESCRIPTIONS AT VIFF.ORG

CINEMA OF OUR TIME AUSTRALIA

MEXICO

52 Tuesdays

Asteroid Asteroide

SOPHIE HYDE, AUSTRALIA, 2013, 109 MIN.

THU, SEP 25 SAT, OCT 4 TUE, OCT 7

4:30 PM 9:00 PM 1:30 PM

RIO RIO SFU

So much can happen in a year. For instance, your mom can transition from female to male. Such is the case in Sophie Hyde’s provocative, authentic and refreshingly modern coming-of-age tale. Handled with care and restraint, “(this) accessible narrative experiment boasts breakout talent in front of and behind the camera.”—VARIETY WINNER, DIRECTING AWARD: WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC, SUNDANCE 2014. CAST Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Del Herbert-Jane, Imogen Archer, Mario Späte, Beau Williams, Sam Althuizen PROD Bryan Mason, Matthew Cormack, Rebecca Summerton, Sophie Hyde This film has been classified so that those under 18 may attend.

Coarse & sexual language; sexually suggestive scenes, nudity

BRAZIL

CINEMA OF OUR TIME

CINEMA OF OUR TIME A spectacular showcase of narrative films from around the globe featuring both today’s masters and tomorrow’s visionaries. Same planet. Different worlds.

MARCELO TOBAR, MEXICO, 2014, 103 MIN.

WED, OCT 1 SAT, OCT 4 TUE, OCT 7

9:30 PM 11:15 AM 4:15 PM

CANADIAN PREMIERE. After personal problems send free spirit Cristina (Sophie AlexanderKatz) scurrying for the comforts of her family home, her taciturn ex-addict brother’s relationship with a new girlfriend threatens the orphan siblings’ fragile peace... “Sibling rivalry is kept at a low, slow simmer in [Marcelo Tobar’s] fractiously intimate family drama... Thanks to flinty performances... it’s a film of subtle but not insubstantial emotional rewards.”—VARIETY CAST Sophie Alexander-Katz, Arturo Barba, Sofía Espinosa, Ari Brickman PROD Elsa Reyes, Miguel Ángel Mendoza, Marcelo Tobar, Alejandro Mejía

SPAIN

August Winds

Beautiful Youth

Ventos de Agosto

Hermosa juventud

GABRIEL MASCARO, BRAZIL, 2014, 77 MIN.

SUN, SEP 28 TUE, SEP 30 FRI, OCT 3

IN10 IN10 CINE

6:30 PM 2:00 PM 4:00 PM

JAIME ROSALES, SPAIN/FRANCE, 2014, 102 MIN.

IN08 RIO IN08

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE. Lyrical, sensual and poetic, yet grounded in a bracing naturalism that speaks to Brazilian documentarian Gabriel Mascaro’s roots, August Winds tells the tale of a young couple who discover a skull while diving for octopus. It’s a prismatic evocation of seaside life in the rural tropics. “...a beautiful meditation on life and death... a striking accomplishment...” —INDIEWIRE

CAST Dandara De Morais, Geová Manoel Dos Santos, Maria Salvino dos Santos PROD Rachel Ellis

FRI, SEP 26 SAT, SEP 27 THU, OCT 2

1:45 PM 11:00 AM 9:15 PM

IN10 IN08 RIO

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE. Incisively and with great compassion, Jaime Rosales sketches the lives of Spain’s lost generation through the relationship of Carlos (Carlos Rodríguez) and Natalia (Ingrid García Jonsson). “An intelligent, bracing study of Spanish twentysomethings doomed to unemployment and disillusion... Brilliant, challenging... [The] whole film is an audacious leap into real lives and real experiences... A powerful and heartfelt film.”—GUARDIAN CAST Ingrid García Jonsson, Carlos Rodríguez, Inma Nieto, Fernando Barona, Juanma Calderón, Patricia Mendy PROD Jérôme Dopffer, José María Morales, Jaime Rosale

CINEMA OF OUR TIME CUBA

GERMANY

BRAZIL

USA

Behavior

Beloved Sisters

The Boy and the World

Boychoir

Conducta

Die geliebten Schwestern

O Menino e o Mundo

FRANÇOIS GIRARD, USA, 2014, 106 MIN.

ERNESTO DARANAS, CUBA, 2014, 108 MIN.

DOMINIK GRAF, GERMANY/AUSTRIA, 2014, 171 MIN.

