Vancouver and Beyond

Could killing your own child be an act of love?
Where: Pacific Theatre
1440 W 12th
Vancouver, BC V6H 1M8
When: Oct 17-Nov 15, 2008
Details: $11 – $34.00

Inspired by the true Canadian story of a Saskatchewan farmer and his daughter, Emil Sher’s new play explores the dilemma faced by the father of a severely disabled teenage girl, whose fate is about to be taken over by the medical establishment.

Can their best efforts ever relieve her constant pain? Or should her father pursue another, final alternative? So who gets to play God?

A stunning theatrical piece in which assuming a loved one’s best interests leads to an entire family’s loss.

http://www.pacifictheatre.org/

By Hal Wake (written for the 25th anniversary of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival)

To achieve the status of a true legend, it should have started differently. It should have started with the artistic director of the Winnipeg Folk Festival, Mitch Podolak, looking across the prairies fixing his penetrating, visionary gaze westward and determining right then and there that he was going to establish a folk music festival in Vancouver. It was the mid-seventies and what better time to deliver the joyous sound and enriching experience for the benefit of the masses. But this isn’t Hollywood, thank god, and the reality is that Mitch simply wanted to escape the mosquitoes and biting cold of Winnipeg for a softer life in Lotus Land. Mitch never achieved his dream of making a home here, but, thank god again, the Festival did.

The first step in executing his plan was finding a local champion, preferably one with money. He found one, or perhaps more accurately created one, in Ernie Fladell. Ernie was the Cultural Planner in the Social Planning Department for the City of Vancouver. He’d actually turned a profit on a couple of events in Vancouver, but he had never been to a folk festival. .Well, Mitch fixed that. In 1977 he sent Ernie a plane ticket for Winnipeg and said “Get your ass out here and I’ll show you what it’s all about.”

Twenty-six years later, Ernie’s memory of the trip is crystal clear. “Mitch had me picked up at the airport and then took me on these winding back roads, in the dark and it seemed to take forever. Finally, I was dropped off in some parking lot and I had no idea where I was. Someone grabbed me by the elbow and we were stumbling along and suddenly I was led up some steps backstage and a guy said, ‘Hi, I’m Mitch,’ and he shoved me past the edge of a curtain and there I was, practically on stage with Sweet Honey in the Rock in front of 15,000 delirious fans. I was hooked.”

Mitch agrees that’s how it happened, but it was all part of the plan. “I set him up. I had it all timed meticulously from the moment the plane landed, including the long car ride. I didn’t want him to ease into it. I wanted to get Ernie swept away. I timed the entire show so that he would have something incredible to see and it worked.”

A year later at Stanley Park, the euphoria of the Winnipeg stage had given way to opening night jitters at the birth of a brand new festival. A Vancouver team had been established including an energetic city staffer, Frances Fitzgibbon, her colleague, lanky site manager, Lorenz von Fersen, and a young political organizer named Gary Cristall.

They weren’t building the event from scratch, however. Volunteers from Winnipeg had taken time off work, piled into cars and at their own expense, driven all the way to Vancouver to help out. Each Winnipegger was paired with a volunteer from Vancouver so that their hard-won experience in mastering the immense task of mounting the event could be passed on.

Frances Fitzgibbon confesses she expressed some misgivings “When Mitch first raised the idea of a volunteer cadre, I thought, ‘ gosh, wouldn’t it be more efficient with paid staff?’ I was absolutely dead wrong. When you have people meeting, talking, caring, taking responsibility – they poured their heart into everything. It was actually very moving.” Since that first Festival, some of the original volunteers have returned every year to form the network that has become the backbone of the operation.

One of the responsibilities that wasn’t taken on by volunteers at that first Festival was security. Lorenz von Fersen remembers a bunch of beefy guys in blue who were used to rousting rowdies from the PNE. When a bus full of cymbal-playing gate crashers in saffron-coloured robes insinuated their way into a parking lot and refused to pay, Gary Cristall and Mitch Podolak decided to handle it themselves.

“I was trying to be the good cop,” Mitch explains. “But Gary just came up and said, ‘Move the bus or we’ll push it into the ocean.’ And they moved.” Despite that “success”, it was an area that clearly needed improvement. When Alice Macpherson suggested enlisting a volunteer committee to develop a new approach to security, they went with it. To this day, a well-trained, experienced volunteer group uses equal measures of reason and firmness to defuse difficult situations at the Festival. They are so good you often don’t realize they are there.

According to the founders, it required similar sophisticated skills to convince the Park Board to agree to the use of Jericho Beach Park for the second and subsequent Festivals. Managing the site to minimize disturbance for the neighbourhood, the wildlife and the environment, has been critical to the continued success of the Festival. Managing the political process has been no mean feat either. “It seemed like every year,” says Gary Cristall, “We’d go to Park Board and come out of there with a 4-3 vote in our favour. One vote going the other way, and the whole thing would have been over.”

On the first night, of the very first Vancouver Folk Music Festival, it rained. “We didn’t know whether anyone was going to come – period – and then the rain started to come down,” Gary Cristall remembers thinking. Frances still has a vision of the splashback bouncing onto the stage, but the performers kept going.

Curiously, the program for the first Festival doesn’t list the performers for the evening concerts. One member of the hardy band of onlookers in the audience remembers being entranced by the sweet – almost to the point of painful – harmonies of Mary McCaslin and Jim Ringer. Ernie Fladell has a clear picture of Stan Rogers and his booming voice, his powerful presence bathed in the brilliant colours of the stage lights, with steam rising off his head. “When Stan came off he said it was like singing behind a waterfall.”

“Later that night,” says Gary Cristall, “when Pied Pear worked their magic and got a standing ovation in the rain, I knew we were on to something.”

Saturday afternoon, the rain mercifully ended and with the sun now shining and with the magnificent ocean and mountain backdrop at the Point Stage, Mitch Podolak witnessed the single best blues workshop he has ever seen in a lifetime of festivals. “There was Leon Redbone, Odetta, Leon Bibb and John Hammond. But it was Roosevelt Sykes, the 70-year-old piano player, that really blew me away. He was joined on stage by Jane Vasey the young pianist for the Downchild Blues Band who wasn’t even a guest at the Festival. And at the end of what seemed like an hour of furious, brilliant jamming, he stood up and turned to her, took off his hat and bowed.”

