2008 Program guide - Victoria Film Festival

SLINGSHOT (TIRADOR) THE DEAD SLEEP EASY
DIRECTOR: BRILLANTE MENDOZA
CANADA / PHILIPPINES
2007 86 MINUTES DIGIBETA
PRODUCERS: RENATO ESGUERRA, ANTONIO DEL ROSARIO
WRITER: RAISTON JOVER
A tribute to the real potential of digital cinema, Slingshot is a slum
epic on steroids. It weaves stories left and right into a shocking tableau
about life for the lowest of the low in the Philippine’s poorest and most
crime-ridden districts.
National elections are coming up so in the usual attempt to appear
“tough-on-crime”, The Big Boys have been sent in to crack down
on the local squatters, thieves and miscreants who litter the fi lm
like broken bottles. And since no sweep is ever a clean sweep, the
cops’ brutal shock-force tactics quickly ripple outwards with jagged
repercussions. Starting from the fi lm’s amazing night time raid and
climaxing with a candle-lit vigil by those insulted by the empty words
of the politicians, director Brillante Mendoza uses the camera’s
apparent attention defi cit disorder to maximum effect, investigating
lives at every turn and blending their true fi ctions right onto the city
streets of Manila for a rich and incredibly immersive feel.
Much of this effect might have been entirely impossible to capture if
not for the ease of shooting made possible today. Mendoza is not only
clearly aware of the technological revolution happening in his hands but
he is able to seize it so well that he brings back to life the ensemble-cast
movie on a level not seen since Robert Altman’s fi nest fi lms.
Saturday • February 9 • Odeon • 1:15 PM
Sunday • February 10 • Odeon • 7:00 PM
DIRECTOR: LEE DEMARBRE
CANADA / MEXICO
2007 93 MINUTES DIGIBETA
PRODUCER: ROBERT MENZIES
WRITER: IAN DRISCOLL
BC Premiere
They call him “the Champ” and he once was the king of the Mexican
Lucha Libre wrestling ring. But “once” was a very long time ago, on
the other side of a debt he can never repay and down too many lines
of coke to count. Nowadays, the Champ is just a deadly errand boy for
a boss named Tlaloc who’s even married Maya, the Champ’s old fl ame.
With nothing left to believe in, the Champ has all but given up on
living and has taken to the world of the dead and its pale ghosts.
However, the gang’s got a new interest that they’ve neglected to
tell the good ol’ Champ about: pollero… AKA human smuggling.
Now, one deal gone wrong and he’s trapped between overzealous
Minutemen, his old boss, and his old love. But when you’re south of
the border, sometimes it is better to be dead than alive.
From the team that brought you the cult hit Jesus Christ Vampire
Hunter, comes this surprisingly serious bright-light noir with a Mexican
twist. More surprising is some of the true-to-life casting including
Canadian born wrestling superstar Vampiro busting heads on the left
as the Champ and world-renowned gangster-celeb Dave Courtney
busts heads on the right. Talk about your method actors!
CANADIAN WAVE
Friday • February 8 • Odeon • 9:30 PM
Sunday • February 10 • Odeon • 9:30PM 23