VIFF 2021 starts tomorrow and I couldn’t be more excited! Here are a few more films that I’m looking forward to seeing over the next 11 days.

NIGHT RAIDERS – DANIS GOULET

Those that have followed my humble blog will know that I’ve made no secret about my adoration for the work of Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers. Her 2019 film The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open was far and away my favourite film of that year (I saw it in the theatre with a loved one or two SEVEN times) and her 2020 Documentary Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy is devastating and illuminative and is a must-see for all Canadians. Elle-Máijá stars as Niska in Danis Goulet’s Night Raiders, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi with its focus on Canada’s dark colonial history and the future potential of repeated transgressions. Today (September 30th, 2021) marks the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and it is more important than ever that we take time to reflect on our history as a country and go forward listening, learning and taking action to correct our past and fight collectively for the change we need. Night Raiders presents a future scenario in which nothing changes. It’s 2044. Niska, a Cree woman, joins a resistance force in order to save her daughter from a military-occupied country that has taken children as property and interned them in reeducation camps. It’s not hard to draw lines between this frightening future and the despairing history of the lands occupied by Canadian settlers. I have been anticipating this film since its shooting in 2019 and with the discovery of over 6500 unmarked graves of Indigenous children, the message of this film has never been more important. Here we have an incredibly topical and fundamental story that sheds some light on the darkest corners of Canadian history. I’m guessing this, along with the rest of Elle-Máijá’s work, will be essential viewing for all Canadians in the near future.

RED ROCKET – SEAN BAKER

It’s hard to follow something like Night Raiders with a film about a washed-up porn star returning to his hometown where nobody wants to see him, but in the spirit of film festivals, I’m going to take some sharp turns here. Sean Baker is certainly a director to watch. His first two features, Tangerine and The Florida Project were thoughtful, empathetic and understanding looks at underrepresented people living on the margins. His filmmaking style is kinetic and unhinged, as he matches the unbridled energy of his non-professional actors. Sometimes Baker’s films are so intense, that it’s a miracle to behold how much grace and beauty he is able to find amidst all the chaos on screen. I don’t know much more beyond the basic synopsis of Red Rocket, but there has been some considerable hype around the lead performance from former MTV VJ Simon Rex. Sean Baker is one of the more exciting directors working in USA and this seems to be a continuation of that success.

WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED – A HISTORY OF FOLK HORROR – KIER-LA JANISSE

I actually got to watch this film in the summer when it premiered at Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal. A three-hour documentary that is so well paced and informative, that not a minute of it’s runtime is wasted. Kier-La is a warrior of horror cinema, who got her start in Vancouver and has gone on to produce some incredible and seminal books on horror, and now has written a visual bible on the history of the Folk Horror genre. A who’s who lineup of interviews with cinema greats and a meticulously researched and edited selection of films that run the gamut from well-known to obscure, classic to contemporary. Kier-La traces the entire timeline of Folk-Horror and follows it around the globe. The approach is reminiscent of the work of Mark Cousins and like his long form documentaries, Woodlands Dark makes is just as easy to let yourself go and sink into the flood of images and information. I had a chance to chat with Kier-La virtually during the closing night at Fantasia and all her stories indicate that this was a painstaking and meticulous labour of love that depended on a lot of elements falling into place. There’s no denying that Kier-la adores these films and is fully committed to sharing and educating in an entertaining and meaningful way. I highly recommend watching this one with a pen and paper, as every minute offers up another film that you likely haven’t heard of, but will want to find when this doc closes and it’s time to venture out on your own. It’s also worth mentioning that Woodlands Dark will be getting an incredible Box-Set release through Severin Films that will not only feature the documentary, but also 19 Fully restored classics that are featured. There are some really cool selections and the packaging is gorgeous. Definitely worth checking out HERE if you have any interest in Folk Horror.

That’s it for my VIFF 2021 Previews. I am working on a review for a film that I should publish in the first couple days of the festival. Thanks for reading!

Another trip around the sun, the floodgates have opened, the cinema is returning and pretty soon we will be awash in glorious films from around the globe! VIFF 2021 will be another hybrid festival with both online and in-person screenings. I perused the program and wrote down some of my most anticipated films of the year that will be screening at this installment of VIFF. Here is a quick look at a half dozen In-Person Screened films that I’m excited about!

DRIVE MY CAR – RYUSUKE HAMAGUCHI

Hands down my most anticipated film of 2021 is the second feature of the year from Ryusuke Hamaguchi, who is quickly becoming one of my favourite filmmakers of the moment. An adaptation of a short story by Haruki Murakami that clocks in at nearly three hours. Hamaguchi is no stranger to films with long runtimes, his 2015 Happy Hour was a small scale epic that ran for over FIVE hours and not a moment was wasted. Happy Hour was one of my favourite films of the decade and I’ve now seen it three times! (I regretfully left it off my 2010s top 20, but it would easily slot into the top 5, if I were to revisit that list.) The combo of Hamaguchi and Murakami was more than enough to excite me, but once the film won Best Screenplay at Cannes, I knew it would be incredible. The Screenplay prize at Cannes is a strong indicator of great filmmaking that takes chances and hits hard. Hamaguchi’s earlier film from 2021, The Wheel of Fortune and Fate won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at Berlin and is probably my favourite film of the year, thus far. I’ve been counting down to the fest specifically in hopes of seeing this movie!

IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE – HONG SANG-SOO

Hong Sang-Soo. What more do I need to say? You don’t have to dig through my blog for very long to see that I absolutely worship the films of Hong and with every passing year, my anticipation for his next couple of films only seems to grow. A filmography that retreads and revisits itself with each new piece, In Front of Your Face looks to be a bit of a detour from what we can usually expect in the South Korean master’s films, though I’m sure there will be plenty of familiar touches, as is to be expected in a Hong Sang-Soo film. I honestly don’t know anything about the plot of this film, but as I have established, over the course of these reviews, I really don’t need to see it to know that I will love this movie.

MEMORIA – APITCHAPONG WEERASETHAKUL

The English-Language debut from Thailand’s greatest filmmaker. Apitchapong Weerasethakul has been mystifying audiences with his unique brand of cinema for over two decades, now. On top of having perhaps the most unapproachable name pronunciation in the modern art world, his work is equally regarded for its bewildering style and esoteric POV. To watch a Weerasethakul film is to have an experience. A visual, auditory, psychedelic, out-of-body type experience that depends as much on the lush sound design as it does its story and characters. Here we have Tilda Swinton (The actress of this generation, no doubt.) in a lead role that finds her in Columbia, a Scottish expat, farming Orchids. While visiting her sister in Bogota, she is awoken by a mysterious, loud bang, the unknown origin of which sets her on a quest to discover or explain the haunting sound. As is the case with all of the director’s films, things seem to progress in a mysterious and perplexing fashion that is to be expected. Co-Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes, there’s no reason to miss seeing this singular cinematic experience in a theatre!