The Goods from VIFF Centre

Vancouver, BC | From mouth watering foodie flicks to magnificent musical celebrations (both on-screen, and live in-person), feast your eyes and your ears on these films and events coming up at the VIFF Centre during the month of April:

1. A FINAL CELEBRATION: Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus

Filmed across a week at his home just a few months before he died from cancer, this simple, pensive, poignant concert film comprises 20 pieces selected and performed by Ryuichi Sakamoto from across his long and prolific career, from his popstar Yellow Magic Orchestra period, to his magnificent film scores (The Last Emperor; Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence), to music from his meditative final album, 12. A celebration of an artist’s life in the purest sense, Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus is the definitive swan song of the beloved maestro.

On Now | Get tickets.

2. FOOD-FILLED: The Taste of Things

Thirty years after his debut The Scent of Green Papaya won the Camera d’or at Cannes, Tran Anh Hùng won the Best Director prize at this year’s festival with another sublime movie destined to join Babette’s Feast, Chocolat and Big Night on those lists of great foodie films. Set in France in 1885 (and shot like an Impressionist painting come to life), the film surveys the romantic, intuitive, intimate partnership between famed gourmand Dodin (Benoit Magimel) and his beloved cook Eugénie (Juliette Binoche). The Taste of Things, or La Passion de Dodin Bouffant, closed VIFF 2023 under its former name Le Pot au Feu.

From April 5 | Get tickets.

3. VANCOUVER’S OWN SCI-FI COMEDY: With Love and a Major Organ

Anabel has a heart problem: it’s just too big for this world. Falling for George, she has her work cut out for her to convince him, and his mum, that she’s his heart’s desire. Julia Lederer’s witty screenplay creates a comfortably numb parallel world just a notch further down the path to digital nirvana than our own. Filmed in Vancouver, Kim Albright’s acclaimed debut strikes a lo-(sci-)fi surrealist vibe reminiscent of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It’s whimsical, unpredictable, and it hits close to home.

From April 12 | Get tickets.

4. UNEXPECTED ANIMATED GEM: Chicken for Linda

In this delightful animated comedy, flustered single mom Paulette mistakenly punishes her daughter for losing her ring. Realizing her error, she promises Linda she’ll do anything to make up for it. The child demands chicken with peppers for dinner – but where to get hold of chicken in the midst of a general strike which has closed all the stores? Undeterred, Paulette heads for the nearest farm…

From April 19 | Get tickets.

5. LIVE NEVER-BEFORE-HEARD LIVE SCORE: VIFF Live: Magazinist’s Faust

Experimental music duo Magazinist perform an original live score alongside FW Murnau’s Faust on April 30, “Walpurgis Night” – the very evening when Faust is led by Mephisto to the mountaintop for a night of infernal revelry in celebration of spring’s arrival. Magazinist promises a spectral journey of their own, with wind instruments pitch-shifted down to the depths of hell and synthesizers modulated upwards to celestial heights. The director of Nosferatu and Sunrise, Murnau is regarded as the greatest of all silent filmmakers, and this, his final German film, is a consummate example of his visual artistry.

Tuesday April 30, 7:30 pm | Get tickets.
*Get your tickets before April 8 at the early bird price of $18 (regular $25).

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.

VIFF Centre

Neighbourhood: Yaletown

1181 Seymour St.

Box Office Helpline: 604-683-3456 (Mon-Fri, 12-5pm)

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