National Canadian Film Day will return to cinemas across the country on April 20 – but in Vancouver, we’ve got an entire week to celebrate. VIFF Vancity Theatre is the force behind Canadian Film Week, a seven-day showcase of homegrown cinema during which a dozen films will grace the big screen. Watch for the North American premiere of the BC-made (but Japan-set) The People Garden, and a freshly restored version of 1923’s The Grubstake Remix, written, produced and starring Victoria’s Nell Shipman. Vancouver films on the schedule include FSM, Silent Legend (about film pioneer Mack Sennett), Whistler Film Festival standout Patterson's Wager, and the brilliantly executed mock-doc No Men Beyond This Point. One wacky highlight: Taking Shelter, a "collage" movie made up entirely of snippets from over 400 Canadian tax shelter flicks from the 1970s featuring Donald Sutherland, Christopher Plummer, and John Candy. April 15-21 at VIFF Vancity Theatre.
Indie film alert: A Legacy of Whining will have its world premiere in April. Written and directed by Ross Munro and inspired by 1970s American buddy films, the Vancouver indie comedy stars Munro and Robert David Duncan as high school friends who reunite after 30 years “and embark on a darkly humorous nocturnal fever dream of a journey where old emotions and resentments bubble to the surface once again” (from the press release). April 5 at VIFF Vancity Theatre.
Vancouver-based actor-director Peter DeLuise received a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing Special Class for his work on R.L. Stine’s Monsterville: The Cabinet of Souls. The 43rd Annual Daytime Emmys will be handed out on April 29 and May 1 in Los Angeles. DeLuise won a 2015 Leo Award for Best Direction in a Television Movie for Zapped.
Speaking of the Leo Awards, this year’s batch of awards will be handed out on June 4 and 5. The Leo Awards recognize achievement in BC’s film and television industry, and had grown to three nights for its 2015 edition. The ceremonies aren’t broadcast, but Reel People will be present for both nights; watch this space for pre-event coverage and @sabrinarmf for live-tweets. The nominations will be announced in early May.
If you’ve ever wondered what Cameron Crowe’s classic coming-of-age screenplay Almost Famous would sound like if read by an all-women cast, you should plan to mosey on down to the Rio Theatre on April 11, where a cast of all-stars – including Diana Bang (The Interview), Julia-Sarah Stone (TIFF Rising Star ’14), Katharine Isabelle (Hannibal), Erica Carroll (Supernatural), Marci T. House (Strange Empire), Enid-Raye Adams (Arrow), Mayumi Yoshida (The Man in the High Castle) and Ali Liebert (Bomb Girls) – will perform the famed screenplay as part of the Feminist Live Reads series. The brainchild of writer/director Chandler Levack, Feminist Live Reads aims to promote diversity and raise awareness of the disparity of roles available for women in film and television. All proceeds from the reading will benefit Girls Rock Camp Vancouver.
Over the course of its history, the film production program at the University of British Columbia has shaped the minds and skill sets of some of Canada’s most compelling filmmakers – and as part of the UBC100 Arts and Culture Initiatives, the UBC Next 100 Film Festival will celebrate past students and showcase a sample of the work of the 400+ film production alumni. Including work from early alumni Larry Kent, John Pozer and Mina Shum, recent alumni Jamie Travis and Nimisha Mukerji, cinematographers Greg Middleton, Amy Belling and Stirling Bancroft, editor Alison Grace, and producers Stephen Hegyes and Cari Green. April 2 at VIFF Vancity Theatre.
