Every day during this year’s festival, we’ll be offering you some supplemental reading (and the odd visual aid) in order to better inform your future viewing or appreciation of work you’ve already seen.
The 39th edition of VIFF opens tonight with the world premiere of Loretta Sarah Todd’s Monkey Beach. Loretta recently talked to The Tyee about the 20-year process of adapting Eden Robinson’s novel for the screen.
Another long-gestating project at this year’s VIFF is Beauty Water, a six-years-in-the making animated condemnation of the inherent violence of beauty standards.
Vancouver’s Jennifer Abbott is also a fixture at this year’s VIFF. As her documentary, The Magnitude of All Things, has its world premiere, she discusses her cinematic tribute to her late sister.
Rewinding to February: the Berlinale was the last major international film festival to take place before COVID-19 irrevocably rocked the festival paradigm. This year’s VIFF will screen a number of celebrated films from this year’s Berlinale, including the “wild, impressionistic ride” Bad Tales and the “hypnotic” Shepherdess of the Seven Songs.
The late Jóhann Jóhannsson’s First and Last Men also screened in Berlin, allowing audiences to once again mourn the loss of such a colossal talent. Admirers of his “ambient explorations” are encouraged to catch up with this VIFF profile of the Icelandic composer. (Likewise, appreciators of the art of the film scores won’t want to miss In the Tracks of – Special Edition.)
With plans for a Tribeca premiere scuttled, the team behind Citizen Penn shot new footage to ensure that the film is up-to-the-minute in terms of documenting Sean Penn’s COVID-related volunteer work in Haiti.
Finally, anyone in need of an adrenaline injection would do well to check out Super Frenchie.
VIFF Blog 