ALÊ ABREU, BRAZIL, 2013, 80 MIN.

9:30 PM 1:30 PM

RIO PLAY

SAT, OCT 4 THU, OCT 9

8:30 PM 12:00 PM

IN09 CENT

In a vibrantly depicted Havana, 11-year-old Chala industriously cares for carrier pigeons and dogs on his apartment balcony. Trouble is, there’s easy money in dog fighting. The most important champion in his life however is his aging teacher, Carmela (the marvelous Alina Rodríguez), a woman who refuses to let the boy fall between the cracks and endures government reprisals as a result. Director Ernesto Daranas demonstrates equal bravery in confronting Cuba’s social ills.

Guided by Dominik Graf’s skilled directorial hand and anchored by remarkable performances, the tale of writer Friedrich Schiller’s notorious love triangle with the Lengefeld sisters is woven into a sophisticated, sprawling costume drama full of fervour and resonance. “A work of unimposing power, Beloved Sisters renders its minimal story on the grand scale of a three-hour epic with quaint elegance.”

WINNER, AUDIENCE AWARD, MÁLAGA 2014.

CAST Hannah Herzsprung, Florian Stetter, Henriette Confurius PROD Uschi Reich

CAST Armando Valdés Freire, Alina Rodríguez, Amaly Junco, Miriel Cejas, Yuliet Cruz, Armando Miguel Gómez This film has been classified so that those under 18 may attend.

—FILM COMMENT

THU, SEP 25 SUN, SEP 28 THU, OCT 2

1:30 PM 10:30 AM 7:00 PM

Alê Abreu’s animated odyssey follows a young boy as he journeys from the country into a towering metropolis in search of his father. Awaiting him is a world where music gives birth to birds, cities float in the sky and good and evil clash in a riot of colour. “A simple, universal parable... An enchanting visual treat...”—VARIETY CAST Marco Aurélio Campos, Vinicius Garcia, Lu Horta (voices) PROD Fernanda Carvalho, Tita Tessler

SUN, OCT 5 TUE, OCT 7

6:30 PM 4:00 PM

CENT CENT

Newcomer Garrett Wareing goes toe-to-toe with Dustin Hoffman in this rousing story of a determined, angel-voiced orphan who clashes with the strict choir master of the prestigious American Boychoir School. Acclaimed director François Girard (The Red Violin) uses the sublime choral performances to heighten the spiralling drama in this fierce battle of wills. Kathy Bates, Eddie Izzard and Debra Winger also star. CAST Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates, Garrett Wareing, Kevin McHale, Eddie Izzard, Debra Winger PROD Judy Cairo, Carol Baum, Jane Goldenring

Coarse language; violence; sexually suggestive scene

USA

BRAZIL

AUSTRALIA

SLOVENIA

Buzzard

Casa Grande

Charlie’s Country

JOEL POTRYKUS, USA, 2014, 97 MIN.

FELLIPE BARBOSA, BRAZIL, 2014, 113 MIN.

ROLF DE HEER, AUSTRALIA, 2013, 108 MIN.

SAT, SEP 27 THU, OCT 9

SFU IN09 IN10

9:30 PM 4:45 PM

IN10 CINE

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE. After contemptuously gaming the system through uproarious (if inconsequential) scams, a true 21stcentury man-child (Joshua Burge) becomes convinced that he’s about to be collared. As paranoia sets in, he goes on the lam and Joel Potrykus’ (Ape) unflinching Buzzard transforms into “an affecting character study. It’s a fearless and moving exploration of a man whose smug ambivalence masks an inner rage...”—FILM COMMENT CAST Joshua Burge, Joel Potrykus, Teri Ann Nelson, Katie Call, Joe Anderson PROD Michael Saunders, Ashley Young

SAT, SEP 27 WED, OCT 8 FRI, OCT 10

1:30 PM 4:15 PM 9:00 PM

RIO RIO SFU

SAT, OCT 4 TUE, OCT 7 FRI, OCT 10

4:15 PM 11:00 AM 6:30 PM

Class Enemy Razredni sovražnik

CINE SFU SFU

ROK BICEK, SLOVENIA, 2013, 112 MIN.

