Film festivals to keep you busy until Christmas

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      With autumn rains and early evenings upon us, there’s no better time to indulge in festival films that you might not otherwise have the chance to see. And with festival funding affected by either B.C. provincial arts cuts or the recession (or both), it’s also important to show your support for cinema from beyond Hollywood.

      Here’s a rundown (in chronological order) of some of the upcoming film festivals and series to keep you busy until Christmas.

      Welcome to Tativille: The Comic Genius of Jacques Tati
      September 16 to 26, October 29 to November 1; Pacific Cinémathí¨que, 1131 Howe Street; www.cinematheque.bc.ca/
      The influential French actor-director-writer is celebrated with a retrospective consisting of seven features and three shorts. Among them are a restored colour version of Tati’s 1949 debut Jour de Fíªte; My Uncle, the English-language 1958 version of the Oscar-winning Mon Oncle; and a 2009 documentary about the filmmaker, The Magnificent Tati.

      Spike and Mike's New Generation Animation
      September 17 to 23 and September 26 to 30; Rio Theatre, 1660 East Broadway; riotheatre.ca/
      If you’ve overdosed on the Sick & Twisted collections, this new program presents an entertaining mix of 19 international animated shorts that eschew gag-reflex humour for artistry and straight-up laughs.

      Vancouver Singapore Film Festival
      September 17 and 18; Vancity Theatre, 1181 Seymour Street; www.vsff.org/
      This festival’s third year kicks off with Singaporean director Amit Virmani’s controversial documentary Cowboys in Paradise, about gigolos in Bali. With 16 shorts featuring dialogue in Baweon, English, French, Hokkien, Indonesian, Malay, Mandarin, Tagalog, and Tamil (plus works by Vancouver-based Singaporean directors), there’s a little something for everyone.

      Olio Festival
      September 23 to 26; various venues; www.oliofestival.com/
      Amid the mélange of music, art, and comedy at this indie multimedia festival, now in its second year, are six films. Selections include two works by local director Corey Adams (“Harvey Spannos”, Machotaildrop), both featuring skateboarding protagonists who aspire to go pro, and the documentary No Fun City, about the struggles of Vancouver’s underground music scene.

      Vancouver International Film Festival
      September 30 to October 15; various venues; www.viff.org/
      It wouldn’t be autumn without VIFF, one of the five biggest film festivals in North America. Upcoming issues of the Straight will provide extensive coverage of the 29th annual incarnation. Cash sales start on Sunday (September 19) and the full catalogue is out Thursday (September 23).

      Vancouver Short Film Festival
      October 28 to 29; Vancity Theatre; www.vsff.com/
      Originally known as the Vancouver Student Film Festival, the rechristened Vancouver Short Film Festival expanded last year to include shorts made by professional filmmakers. In addition to B.C. works, this year includes a panel discussion (Using Animation in Your Short Film), some of the world’s best shorts, and highlights from the past five years.

      Vancouver Asian Film Festival
      November 4 to 7; various venues; www.vaff.org/
      VAFF’s 14th annual showcase of Asian diasporic cinema includes Sona Jain’s For Real, starring Sarita Choudhury. There’s also Freida Lee Mock’s documentary Lt. Watada, about an American military officer who refused deployment to Iraq, and Jeff Chiba Stearns’s One Big Hapa Family, a partially animated documentary about the extensive intermarriage in the B.C.’s director’s own Japanese-Canadian family.

      Vancouver Serbian Filmfest
      November 9 to 12; Hollywood Theatre, 3123 West Broadway; www.vsfilmfest.com/
      Four feature films will provide a taste of the latest from emerging and established Serbian filmmakers. A German-Serbian coproduction, Srdjan Koljevic’s The Woman With a Broken Nose, will kick things off with a dramatic tale about strangers united by a suicidal woman’s abandonment of her baby.

      Vancouver Jewish Film Festival
      November 9 to 18; various venues; vjff.org/
      Tickets go on sale on October 9 for Canada’s longest-running Jewish festival. The 22nd edition boasts 24 international films from countries such as Argentina (Anita), Germany (Among Farmers), France (He’s My Girl), Spain (The Clown and the Fuhrer), and Australia (Wrong Side of the Bus).

      DSLR Film Festival
      November 13 to 14; Pacific Cinémathí¨que; dslrfest.ca/
      This brand new fest will showcase Canadian and international films made with digital single-lens reflex cameras. The inaugural run will feature four sets of screenings, including two feature-length works and numerous shorts.

      Amnesty International Film Festival
      November 18 to 21; Vancity Theatre; www.amnestyfilmfest.ca/
      Fifteen years strong, this year’s AIFF features more than 20 international films about everything from suicides by India’s rural farmers (Nero’s Guests) and displaced Burmese citizens (Breaking the Silence: Burma’s Resistance) to a panel discussion about China’s Three Gorges Dam. Full details and tickets will be available on October 1.

      European Union Film Festival
      November 25 to December 8; Pacific Cinémathí¨que; www.eufilmfestival.com/
      Details haven’t been finalized yet for this annual smorgasbord of European cinematic offerings. Undoubtedly, it’ll be as gratifying as its previous editions, which have brought selections from countries as varied as Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Slovenia, and more to Vancouver.

      Whistler Film Festival
      December 1 to 5; various Whistler venues; www.whistlerfilmfestival.com/
      Prior to the first day of winter comes the WFF’s tenth anniversary. This year, the Whistler Filmmaker Forum relaunches as the Whistler Summit industry conference. The full lineup and schedule for this cinematic celebration on the mountain will be out on November 1.

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