No one knows for sure, but the most common estimate is that there were somewhere between 10,000 and 11,000 folks at that first Festival. Enough, it seems, to have convinced all concerned that it was worth the effort and struggle to do it all over again for another year and another and twenty-two more, which brings us to this weekend, July 19-21 2002. Frances Fitzgibbon isn’t surprised. “All of us had the belief that it would be around for twenty-five years. We didn’t publicly talk about the longevity of it, but the idea was strong and rooted somewhere real. People come to the festival and leave the site altered, different somehow.”

For the founders and their successors, it is like building a miraculous community every year. They come to one of the most gorgeous settings in the world, bring in the power, water and the amenities, then the musicians arrive and the audience and then, in Mitch Podolak’s words, “You enter a special world. You step outside normal society for three days and enjoy a totally non-alienating experience. What could be better?”

What could be better indeed.

Four historically-themed titles have been selected as finalists for the 2008 City of Vancouver Book Award: a collection of real life stories that bring to life the social histories of selected heritage homes in Vancouver; a biography of dance-artist Peter Bingham, a driving force in Canada’s contact improvisation scene for 30 years; a poetic portrait of the many lives affected by the Second Narrows Bridge disaster of 1958; and a book of stories and photographs documenting the lives of the residents of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

“These four books add significant textural layers to our understanding of Vancouver’s neighbourhoods, culture and individuals,” said Mayor Sam Sullivan. “My congratulations to the finalists and their publishers for their contributions to Vancouver’s cultural richness.”

The 2008 finalists are:

At Home With History: The Untold Secrets of Greater Vancouver’s Heritage Homes by Eve Lazarus (Anvil Press, Vancouver), is a social history and genealogy that reveals much about the history of the times and offers a sense of place in the ongoing narrative of selected heritage homes in Greater Vancouver.

Falsework by Gary Geddes (Goose Lane Editions, Fredericton, New Brunswick), is a multi-voiced, inquisitive new kind of poetry that provides portraits of the many lives affected by the crumbling of the Second Narrows Bridge in 1958, a seemingly indomitable structure.

Hope in Shadows by Brad Cran and Gillian Jerome (Arsenal Pulp Press and Pivot Legal Society, Vancouver), are photographs taken by the residents of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, accompanied by the personal stories of the men and women behind these stunning images.

The Man Next Door Dances: The Art of Peter Bingham by Kaija Pepper (Dance Collection Press, Toronto), is a meticulously researched insight into Peter Bingham’s contact improvisation and choreography along with photographs that take the reader inside the mind of a quiet, respectful but determined artist who has kept dancing through three turbulent decades of challenge and change.

The four shortlisted titles were chosen by an independent jury that included freelance editor (and former Publisher at Raincoast Books/Polestar) Michelle Benjamin; Sophia Books owner Marc Fournier; and Fernanda Viveiros, Executive Director of the Federation of BC Writers.This jury will also select the winning entry.

Mayor Sullivan will present the award and the $2,000 cash prize to the winning author on October 14, 2008. This year, the City of Vancouver Book Award celebrates its 20th anniversary.
Media contact:

Corporate Communications
604.871.6336

Vancouver BC (OPENPRESS) September 6, 2008 — Blenz is participating in the 2009 Vancouver Fringe Festival as a Signature Sponsor, and have set up a temporary storefront at the Grolsch Fringe Bar and Coffeehouse, where they are offering Fringe-goers beautifully handcrafted coffee, tea, and chocolate-based beverages.

Blenz is taking this opportunity to invite the public to experience a little taste of coffee culture at Vancouver’s First Annual International Free Pour Latte Art competition.

The preliminary round will take place Saturday, September 6th, starting at noon. Many local coffeehouses are represented, including Caffe Artigiano, Caffe Crema, JJ Bean, Wicked Café, Cito Espresso, and Blenz stores.

The emcee for this event is Blenz’ own Layla Osberg, two-time international champion free pour latte artist.

The panel of judges includes some of Vancouver’s most respected members of the coffee community. John Sanders, owner of Origins Organic Coffee and Hines Public Market Coffee, is a longstanding technical committee member of the World Barista Championship, Specialty Coffee Association of America, and the US Barista Championship. Arthur Wynne of Wicked Café is a certified World Barista Championship judge. Wayne Wright is co-owner of Bravo Coffee Group.

Scoring competitors’ latte art will be based on four weighted categories totaling 50 points; the categories are Colour Definition, the infusion of the pure white milk foam into the rich espresso crema, worth 15 points, Symmetry of the latte art in the cup, worth 15 points, Esthetics or overall beauty of the free pour latte art, worth 10 points, and Creativity, something different than the traditional free pour rosettas, worth 10 points.

Twenty one competitors will be vying for the top eight spots. Those scoring in the top eight will be invited to compete in the finals, held September 26th at Library Square in downtown Vancouver. First prize is an all expense paid trip to Tokyo to attend the World Specialty Coffee Conference and Exhibition in October. Top performers will also be asked to Team BC, a group of coffee professionals sponsored by Blenz who will compete in coffee competitions on a global stage.

Make the Grolsch Fringe Bar and Coffeehouse at the Vancouver Fringe Festival on Granville Island a destination on Saturday afternoon, and watch Vancouver’s finest baristas as they pour their hearts into their work.

About Blenz The Canadian Coffee Company Ltd™
Blenz The Canadian Coffee Company Ltd is a premium retailer of handcrafted coffee, tea and other innovative and delicious specialty beverages. All of Blenz’ beverages are made in-store from only the highest quality ingredients available. Blenz’ commitment to serving a great cup of coffee, providing an excellent customer experience, and providing world-class staff training, has fueled Blenz’ growth from its inception. Blenz operates a network of over 85 franchise locations in British Columbia, Japan, China, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and the Philippines.

For information about Blenz The Canadian Coffee Company Ltd., contact:
Mr George Moen
President
Blenz Coffee Ltd.
Telephone: (604) 682-2995
press@blenz.com

The Vancouver International Film Festival presents films from all over the world in our Cinema of our Time series, with particularly strong showings from the US, Germany, Mexico, and Italy this year.