FRI, SEP 26 FRI, OCT 3 SUN, OCT 5

12:45 PM 1:00 PM 7:15 PM

IN09 IN09 CINE

CANADIAN PREMIERE. Balancing sharp comedy and commentary, Fellipe Barbosa’s wellobserved film charts the increasingly disparate fortunes of a Brazilian bourgeoisie family. While father Hugo (Marcello Novaes) shamefully conceals his bankruptcy, his teenage son Jean (Thales Cavalcanti) experiences the exhilaration of defiance and self-discovery. Of course, coming of age also means finally seeing the unjust world for what it is.

The magnificent David Gulpilil quietly dominates Rolf de Heer’s heartfelt portrait of contemporary Aboriginal life. Gulpilil drew on his own troubles while co-writing the story of down-on-his-luck Charlie, squeezed on all sides in his Arnhemland community. “The third film collaboration between Rolf de Heer and David Gulpilil is a majestic work.”—SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

CANADIAN PREMIERE. Holding their hardline substitute teacher (Igor Samobor) responsible for the suicide of an emotionally vulnerable classmate, a Slovenian secondary class stages a revolt. Rok Bicek orchestrates the ensuing chaos masterfully, crafting an engrossing cautionary tale concerning herd mentalities and the exploitation of tragedy.

WINNER, BEST ACTOR, UN CERTAIN REGARD, CANNES 2014.

WINNER, BEST FILM (INTERNATIONAL FILM CRITICS WEEK), VENICE 2013.

CAST Marcello Novaes, Suzana Pires, Thales Cavalcanti, Clarissa Pinheiro, Bruna Amaya, Gentil Cordeiro PROD Iafa Britz

CAST David Gulpilil, Peter Djigirr, Luke Ford, Jennifer Budukpuduk Gaykamangu, Peter Minygululu, Gary Sweet PROD Nils Erik Nielsen, Peter Djigirr, Rolf de Heer

CAST Igor Samobor, Natasa Barbara Gracner, Tjasa Zeleznik, Masa Deganc PROD Janez Lapajne, Aiken Veronika Prosenc

This film has been classified so that those under 18 may attend.

Sexually suggestive scenes, nudity

This film has been classified so that those under 18 may attend.

CINEMA OF OUR TIME

TUE, OCT 7 THU, OCT 9

Coarse language; nudity

BUY TICKETS AND READ FULL FILM DESCRIPTIONS AT VIFF.ORG

CINEMA OF OUR TIME

CZECH REPUBLIC

TURKEY

Clownwise

Come to My Voice

Klauni

Were Dengê Min

VIKTOR TAUŠ, CZECH REPUBLIC/FINLAND/ LUXEMBOURG/SLOVAKIA, 2013, 120 MIN.

HÜSEYIN KARABEY, TURKEY/GERMANY/FRANCE, 2013, 105 MIN.

WED, OCT 1 FRI, OCT 3 MON, OCT 6

6:30 PM 10:30 AM 2:00 PM

IN10 SFU RIO

CANADIAN PREMIERE. Thirty years after achieving the zenith of his career in grease paint, an acclaimed actor returns from self-imposed exile for one last show in Prague. Reunited with his former partners, he and his colleagues attempt to restage their greatest performance, stave off old rivalries and ensure that time doesn’t have the last laugh. Viktor Tauš’ poignant film reminds us that tragicomedy is the lifeblood of clowning. CAST Oldrich Kaiser, Jirí Lábus, Didier Flamand, Kati Outinen, Eva Jenícková, Tatjana Medvecká PROD Viktor Tauš, Michal Kollár

SUN, SEP 28 SAT, OCT 4 MON, OCT 6

GEORGIA

WINNER, AUDIENCE AWARD, ISTANBUL 2014. CAST Feride Gezer, Melek Ülger, Tuncay Akdemir, Muhsin Tokçu, Ali Tekbas, Kadir Ilter PROD Hüseyin Karabey, Emre Yeksan

Corn Island

Difret

Simindis kundzuli

ZERESENAY BERHANE MEHARI, ETHIOPIA, 2014, 99 MIN.

