VIFF ‘07: Climate for Change: Garbage Warrior

As a natural builder, I was excited to know that the Film Fest included a doc about building unconventional houses. I must admit that I was disappointed to see the film start with shots of cars and motorbikes zooming around: why is it so rare for an “environmentalist” to see the contradiction in using fossil fuels to get around?

Once the film dug in and started showing Mike Reynolds and company’s work, some of it over 20 years old, it quickly became inspiring. The fact that someone was experimenting 30 years ago with housing that, once built, cost nothing, and while built, cost very little, is incredible for this part of the world. Many indigenous cultures outside of urban areas still live this way, but the construction and utility industries in the western world are so powerfully rich that folks like Mike simply get snuffed out fast.

The film gets dramatic when it examines a decade long stretch where Taos County and New Mexico State actually did try to destroy these innovators. But thankfully they have survived and their ingenuity may help us survive as a species on this planet.

Most of the desert-focussed design is not applicable to our rainforest world here, but the concepts and overall desires that they are trying to achieve (sustainable, self-contained housing meaning no energy or water utilities, no sewage, and food production) are applicable anywhere and seeing these being achieved to any degree is both inspiring and a testament to these people’s creativity and strength of desire.

Screenings:
Friday, Oct 5th, @ 7:00pm: Ridge Theatre
Sunday, Oct 7th, @ 11:30am: Empire Granville 7 Theatre 3

VIFF ‘07: Nonfiction Features: Autism: The Musical

It’s tough not to love a project that defies definition and charts new territory, especially when children are involved and loved so much throughout.

This film documents the process that the Miracle Project went through over the past year; the funding was renewed for a year so I’m hoping for Autism: The Sequel.

I’d be surprised if any parent couldn’t learn from this film; we certainly can face our fears with it. A horrifying stat at the start says that in 1980, 1 in 10,000 children were diagnosed with autism; today it is 1 in 166.

One parent in the film went on a revealing rant about how autism kids are simply not valued. It’s hard to argue with her assertions that a cure and preventative steps simply won’t be found or taken until we do value these amazing humans. This is the royal we, of course, supported by our collective lack of support.

This is an upbeat film that doesn’t hide the pain, the challenges, the joy, or the love.

Screenings:
Tuesday, Oct 2nd @ 4:30pm: Pacific Cinematheque
Friday, Oct 5th @ 7:00pm: Vancity Theatre
Sunday, Oct 7th, @ 6:00pm: Empire Granville 7 Theatre 5

VIFF ‘07: Canadian Images: The Stone Angel

Wow. This is a major motion picture that will make you laugh and cry.

I’m one of the few it seems that escaped having to read this classic novel so I can’t compare, thankfully. The comparisons that the filmmaker made in the Q&A afterwards suggest that the film may be more passionate than the printed pages. There’s no shortage of passion: from lust to longing, it transcends the entire film. It certainly spoke to me as a parent and one lesson I learned is to never allow anything to come between you and your child. Nothing.

Two small bits jumped at me as well: a rare understanding of what land is and how we colonizers got it, and how one man - it’s always a patriarch - can fuck up future generations with his self-centred, pig-headed stupidity…in this case at least two.

The acting was fabulous throughout. It gave me an insight I’ve never had before: not everyone has the drive/desire to improve their lot throughout their life; some just stop, although why is still a mystery. Obvious, I’m sure to most, but it is illustrated so well by these characters. Another lesson: Hagar’s burning desire for connection to any family member after her father throws her out of his life becomes self-defeating almost to the end. It’s true (at least in this film): you have to give to receive.

Remaining Screenings:
Tuesday, Oct 9th, @ 7:15pm: Empire Granville 7 Theatre 6

VIFF ‘07: Cinema of our Time: Making of…

Making of… is a bold and well-crafted attempt by a Tunisian writer-director to give us (the viewing audience) some insight into both the making of a “terrorist” (as defined by mainstream media) and the risks of making a dangerous film in a dangerous time. It does this by interspersing “documentary” footage to clarify and reinforce what the storyline is saying to great humour and effect.

For me, this film does a wonderful, if unintentional, job of displaying the ugliness and some of the pressures that come with living in a patriarchial society. Women are treated horrendously, women do most of the work, but young men are faced with enormous pressure to conform and excel in a system that excludes nurture by definition. The protagonist is constantly trying to display and prove himself as a patriarch but is constantly being beaten down by the patriarchs around him. It ain’t pretty, it’s even annoying at times, but I thought it really captured this malaise well and simply shows how disgustingly stupid patriarchy is. And yes, it more than applies to us men in the “West”…

Screenings:
Sunday, Oct 7th, @ 7:15pm: Pacific Cinematheque
Thursday, Oct 12, @ 12:15pm: Empire Granville 7 Theatre 5

VIFF ‘07: Canadian Images: White Vans

This 13 minute short packs a hefty punch…right in the eye of the next bike thief!

Local filmmaker Aren Hansen helps us feel the pain and loss that is much more than a bike stolen: a wide range of people who have suffered the loss of their loved one share how it affected them as well as their vengeful fantasies.

