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Gateway
Barbarian Invasion
A Chat
TAN CHUI MUI, MALAYSIA/HONG KONG/PHILIPPINES, 2021, 106 MIN.
WANG XIDE, CHINA, 2021, 113 MIN.
THU, OCT 7 MON, OCT 11
6:30 PM 11:00 AM
CINE VCT
Canadian Premiere. Writer-director Tan Chui Mui puts herself in the spotlight with this delightful showbiz satire. She plays Lee Yoon Moon, a Southeast Asian movie star who has been cast in a rip-off of The Bourne Identity and must learn to perform her own martial arts stunts. What unfolds is a journey of self-discovery that contains some jarring surprises. Loopy, hypnotic, and quietly thrilling, this is a film to savour. Cast Pete Teo, Tan Chui Mui, Bront Palarae, James Lee, Zhiny Ooi, Nik Hadiff Dani Prod Woo Ming Jin, Bianca Balbuena
SAT, OCT 2 MON, OCT 4 OCT 1-11
6:30 PM 6:30 PM
CINE STU CONN
International Premiere. With laid-back rhythm and solemn black-and-white images, A Chat conjures a serene, reflective female space inhabited by an independent divorcee and her niece. Qing runs her own tailoring shop in a quiet Southern Chinese town. One summer, her niece Yue comes to stay with Qing and learn her craft. Family secrets surface in atmospheric reveries and haunt them in an empty movie theatre. The two leads’ gentle, hushed performances evoke women’s dignity as they strive to live without the support or burden of men.
Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko SAT, OCT 9 MON, OCT 11
6:45 PM 3:45 PM
Moneyboys
Sinkhole
MAUNG SUN, MYANMAR, 2020, 98 MIN.
C.B. YI, AUSTRIA/FRANCE/TAIWAN/BELGIUM, 2021, 120 MIN.
SAT, OCT 9 MON, OCT 11 OCT 1-11
9:15 PM 3:30 PM
CINE CINE CONN
Canadian Premiere. Inspired by a Burmese proverb mocking how money eludes the poor, this sassy comedy on the trials of indie filmmaking pits an idealistic director up against tyrannical censors and crass producers, triggering one of the goofiest heists in Southeast Asian cinema. Besides capturing daily life in Yangon with frantic gusto, Money Has Four Legs is Myanmar’s most important film in years, as it tellingly alludes to the corruption, inequality, and dysfunction that gave rise to the country’s current unrest.
North American Premiere. Moneyboys takes a revelatory glimpse at China’s hushed-up gay sex industry. Fei (Kai Ko) works tirelessly as a rentboy to send money home, but his family humiliates him while pocketing his earnings. Loneliness, police crackdowns, and fickle friendships erode short-lived joys of youth and furtive liaisons. Shot in Taiwan and dripping with tropical sensuality, this breathtaking debut by C.B. Yi caught critical attention at Cannes for its incisive, formal beauty.
Cast Okkar, Khin Khin Hsu, Phay, Ko Thu Prod Ma Aeint
Cast Kai Ko, Chloe Maayan, Yufan Bai, JC Lin Prod Gabriele Kranzelbinder, Barbara Pichler, Guillaume de la Boulaye, Patrick Mao Huang, André Logie
SFU VCT
From the director of Children of the Sea (VIFF 2019) comes another visual wonder with a gossamer whiff of magic realism. Unlike the esoteric Children, this is a kid-friendly comedy that sizzles with the most appetizing Japanese cuisine that animation can render. Nikuko (‘Meat-girl’) is a plus-sized single mother who adores food, Japanese wordplay, and shifty men, and never loses her joie de vivre. When she and daughter Kikuko settle in an idyllic fishing village, they’re almost undone by a buried secret.
Money Has Four Legs SFU CINE CONN
FRI, OCT 8 MON, OCT 11
AYUMU WATANABE, JAPAN, 2021, 97 MIN.
Cast Shinobu Otake, Cocomi, Natsuki Hanae
12:45 PM 9:00 PM
HONG SANGSOO, SOUTH KOREA, 2021, 85 MIN.
Gyokou no Nikuko-chan
Cast Ying Ze, Mu Ruini, Xu Tao, Yao Bolan, Hou Yisong Prod Si Niang
SAT, OCT 2 WED, OCT 6 OCT 1-11
In Front of Your Face SFU SFU
Canadian Premiere. There is a mystery at the heart of Hong Sangsoo’s latest film. Sang-ok (Lee Hyeyoung) is in Seoul for the first time in years to meet a director about a comeback role. She schedules what she can around this appointment. Hong’s many films prime us to expect a narrative game—a large gathering over soju, or an unearthed romance—but instead we hear Sang-ok’s internal mantra: “Every moment is beautiful.” As the day passes, we wonder at the reasons behind the powerful restraint of Lee’s performance. Cast Lee Hyeyoung, Cho Yunhee, Kwon Haehyo, Shin Seokho, Kim Saebyeok, Ha Seungguk Prod Hong Sangsoo
Spaghetti Code Love
Sing-keu-hol
TAKESHI MARUYAMA, JAPAN, 2021, 96 MIN.
KIM JI-HOON, SOUTH KOREA, 2021, 114 MIN.
FRI, OCT 1 TUE, OCT 5
9:00 PM 8:45 PM
3:30 PM 6:00 PM
HWD RIO
Canadian Premiere. From the Korean master of disaster movies (2012’s The Tower) comes a new blockbuster depicting the elusive dream of homeownership with spectacular visual effects and stunts. Middle-manager Dong-won saved up for 11 years to buy a home in Seoul for his family of three. During his housewarming party, the building collapses and sinks into a nearly bottomless pit below. The survivors have to improvise and cooperate to get out alive. To date, it’s South Korea’s second highest grossing domestic film of 2021. Cast Cha Seoung-won, Kim Sung-kyun, Lee Kwangsoo, Kim Hye-jun Prod Lee Soo-nam, Kim Yang-yeon
FRI, OCT 1 SAT, OCT 9 OCT 1-11
9:15 PM 10:30 AM
CINE VCT CONN
Canadian Premiere. Hyperlink cinema gets a shot in the arm in this fluid glance at the lives of 13 characters, each of whose diverse lives and problems diverge and converge with all the exuberance, anxieties, and untrammeled emotionalism of youth. Weaving his camera freely between stories, Takeshi Maruyama’s tight but sprawling ensemble piece captures the pains of growth and the possibilities of compassion in both its structure and its intimate personal insights. Cast Yuki Kura, Toko Miura, Hiroya Shimizu, Rikako Yagi, Nino Furuhata, Yuzu Aoki Prod Hideki Harada, Tomoyuki Miike, Yoshiteru Horie
