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In the fourth year of this series, expect me to interview filmmakers and write about and photograph the current film and TV productions --听Supernatural, Once Upon a Time, Arrow,听Bates Motel, The Flash听and our own听Continuum,听Motive听and听Strange Empire听-- which showcase our city and sometimes put a celebrity actor or two in the frame. Find out more on my daily blog听. |
13 BC FILMS:听Six Dramas. Three Comedies. Four Documentaries.
Bloody Thrillers. Mother-daughter Con-women.听Romance in Hope. Father-daughter Kurds from Iraq in Canada. Young Woman in Crisis in Norway. Fake Pregnancy. Transgender Two-for-one Pregnancies. Revenge Songs Left on Voice Mail. Ill Boy Tormented in Tanzania. Changing Chinatown.听Discarded Food Experiment. Harm From BC Fish Farms.
VOTE for听the film or documentary you want to see at a red carpet screening at the 麻豆传媒映画International Film Festival's BC Spotlight Awards + Gala on Saturday, October 4th. 听Check out听听to preview, promote and vote, starting this Thursday, September 11th and ending Wednesday, September 24th. And tweet on the hash tag #mustseeBC. Your votes will decide.
SIX DRAMAS:听horror thrillers BLACK FLY and BLOODY KNUCKLES, dark comedic drama SITTING ON THE EDGE OF MARLENE and realist dramas MARTIN'S PINK PICKLE and VIOLENT.
Black Fly听- Director Jason Bourque's taut thriller Black Fly has been touted as听Canada鈥檚听Winter鈥檚 Bone. Troubled teen Jake Henson (Dakota Daulby) is 听haunted by the death of his parents 鈥撎齮he father听in a hunting accident and mother by suicide. He escapes an abusive uncle to reconnect with his older brother Noel, living听with his girlfriend in a farmhouse on an isolated Island on the BC coast. The drama unfolds as it becomes clear that Jake has gone from bad to worse, since听Noel is a heavy drinker with a hair-trigger temper and there鈥檚 no escape from his rampage. It鈥檚 hard to believe this story is inspired听by Jason Bourque鈥檚 own experiences.Shot in the 麻豆传媒映画area and a Gulf Island. |听听|听.
Screenings听-听September 27th at 6:30 pm in the Rio Theatre/September 30th at 4:00 p.m. in the International Village #10.
Bloody Knuckles听- Director Matt O'Mahoney's splatter film Bloody Knuckles has gore galore. The disembodied hand of an underground cartoonist comes to life and becomes a defender of free speech after a gangster chops it off. Huh. This falls in the category of must-be-seen. Words won't do.|听听|听.
Screenings听-听October 3rd at 11:30 p.m. in the Rio Theatre/October 4th at 3:45 pm in the International Village #8.
Martin鈥檚 Pink Pickle听-听Director听Ren茅 Brar's realist drama about a young couple splits its time between the big city of 麻豆传媒映画and small town of Hope. A boy follows his girlfriend to Hope but his settled life is disrupted when he and a friend are stranded in 麻豆传媒映画for 24 hours when he returns for a medical appointment. Did this couple really grow up?听听.
Screenings听鈥� 听September 29th at 6:30 pm in the International Village #8/October 1st at 1:30 pm in the International Village #8.
Sitting on the Edge of Marlene - 听Adapted from the Billie Livingston novella,听Sitting on the Edge of Marlene is about teenager Sammie Bell (Paloma Kwiatkowski) drawn into the family con business by her messed-up pill-popping, alcoholic mother Marlene (Suzanne Cl茅ment). Callum Keith Rennie co-stars. Director Ana Valine won the Leo Award for directing this BC film.
Screenings -听October 1st at 6:30 pm in the Rio Theatre/October 3rd at 3:30 pm in the International Village #9.
Turbulence -听Writer-director Soran Mardookhi tells the story of a former electrical engineer from Kurdistan in Iraq named Sherzad (Kamal Yamoly) who tries to make a new home in Canada along with his estranged young daughter Jina (Camillia Mahal) who numbs herself with drugs.听听|听听|听
Screenings听-听October 3rd at 6 pm in the International Village #9/October 5th at 1 pm in International Village #9.
