Vancouver and Beyond

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