Lovers of homegrown cinema, rejoice! The 35th Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is mere weeks away, and its line-up includes 10 locally produced feature films.
Vancouver’s largest film fest has yet to unveil the entire line-up for its 2016 edition (which runs Sept. 29-Oct. 14), but it has announced the 10 documentaries and narrative feature films that comprise its wildly popular BC Spotlight series.
Since its inception in 2013, the BC Spotlight series has earned the highest attendance ratings in VIFF’s history. This year, the BC Spotlight films will screen as part of the inaugural Ignite Programming Stream, which VIFF’s Aug. 18 press release describes as “a showcase of the inspired works emerging from the creative nexus that is British Columbia.”
World premieres in the BC Spotlight include Peter Benson’s wedding comedy Marrying the Family (written by its star, Taylor Hill, who also penned 2013’s dance competition mockumentary Leap 4 Your Life!), Vic Sarin’s Keepers of the Magic (honouring the previously unsung heroes of cinematography), Linda Ohama’s A New Moon Over Tohoku (about the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident which devastated the coastal Japanese region of Tohoku), Jeff Chiba Stearns’ Mixed Match (a doc examining the unique challenges faced by multiracial people awaiting bone marrow transplants), and Alex Lasheras’ psychological thriller, Cadence.
These world premieres are joined by Ann Marie Fleming’s animated feature Window Horses (The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming), Geoff Redknap’s The Unseen (which stars, among others, masterful local actors Julia Sarah Stone and Camille Sullivan), Pete McCormack’s Spirit Unforgettable (about the medical battle faced by Spirit of the West lead singer John Mann), and Nettie Wild’s KONELĪNE: our land beautiful (winner of the Best Canadian Feature Documentary Award at Hot Docs).
Hello Destroyer, the debut feature from Kevan Funk (who’s already had six shorts play VIFF), will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival before screening for the hometown crowd.
Peruse the BC Spotlight film descriptions at Westender.com. Further VIFF announcements will be made at a Sept. 7 press conference; Reel People will live-tweet the event (@sabrinarmf). Watch this space for three solid weeks of VIFF coverage. For tickets and schedule info, visit VIFF.org.
