arts / 8

Film festival presents free

i.

 

*

screening at Douglas College

» VLAFF offers ‘Tlliterate’ film with director Q-

: about it. That’s when I said,

: ‘Wait a minute. There’s a lot of

: potential here’ I started asking

: him fora couple of films to show
: in my own classes and then we

: said, ‘Why don’t we just make it

: more formal and be part of the

: festival?”

  

, Cheryl Minns
& Arts Editor

M arts
@theotherpress.ca

he 12th annual Vancouver
Latin American Film
Festival (VLAFF) is now playing
at various theatres and post-
secondary campuses across
the Greater Vancouver area,

Westminster campus. Students,
faculty, and members of the
community are invited to a free
screening of the Chilean drama,
Illiterate in lecture theatre 2201
at 2:30 p.m. on September 4.
“The film is called Illiterate
and it says there are many ways
of being illiterate in this world.
For a university crowd to reflect
on what is literacy, how do we
learn, how do we teach—those
are themes that are present in

Lopez, a Modern Languages

instructor at Douglas College.
“It’s a good opportunity for

the public to open their minds

: and the same because we are all
: humans and we share so many
: things,” she said.

Illiterate director Moisés

: Septilveda will be at the

: screening to present the film

: and take questions from the

: audience. Last year’s screening
: of Nothing More attracted about :
: a hundred guests and concluded :
: with a 30-minute discussion

: with the director, Juan Carlos

including Douglas College’s New Cremata Malberti.

“Last year, we started

: hosting the director as well, and
: | think that’s an interesting extra :
: element because it’s not only
: watching the film but having
: that chance to speak with the
: director who made the film”

: Mandujano-Lopez said.

Mandujano-Lopez initiated

the VLAFF film screening after
she invited the VLAFF director,
: Christian Sida-Valenzuela,
> . : to speak to her class and he

the film,” said Ruth Mandujano- : brought a short film as part of

: his presentation.

“He presented it to the

class and then he discussed

: . : it. People were really excited
to other stories that are different : P Y

and-A

That was how, three years
ago, the Douglas College free

: VLAFF screening was created

: with financial support from

: the Language, Literature, and

: Performing Arts department.

: This makes Douglas College one

of only three post-secondary

: institutions involved in showing
: VLAFF screenings, alongside

: Simon Fraser University and the
: University of British Columbia.

For those interested in

: attending other screenings

: at this year’s VLAFF, festival

: director Sida-Valenzuela

: recommends the Argentinean

: comedy Lion’s Heart (September
: 6) and the Uruguayan

: animation AninA (September

: 7). More information about

: the films and festival tickets is
available at vlaff.org

 

You call this a Revolution?

» Anime convention not one of Vancouver's finest

  

, Angela Espinoza
News Editor
Minews
@theotherpress.ca

ES
I a city full of fandom
conventions, such as the
NorthWest Fan Fest and Fan
Expo Vancouver, expectations
were high for the 2014 Anime

Revolution (AniRevo) event that :

: took place from August 22 to 24
: at the Vancouver Convention

: Centre. With celebrity guests, a

: dealers’ room, speakers’ panels,

: gaming rooms, music events,

: and dozens of cosplayers, the

: event held a lot of promise.

: However, AniRevo had one too

: many issues to compete with the
: greats,

The highlights of the

: convention were specific

: vendors, mainly within the

: artist’s alley (fan art vendors);
: Japanese industry and voice-

: actor guests (specifically

: Megumi Ogata and Marina

: Inoue); and the impressive,

: gorgeous costumes that

: attendees—not guests—put

: together themselves.

The biggest problem

   
 

A study in
embarrassment

» 'The Harm in Asking’ book review

Joshua Grant
Senior Columnist

e Harm in Asking: My

Clumsy Encounters with
the Human Race is Sara
Barron’s second book of
humorous personal essays,
following the writer from an
awkward childhood spent
locked in a bathroom after
adopting three (imaginary)
teen models to an awkward
adulthood hopping between
terrible roommates in New
York City.

At its best, The Harm in
Asking figuratively exposes
the author with no thought
or act too shameful to reveal,
which conveys a sense of
utter honesty that’s hard
to affect even in personal
narrative.

Barron’s self-effacing
charm carries the book. In
my favourite moments, she
indulges in fantasy tangents
that are swiftly dismantled
by reality. One such episode
occurs when, to spice up the
relationship, her boyfriend
announces big date plans:
he’s got two tickets to a “Hot

: AniRevo had was a lack

: of information and

: communication, including

: volunteers who had few details
: to relay to attendees. Ticket

: prices ($50-60 per ticket) were
: also a concern, given that the

: convention featured several

: repeated special guests, few

: panel options, and a surprisingly :
: limited dealers’ room. :

asy Encounters with
e Human Race

theotherpress.ca

   
 

jeg

: Wing Festival” and two

: tablets of ecstasy. I won't go
: into detail, but the evening
: goes exactly as you imagine

60608

: says to herself: “Dear drugs,

: please stay away from Sara.

: Dear Sara, you must now

: stay away from drugs.’ In

: most cases, she handles a life
: of small disappointments

: with awkward humour and

: uncommon candour.

it would. Days later, the
narrator lies on her bed and

However, Barron can

: rely a bit heavily on gross-

: out humour, such as her

: ability to clear rooms with

: foul-smelling flatulence. It

: just feels a bit childish at

: times. But it also might be

: the case that I wasn’t the best
: audience for the book, as a

: lot of the tension is based

: on gendered experience as a
: female.

Gross-outs aside, I'd

recommend The Harm

: in Asking to anyone who

: wants a David Sedaris-

: like experience, minus a

: Y-chromosome plus a bawdy
: twist. I also wish continued

: awkwardness on Barron

: because I would definitely

: read another book of it.

AniRevo certainly isn't

: in the big leagues with other

: local conventions, but if you're

: interested in anime and cosplay
: and set your expectations

: appropriately, you might want

: to check it out next year. If not,
: you can always hang around

: outside the Convention Centre

and take in all the amazing

: cosplayers.