CINEMA OF OUR TIME

THU, SEP 25 SAT, SEP 27 THU, OCT 2

12:15 PM 6:30 PM 4:45 PM

VCT VCT CINE

Eloquent and engrossing, George Ovashvili’s fable-like drama unfolds on a tiny island that emerges each summer from a river between warring Georgia and Abkhazia. For the skillful elderly peasant who plants its amazing corn crop and his nubile granddaughter, it’s soon the site of a desperate struggle for survival. “A master class in emotionally charged minimalism...”—HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

whites.com William F. White International Inc. @WFW_intl

WINNER, CRYSTAL GLOBE, KARLOVY VARY 2014. CAST lyas Salman, Mariam Buturishvili, Irakli Samushia, Tamer Levent PROD Guillaume de Seille, Nino Devdariani, Eike Goreczka, George Ovashvili

VANCOUVER

CALGARY

REGINA

WINNIPEG

TORONTO

HALIFAX

Coarse language

ETHIOPIA

GEORGE OVASHVILI, GEORGIA/GERMANY/FRANCE/ CZECH REPUBLIC/KAZAKHSTAN, 2014, 100 MIN.

PROUD SPONSOR OF VIFF 2014!

SFU CINE VCT

Passionate and utterly compelling, Hüseyin Karabey’s beautifully crafted film is founded in political absurdity. When the Turkish military surrounds a Kurdish village, takes alleged rebels into custody and demands the return of nonexistent guns, a little girl and her grandmother set off in search of a weapon—any weapon—that might earn her father’s freedom.

This film has been classified so that those under 18 may attend.

EMPOWERING CANADA’S CONTENT CREATORS WITH STATE-OF-THE-ART PRODUCTION TOOLS AND TECHNICAL EXPERTISE!

1:30 PM 6:45 PM 10:00 AM

FRI, OCT 3 SUN, OCT 5

7:00 PM 10:30 AM

IN10 VCT

CANADIAN PREMIERE. Ethiopian tradition calls for a man to abduct his wife-to-be, sometimes without her consent. When 14-year-old Hirut (Tizita Hagere) resists and ends up killing her abductor, the death penalty awaits. Enter Addis Ababa lawyer Meaza (Meron Getnet) determined to present a case for self-defense... Based on a true story, Zeresenay Berhane Mehari’s debut is “a quiet and powerful drama.”—HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

CAST Meron Getnet, Tizita Hagere PROD Mehret Mandefro, Leelai Demoz, Zeresenay Berhane Mehari

CINEMA OF OUR TIME

IRAN

RUSSIA

SWEDEN

Field of Dogs

Fish & Cat

The Fool

Force Majeure

Psie Pole

Mahi va gorbeh

Durak

Turist

LECH MAJEWSKI, POLAND/SWITZERLAND/ITALY, 2014, 101 MIN.

SHAHRAM MOKRI, IRAN, 2013, 134 MIN.

YURY BYKOV, RUSSIA, 2014, 116 MIN.

SAT, SEP 27 TUE, SEP 30

8:45 PM 2:00 PM

VCT VCT

Lech Majewski’s follow-up to The Mill and the Cross is another visually ravishing tale, this one about a poet coping with the car-accident deaths of his beloved and best friend. “[Like The Mill...], the visuals are again striking and the theme of death deeply examined... Again there is a strong feeling that the stakes are high—a dialogue with God, a struggle for the soul...”—HOLLYWOOD REPORTER CAST Michal Tatarek, Elzbieta Okupska, Jacenty Jedrusi, Jan Warta, Szymon Budzyk PROD Angelus Silesius

FRI, SEP 26 THU, OCT 2 TUE, OCT 7

9:00 PM 11:15 AM 8:45 PM

CINE IN10 CINE

CANADIAN PREMIERE. Shot in one bravura take, Shahram Mokri’s blackly comic, coolly inventive art/horror mash-up follows two sinister cooks and a group of students camping at a lake... “The camera’s complex choreography creates fissures in time, piling on stories within stories that trap viewers in an increasingly ominous... nightmare.” —VARIETY

WINNER, SPECIAL ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR INNOVATIVE CONTENT, VENICE 2013; MUHR ASIA AFRICA SPECIAL JURY PRIZE, DUBAI 2013. CAST Babak Karimi, Saeed Ebrahimifar, Abed Abest PROD Sepehr Seifi

HUNGARY

LITHUANIA

MON, SEP 29 TUE, SEP 30 WED, OCT 8

12:30 PM 9:30 PM 4:45 PM

RUBEN ÖSTLUND, SWEDEN, 2014, 120 MIN.

