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.
As we draw the curtain on our 39th edition, we’re taking a slightly unconventional approach with our closing film. Rather than keeping with tradition and waiting until this evening to screen Delete History, we’ll have Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern’s biting satire of the digital era available on the VIFF Connect streaming platform from 9:00am PST. Back at the film’s Berlinale premiere (where it scored the Silver Bear), Hollywood Reporter deemed the directors’ “socially conscious craziness” as “binge-watch worthy”, while Screen suggested that “Delete History sees the duo at their funniest, largely thanks to sparkling performances…” We hope you’ll agree that it’s a fittingly sardonic note to close our first online festival on.
Over the past two weeks, our film lineup has been accruing its fair share of positive reviews. Given that some of you are likely engaged in a mad scramble to decide what to watch before the clock strikes midnight, we thought we’d offer you a lightning round of some local coverage:
“Indigenous languages add their own kind of music, underscoring the shared experience of cultural loss.” – Janet Smith, Stir
“Both illuminating and engaging…” – Craig Takeuchi, Georgia Straight
“Cured delivers a dose of inspiration to keep fighting.” – Gail Johnson, Stir
“An unsentimental, unrelenting, and austere depiction of the measures that this powerless individual feels compelled to resort to in order to be heard…” – Craig Takeuchi, Georgia Straight
“[A] sensitive look at the plight of the working class…” – David House, Taste of Cinema
“An impressive, thoughtful, intelligent, and well-crafted piece…” – Craig Takeuchi, Georgia Straight
“A deep dive into the Mexican icon’s key work…” – Janet Smith, Stir
Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President
“It’s hard not to feel a little nostalgic for a kinder, gentler president.” – Janet Smith, Stir
“An astute high-concept parable about worker exploitation.” – Craig Takeuchi, Georgia Straight
“A cautionary tale with some hilarious and even harrowing conclusions, Lapsis is the best kind of quirky New Age nightmare.” – Shane Scott-Travis, Taste of Cinema
“This is a dreamy and dazzling final statement on ephemerality and extinction from a remarkable polymath artist we were only just getting to know.” – Shane Scott-Travis, Taste of Cinema
“An artful, intimate exploration of her most famous work.” – Janet Smith, Stir
Marcel Duchamp: The Art of the Possible
“A fine primer on the man and his still radical–and funny–work.” – Janet Smith, Stir
Memories to Choke on, Drinks to Wash Them Down
“An eclectic, funny, and politically charged portrait of a city that’s full of contradictions.” – Janet Smith, Stir
“While Yoon’s work has invoked comparison to major names such as Hirozaku Kore-eda, Yasujiro Ozu, and Hou Hsiao-hsien, Yoon has already established a distinct mark of all her own.” – Craig Takeuchi, Georgia Straight
“Elegantly shot and amusingly told, this one’s a standout on the M/A/D visual-art program.” – Janet Smith, Stir
The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel
“Highly recommended, if gutting…” – Adrian Mack, Stir
“What provides the most enduring warmth are stories about the human spirit.” – Craig Takeuchi, Georgia Straight
“After watching this bracing adventure film, B.C. Ferries never looked so good.” – Gail Johnson, Stir
“This tale of inherited evil and generational trauma arrives as yet another recent horror film that takes its metaphysics seriously.” – Adrian Mack, Stir
“More atypical suspense than conventional North American horror…” – Craig Takeuchi, Georgia Straight
“This surreal digression feels like a subarctic delineation of James Joyce’s “Finnegans Wake” and is also perhaps just as polarizing.” – Shane Scott-Travis, Taste of Cinema
“Cartoonishly fun…” – Adrian Mack, Stir
“An intimate look at the mindset of a man who has spent his entire life jumping off things.” – Gail Johnson, Stir
“Violation turns the tables and blinds the male gaze…” – Becky Belzile, Taste of Cinema
“Fishel hits a nerve.” – Janet Smith, Stir
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