(Via WireService.ca) The Greater Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) Society plans to show its “commitment to showcasing standout homegrown talent” by celebrating National Canadian Film Day on April 29th. Six Canadian features will play at Vancity Theatre throughout the day. An Industry Reception at the Vancouver International Film Centre will welcome a special guest, Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files.
BC films screened at the event will be: Songs She Wrote About People She Knows (directed by Kris Elgstrand) and Violent (directed by Andrew Huculiak). From other provinces, Mommy (directed by Xavier Dolan, who’s on the jury at Cannes this year), Being Canadian (directed by Robert Cohen), Ben’s At Home (directed by Mars Horodyski) and The Valley Below (directed by Kyle Thomas, see our review here) will be presented.
You can find full details at the VIFF site. Since 1982, VIFF has screened more than 1,000 feature films and 1,500 short films to an audience in excess of 600,000.
Yes, the festival is during the daytime on a weekday, but VIFF suggests “Play hookey eh?” If you’re over 19, you can buy a Canadian Film Day Ticket Pack for $30. (Mommy and Songs She Wrote are rated for youth; the other films are for legal adults, who are those 19 and over in BC.) You’ll also need to become a member of Vancity Theatre to get the Ticket Pack.
The Greater Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) Society is a charitable not-for-profit arts and cultural organization, employing over 100 staff and 750 volunteers. Its mandate is to encourage the understanding of other nations through the art of cinema, facilitate the meeting of entertainment professionals from around the world and to stimulate the motion picture industry in BC and Canada.