Inside Vancouver

Emerging filmmakers showcased in Young French Cinema 2018

by Shawn Conner in Events on March 22, 2018

French film lovers are in for a treat. Instead of scouring TCM for movies from venerated masters likes Louis Malle, Francois Truffaut, and Eric Rohmer, they can see some of the best new films from up-and-coming filmmakers from France in an upcoming series.

From April 5-8 and 13-15, the Cinematheque (1131 Howe St.) presents Young French Cinema 2018. The program includes independent films, comedies, and documentaries, all from emerging filmmakers.

Half of the films are directed by women, and settings range from Europe to Asia to Africa. All are Vancouver premieres. See below to find out more about the selections.

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Emerging filmmakers showcased in Young French Cinema 2018

Badass welcomes Badsville at film fest this weekend

by Shawn Conner in Events on February 22, 2018

Director April Mullen’s feature Badsville screens at the Rio Theatre as part of this year’s BadAss Film Festival.

The Fourth Annual International Vancouver Badass Film Festival is the biggest edition of the annual festival in its four-year history.

Running Feb. 23-25 at the Rio Theatre (1660 E. Broadway), the event includes six feature-length films (including four premieres), shorts, special guests and a circus performance. Visit vbaff.com for details.

One of those feature-length films is April Mullen’s violent gang film Badsville (screening at 10 p.m. Feb. 24). We talked to the director, who splits her time between Toronto, L.A. and other locales, about Badsville, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and being part of a festival like Badass.

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Badass welcomes Badsville at film fest this weekend

Vancouver, Russian, and Arctic Circle filmmakers featured at this year’s Women in Film festival

by Shawn Conner in Events on February 20, 2018

A scene from Porcupine Lake, one of the films at this year’s Vancouver International Women in Film Festival.

Adolescent growing pains, military conscription and small-town redemption are among the subjects in films at this year’s Vancouver International Women in Film Festival.

A co-presentation of Women in Film and Television and the VIFF Vancity Theatre, the 13th annual edition runs March 6 to 11. Celebrating the best of cinema created by women. the festival als features film panels, master classes, guest filmmakers, artist talks, pitch sessions, receptions, and an awards gala. All screenings take place at Vancity Theatre (1181 Seymour St.).

See below for some of the highlights of the festival.

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Vancouver, Russian, and Arctic Circle filmmakers featured at this year’s Women in Film festival

Film retrospective includes movies with Jagger, Bowie… and Garfunkel

by Shawn Conner in Entertainment on February 13, 2018

Stand-ins for Albert Einstein and Marilyn Monroe discuss the theory of relativity in Nicolas Roeg’s 1985 movie Insignificance.

“All you’re doing in a film really is saying: this is what, and how, I think — is there anybody out there?”—Nicolas Roeg

This year, one of England’s most eclectic, controversial film directors turns 90.

To celebrate, the Cinematheque (1131 Howe St.) is presenting Out There: The Visionary Cinema of Nicolas Roeg. From Feb. 17 – March 4, the retrospective will screen several of the director’s films, many in 35mm prints. The slate includes his best-known works, such as Performance (starring Mick Jagger), Don’t Look Now (featuring one of the most famous sex scenes in cinematic history), The Witches (based on a Roald Dahl novel, and starring Angelica Huston) The Man Who Fell to Earth (with David Bowie as an alien).

But there are also some lesser-known Roeg works in the retrospective. Below is a look at those films, including Insignificance, Walkabout, Eureka and The Witches. (Click on film titles for trailers.)

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Film retrospective includes movies with Jagger, Bowie… and Garfunkel

Bloodied But Unbowed looks back at glory days of Vancouver punk

by Shawn Conner in Entertainment on January 22, 2018

D.O.A., in the early days of Vancouver punk.

Filmgoers and music fans will have a chance to see two rarely-screened movies this month, including one about the early days of the Vancouver punk scene.

Bloodied But Unbowed is director Susanne Tabata’s look back at the city and its explosion of musical creativity in the late seventies and early eighties. It screens Jan 29.

And on Jan. 24, Vancity Theatre is showing Border Radio. It’s a 1987 indie road movie starring L.A. punk musicians, including John Doe of X, and directed by the woman who would make Wayne’s World. Here’s a closer look at the two films.

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Bloodied But Unbowed looks back at glory days of Vancouver punk

Best Canadian flicks of 2017 features Vancouver talent, screening this weekend

by Shawn Conner in Events on January 12, 2018

A still from the Canadian feature Never Steady, Never Still.

What happened in Canadian cinema in 2017? Glad you asked.

This month, Cinematheque (1131 Howe St.) is presenting TIFF’s annual Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival (Jan. 12-21). The festival is a showcase of the year’s best feature-length films and shorts, as determined by the Toronto International Film Festival.

Here’s a look at what’s screening this weekend, Jan 12-14.

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Best Canadian flicks of 2017 features Vancouver talent, screening this weekend

Canadian picks at this year’s Vancouver International Film Festival

by Shawn Conner in Events on September 22, 2017

A scene from the BC-shot Suck It Up.

While the Toronto International Film Festival premieres many of the high-profile, Oscar-baiting Hollywood releases, the Vancouver International Film Festival has carved a niche for itself by emphasizing Canadian and foreign releases. This year’s Canadian slate includes feature films and documentaries in the True North program as well as films by emerging filmmakers in the Future//Present series. Here’s a look at a few of the more notable Canadian releases screening at the fest, which runs Sept. 28-Oct 13 at various theatres in town.

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Canadian picks at this year’s Vancouver International Film Festival