3 WOMEN – Manijeh Hekmat (Iran) North American Premiere

Three generations of Iranian women–a recalcitrant daughter chafing at the boundaries of contemporary middle-class society, her mother who came of age during the Islamic revolution, and her grandmother, steeped in traditional ways–serve as the focus of Manijeh Hekmat’s powerful realist drama. “A compelling sociological portrait.”- Variety

AMONG THE CLOUDS – Rouhollah Hejazi (Iran)

On the Iraq/Iran border, a teenage porter falls for an older girl with a mysterious past. The pain of young love is given its due attention in Rouhollah Hejazi’s lyrically filmed drama. Winner of Best Iranian feature debut at the recent Fajr Film Festival.

BALLAST – Lance Hammer, guest (USA) Canadian Premiere

“A rock-ribbed sense of committed, personal cinema and a core belief in people being able to pull themselves out of misery supports [this] extraordinary debut by Lance Hammer… Following a Mississippi Delta family… the film runs a course from wrenching death to possible uplift that seems real every second.” – Variety . Winner, best director, Sundance 08.

BIRDSONG – Albert Serra, guest (Spain)

Albert Serra ( Honor de cavalleria VIFF 06) returns with this gorgeously shot re-telling of the Three Kings biblical odyssey. Serra’s penchant for stunning vistas and his profound love of, and respect for, the awesome aspects of the natural world are paramount as he follows his three wise men over mountains and through deserts on their journey to Jesus. Note: we will also be presenting Waiting for Sancho – Mark Peranson’s documentary about the making of Birdsong – at this year’s VIFF.

BURN THE BRIDGES – Francisco Franco (Mexico) Canadian Premiere

A crumbling mansion, a little bit of incestuous lust, and a few homoerotic interludes combine to dark effect in director Francisco Franco’s debut drama. While caring for their dying mother, a brother and sister discover their mutual attraction for each other. “Remarkably pungent… one of the… superior dramas in recent Mexican filmmaking.”- Variety

BURNED HEARTS – Ahmed El Maanouni, guest (Morocco) North American Premiere

Moroccan cinema comes of age in this beautifully realized drama from director Ahmed El-Maanouni. A young architect returns to his childhood home, only to be catapulted back into difficult memories of his days as a virtual slave to his ironsmith uncle. “A carefully textured reflection on the conflicts in contemporary Moroccan society.”- Variety

EL CAMINO – Ishtar Yasin (Costa Rica)

Ishtar Yasin’s evocative debut feature easily spans the bridge between other-worldly loveliness and tragic fatalism. When a brother and sister set out on a journey from Nicaragua to Granada to search for their long-absent mother, they discover a world of beauty and suffering.

CAPTAIN ABU RAED – Amin Matalqa (Jordan / USA) Canadian Premiere

The handsome winner of the Audience Award in the World Cinema competition at Sundance, this first-ever independent film from Jordan makes fantastic use of the city of Amman as a backdrop for a winning tale about a wise old airport janitor mistaken for a jet-setting pilot by the kids in his neighbourhood…

CHOUGA – Darezhan Omirbaev (Kazakhstan / France) North American Premiere

Kazakhstan’s leading filmmaker Darezhan Omirbaev ( The Road ) returns with this adaptation of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, set in the new capital Astana and the southern city Almaty. Chouga, a well-off married woman with a child, throws everything away to follow an ill-advised passion for another man…

CLOUD 9 – Andreas Dresen (Germany)

Andreas Dresen ( Summer in Berlin ) returns with this crowd-pleaser, a hit at Cannes, about a woman in her mid-60s, happily married for 30 years, who falls for the attentions of a 76-year-old. Rarely has a film so honestly – and poignantly – shown that love and sex are not solely the purview of the young.

CORRECTION – Thanos Anastopoulos (Greece) Canadian Premiere

One of the best Greek films of the past year features a homeless man, newly released from prison, who wanders the streets of multi-ethnic Athens on a journey that may or may not have sinister implications. Along the way, director Thanos Anastopoulos poses questions about identity, xenophobia and the nature of violence in contemporary Greek society.

DAYS IN BETWEEN – Lola Randl (Germany) North American Premiere

Playing out like a Last Tango in Deutschland , Lola Randl’s mysterious debut gives us a successful scientist, Agnes, who, after being press-ganged by her sister into looking after an apartment, finds herself spending more and more time there. One day, she wakes up and finds a strange man, Bruno, lying beside her…

DELTA – Kornel Mundruczo (Hungary)

Set against the stunning backdrop of an isolated stretch of the Danube river delta, a brother and sister try to build a life together, in the face of community intolerance. Over four years in the making, Kornel Mundruczo’s ( Pleasant Days , VIFF 02) dark, deeply affecting drama won Best Film at Hungarian Film Days.

IL DIVO – Paulo Sorrentino (Italy)

Director Paolo Sorrentino’s portrait of seven-time Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti (a brilliant performance by Toni Servillo) is packed with wicked wit, brilliant cinematography and drama galore. Andreotti dominated Italian politics until undone by scandal and the predations of the Mafia. Winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes 2008.

DRIFTER – Sebastian Heidinger (Germany) North American Premiere

Taking the notorious Christiane F. as an obvious precursor, Sebastian Heidinger’s dramatic documentary follows the lives of three young Germans caught up in drug, addiction, prostitution and petty crime in and around Berlin’s notorious Zoo Station. Harrowing and heartfelt, the film shows just how little things have changed in 30 years.

DUNYA & DESIE – Dana Nechushtan (Netherlands)

Dana Nechushtan touches on issues of family and fitting in as Moroccan Dunya and Dutch Desie – both 18 – negotiate parental expectations and what it means to straddle two worlds. The Netherlands selection for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. “This cross-cultural road movie positively sings with upbeat energy and humor, nailing its target audience with a well-crafted story of friendship and understanding.” – Variety

EAT, FOR THIS IS MY BODY – Michelange Quay (Haiti / France)

“Set in his native Haiti, director/screenwriter Michaelange Quay’s sophomore feature is a poetic, taboo-shattering meditation on the flow of power between black and white centering on a pale woman’s [Sylvie Testud] bizarre relationship with numerous dark-skinned children.” – The New York Times

EDEN – Declan Recks (Ireland) Canadian Premiere

Eugene O’Brien’s play forms the basis for Declan Recks’ unravelling of a marriage in decline. Breda and Billy are approaching their 10th anniversary, but they don’t have much to celebrate. Entropy has taken its toll, and the couple’s painful realization of this fact is tragedy writ small. Eileen Walsh copped the best actress award at Tribeca 2008.

