| Total Cinema: Alien: Director’s Cut (4K restoration) Ridley Scott, UK, 1979 The crew of the Nostromo is awakened when the ship’s computer, Mother, picks up a distress signal from an uninhabited planet… What they find they won’t soon forget. By far the scariest in the long-running Alien franchise, this was the anti-Star Wars: a dirty, dark and dangerous space movie, claustrophobic and prickling with anxiety. It also features one of the most stomach-churning jump-scares in film history. “In Space, no one can hear you scream,” ran the famous tagline. Cinema audiences heard plenty. Fri. Nov 29, 9:30pm, VCT Flow Gints Zilbalodis, Latvia/France/Belgium, 2024 In a future without humans, a solitary black cat survives a tsunami and finds refuge on a sailboat with an excitable Labrador, a drowsy capybara, a materialistic lemur, and a gallant secretary bird. As he navigates a mystical, flooded world with his quirky new companions, the cat must overcome both his fear of water and of other animals. Having made a splash at Cannes 2024, this wordless, atmospheric animated feature, complete with an orchestral score, provides an enthralling adventure for all ages. Audience and Jury Awards, Annecy Animation Festival “One of the most moving animated films in recent memory, and, beyond that, groundbreaking too…It’s rare you feel like you’re watching something entirely new.” Christian Blauvelt, Indiewire Fri. Nov 29, 1:30 pm, and 5:45 pm VCT; Sat. Nov 30, 4:30 pm, and 6:30 pm VCT; Sun. Dec 1, 12:00 pm, VCT Mon. Dec 2, 4:45pm, and 6:45 pm VCT; Tue. Dec 3, 6:00 pm, VCT; Wed. Dec 4, 5:15pm, VCT Fri. Dec 6, 6:00pm, VCT; Sat. Dec 7, 12:00 pm, and 2:00 pm VCTSun. Dec 8, 5:45pm, VCT; Wed. Dec 11, 5:30 pm, VCT Sun. Dec 15, 6:00pm, LOC Queens (Reinas) Klaudia Reynicke, Peru/Switzerland/Spain, 2024 Amidst socio-economic turmoil in 1992 Lima, Perú, Elena (Jimena Lindo) wants to move her daughters Lucia (Abril Gjurinovic) and Aurora (Luana Vega) to the USA for a safer life, but needs her ex-husband “El Loco” Carlos (Gonzalo Molina) to sign their travel permits. Given a brief window to reconnect with his daughters, Carlos tries to earn his way back into their lives. Klaudia Reynicke’s sensitive third feature weaves a poignant tale of sisterhood, summer heartbreaks, and tender goodbyes. Grand Prix: Generation Kplus, Berlin 2024 “Inserting a family’s intimate tribulations into a broader historical canvas, Reynicke proves her cleverness by balancing a bit of grounded wonder with the perilous reality… It’s only by zeroing on those directly affected at ground level that history acquires a human face.” Carlos Aguilar, Variety Fri. Nov 29, 3:30 pm, VCT; Mon. Dec 2, 2:30 pm, VCT; Wed. Dec 4, 3:00 pm, VCT; Sat. Dec 7, 2:20 pm, LOC Counted Out Vicki Abeles, USA, 2024 The fundamental importance of mathematics in the C21, the way we think about it, and, crucially, the way we go about teaching it, doesn’t add up. That’s the thesis behind Vicki Abeles’ documentary, a film persuasive enough to have you questioning basic principles and rethinking the whole equation. Why are we dividing classes between “math kids” and the rest when data and algorithms run our world? Revolutionary teaching practices are opening up the subject to curious minds and breaking down deeply entrenched barriers to access. Sat. Nov 30, 4:00pm, LOC; Sun. Dec 1, 2:30pm, LOC Total Cinema: The Shawshank Redemption (30th Anniversary) Frank Darabont, USA, 1994 In 1946 a young New England banker, Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover and sentenced to life at the Shawshank State Prison — twice over. Quiet and introspective, he gradually strikes up a friendship with the prison ’fixer’, Red (Morgan Freeman), and over the next two decades wins the trust of the governor and guards, but in his heart, he still yearns for freedom. This slow burn prison movie is a perennial fan favourite. “When I first saw it, I realized he’d made not just one of the best movies ever done from my work, but a potential movie classic. That turned out to be the case.” Stephen King Sat. Nov 30, 8:30pm, VCT; Tue. Dec 3, 8:00pm, VCT VIFF Live: Brandon Wint: Moving For Love – An Evening of Film, Poetry & Music Brandon Wint, Canada, 2024 Poet and filmmaker Brandon Wint presents two new short films, Moving for Love and Backbone, alongside a live jazz performance with collaborators Feven Kidane, Yoro Noukoussi, and Quincey Mayes, and a poetry reading. In Moving for Love Brandon explores for the first time the details of his family’s migration from the Caribbean to Canada in the early 1970s. Backbone is a vulnerable memoir exploring how cerebral palsy, the visible disability with which Brandon lives, complicates the notion and practical realities of health and self-care. Sun. Dec 1, 6:30pm, VCT. 6:30 pm Intros, live music and poetry; 7:30 pm Intermission; 7:50 Films and Q&A Film Studies: Hollywood Through the Looking Glass — The Day of the Locust John Schlesinger, USA, 1975 In the midst of the Depression of the 1930s, Hollywood shines like a beacon to all the helpless people scattered across the city. In one crumbling apartment block, a blond bombshell (Karen Black) aspires to be an actress, an artist (William Atherton) looks for legitimacy, and a child actor performs a gross homage to Mae West. Cockfights and poverty prevail out of the glow of show business. Introverted accountant “Homer Simpson” (Donald Sutherland) watches as society collapses under greed and ambition. Mon. Dec 2, 10:30am, VCT. Intro by Donald Brackett: 10:30am, film 11 am Total Cinema: Moulin Rouge! Baz Luhrmann, USA, 2001 Paris has never been gayer than in this headlong karaoke culture crash set in a poptastic 19th century Montmartre, where Ewan McGregor composes The Sound of Music and Toulose Lautrec (John Leguizamo) leads an acting troupe. Nicole Kidman is Satine, a consumptive courtesan who is the queen of the show at da eponymous club. Ba-dazzling stuff from Luhrmann, a filmmaker seemingly intent on reaching the Palace of Wisdom at supersonic speed. “A breathtaking baroque film that marries the best of theatre, opera and cinematic technique.” Liz Moody, Empire magazine Mon. Dec 2, 8:40 pm, VCT The Day of the Locust John Schlesinger, USA, 1975 In the midst of the Depression of the 1930s, Hollywood shines like a beacon to all the helpless people scattered across the city. In one crumbling apartment block, a blond bombshell (Karen Black) aspires to be an actress, an artist (William Atherton) looks for legitimacy, and a child actor performs a gross homage to Mae West. Cockfights and poverty prevail out of the glow of show business. Introverted accountant “Homer Simpson” (Donald Sutherland) watches as society collapses under greed and ambition. Tue. Dec 3, 7:45 pm, LOC |
| VIFF Centre, 1181 Seymour Street |
| Tickets: https://viff.org/ |