Films | Special Programs

>>EXPLORING THE ART OF PHILANTHROPY Thurs June 11 // 7:00 pm BUY TICKETS
>>TOUCHED BY TIBET 2 Fri June 12 - Mon June 15
>>KAFKA IN THE DARK Mon June 22 - Thurs June 25

EXPLORING THE ART OF PHILANTHROPY
Thur June 11 // 7:00 pm BUY TICKETS

with a special avant-premiere of
REPORTER
a film that will feature prominently in the
28th annual VIFF (October 1 – 16).

This event is a presentation of the Vancouver International Film Festival in partnership with the American philanthropic multimedia organization Explore, whose mandate is to champion the selfless acts of others.

The mission of VIFF and the Vancity Theatre (both not-for-profit organizations) is to encourage understanding of other nations through the art of cinema, but we deeply hope that filmgoing can become more than just a passive activity. From time to time at least, understanding will lead to empathy, and real empathy will lead to acts of charity.

We would like this evening to provide an opportunity to talk about the challenges of the world we live in, and to be a motivator for good work. We are excited to partner with Explore as we believe its films provide an excellent framework for this discussion.

Vice President and Director of the Annenberg Foundation, Charles Annenberg Weingarten will lead a discussion with audiences and invited guests.

Films & running order:

7:00  –  Opening remarks
7:10  –   Hero (4 mins), Protest or Punches (4 mins), Orca Guardians (10 mins), Spiritual India (28 mins)
8:00  –  Discussion with Charles Annenberg Weingarten et al.
8:30  –  Intermission
8:40  –  Reporter (92 mins)
10:15  –  Reception & refreshments

MORE INFO AND TICKETS

TOUCHED BY TIBET 2
Fri June 12 - Mon June 15

The Vancity Theatre’s second Touched by Tibet series is programmed by, and co-presented with, the Canada Tibet Committee, an independent organization of Tibetans and non-Tibetan Canadians concerned with the continuing human rights violations and lack of democratic freedom in Tibet.

The series anticipates this year’s return visit to Vancouver by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in September with new films about the culture, religion, politics and people of Tibet.

According to programmer Graham Peat, “This year's line-up of films about Tibet focuses on the struggle of a culture and a people to survive against great obstacles. The West has long been fascinated with the myth and mysticism of Tibet. We will uncover the real stories of survival and rebirth with six films that each seek to show us truths about the human condition. From the fight to protect the water supply on the roof of the world to the controversial system of finding reincarnated lamas, viewers will gain insight into the reality of Tibet’s situation today.”

Touched By Tibet screenings will include guest speakers,lobby displays by Tibet-related groups, appearances by some of the filmmakers, and a performance by the Vancouver Tibetan Music Ensemble (June 12).

Schedule

Click on a title to get more info and buy tickets.

June 12
6.30 FIRE UNDER THE SNOW
8.15 REINCARNATION OF KHENSUR RINPOCHE 
+ THREAD OF KARMA
with a performance by the Vancouver Tibetan Music Ensemble

June 13
4.45 FIRE UNDER THE SNOW  
6.30 TULKU 
8.00 MELTDOWN IN TIBET + TIBET CRY FOR FREEDOM

June 14  
4.45 TULKU 
6.30 MELTDOWN IN TIBET + TIBET CRY FOR FREEDOM 
8.30 FIRE UNDER THE SNOW 

June 15
6.30 TULKU 
8.00 REINCARNATION OF KHENSUR RINPOCHE + THREAD OF KARMA

KAFKA IN THE DARK:
The strange and sinister cinema of Franz K.
Mon June 22 - Thurs June 25

“I am an ‘eye-man',” Franz Kafka told his friend Gustav Janouch, explaining why he could not bear that “marvellous toy”, the movies. “Perhaps I am too optical by nature… The cinema disturbs one's vision. The speed of the movements and the rapid change of images force people to look continually from one to the next. Sight does not master the pictures, it is the pictures which master one's sight. They flood one's consciousness,' he complained. Nevertheless, Kafka was an avid moviegoer, and one of the twentieth century's most important writers has had a profound impact on the cinematic imagination. Some have even gone so far as to suggest his dark, paranoid, existential imagination sowed the seeds for film noir . Directors as different as David Cronenberg and Terry Gilliam have acknowledged his influence on their work.

In this series, though, presented in collaboration with the Simon Fraser University Art Gallery's exhibition “The Insurance Man: Kafka in the Penal Colony”, we mean to dig beneath the conventions of the “Kafkaesque” and look at those brave filmmakers and animators who have tackled his novels and stories head-on. Among them, such acclaimed artists as Orson Welles, Steven Soderbergh, Michael Haneke, Jean-Marie Straub and Daniele Huillet. Each has brought his or her own unique perspective to bear on the work, in some ways distorting the original text, in other ways, perhaps, enhancing or illuminating Kafka's vision.

The season kicks off on Monday 22 June with a talk by Kafka scholar Jerry Zaslove and a free screening of Class Relations, Straub-Huillet's film of “Amerika”, along with the animated NFB short The Metamorphosis of Mr Samsa. Michael Haneke's version of The Castle and Orson Welles' eccentric The Trial reveal very different facets of Kafka's writing. In K, Iranian-American artist Shoja Azari adapts three short stories: “The Married Couple”, “In the Penal Colony” and “A Fratricide”. Theodor Ushev takes a parable by Kafka and creates a stark animated piece in The Man Who Waited. And finally, Steven Soderbergh makes mischief, mixing up the writer's life and work in his wild expressionist adventure, Kafka.

Click on a title to get more info and buy tickets.

June 22
6.30 CLASS RELATIONS
FREE SCREENING with a special talk by Kafka scholar Jerry Zaslove and short The Metamorphosis of Mr Samsa.

June 23
6.30 THE CASTLE  
with short The Man Who Waited.
8.45 K

June 24  
6.30 KAFKA 
8.15 THE TRIAL  

June 25
6.30 THE TRIAL 
8.45 THE CASTLE