Violent听- We Are the City drummer Andrew Huculiak makes his directorial debut with this feature inspired by the 麻豆传媒映画band's latest album. Shot in Norway it's about a young woman (Dagny Backer Johnsen) who 听loses herself in memories of loved ones after a catastrophic experience.听听|听听|听.
Screenings听鈥� September 30th at 9:30 pm in the Rio Theatre/October 2nd at 4 pm in the Rio Theatre/October 10th at 3:45 pm in SFU Woodwards.
THREE COMEDIES:听Fake pregnancy comedy PREGGOLAND, double pregnancy romcom TWO 4 ONE and oddball comedy SONGS SHE WROTE ABOUT PEOPLE SHE KNOWS.听
Preggoland听- Jacob Tierney directs Preggoland but this fake pregnancy comedy belongs to 麻豆传媒映画actor Sonja Bennett who wrote the screenplay and stars as 35-year-old Ruth, who pretends to be pregnant after being de-friended by all her friends at a baby shower. James Caan is the deliriously-happy-father-who-thinks-he's-going-to-be-a-grandfather. Preggoland filmed most of this movie in Maple Ridge except for the final day of shooting in April when crew careened around 麻豆传媒映画from the Gossip nightclub downtown to a Commercial Drive park to Spanish Banks.听听|听.
Screenings听鈥� September 30th at 6:15 pm in the 麻豆传媒映画Playhouse/October 2nd at 4 p.m. in the International Village #10.
Two 4 One - Transgendered Adam (This Hour Has 22 Minutes' Gavin Crawford) and Miriam (Mr. D's听Naomi Snieckus)听enjoy an ill-advised one-night stand only to wind up both being pregnant in writer-director Maureen Bradley's hilarious first feature. Gabrielle Rose co-stars.听听|听听|听.
Screenings听-听October 1st at 9 pm in the Rio Theatre/October 3rd at 6 pm in International Village #8.
Songs She Wrote About People She Knows听- Written and directed by Kris Elgstrand, this offbeat comedy is about Carol (Arabella Bushnell) who vents her frustrations on family, friends and co-workers by leaving brutally honest (sometimes violent) original songs on their voicemails.听听|听
Screenings听-听September 27th at 9:15 pm in the Rio Theatre/September 30th at 4:45 pm in the Vancity Theatre.
FOUR DOCUMENTARIES:
The Boy From Geita听- Director Vic Sarin chronicles the story of a Canadian born with the same condition as a young Tanzanian who has been ostracized by his village and cruelly assaulted by witch doctors who believe his limbs possess magical properties. 听The Canadian hears of Adam's plight and comes to his rescue.
Screenings听- 听September 28th at 6:30 pm at SFU Woodwards/October 4th at 1:15 pm at International Village #8/October 9th at 10 am at The Cinematheque.
Everything Will Be听- Director Julia Kwan looks at Vancouver's Chinatown, one of the oldest Chinese communities in North America, and talks to residents about wholesale changes sweeping their neighbourhood. Some are sad to see their way of life erode and others welcome the transition, including real estate developer Bob Rennie, who established his offices there.听|听.
Screenings听- September 29th at 9 pm at SFU Woodwards/October 1st at 11 am at SFU Woodwards/October 3rd at 10:30 am at International Village #9.
Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story听- Filmmakers Grant Baldwin and Jen Rustemeyer attempt to live only on discarded food for six months. Sounds a bit like Morgan Spurlock's Supersize Me experiment of eating only at McDonald's, except this will show not our obsession with fast food but how much food we waste as a society, throwing away nearly half in the trash.听听|听.
Screenings听- September 28th at 6:30 pm at Rio Theatre/September 30th at 10:30 am at SFU Woodwards/October 6th at 1:30 pm at 麻豆传媒映画Playhouse.
The Pristine Coast听- Filmmaker Scott Renyard investigates the BC fish farm industry, focusing on the research of biologist Alexandra Morton. Wild fish species in our coastal waters have declined since fish farms started up in the late 1970s. How do we stop the spread of disease from farms to marine waters?
Screenings听- September 27th at 8:30 pm at International Village #9; October 3rd at 4 pm at SFU Woodwards; October 7th at 10 am at The Cinematheque.
You can vote until September 24th at听
For tickets to the 麻豆传媒映画International Film Festival -- September 25th to October 10th --