VCT CINE CINE

Dima (Artem Bystrov), an honest plumber, discovers a fissure in the foundation of an apartment building that could bring the whole thing down upon the 800 residents—within 24 hours. Yuri Bykov’s electrically paced work has Dima fighting the clock—and a plethora of corrupt officials—to avert disaster. “A distressing moral drama, gripping thriller and scathing sociopolitical portrait of Russia rolled into one.”—HOLLYWOOD REPORTER CAST Artem Bystrov, Natalia Surkova, Dmitry Kulichkov, Ilya Isaev, Maxim Pinsker, Lyubov Rudenko PROD Alexey Uchitel, Kira Saksaganskaya

COLOMBIA

FRI, SEP 26 MON, OCT 6

12:00 PM 6:30 PM

Echoing The Hunt’s psychological intensity, Ruben Östlund’s riveting drama features another desperate man whose world crumbles around him. After an avalanche at a ski resort in the Alps, a family’s narrow escape is overshadowed by husband/father Tomas’ cowardice in the clutch. It seems that running for his (own) life is a slight his wife Ebba just can’t shake. “Precisely calibrated... Visually stunning... Emotionally perceptive...”—VARIETY CAST Johannes Bah Kuhnke, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Clara Wettergren, Vincent Wettergren, Kristofer Hivju, Fanni Metelius PROD Erik Hemmendorff, Marie Kjellson, Philippe Bober

Free Fall

The Gambler

Gente de Bien

God Help the Girl

Szabadesés

Losejas

Gente de bien

STUART MURDOCH, UK, 2014, 111 MIN.

GYÖRGY PÁLFI, HUNGARY/FRANCE/SOUTH KOREA, 2014, 89 MIN.

IGNAS JONYNAS, LITHUANIA/LATVIA, 2013, 109 MIN.

FRANCO LOLLI, COLOMBIA, 2014, 86 MIN.

THU, SEP 25 FRI, SEP 26 TUE, SEP 30

9:00 PM 3:30 PM 1:00 PM

VCT IN09 PLAY

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE. Hungarian director/ringmaster György Pálfi (Hukkle) turns an apartment building into seven rings of carnivalesque hell in this stunner. Pálfi essays the grotesqueries of modern life through stories that run the gamut from social realism to sci-fi. “It’s thrilling to see a director in such clear command of the cinematic medium operating in such a playfully stylized way.”—VARIETY WINNER, BEST DIRECTOR, KARLOVY VARY 2014. CAST Piroska Molnár, Zsolt Nagy, Tamás Jordán PROD Ferenc Pusztai

SUN, OCT 5 TUE, OCT 7 FRI, OCT 10

9:15 PM 9:00 PM 9:15 PM

VCT SFU VCT

A Lithuanian paramedic makes his own macabre fun (and some fast cash) by devising an office pool that allows his coworkers to bet on whether a patient will survive. As this dubious lark evolves into an Internet sensation, director Ignas Jonynas’ striking, inventive visuals plunge us into the morass enveloping our morally wounded anti-hero. WINNER, SPECIAL JURY PRIZE, WARSAW 2013. CAST Vytautas Kaniusonis, Oona Mekas, Rimas Blockis, Giedre Giedraityte, Valerijus Jevsejevas, Lukas Kersys PROD Uljana Kim

SAT, SEP 27 MON, SEP 29

Preceded By Leidi p. 69

MON, SEP 29 FRI, OCT 3 MON, OCT 6

CENT CENT

3:45 PM 4:15 PM 9:00 PM

SFU RIO SFU

CANADIAN PREMIERE. It’s Christmas in Bogotá and 10-year-old Eric has been sent to live with his impoverished handyman father. When a wealthy client takes pity on them, and invites them to stay at her family’s country villa over the holidays, tensions and discomfort soon begin to crackle, exposing the gap between Christian charity and the starker realities of the class structure. “An engrossing, sensitive and admirably nuanced social drama.”—HOLLYWOOD REPORTER CAST Brayan Santamarià, Carlos Fernando Perez, Alejandra Borrero, Santiago Martínez, Sofía Rivas PROD Gregoire Debailly

7:00 PM 1:00 PM

IN10 IN09

Populated by gorgeous misfits and propelled by effervescent pop songs, this jubilant musical from Belle & Sebastian lynchpin Stuart Murdoch comically depicts a critical juncture for three Glaswegians when it seems they’ve no other option than starting a band. “It’s warm and generous... Even nonbelievers will acknowledge the film’s utter sincerity... It means what it says.”—GUARDIAN

CINEMA OF OUR TIME

POLAND

WINNER, SPECIAL JURY PRIZE: ENSEMBLE ACTING, SUNDANCE 2014. CAST Emily Browning, Olly Alexander, Hannah Murray, Cora Bissett, Pierre Boulanger PROD Barry Mendel This film has been classified so that those under 18 may attend.

