If you missed these four audience favourites at VIFF this year, you’ll have another chance to catch them when they return to VIFF Vancity Theatre this month:
The Divine Order (Nov 17 – 25)
Until 1971, women in Switzerland had no voting rights. This startling fact is the basis for Petra Volpe’s small gem, which traces the political awakening of young wife and mother Nora (Marie Leuenberger). As news of the ’60s counterculture finally reaches her quiet hamlet, Nora decides to go against “the divine order” and advocate for enfranchisement in the upcoming referendum. This does not go over well… “Volpe dramatizes her action with a light touch that allows for flashes of pointed comedy…”–Variety
Admirers of Pacific Northwest art are notably unanimous in their admiration of the oeuvre of the late Kwakwaka’wakw artist Beau Dick, whose generosity and prolific nature embodied the very spirit of potlatch. LaTiesha Ti’si’tla Fazakas and Natalie Boll’s intimate profile details the man’s rare charisma; his carvings, which remain revered in art circles; and his passionate activism, which culminated in the breaking of coppers in Victoria and Ottawa as an act of protest against legislative injustices.
The great Agnès Varda, now 89, hits the road with the photographer JR in search of the people and their villages–faces and places–that make rural France what it is. As the two artists work with villagers to affix JR’s monumental portraits of the locals to various buildings, the documentary celebrates the transformative power of art, as embodied in our two witty and wise hosts. “If Faces Places is Agnès Varda’s last film, it’s a profoundly moving and absolutely essential farewell.”–IndieWire
c̓əsnaʔəm: the city before the city (Dec 1 – 3)
We live on land that was never ceded or sold by those who were living here at “first contact,” and yet we know precious little about the Lower Mainland before real estate. This film aims to correct that with a meaningful reminder of the history and prehistory of this land and her first people. VIFF alumnus Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, in collaboration with the Musqueam First Nation and the UBC Museum of Anthropology curatorial team, shares this reflection on a time when BC was indeed super and natural.
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