ERIK NIETZSCHE: THE EARLY YEARS – Jacob Thuesen (Denmark / Sweden)

What made Lars von Trier into the oft-loathed, increasingly vilified evil genius he is currently perceived to be? In a phrase: film school. Jacob Thuesen’s wickedly funny film (co-written with von Trier), is packed with filthy jokes, razor sharp satire, and more than a few famous faces.

THE ETERNITY MAN – Julien Temple (Australia) North American Premiere

When the word ‘eternity’ (written in white chalk and in beautifully flowing copperplate script) began showing up on buildings, sidewalks and bridges in Sydney, Australia, the mystery of its origins enthralled the entire city. Sisyphusean obsession, divine mystery, and the power of a single word combine to mesmeric effect in director Julian Temple ( Absolute Beginners ) stunning film.

FIRAAQ – Handita Das (India)

This dramatic, deeply engaged fiction feature by Nandita Das depicts the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat riots in India. Focusing on four linked Hindi and Muslim families, this furiously compassionate look at communal violence locates sparks of hope amidst its spiritual and physical victims.

FOUR NIGHTS WITH ANNA – Jerzy Skolimowski (Poland / France)

Jerzy Skolimowski makes a return to the big screen with this voyeuristic tale of obsessive love. A hospital worker spies on the younger Anna, a woman he may, or may not have, raped many years before. “Directed with absolute assurance from the get-go… marbled with moments of black comedy… has the feel and control almost of a story from Kieslowski’s Decalogue…” – Variety

THE GIRL BY THE LAKE – Andrea Molaioli (Italy) Canadian Premiere

A beautiful girl found dead and naked by the side of a lake sets off the serpentine twists in director Andrea Molaioli’s debut thriller. Multiple suspects, a hardened detective (the extraordinary Toni Servillo from Il Divo ) with troubles of his own and a remote and austerely gorgeous setting add up to a riveting tale of corruption, murder and the gulf between parents and their children.

GOMORRAH – Matteo Garrone (Italy)

Matteo Garrone’s ( First Love , VIFF 05) brutal indictment of the Camorra Mafia stunned audiences at the recent Cannes Film Festival with its cinematic power. Based on writer Roberto Saviano’s best-selling exposé that dared to name names (Saviano is currently under police protection and had to be snuck into the film’s screening). Winner of the Grand Prix, Cannes 2008.

HAPPY-GO-LUCKY – Mike Leigh (UK)

Director Mike Leigh ( Vera Drake ) turns the tables on his audience with a film that more than lives up to its title. Lead Sally Hawkins copped the Best Actress prize at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival. “Leigh challenges our assumptions about realism, pessimism and irony…” – The Guardian

HEAVEN’S HEART – Simon Staho (Sweden) North American Premiere

Two bourgeois Swedish couples find that a dinner party discussion about adultery has serious repercussions upon their apparent wedded bliss in Simon Staho’s drama. A blend of raw emotion, fearless performances, and stylized cinematography it plays like an update of Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage laced with Harold Pinter’s Betrayal .

HELEN – Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor (UK / Ireland) North American Premiere

A deftly controlled and visually auspicious drama, Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor’s debut zeros in on lonely 17-year-old Helen (newcomer Annie Townsend) who volunteers to stand in for a missing girl in a police re-enactment. Lacking an identity of her own, she throws herself into the role with eerie consequences.

THE HOLLOW – Marina Razbezhkina (Russia) North American Premiere

Filmed in the remote Tver region of Russia, Marina Razbezhkina’s hallucinatory drama was inspired by Sergey Esenin’s semi-autobiographical novella. This pantheistic tale contains a world of allusions, not the least of which is the age-old division between male and female, and a deeply Russian masochism.

HUNGER – Steve McQueen (UK)

The story of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands is recreated with uncompromising integrity by Turner Prize-winning artist turned filmmaker Steve McQueen. “Hunger is raw, powerful filmmaking and an urgent reminder of this uniquely ugly, tragic and dysfunctional period in British and Irish history.” – The Guardian . Winner, Camera d’Or, Cannes 2008.

I AM GOOD – Jan Hrebejk (Czech Republic) International Premiere

Director Jan Hrebejk’s new film is something of a departure from his previous work. In the early 90s, a motley collection of friends take on an organized crime ring when one of their pals is suckered in a card game. A light-hearted comedy that combines action, intrigue and a loving tip of the hat to the Newman/Redford classic The Sting .

IN YOUR ABSENCE – Iván Noel (Spain) World Premiere

Debuting director Iván Noel fashions a beautiful coming-of-age tale with a decided twist, set in the gorgeous rolling hills and verdant fields of Andalusia in southern Spain. Haunted by the death of his father, young Pablo takes an interest in a passing stranger, in town while his car is being repaired, with unpredictable and tragic results.

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN – Tomas Alfredson (Sweden)

When 12-year-old Oskar is befriended by the preternaturally pale and possessed girl next door, blood and snow begin to mix in his Stockholm neighbourhood. Director Tomas Alfredson ( Four Shades of Brown , VIFF 04) does the seemingly impossible by reinventing the hoariest of horror genres – the vampire film – with sly wit and surprising sweetness.

LINEWATCH – Kevin Bray (USA) International Premiere

Cuba Gooding, Jr. stars as Michael Dixon, a man trying to reinvent his life and escape his violent past in Kevin Bray’s taut drama. Before he became a member of the linewatch (a group of lawmen who patrol the border between Mexico and the US) Dixon was a ruthless gang member – and his past is catching up to him.

LIVERPOOL – Lisandro Alonso (Argentina)

Director Lisandro Alonso ( Los muertos ) returns with this story of a man drawn home to the family he abandoned years earlier. “On every level, from the expressive capacity of natural image and sound to the emotional content of the characters onscreen, [the film] marks personal artistic progress and an impressive standard for others to match.”- Variety

LOINS OF PUNJAB PRESENTS – Manish Acharya (India / USA) Canadian Premiere

There is more oddity, camp, colour, and off-pitch warbling in Manish Acharya’s vibrant film than in the last seven seasons of “American Idol.” Set in New Jersey, it follows a pack of unlikely songsters who do battle in order to win the “Desi” American Idol competition, sponsored by a pork company (hence the loins).