Classification: TBA (check viff.org)

BUY TICKETS AND READ FULL FILM DESCRIPTIONS AT VIFF.ORG

Vancity Theatre

SFU-GCA

Rio

Playhouse

Int. Village #10

Int. Village #9

Int. Village #8

Cinematheque

Centre for Arts

Love at First Fight

12:00

12:00 pm/107min./p.59

10:30 am/181min./p.85

National Gallery

11:00 am/110min./p.83

Ilya and Emilia Kabakov: ...

11:15 am/110min./p.61

The Wonders

Papusza

12:00

11:00 am/131min./p.56 10:30 am/80min./p.45

Boy and the World

Miraculum

10:00 am/110min./p.41

11:00

Exit

3:00

Mercedes Sosa: ...

2:00 pm/93min./p.85

1:30 pm/105min./p.46

Nas: . . .

Come to My Voice

2:00 pm/74min./p.85

2:00 pm/91min./p.36

October Gale

1:45 pm/86min./p.67 1:00 pm/91min./p.61

4:00 pm/82min./p.81

4:00

The Liberator

Listen Up Philip

The Editor

4:00 pm/99min./p.88

4:00 pm/100min./p.77

Red Knot

How I Came to Hate Maths

October Gale

The Golden Era

8:00

Mr. Turner

Flowing Stories

6:30 pm/97min./p.69

6:30 pm/86min./p.39

Boy From Geita

Just Eat It: ...

6:30 pm/75min./p.41

7:00 pm/120min./p.54

Kindergarten Teacher

6:30 pm/77min./p.44 5:45 pm/102min./p.75

Miss and the Doctors

August Winds

6:30 pm/101min./p.73

8:00

Sun, the Moon and the Hurricane

6:00 pm/149min./p.55

7:00

Corn Island

6:30 pm/100min./p.46

Black Fly

6:30 pm/96min./p.39

God Help the Girl

7:00 pm/111min./p.47

6:30 pm/86min./p.67

Amazing Anime

6:15 pm/94min./p.39

Creation of Meaning

6:00 pm/178min./p.28

7:00

7:00 pm/70min./p.81

Yakona

6:15 pm/115min./p.53

In Order of Disappearance

7:00 pm/109min./p.55

Listen Up Philip

Princess of France

The Rooftops

7:00 pm/91min./p.57 6:30 pm/70min./p.57

6:00 pm/81min./p.57

6:00

8:00

6:45 pm/91min./p.36\

7:00

7:00 pm/83min./p.85

Possibilities Are Endless

6:30 pm/81min./p.55

7:00 pm/86min./p.82

Before . . . Last Curtain Falls

Journey . . . West

Of Horses and Men

Red Knot

8:00

7:00 pm/56min./p.71

6:00 pm/77min./p.35

6:00

4:30 pm/109min./p.55

4:00 pm/81min./p.57

3:30 pm/77min./p.35

Goodbye To Language 3D

4:00 pm/81min./p.55

Two Shots Fired

Of Horses and Men

4:15 pm/104min./p.59

5:00

4:45 pm/76min./p.81

Walking Under Water

4:15 pm/86min./p.87

Que Caramba es la Vida

Faith Connections

4:15 pm/117min./p.77

Glen Campbell: ...

3:30 pm/104min./p.83

Waiting for August

La Sapienza

5:00

4:45 pm/92min./p.79

My Name Is Salt

3:45 pm/107min./p.75

3:00 pm/119min./p.55 2:15 pm/94min./p.69

Amazing Anime

2:00

Furthest End Awaits

2:00 pm/118min./p.69

Casa Grande

Amazonia 3D

2:15 pm/79min./p.35

1:30 pm/113min./p.45

White Bird in a Blizzard

12:15 pm/107min./p.59

1:00

Sorrow and Joy

11:45 am/71min./p.73

Uncertain Relationships...

