BeatRoute Magazine BC Edition September 2019

Expand the Frame Edition 38
Vancouver
International
Film Festival
September 26 – October 11 2019
Ash
Andrew Huculiak – Canada
MON. SEP 30 8:30 PM PLAYHOUSE
WED. OCT 2 8:30 PM SFU-GCA
Reporting from the frontlines of the Okanagan wildfires, hard-luck Stan
(Tim Guinee) documents uncommon heroism while hoping for a big
break that’ll make him a household name beyond Peachland. But when
he’s unexpectedly charged with a shocking crime, he must salvage his
reputation and marriage. In this psychologically complex and sensoryrich
drama, Andrew Huculiak (Violent) employs an apocalyptic backdrop
to chart Stan’s spiralling descent into a personal hell and his subsequent
struggle for redemption.
Boyz in the Wood
Ninian Doff – UK
FRI. SEP 27 7:00 PM RIO
THU. OCT 3 9:30 PM RIO
Four teenage ne’er-do-wells embark on a forced march through the
Scottish countryside in the misguided hope that it will prove rehabilitative.
Instead, the trek leaves them easy targets for upper-class predators intent
on stalking the most foul-mouthed, ADHD game. As shots are fired and
f-bombs are dropped, Ninian Doff lets fly with a barrage of set pieces and
visual flourishes, ratcheting up the stakes and antic comedy in unison.
Bad behaviour might just be these reprobates’ only hope of survival.
The Death of Dick Long
Daniel Scheinert – USA
SAT. SEP 28 9:45 PM RIO
SAT. OCT 5 7:00 PM RIO
“Wanna get weird?” So begins a night of redneck revelry that results
in one man meeting a grisly end and his bandmates (Michael Abbott Jr.
and Andre Hyland) haplessly covering up the depraved details of his fatal
“misadventure” from the feckless authorities. Initially a deadpan farce
that plays like a southern-fried Fargo, Daniel Scheinert’s Swiss Army Man
follow-up slowly assumes the form of an oddly affecting ballad that leaves
us convinced that “people sure are inscrutable on their insides.”
Deerskin
Quentin Dupieux – France
Fourteen
Dan Sallitt – USA
Other Music
Puloma Basu, Rob Hatch-Miller – USA
Proudly presented by
THU. SEP 26 9:00 PM RIO
MON. SEP 30 7:30 PM INTERNATIONAL VILLAGE 10
Iconoclast Quentin Dupieux (remember Rubber’s avenging tire at VIFF
10?) teams up with French megastars Jean Dujardin and Adèle Haenel for
this blackly comic look at one man’s love affair with… his fringed buckskin
jacket? The purchase of said vintage jacket leads Georges (Dujardin) to
throw his previous life in the bin, declare himself a filmmaker, and begin
a descent into obsession that has had critics invoking everything from
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer to Barton Fink to Peeping Tom. Singular.
FRI. OCT 4 9:15 PM INTERNATIONAL VILLAGE 9
SAT. OCT 5 3:30 PM INTERNATIONAL VILLAGE 8
How rare and delightful to see a film follow the gentle rhythms of a female
friendship as it warps, shifts, and transforms over time. Dan Sallitt’s
subtle and poignant Fourteen brilliantly captures the lives of two longtime
friends, introspective Mara (Tallie Medel) and extroverted Jo (Norma
Kuhling), as they switch partners, change jobs, and weather crises—most
of them pertaining to Jo, whose addictive personality and adventurous
spirit are often cause for Mara’s concern...
SAT. SEP 28 2:15 PM RIO
TUE. OCT 1 6:00 PM VAN CITY
Much more than a beautiful lament for the passing of New York’s beloved
East Village indie record store Other Music, Puloma Basu and Rob
Hatch-Miller’s special film is movingly emblematic of the factors destroying
what many of us care about deeply: affordable, culturally enriched
urban civilization and actual encounters with human beings who share
our interests. Featuring the thoughts of (and some performances from)
great artists like Yo La Tengo, Bill Callahan, Vampire Weekend, The Strokes,
and more.