THE LOST COAST – Gabriel Fleming (USA) International Premiere

When three high school friends (Mark, Lily and Jasper) visit California’s Lost Coast, all reservations, sexual and otherwise, are abandoned in the lush beauty of their surroundings. Years later, the trio reunites for an eventful and ecstasy-heightened nocturnal reverie in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

MAGNUS – Kadri Kõusaar, guest (Estonia / UK) Canadian Premiere

After a near death by overdose, young Magnus is taken in hand by his absent father for some “paternal care” – despite the fact that his stocky dad, while unwaveringly upbeat, is an unrepentant whoremonger and drug abuser… “Gently drifting between drollery and moodiness… Magnus is a profound emotional experience…. [An] astounding debut from 26-year-old writer-director Kadri Kõusaar…”- Variety

MOCK UP ON MU – Craig Baldwin (USA) Canadian Premiere

In 2019, L. Ron Hubbard has conquered and renamed the moon (Mu). Meanwhile on earth, Marjorie Cameron and Jack Parsons fight the power. With a combination of found footage, real-life heroes and weirdoes, and various other stuff, subversive shit-disturber Craig Baldwin ( Spectres of the Spectrum , VIFF 99) has fashioned a “collage-narrative” that defies categorization.

MOMMA’S MAN – Azazel Jacobs (USA)

When fully grown Mikey faces a crisis in his marriage, he returns to his parent’s house and refuses to leave; the situation soon escalates into much more than an infantilization fantasy run amok. Azazel Jacobs’ superbly crafted feature stars his parents – legendary filmmaker Ken Jacobs and wife/mom Flo – and is shot in their amazing New York loft.

MOTHERLAND – Nello La Marca (Italy) North American Premiere

A small Sicilian town combining sea and mountain vistas is the setting for this intensely hued, almost sculpturally visual drama. Contrasting two different families (one Italian, the other North African), Nello La Marca’s superb film engages with some intractable European issues, namely poverty, illegal immigration and economic disparity.

MY MARLON AND MY BRANDO – Hüseyin Karabey (Turkey) Canadian Premiere

Based on actress-screenwriter Ayça Damgaci’s real-life adventure, Hüseyin Karabey’s elegantly edited narrative tells of Damgaci’s journey from Istanbul through Turkey and Northwest Iran to Iraq in 2003 to re-unite with the great love of her life, Kurdish actor Hama Ali Khan (also playing himself here).

THE NEW YEAR PARADE – Tom Quinn (USA) International Premiere

A bitter divorce has repercussions on a family of mummers (parade musicians). Using a mixture of real events and improvised dialogue, director Tom Quinn’s affecting story possesses the tang of truth and a hard intelligence. Winner of the Slamdance Grand Jury Prize.

O’HORTEN – Brent Hamer (Norway)

Odd Horten’s entire life has been governed by a strict train schedule. But after 40 years of driving one route, he’s more than a little lost upon his retirement. Director Bent Hamer ( Kitchen Stories ) brings a sly wit and deep abiding warmth to this story of a man remaking his life, one stop at a time.

OUR BELOVED MONTH OF AUGUST – Miguel Gomes, guest (Portugal / France) North American Premiere

In the mountains of Portugal, August is traditionally a time of celebration, full of feasting, singing, jumping off bridges and various other forms of debauchery. Director Miguel Gomes combines the deep pull of history and the complexities of family through an intimate melding of fact and fiction.

PACHAMAMA – Toshifumi Matsushita (Bolivia / Japan / USA)

A superb ethnographic drama about the Quecha people of Bolivia who have lived close to the land for centuries (the term Pachamama means Mother Earth). When a young boy undertakes a traditional journey with his father and a troop of llamas along the Ruta de la Sal (salt trail), he must confront the complexities of adult life.

PARUTHIVEERAN – Ameer (India) North American Premiere

A caste-crossed tale of doomed love that mixes song and dance with passion and tragedy. The eponymous hero and the spirited woman who loves him are caught up in the coils of honour and revenge that can only end one way. “The story climaxes in a shock sequence that devastates us as cathartically as the climax to The Wild Bunch…”- Financial Times

[REC] – Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza (Spain)

Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza are rapidly carving a name for themselves as Spain’s leading horrormeisters. Their propulsive new scarefest features a female TV presenter, a gaggle of cops and firefighters and the residents of a Barcelona apartment trying to stave off the flesh-eating victims of a virus… Smart and fast-paced, with moments of genuine shock and horror. This will be your only chance to see this on the big screen as it has been picked up for a big-budget Hollywood remake.

THE REST IS SILENCE – Nae Caranfil (Romania) Canadian Premiere

Director Nae Caranfil crafts a gorgeous belle époque homage to the birth of cinema by retelling the story behind the first ever Romanian feature film, a two-hour magnum opus made in 1912. Epic in both scope and execution. “An intelligent crowd-pleaser made with affection…”- Variety

REVANCHE – Götz Spielmann (Austria)

An “existential thriller” that eschews all hints of sentimentality, Götz Spielmann’s ( Antares ) tightly wound, brilliantly directed drama revolves around brothel handyman/driver/criminal Alex (Johannes Krisch) and his desire for revenge when a cop accidentally kills Alex’s love during a bank robbery gone awry. A cool, perfectly controlled, wonderfully photographed gem.

SHE UNFOLDS BY DAY – Rolf Belgum, guest (USA) International Premiere

When Rolf Belgum began filming his Alzheimer’s-stricken 80-year-old mother Merrilyn, his documentary went AWOL, morphing into a surreal blend of medical drama, wolves, bugs and one peculiarly charming dog. This remarkable hybrid of art and life almost requires an entirely new definition of filmmaking.

SITA SINGS THE BLUES – Nina Paley, guest (USA)

Deliciously mixing the ancient Hindu epic The Ramayana with the breakup of her own marriage, animator Nina Paley single-handedly fashions an eye-popping phantasmagoria of sound and colour. “Both heartfelt and consistently witty… the type of low-fi animated musical that puts Disney to shame.”- Filmmaker

SNOW – Aida Begic (Bosnia Herzegovina / Germany / France / Iran)

In a remote Bosnian village, wartime survivors attempt to keep the memories of their loved ones alive. But when the first snow threatens further isolation, the stage is set for a final confrontation with the outside world. Aida Begic’s feature debut captured the International Critics’ Week Grand Prix at Cannes 2008.