Sunday, September 28

Food Chains

10:00 am/83min./p.77

Nuoc 2030

11:30 am/98min./p.71

1:15 pm/81min./p.55

1:45 pm/70min./p.57

Journey . . . West

2:15 pm/56min./p.71

4:00

3:00 pm/120min./p.21

Wild

The Midnight After

3:30 pm/124min./p.71

4:15 pm/115min./p.53

Wild

6:30 pm/120min./p.21

7:00

Goodbye To Language 3D

Hill of Freedom

6:00

5:15 pm/82min./p.69

In Order of Disappearance

3:30 pm/89min./p.47

Free Fall

4:00 pm/99min./p.88

5:00

Past . . . Grotesque Animal 4:45 pm/79min./p.85

52 Tuesdays

4:30 pm/109min./p.44

4:30 pm/102min./p.75

Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

Meat and Milk

3:00 pm/104min./p.79

2:30 pm/79min./p.83

3:00

4:00

Highway

6:00

Opening Gala Miss and the Doctors

5:00

3:30 pm/107min./p.77

Jalanan

4:00

2:45 pm/135min./p.53

Dominguinhos

Princess of France

Of Horses and Men

12:15 pm/90min./p.57

2:00

Jungle School

1:15 pm/90min./p.71

Something Must Break

11:00 am/102min./p.44

Beautiful Youth

10:30 am/123min./p.69

1:00

11:30 am/137min./p.32

Tale of the Princess Kaguya

12:00

Disconcerto

Cartoonists: ...

10:00 am/106min./p.83

11:00

Beautiful Youth

1:45 pm/102min./p.44

12:45 pm/112min./p.45

Stations of the Cross

Saturday, September 27

10:00 am/77min./p.76

Still Life

Class Enemy

1:30 pm/86min./p.82

3:00

The Owners

2:30 pm/93min./p.56

Before . . . Last Curtain Falls

12:45 pm/100min./p.77

2:00

How I Came to Hate Maths

12:00 pm/120min./p.47

11:30 am/93min./p.59

10:30 am/95min./p.56

1:00

12:15 pm/100min./p.46

Boy and the World

1:30 pm/125min./p.71

Cartoonists: ...

2:15 pm/106min./p.83

3:00

Man on High Heels

2:00

1:30 pm/80min./p.45

Force Majeure (aka Tourist)

