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WINNER: Dramatic Directing Award & Excellence in Cinematography Award, Sundance '08
BALLAST
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January 30-February 2, 4-5 // 7:00 & 8:45 pm
Director: Lance Hammer // US 2008 // 96 min // 35mm
BUY TICKETS
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VANCITY THEATRE EXCLUSIVE
One of the most awarded debuts of the year—and likely the best—and a standout at the past VIFF, the mysterious Ballast is a spare, evocative tone poem that emanates from somewhere far, far away from the glamour of the American movie capital, yet reaches deep into our shared understanding of how film can connect us with other people and distant lives.
Set in the Mississippi Delta, former Hollywood production designer Lance Hammer's stark but very moving feature examines the impact of a storekeeper's suicide on his twin brother, his estranged wife and son (all played by non-professionals). Shot in the handheld, naturalistic style of European filmmakers like Ken Loach and the Dardenne brothers, but with the greatest influence coming from Robert Bresson, Ballast is rooted in the bleak, barren mud-flats of the Delta in wintertime and resists the (surely strong) impulse to layer on the blues. Instead, Hammer makes us listen to the rain, the wind, and the loneliness of the place.
A powerful authenticity envelopes his characters; they might as well be sinking into the mud, they're so stuck in this desolate and unforgiving environment. Yet somehow, these suspicious and resentful survivors find in each other enough reason to endure.
LANCE HAMMER – Writer, Director, Editor, Producer
Lance Hammer was born in 1967 in Ventura, California. He graduated from the University of
Southern California with a degree in Architecture and worked as an art director in the studio
film system. He resides in Los Angeles.
Hammer was awarded the Dramatic Directing Award at Sundance ’08 for BALLAST, his first
feature as a writer and director.
"Poetic and profound... The one indisputably great film at
Sundance '08.”—Rolling Stone
"A wholly original meditation on lost souls trying to gain a foothold in a bleak and treacherous landscape. It is, I think, the single most impressive feature to premiere at Sundance since "Half Nelson" in 2006, and the high-water mark by which all others in and out of this year's competition should be judged.”
— The Village Voice
"A rock-ribbed sense of committed, personal cinema and a core belief in people being able to pull themselves out of misery supports [this] extraordinary debut by Lance Hammer."—Robert Koehler, Variety
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MEDIA RESOURCES
Screener Available
Official Site
View Trailer
Listen to Sundance Film Festival interview with Lance Hammer
Read an interview with Lance Hammer on FILMLOT,
Read full review in New York Times, The Village Voice,
Photos and Press Notes available at: Media
Photos at: http://www.vifc.org/fileshare/login.php
Username: media
Password: download
Vancity Theatre Web Site: www.vifc.org
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Call the FILM INFO LINE: 604.683.FILM (3456) for the latest info and listings. Tickets can be purchased in advance on-line at www.vifc.org or in person 30 minutes before showtime.
Adult tickets: $10 (Double Bill - $13)
Student/Senior $8 (Double Bill - $11)
Matinees $8
As a registered non-profit society, the VIFC screens films that have not always been seen by the BC Film Classification Board. Under BC law, any person wishing to see these unclassified films must belong to the VIFC Society and be 18 years or older. Valid for one year based on the date of purchase, the VIFC basic membership cost is $2.50.
For More Membership Information go to http://www.vifc.org/membership.html.
Vancity Theatre is located at 1181 Seymour St. (at Davie)
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