Ending up as a advertisement to return an abandoned blue bike to its rightful owner (it was left behind by a thief who stole the filmmaker’s bike), we see lots of great shots of East Van as well as slam poetry and a wonderful stakeout that puts important perspective on the bigger issues.

Shown with 8 other Canadian shorts.

Screenings:
Wednesday, Oct 10, @ 9:15pm: Pacific Cinematheque
Thursday, Oct 11, @ 4:00pm: Pacific Cinematheque

VIFF ‘07: Dragons & Tigers: The Matsugane Potshot Affair

This Japanese film starts out as beautifully as any film I’ve seen: a cyclist rides off in the winter in peace and quiet. We also see a hit and run where the car driver lives to regret his mistake. It even shows us a “good” cop that eventually bursts at the seams, proving that no one should carry guns. But overall, this comedy has a humour that I simply didn’t get, like virtually every other film curated over the years by Tony Rayns. In fact, one of the best parts of this year’s fest is finally getting to see some Chinese films that he didn’t select…

Screenings:
Friday, Sep 28th @ 9:15pm: Pacific Cinematheque
Sunday, Sep 30th @ 11:00am: Empire Granville 7 Theatre 4
Wednesday, Oct 3rd, @ noon: Empire Granville 7 Theatre 1

VIFF ‘07: Climate for Change: Über Wasser/About Water

This almost meditative Austrian doc shows the extremes that climate change has already inflicted on us. Beautifully shot and incredibly insightful.

Starting in Bangladesh, this film shows rich, arable land drowning and literally being washed away, while one of the densest populations on earth display their creativity and fortitude (and expend an enormous amount of human energy) in literally moving their homes when the water continues to rise. One camping experience with a rising tide was bad enough; I can’t begin to imagine the stress of living like that everyday with millions of others!

The next stop is Kazakhstan where we see giant Russian freighters in the middle of a desert! The Aral Sea gave thousands of people a beautiful home, abundant food and lots of work. However, irrigating the surrounding desert simply dried up 75% of the water and shrank the sea’s area by half; now, just like it is predicted with global climate change, a vicious cycle continues to evaporate the Aral Sea faster than it can sustain itself. The former Soviet propaganda films which explain how this all happened could have been produced by the same companies that made those American “news” reels shown in our theatres in the 50s.

Lastly, we visit Kibera, home of half of Nairobi’s population in an unplanned and horribly serviced “slum.” Here, water is the key to easy money for a chosen few, as well over a million people line up and walk for hours to buy barrel after barrel of water for all their everyday needs from only 15 official water taps. The film shows the extreme hardship of constantly transporting water through an ever changing street scape and ends with a stat that exemplifies the reality of the economic poor around the world: we pay more while the rich have much, much more.

Screenings:
Thursday, Sept 27 @ 12:15pm: Empire Granville 7 Theatre 6
Thursday, Oct 4, @ 12:15pm: Empire Granville 7 Theatre 6
Thursday, Oct 11, @ 6:40pm: Empire Granville 7 Theatre 3

Save the Planet…Watch a film!

The 26th edition of Vancouver’s Film Festival begins on Thursday, September 27th and features a brand new series called Climate for Change: films focused on the environment.

It’s amazing how many people have become aware of and truly concerned about Global Warming this year; the Film Fest’s Climate for Change series is another opportunity to inspire and motivate us to make fundamental changes in our lives…before it’s too late!

I’ll be reviewing as many films as I can to help you find your way through the Fest in general and the Climate for Change series in particular.

I’ve already lined up some can’t miss flicks in the Climate for Change series:
TAKEN FOR A RIDE - exposes how most of North America’s transit infrastructure was dismantled to pave the way for the automobile
WHITE VANS - a local film about bike theft by a filmmaker who has lost a few
BING AI - a Chinese film about a woman who simply won’t leave her home that is in the area destined to be flooded by the Three Gorges Dam
KHADAK (aka, The Colour of Water) by Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth, in a Belgium/Germany/Netherlands co-production, uses drama to explore the fate of Mongolia’s nomads pushed into the city to avoid a livestock plague, with a remarkable East-West fusion soundtrack.

And if you haven’t heard the buzz from Cannes yet, here are some of the films that helped create it:

4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, AND 2 DAYS by Romanian filmmaker, Cristian Mungiu (a story about illegal abortion in the waning days of the Soviet Bloc);
THE EDGE OF HEAVEN is a German / Turkish co-production and the fifth feature by Fatih Akin, which won Best Screenplay;
PERSEPOLIS, which won the Special Jury prize, by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud (punk rock rebellion in the midst of Iran’s Islamic Revolution) from Iran, where it has been banned.

All reviews will be posted right here for the duration of the Festival. Everything else you need to know about the Festival can be found at http://www.viff.org

Remember, there’s lots of additional Bike Parking brought in for the Festival downtown and most buses will drop you or pick you up within a block of any venue. The nearest SkyTrain station to the downtown venues is Granville, with Waterfront Station your portal to the IMAX retrospective, also a part of this year’s Vancouver International Film Festival.

See you at the theatre!