SON OF A LION – Benjamin Gilmour (Australia / Pakistan)

A sensitive young boy in the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan wants to go to school rather than follow his fundamentalist father’s métier – the handcrafting of firearms. Benjamin Gilmour’s engaged political drama “packs [an] emotional punch.”- Variety

SONETAULA – Salvatore Mereu (Italy) Canadian Premiere

“The promise Salvatore Mereu showed in his debut Three Step Dance comes to stunning fruition with his elegiac follow-up… a seamless blend of Pasolini and Terrence Malick. Mereu weds landscape to lives played according to the seasons, creating a tone poem on a centuries-old existence mournfully but inevitably crushed by an ambivalent, encroaching modernity.”- Variety

THE SONG OF SPARROWS – Majid Majidi (Iran)

When a family man named Karim loses his job at an ostrich farm, he takes the first job he can get. But can his wife and kids convince him to return to a simpler life before the complexities of the city forever change him? “[Majid Majidi's] deeply humanistic story set among the society’s underprivileged explores how capitalism and technology corrupt man…”- Variety

SUGAR – Ryan Fleck, guest (USA)

Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s ( Half-Nelson ) new film tells the story of a 19-year-old Dominican baseball pitcher trying to break into the big leagues. “It’s a lovely turn that rides out a tricky drama all the way to a muted, wonderful finish that resists the usual sports-movie clichés.” – The New York Times

THREE MONKEYS – Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Turkey)

The title of Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s bruise-black noir is a reference to the evil that mutes, deafens and blinds. When a driver takes the fall for his boss (in return for a cash reward, of course) tragedy begins to mass on the horizon. Winner of Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.

TRICKS – Andrzej Jakimowski (Poland) Canadian Premiere

Stefek learned how to manipulate fate from his older sister, but when he tries to reconnect his estranged parents, things don’t quite work out. Stefek must risk everything in one last gamble with destiny. Director Andrzej Jakimowski brings a bittersweet, seriocomic touch to this serendipitous fable, a “realistic yet poetic gem.”- Variety

UNDER THE BOMBS – Philippe Aractingi (Lebanon) Canadian Premiere

Director Philippe Aractingi mixes real footage of the massive destruction wrought by Israel’s 33-day bombardment of Lebanon with a mother’s desperate search for her son. “Shot in part during the 2006 summer war between Hezbollah and Israel which devastated Lebanon’s infrastructure and civilian population, the docu-fiction road movie plays like a cri de coeur.” – Variety

WENDY AND LUCY – Kelly Reichardt (USA)

Kelly Reichardt ( Old Joy , VIFF 06) returns with another modest ode to the American past and present. Michelle Williams is Wendy, a young woman with her dog Lucy in tow on her way to a job in Alaska. When her ancient car breaks down, she ends up broke and stuck in a small Oregon town…

WHERE ARE THEIR STORIES? – Nicolás Pereda (Mexico / Canada)

Nicolás Pereda’s debut feature tells the story of Vincente, a young man who journeys to Mexico City to seek legal aid for his ailing grandmother. Resting lightly on this story is a vast unspoken weight of ideas, impression and images that are near Bressonian in their stillness and depth. Pereda makes an exciting new addition to Mexico’s ranks of powerful filmmakers.

A free Sneak Preview Guide containing short descriptions of most films is available at Rogers Video stores in Metro Vancouver; see the list of other locations online. The complete program, including the festival schedule, film descriptions and photos, goes online at www.viff.org on September 6. Film information also is available via the festival info line at 604-683-FILM (3456) from September 4 to October 10, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Visa cardholders may buy tickets and passes starting September 6 at www.viff.org anytime or, from noon to 7 p.m. daily, by phone at 604-685-8297 or in person at the Vancity Theatre, 1181 Seymour St. The comprehensive Program Catalogue goes on sale September 15, and the box office opens, noon to 7 p.m., for cash and cheque sales the same day.

The Vancouver International Film Festival acknowledges the generous support of Telefilm Canada. Major corporate partners are Rogers Communications and Visa Canada.

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For previous releases from VIFF 2008, please see http://www.viff.org/08media/releases.htm

The City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Park Board this year are offering new services at the HSBC Celebration of Light fireworks competition in English Bay to make this year’s event more sustainable and beaches, parks and streets cleaner.

Bike valet parking will be available in Kitsilano and the West End to encourage cycling to the event. The two valet stations will be located at tennis courts at Kitsilano Beach adjacent to Arbutus Street (north of Cornwall Avenue) and at Stanley Park lagoon on South Lagoon Drive.

The City, which is a supporter of the event, contracted Better Environmentally Sound Transportation (BEST) to run the bike valet service at all HSBC Celebration of Light evenings this summer. It offers free, safe and convenient parking for cyclists and is available from 5 p.m. until 11 p.m. Bikes must be picked up within 45 minutes after the finish of the event.

Cycling to events reduces the harmful emissions caused by traffic congestion at events, and supports the City’s prioritization of cycling in its transportation planning.

The bike valet service is a pilot program that is part of an overall City bike facilities demand data collection program. The information will be used to help prepare cycling services during the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

The City and the Vancouver Park Board want to repeat the success of last year’s event which focused on a “pack it in, pack it out” message to the public about taking responsibility for one’s own garbage. The City and the Park Board will be helping by increasing the numbers of garbage cans as well as recycling opportunities.
For more information:
Corporate Communications
604.871.6336

Carol DeFina
Park Board Communications
604.257.8440

20th Annual Caribbean Days Festival
July 28th & 29 th, 2007
Waterfront Park, North Vancouver BC
Admission is FREE

It’s coming soon! Can you feel the rhythm and taste the spice? The Caribbean Days Festival, one of the largest annual cultural events held in BC, is gearing up for its biggest year ever.

Presented by the Trinidad and Tobago Cultural Society of British Columbia, this event brings you the flair of the Caribbean. Taste the many food flavours and move to the melodies of Island nations such as Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Guyana, Grenada, Antigua & Barbuda, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and more. This is a weekend of tropical rhythm, cuisine, carnival and culture as only the Caribbean can offer.

