VIFF 2018 is coming, and fans of local stories have 10 reasons to celebrate
Documentaries, dramas, and directorial debuts: the Vancouver International Film Festival announced its slate of locally produced feature films today for its 2018 edition, and at first glance, the 10 films represent a bounty of genres, perspectives, and film-going experiences.
In other words, if you're ride-or-die for homegrown cinema, you've got 10 new films for your must-see list.
The 10 locally produced films populate a programming stream called Sea to Sky, and include new work from VIFF veterans Bruce Sweeney (Kingsway) and Grant Baldwin (This Mountain Life); Freaks, Adam Stein and Zach Lipovksy’s highly anticipated sci-fi thriller about a young girl who discovers a mysterious world after she escapes her father’s paranoid control; multiple documentaries that shine a spotlight on violence against women (Kim O'Bomsawin's Quiet Killing and Baljit Sangra’s Because We Are Girls); Cody Graham and Carey Newman's Picking Up the Pieces: The Making of the Witness Blanket, which charts the crafting of an art installation from the ruins of residential schools; and the Western Canadian Premiere of Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown’s Edge of the Knife, the first narrative feature in the Haida language (classified an endangered language by UNESCO),
Here’s the list of films in VIFF’s Sea to Sky stream (as per VIFF's press release):
Because We Are Girls (dir. Baljit Sangra, Canada) - World Premiere
Edge of the Knife (dirs. Gwaai Edenshaw, Helen Haig-Brown, Canada)
Finding Big Country (dir. Kathleen S. Jayme, Canada/USA) - World Premiere
Freaks (dirs. Adam Stein, Zach Lipovsky, Canada)
Kingsway (dir. Bruce Sweeney, Canada)
N.O.N. (dir. Zebulon Zang, Canada) - World Premiere
Picking Up the Pieces: The Making of the Witness Blanket (dirs. Cody Graham, Carey Newman, Canada) - World Premiere
The Darling (dir. Seung-Yup Lee, Canada/South Korea) - North American Premiere
This Mountain Life (dir. Grant Baldwin, Canada)
When the Storm Fades (dir. Sean Devlin, Canada/Philippines) - World Premiere
VIFF also announced the programming for Totally Indie Day, which takes place on September 29 at VIFF’s Vancity Theatre and invites independent content creators to share insights and advice with up-and-comers:
-Production designers Jade Healy of I, Tonya and Chris Jones of Lady Bird will discuss the craft of creating rich story worlds;
-Jay Cassidy, three-time Oscar nominee and editor of acclaimed films American Hustle and Into the Wild, will speak about craft, collaboration and creating compelling stories;
-Creators Kate Green, director/executive producer of NarcoLeap; Tyler Funk, creator of She's Not Funny; and Ryan J. Sidhoo, director of True North, will share their journeys from pitches to production to finding distribution partners;
-Dava Whisenant, director/producer/co-writer of Bathtubs Over Broadway and Brent Hodge, director of Freaks and Geeks: The Documentary and other award-winning works will dive into pop culture and industrial music documentaries.
The 37th Vancouver International Film Festival runs September 27 to October 12 at venues across the city. The full line-up for the 2018 edition will be announced at a press conference on September 5; the program will be online the next day. Watch this space for additional coverage.
Pictured above: Lexy Kolker in ‘Freaks’
