vancouver
it was in February, but feels much farther away than that now: we were having production meetings, and targeting deadlines for programming, key art, advertising, and marketing. and then COVID-19 happened. originally scheduled for a May 7 2020 launch, DOXA announced in mid-March that it was being postponed. and although outright cancellation would have been devastating ... Read More
Ying Wang's award-winning film follows an elderly Beijing couple for 10 years as they investigate their son Shi Ming's mysterious death in Canada. rooted in devotion, loss and grief, the documentary opens like a slow-reveal thriller but becomes a heartbreaking indictment of mental health support systems and bureaucratic black holes of immigration policy. visually, the ... Read More
Greg Crompton's debut feature-length documentary recounts one of the more batshit crazy episodes in Canadian history. in the '70s and '80s, an immigrant barber from Lebanon had a singular obsession: build a family-friendly Middle Eastern island theme park in the Okanagan. offering submarine rides and mini-golf under the shadows of a giant camel and replica pyramid on a ... Read More
in designing the poster for the world premiere of Charles Wilkinson's new film at VIFF 2019, there was no lack of sublime Robert Davidson masterworks that could have been referenced. the trick was going to be placing Robert — with his personal history, far-reaching artistic influence, and cultural activism — in the context of the modern world. initial rounds ... Read More
... and without the UK? the British people have voted, and $#!t is starting to get real. a little known spin-off of the UK leaving the EU, wholly inconsequential to anyone but the geekiest of film geeks — and even then, perhaps only in passing — is that the UK will likely never again co-present the European Union Film Festival. but hey, unlike the morning-after regret, ... Read More