Saturday July 21nd: Caribbean Boat Cruise

Join us as the TTCS kicks off its summer series of events in style
Set sail and dance to a tropical beat 7:30 PM – 12:00 AM
Saturday July 28th: Caribbean Days Festival

Multicultural Street Parade 10:00 AM
Festival In The Park: Food and Music 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Waterfront Outdoor Party 7:30 PM – 2:00 AM
Sunday July 29th: Caribbean Days Festival continues

Festival In The Park: Food and Music 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Experience the Magic and Passion of the Caribbean. See you there!

Jazz Fest Preview I: The Bassists
posted by Nou Dadoun

As a continuing mark of quality programming, this year’s Vancouver International Jazz Festival presents an incredible array of bass-players. In fact, one could easily argue that over the next couple of weeks, over a half-dozen of the world’s top ten bass players will be participating in performances at this year’s festival.
Dave Holland
Growing up in England, Dave Holland was inspired by Ray Brown, Charles Mingus, Jimmy Garrison and Scott Lafaro while collaborating in a musical community that included John McLaughlin, John Surman and Chris McGregor. Getting the call to work with Miles Davis kickstarted a career that has included working almost every major jazz artist in the last 40 years. Today, Dave Holland is one of the most versatile musicians around, leading his big band, quintet, trio and performing solo on both bass and cello. Any ensemble he joins becomes, by definition, an all-star group. Holland performs with the Herbie Hancock All-Star Ensemble also featuring saxophonist Chris Potter, and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta.

 
Miroslav Vitous
Like Holland, Vitous was another alumnus of Miles Davis’ electric ensembles, and subsequently, was a founding member of Weather Report with Zawinul and Wayne Shorter. His collaborations and recordings with the like of Chick Corea and fellow Czech Jan Hammer are the stuff of legend. In recent years, he has specialized in duo and solo performances with the occasional foray into larger collaborations like the Universal Syncopations projects for ECM. For this year’s festival, Miroslav Vitous resurrects a duo collaboration with Quebecois vibes player Jean Vanasse with whom he recorded the Nouvelle Cuisine album for Justin Time in the late 80s.

Steve Swallow

Steve Swallow has been musically linked with Gary Burton, Jimmy Giuffre, Bill Evans, Paul Motian and both Paul Bley & Carla Bley. As a poll-winner, educator, improviser, composer, he’s made a singular mark in contemporary jazz. Also reknowned as one of the instantly recognizable voices on the five-string electric bass, Steve Swallow performs at this year’s festival as part of the John Scofield Trio, another recurring collaboration which goes back almost 30 years.

Barry Guy
Barry Guy is an outstanding composer, improviser, educator and group leader. With his formidable technique, he’s equally at home with Bach, Stockhausen, Michael Nyman or Evan Parker. He has a predilection for leading and composing for large ensembles including collaborations with Vancouver’s NOW Orchestra and his own London Jazz Composer’s Orchestra. At this year’s festival, Barry Guy presents his ensemble The Barry Guy New Orchestra as well as a number of spin-off performances including a duo with Maya Homburger on baroque violin.
 Charlie Haden

Like Holland, Charlie Haden is another collaborative genius who adds immediate prestige to any ensemble. At home in any setting from duets, to solo, to the Ornette Coleman quartet, to his own Liberation Music Orchestra. At the Centre this year, Haden brings back his long-standing and award-winning group Quartet West. Quartet West is inspired by the music, literature and ambient culture of post-war Los Angeles which was the scene of his early musical development and collaborations with Ornette Coleman, Paul Bley and Don Cherry. The quartet features veterans Ernie Watts, Alan Broadbent and relative newcomer Rodney Green.

Michel Donato

A uniquely Canadian treasure, Donato played one of the first Vancouver International Jazz Festivals in his acclaimed collaboration with vocalist Karen Young and returned a few years ago leading a quintet of young European players. Donato brings his new trio featuring accordionist Marin Nasturica and guitarist Jon Gearey to the festival to celebrate a swingin’ Canada Day down at Granville Island.
 Renaud Garcia-Fons

A performer who may be relatively unknown in Vancouver, he is well-known and admired in Europe and his native France. He plays a modified 5-string bass which, together with his accomplished arco technique, presents a string palette which ranges from a sonorous bass up to the warm sound of a viola. French with a Spanish/Catalan heritage, his trio draws on elements of jazz, flamenco, musette and Mediterranean/Arabic flavours for an intriguing mix. Catch him the first of his two nights at Performance Works before the word gets out.

And that’s not even including bassists Michael Formanek (with Tim Berne), Michael Moore (with Dave Brubeck), Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Wilbert de Joode and more!

For more information, concert schedules, and occasional sound samples, see http://www.coastaljazz.com/ .
—
On a sad note, the Coastal Jazz and Blues Society issued the following press release today:
Coastal Jazz & Blues Society, producers of the TD Canada Trust Vancouver International Jazz Festival, wishes to express its profound sadness at the news of Esbjorn Svensson’s death on the weekend. Our condolences go out to his family and friends.

The acclaimed Swedish pianist and leader of the group e.s.t. died Saturday while scuba diving near his home in Stockholm. e.s.t. was scheduled to perform June 24 at The Centre on a double bill with the John Scofield Trio during the TD Canada Trust Vancouver International Jazz Festival.

The John Scofield Trio will now perform two sets for a total of 100 to 120 minutes starting at 7:30 PM during the B.C. Honda Dealers Classic Sounds at The Centre Series. Billed as “An Evening with the John Scofield Trio” the Festival wishes to thank guitarist John Scofield for graciously extending his performance.

Three carved portals by prominent Coast Salish artist Susan Point were officially unveiled today in Stanley Park at the Brockton Point totem site.

Entitled People Amongst the People, the 15 to 17-foot-high portals are a welcome from the Coast Salish to visitors of Stanley Park, the totem site, and the traditional lands of the Coast Salish people. This installation is of particular significance to the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh people, who currently have no artwork represented among the totem poles at Brockton Point. The three Nations cooperated in the selection and celebration of this work.

