The goods from Viff Centre

The VIFF Centre closes for some exciting upgrades to their main theatre from June 24 until mid-August – so make sure to stop by before then for some quality cinema time. This month’s roster includes a celebration of a legendary Vancouver architect, a guest-curated showcase of Indigenous stories, a unique one-night-only live score, and plenty more.

A STUNNING DEBUT
Banel & Adama

Banel can scarcely stand to be separated from her lover, Adama, even for a few hours. But her passion and defiance alarm the elders, and the drought that consumes their village feels like a curse… Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s stunning debut is a timeless fable that evokes ancient myth and Senegalese folk tale, but it could equally play as an American film noir. Richly textured, the arresting imagery carries the emotional force of the story, which builds inexorably to a powerful climax.

Until June 14 | Tickets

CELEBRATING PRIDE MONTH:
Queer Futures Shorts

The Queer Futures series centers joy and connection to radically imagine future visions of queer life. Four short films explore fat beauty and liberation, gender-affirming healthcare, nonbinary siblinghood in ballroom culture, and the anonymous connections of a decades-old LGBTQ hotline. Just as queer lives subvert normative expectations of behavior, identity, and expression, these directors expand the boundaries of nonfiction forms to present new ways of seeing the queer experience lived out loud.

Until June 22 | Tickets

HONOURING A LEGENDARY VANCOUVER ARCHITECT:
Erickson on Film

The SFU campus as an evil space-computer hub… Richard Gere and Sharon Stone’s marriage dissolving in the magnificent Great Hall of the UBC Museum of Anthropology… The works of Vancouver’s most famous and influential architect Arthur Erickson have not just transformed our city – they have inspired both documentarians and Hollywood directors alike. June 14 marks the one hundredth anniversary of Erickson’s birth. As the MOA reopens, VIFF hosts a series of special events, encompassing film screenings and talks with special guests, guest curated by architecture critic and historian Trevor Boddy.

From June 14 | Tickets

A HORROR MASTERPIECE, SCORED LIVE:
A Page of Madness: Live Score by Anju Singh

An asylum janitor tries to persuade his wife — an inmate — to escape with him, but she doesn’t want to go. This Expressionist horror film, directed by former kabuki female impersonator Teinsosuke Kinugasa, was co-written with Nobel prize-winner Yasunari Kawabata, and performed by Kinugasa’s avant-garde experimental group. At this VIFF Live event, performer, composer and sound artist Anju Singh will deepen the cathartic and reflective experience of the film using percussion, strings, synthesizers, electronics and world instruments to echo the irrational extremes, dissonances and nuances conjured by this unique cinematic masterpiece.

June 16 | Tickets

A SHOWCASE OF INDIGENOUS STORYTELLING:
National Indigenous Peoples Day, Curated by Corey Payette

For National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21, award-winning filmmaker and composer Corey Payette has curated four films that bring Indigenous storytelling to the forefront in new and exciting ways. The day will begin with an introduction to the series from Corey and a screening of his own movie-musical Les Filles Du Roi, followed by screenings of heartfelt road movie Wildhood, VIFF 2022 opener Bones of Crows, and mockumentary Hey Viktor!. Free admission to self-identifying Indigenous Peoples.

June 21 | Tickets

The VIFF Centre is located at 1181 Seymour Street and encompasses two theaters, offering cinemagoers the chance to catch the best cinema year-round, and during the annual Vancouver International Film Festival in the fall. Learn more at viff.org