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Feature

 

 

Other Press: I think a good place
to start for our readers would be

if you could describe yourself

a little. What was the road like
before VIFF? What was it about
film that called out to you?

Damgaard: Before I started working
for VIFF, I was an Art History
student at UBC, working for an
academic journal, and volunteering
at an art gallery. I knew I wanted to
work in the arts when I graduated,
and in an organization where
people were passionate about

what they were doing. You can't
complain when you get to go to
work and watch films!

More Than Honey
(Switzerland/Germany/ Austria, 2012, 91

mins, Dir. Markus Imhoof)

a) |

his documentary explores

in great depth the not-so-
mysterious disappearance of
various bee species. A number
of factors, which include the
manipulative strategies by
modern-day beekeepers and
the use of toxic pesticides over a
length of time, have caused some
species of bees to become extinct,
if not dependent on antibiotics.
With incredible one-of-a-kind
shots of bee colonies worthy of a
David Attenborough narration,
More Than Honey is a bittersweet
look at what the future holds for
bees, pollination, and the human
race.

Additional Screenings: Thursday,
October 4 @ 6:20 p.m. (Empire
Granville 3)

Inside the programmers studio: interview on the Canadian film selection

In anticipation for VIFF, I got to speak to Canadian Images Associate Programmer Stephanie Damgaard. With the festival
maintaining such an overwhelming focus on international films, Damgaard took the time to give us her insight on this year’s

selection of Canadian-specific works.

Every new film, whether it be full-
length or short, has something to
offer, but were there any Canadian
films in particular that stood out to
you this year?

A few very different, but definitely
must-see films would [include]

My Father and the Man in Black, a
truly amazing documentary about
ason discovering who his father
was—and the man he worked for,
Johnny Cash—after his father’s
death. [Others include] Laurence
Anyways, a visually stunning, epic
love story by boy-genius director
Xavier Dolan, The Carbon Rush,

the shocking and fascinating truth
about carbon offsetting, and any of
the Canadian short film programs—
there's always something to love
in amongst a lineup of short films!
One short that stood out this year
was the award-winning Edmond
Was a Donkey (playing in the
“Heartbreak” category).

Wrinkles

(Spanish: Arrugas)
(Spain, 2011, 80 mins, Dir. Ignacio Ferreras)

a) ea)

ased on the Spanish comic

book of the same name by
Paco Roca, we follow protagonist
Emilio, who upon realizing he
has Alzheimer’s is placed in a
retirement home. He befriends
crook-of-sorts Miguel, who quickly
shows us that this home will be
theirs and many others’ final resting
place. This animated film provides
an unsettling and heartbreakingly
realistic look into the subjects that
line these homes today: unstable
senior citizens who’ve since been
forgotten. But with plenty of laughs
in-between, we also learn that while
the inevitable is not always ideal,
we can always trek on.

Additional Screenings: Wednesday,
October 10 @ 6:45 p.m. (Vancity
Theatre)

How long does the process of
selecting films take, and what,
do you feel, should a film offer to
make the final cut?

The process takes a couple of

very intense months for the
Canadian Images department:

two programmers and a screening
committee of 12. Film viewing can
never be entirely objective, so there
is a lot of reviewing, note sharing,
and discussion that takes place
when making selections we think
would best suit our program and
audience. The films are all selected
for different reasons. Sometimes

a film has something important

to say, or maybe it’s formally
stunning, or evokes a feeling.
Ultimately, films that are selected
must stand out from the crowd (of

about 800 submissions) for the right

reasons.

Rust and Bone
(French: De rouille et d’os) (France/Belgium,

2012, 120 mins, Dir. Jacques Audiard)

a |

Ae heart-wrenching love
story follows Ali (Matthias
Schoenaerts) and Stephanie
(Marion Cotillard), both of whom
are content in their mediocrity.
After a horrific accident, Stephanie
struggles more than she’s ever

had to, and despite his brutish
behaviour, Ali manages to help her
along the way. But Ali’s life is a
crooked one, and while he means
well, he has difficultly controlling
his rage, even with his own toddler
son. Without entering melodrama,
we watch them work through
every a-bomb life drops on them;
emotionally and visually, Rust and
Bone is absolutely beautiful.

Additional Screenings: Saturday,
October 6 @ 3:15 p.m. (Empire
Granville 7)

What about this year's VIFF do
you feel separates it from your
previous years of being involved?

This year it felt like the general
tone of documentaries shifted—
and in no small part, I think, due
to the Occupy movement. We
always have a strong contingent

of environmental documentary
films, but where most docs tend

to focus on important issues (like
climate change, clean energy, etc.),
many of this year's films focus on
larger, sweeping issues. Some great
examples of this are Rob Stewart's
new film Revolution (director of
2007's Sharkwater), or Velcrow
Ripper's Occupy Love—both [of
which] I would highly recommend.

  
  
 
 
  
 
 
  

Antiviral
(CanadafUSA, 2012, 112 mins, Dir. Brandon

Cronenberg)

oa) |

na dystopic 2012, celebrity excess

has evolved into something far
more freakish. Syd March (Caleb
Landry Jones) works for a clinic that
harvests and sells viruses celebrities
obtain to obsessive fans. March
has been smuggling out diseases
through his own body and selling
replicas illegally, but when he
becomes infected with the beautiful
idol Hannah Geist’s (Sarah Gadon)
latest illness, he’s only got so
much time before this one actually
consumes him. Cronenberg’s debut
feature starts off slow, but once it
kicks up we see his father’s left him
with a delightfully twisted sense of
humour, and the skills to create an
incredibly original world. Not for
the squeamish!

In theatres on October 12
13