The intricate works, which were three years in the making, were commissioned by the City of Vancouver’s Public Art Program, and developed through collaborative efforts with Coast Salish Arts; Vancouver Storyscapes, a City Social Planning project that encouraged aboriginal people to share their stories through a variety of media; the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Watuth First Nations, and the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation.
Susan Point is a Coast Salish artist living on the Musqueam reserve in Vancouver. She has completed numerous public and private commissions including major works for the Vancouver International Airport and for the Smithsonian institute in Washington, DC.

The City of Vancouver Public Art Program encourages and supports opportunities for artists to incorporate contemporary art practices into City and private sector planning. The Program funds art-making of many kinds to provide for the creation of art that expresses the spirit, values, visions, and poetry of place that collectively define Vancouver.

People Amongst the People
By Susan Point
All of the imagery used for the artwork draws on central Coast Salish design elements. People Amongst the People’s three portals are:

 Male and Female Welcome Figures
These three carved pieces frame the view of the original totem poles, creating a grand entrance to the site. In a traditional Salish gesture of welcome, the figures of these two upright poles greet visitors with raised, outstretched hands. Both figures wear Salish blankets incorporating weaving designs and a salmon motif. The male upright has traditional design elements carved on the back. The reverse side of the female upright uses a motif influenced by Salish berry basket designs, and honours the skills of Salish ancestors.

Grandparents and Grandchildren
On the southwest side of the totems are figures of grandparents and grandchildren on the upright poles. An intertwined braid of hair links the three female faces of the grandparents pole, illustrating the powerful matrilineal links running through Salish generations. The abstract design on the back of the pole represents the salmon that were once so plentiful in the area and so important in the lives of the Salish. The grandchildren upright also pays tribute to the importance of the family bond within Salish culture. The reverse side features a carved herring design that reflects the living culture in the area as it has been transformed through history.

Salish Dancer and Killer Whale
The third portal is visible from the seawall and park drive just north of the totem pole site.  The Salish Dancer upright shows a human figure holding a sea serpent rattle and serves as a reminder of the strength and ongoing evolution of Salish design. Above it is the Thunderbird, the most powerful of all spirits, and a symbol of protection. The tree roots on the opposite face of the upright remind us of our connection to the land, sea and sky.  The Killer Whale upright depicts five whales, each with a raven fin and salmon pectoral.  Humans and orcas are believed to be closely linked, and that when great chiefs die, they become killer whales. The reverse side displays a boldly coloured Salish design. The crossbeam is carved with a Salish textile motif.

 
For more information:     
Corporate Communications
604.871.6336

Anna Olson, Host of ‘Sugar’ & ‘Fresh With Anna Olson’
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Rob Feenie, Vancouver’s Iron Chef
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Bob Blumer, The Surreal Gourmet, Host
& Co-creator of ‘Glutton for Punishment’
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‘BBQ’ Naz Cavallaro, Grilling Expert/Spokesperson
Weber-Stephen Products Co.
Headline The Food Network Celebrity Stage at the 6th Annual
EAT! Vancouver, The Everything Food + Cooking Festival™
May 23, 24 & 25, 2008 at BC Place Stadium
Vancouver, BC, May 1 , 2008 – Executive Event Production is proud to announce the sixth annual EAT! Vancouver, The Everything Food + Cooking Festival™, Canada’s largest consumer food + cooking event.

Throughout the three days of the show The Food Network Canada Celebrity Stage will feature TV celebrities Anna Olson, Host of ‘Sugar’ & ‘Fresh With Anna Olson’ on Food Network Canada; Rob Feenie, Vancouver’s own Iron Chef America winner, Bob Blumer The Surreal Gourmet, Host & Co-creator of ‘Glutton for Punishment’ on Food Network and ‘BBQ’ Naz Cavallaro, Grilling Expert/Spokesperson Weber-Stephen Products Co.
The HOMESENSE International Culinary Stage, presented by Western Living Magazine and CTV will feature local celebrity Hidekazu Tojo with Glutton for Punishment Bob Blumer in a west coast style ‘fugu’ cook-off. Other culinary stars from around the world will include Filipino Chef Sandy Daza and chef/owner of Toronto’s awaqrd winning restaurant, Amuze-Bouche, Chef Jason Inniss representing Barbados cuisine as well as chefs from Peru, Mexico and Malaysia. Come for a taste of the world and explore your next culinary destination.

Visitors will watch the excitement of heated competitions at the ‘Iron Chef’ style Citytv’s Master Chef Competition with 17 chefs competing for the title. The Canadian Festival of Barbecue + Chili Competition, presented by Weber returns once again with 25 teams from across North America competing.

Celebrity chefs, popular local restaurants, wineries, food and beverage manufacturers, cookbook authors, retailers, artisans, and many others from the culinary world will come together once again for a three day public extravaganza at BC Place Stadium. EAT! Vancouver encompasses unique food experiences, opportunities to learn behind-the-scenes culinary magic from professional chefs, dynamic entertainment through celebrity chef cooking demonstrations and intense culinary competitions, diverse food , beverage and cooking related exhibits; and of course fantastic shopping opportunities.

Come for lunch and stay for dinner! EAT! Vancouver presents the Bite of Vancouver restaurant pavilion. The chefs of favorite Lower Mainland restaurants will serve up appetizer portions of their signature recipes. For a nominal charge ($1 – $4) per item visitors will be able to savor the flavors of numerous eateries.

Beer, wine and spirits will be well represented in the Tasting Pavilion where visitors can sip and taste hundreds of different beverages. Hosted by Daenna Van Mulligen, Vancouver’s Wine Diva, the Grapes and Hops Stage will feature presentations and tastings by numerous local and regional beer and wine experts as well as radio/television personality Terry David Mulligan.

While at EAT! Vancouver, visitors will also enjoy shopping in the marketplace of over 200 exhibit booths. Producers, manufacturers, retailers and food artisans will showcase a wide assortment of unique products for eating, drinking, cooking, entertaining, and outfitting a kitchen. Exhibits will include everything from gourmet foods to kitchen accessories, and barbecues to beverages. Everything for a healthy, balanced life style!

EAT! Vancouver runs May 23, 24 & 25, 2008, at BC Place Stadium.
Show hours are: Friday, 4 pm to 9 pm; Saturday, 11 am to 9 pm; and Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm.
Admission is $14 for adults, $6 for children 7-14, 6 and under-free, Seniors (65+) $12
Tickets available at the door or on-line from our website: www.eat-vancouver.com