Over 50 documentary features will screen at this year’s Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF). Announcing its line-up yesterday in a release ambitiously dubbing VIFF, “effectively the country’s second-largest documentary festival,” the event includes several non-fiction films making their world premieres in Vancouver, along with many North American and Canadian debuts. (The tally of 50 is below Toronto’s Hot Docs, but nearly double the number of docs at TIFF, while Montreal’s RIDM won’t announce its full line-up for another month and Windsor’s growing festival is said to exceed that number this year.)
World premieres include First Comes Love: Nakabingwit from director Joella Cabalu. The documentary explores the dynamics of interracial relationships as three Filipinas talk about love with their white partners. Meanwhile, Relax, Open Your Eyes by David Ehrenreich gives audiences a window into the development of Canada’s first cryonics facility.
Other docs at the festival include Banchi Hanuse’s Ceremony, about efforts to restore the ooligan population in Bella Coola. The film has its B.C. homecoming at VIFF following an acclaimed debut at Hot Docs where it won the runner-up Grand Jury Prize in the Canadian features competition.
Having its North American premiere, meanwhile, is Alejandro Valbuena’s The Wind’s Thirst, a portrait of Wayuu guardians in Colombia’s La Guajira desert and their efforts to protect their community from the threats of resource extraction.
The festival also includes Vancouver berths for several of the Canadian docs making a run across the circuit this fall including Matthew Rankin’s Ladies and Gentleman, Brian Mulorney; Carol Nguyen’s Still Night, Burning House; Alexandra Lazarovich’s Turtle Island Rap; Sean Menard’s Run Terry Run; Ashley Duong’s Ba’s Book; and Adrien Buitenhuis’s Man in Motion: The Rick Hansen Story. The festival also gets a long overdue Canadian berth for Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Nuisance Bear by Canadian duo Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman. Also screening at VIFF are Marlene Edoyan’s hybrid doc A Fire There and Joséphine Bacon and Kim O’Bomsawin’s poetic Nitassinan.
International titles debuting at the festival include the Canadian premiere of Sundance doc Closure, a devastating work by Michał Marczak about a father’s search for his missing son. Chuck Smith’s Fugs Film! looks at the 1960s’ beatnik culture while Christian Cargill’s WOLF features narration by Tilda Swinton in the story of musician Patrick Wolf. VIFF also brings Mark Cousin’s continuing story of documentary film to Canada with chapters 12 and 13 of the series highlighting docs of the 2000s.
VIFF runs October 1 to 11. Get the full festival line-up at VIFF.org.