11:00 am/100min./p.75

Paris of the North

Maidan

10:00 am/133min./p.79

11:00

Creator of the Jungle

10:00

Vancity Theatre

SFU-GCA

Rio

Playhouse

Int. Village #10

Int. Village #9

Int. Village #8

Cinematheque

Centre for Arts

10:00 am/107min./p.87

Corn Island

To Kill a Man

1:00

12:15 pm/81min./p.59

Friday, September 26

10:00

Vancity Theatre

SFU-GCA

Rio

Playhouse

Int. Village #10

Int. Village #9

Int. Village #8

Cinematheque

Centre for Arts

Finding Fela

12:00

10:45 am/119min./p.83

Trespassing Bergman

Waiting for August

10:00 am/82min./p.81

10:00

Vancity Theatre

SFU-GCA

Rio

Playhouse

Int. Village #10

Int. Village #9

Int. Village #8

Cinematheque

Centre for Arts

11:00

Thursday, September 25

10:00

VIFF 2014 Screening Schedule

Papusza

10:00

9:30 pm/91min./p.61

The Wonders

9:00 pm/110min./p.61

Buzzard

10:00

The Owners

9:00 pm/93min./p.56

Marmato

9:00 pm/87min./p.79

Zero Motivation

The Decent One

9:30 pm/94min./p.77

9:00 pm/101min./p.61

8:30 pm/91min./p.63

9:00 pm/98min./p.43

Corbo

The Valley Below

9:15 pm/119min./p.39

9:15 pm/116min./p.31

11:00

Men, Women & Children

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll Leave a Mark

9:00

Field of Dogs

8:45 pm/101min./p.47

8:00 pm/200min./p.75

Liâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;l Quinquin

9:15 pm/80min./p.43

9:30 pm/97min./p.45

11:00

Songs. . . People She Knows

Pristine Coast

9:00 pm/116min./p.71

The Dossier

Non Fiction Diary

9:00 pm/128min./p.69

10:00

8:30 pm/110min./p.42

9:00

Horse Money

9:15 pm/110min./p.53

8:30 pm/107min./p.77

Jalanan

11:00

White Bird in a Blizzard

8:15 pm/123min./p.69

Disconcerto

Run

Fish & Cat

9:00 pm/134min./p.47

9:30 pm/95min./p.59

Two Days, One Night

9:00 pm/89min./p.47

National Gallery

8:30 pm/181min./p.85

8:45 pm/100min./p.57

9:00

Pulp

9:15 pm/93min./p.85

Free Fall

11:00

Foxcatcher

9:30 pm/134min./p.27

10:00

8:30 pm/131min./p.56

9:00

12:00

The Editor

11:30pm/99min/p.88

12:00

It Follows

11:30pm/97min/p.89

12:00

11:00 am/79min./p.82

10:00 am/117min./p.77

Faith Connections

Everything Will Be

11:00 am/91min./p.41

Fish & Cat

11:00 am/100min./p.57

11:15 am/134min./p.47

Run

10:30 am/93min./p.71

Rekorder

August Winds

Field of Dogs

2:00 pm/94min./p.77

The Decent One

1:30 pm/105min./p.77

Iranian

2:00 pm/87min./p.79

Marmato

1:30 pm/90min./p.83

Looking for Light: ...

1987

12:45 pm/117min./p.39

Paris of the North

4:00 pm/111min./p.75

24 Days

Violent

4:00 pm/104min./p.43

Eye for Beauty

4:00 pm/106min./p.42

Preggoland

3:45 pm/102min./p.41

Flore

Two Step

Corn Island

6:00

4:45 pm/100min./p.46

5:00

3:45 pm/95min./p.61

3:15 pm/134min./p.27

Foxcatcher

4:00

Listen Up Philip

4:00 pm/109min./p.55

Dominguinhos

Clownwise

Navajazo

7:00 pm/75min./p.55

Faith Connections

6:30 pm/117min./p.77

6:15 pm/86min./p.25

7:00 pm/80min./p.45

Boy and the World

Welcome to Me

Nuoc 2030

6:00 pm/98min./p.71

Can You Relate?

Challat of Tunis

7:00 pm/90min./p.76

8:00

6:30 pm/106min./p.65

7:00

7:00 pm/93min./p.77

Flore

6:30 pm/89min./p.39

All the Time in the World

6:30 pm/90min./p.43

Sitting on the Edge of Marlene

6:30 pm/104min./p.83

Glen Campbell: ...

6:30 pm/120min./p.46

6:00 pm/113min./p.65

The Womb

5:45 pm/83min./p.61

8:00

7:00 pm/100min./p.73

I’m (not) Having a Good Day

Hill of Freedom

4:30 pm/79min./p.83

3:45 pm/125min./p.61

Food Chains

7:00

Great Museum

Exit

7:00 pm/80min./p.41

6:30 pm/94min./p.69

5:45 pm/94min./p.83

6:00

5:15 pm/82min./p.69

4:30 pm/83min./p.77

Welcome to New York

3:15 pm/93min./p.77

Wound and the Gift

3:00

2:30 pm/80min./p.81 1:30 pm/95min./p.56

2:00

1:30 pm/99min./p.43

What Are We Doing Here?

2:00 pm/80min./p.41

1:30 pm/95min./p.59

Dirty Singles

2:00 pm/101min./p.61

The Midnight After

4:00 pm/83min./p.85

5:00

4:45 pm/80min./p.43

Songs. . . People She Knows

4:30 pm/104min./p.79

Dirty Singles

Preggoland

6:15 pm/106min./p.42

6:30 pm/117min./p.39

1987

5:45 pm/165min./p.35

Rekorder

8:00

10:00

Winter Sleep

Man on High Heels

8:45 pm/125min./p.71

Beautiful Youth

9:15 pm/102min./p.44

9:15 pm/90min./p.41

Marinoni

9:30 pm/93min./p.43

11:00

You’re Sleeping Nicole

8:30 pm/91min./p.62

Waiting for August

9:15 pm/82min./p.81

Iron Ministry

9:15 pm/82min./p.71

9:15 pm/123min./p.27

10:00

Clouds of Sils Maria

Emergency/Response

9:00

9:30 pm/100min./p.85

Miss Hill: ...

Cartoonists: ...

9:00 pm/106min./p.83

Two 4 One

9:00 pm/74min./p.43

9:00 pm/110min./p.37

Asteroid

Elephant Song

9:30 pm/103min./p.44

9:00 pm/104min./p.59

History is Old News

8:30 pm/95min./p.62

Two Shots Fired

9:30 pm/102min./p.69

11:00

Horses of Fukushima

Noble

9:30 pm/101min./p.55

Violent

9:30 pm/104min./p.4

Human Capital

9:00 pm/110min./p.53

Güeros

9:30 pm/106min./p.53

9:00 pm/96min./p.63

8:00 pm/196min./p.33