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Italian Film FestivalJan 4 - 10iffest.ca

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

25 26 27 28 29DEC 23 24

RENTAL

3:00 Roma

5:45 Mirai

7:45 Roma

11:45am Mirai

1:45 Roma

4:30 Roma

7:15 Roma

12:30 Mirai

2:30 Roma

5:15 Roma

8:00 Phantom Thread

12:30 Mirai

2:30 Roma

5:15 Roma

8:00 Leave No Trace

10:00 Children of Men

12:20 Children of Men

2:30 Roma

5:15 Roma

8:00 Foxtrot

12:00 Paddington 2

2:15 Roma

5:00 La La Land

2:30 Roma

5:15 Roma

8:00 The Death of Stalin

10:10 Mandy

11:30am Mirai

1:45 Roma

4:30 Tokyo Godfathers Best of 2018

12:30 The Magnificent Ambersons

2:15 Roma

5:00 Roma

7:45 First Reformed

10:00 Edge of the Knife

1:50 Liz and the Blue Bird

3:45 Nothing Like a Dame

5:45 Roma

8:25 Sorry to Bother You

1:50 Liz and the Blue Bird

3:45 Nothing Like a Dame

5:45 Roma

8:25 Support the Girls

6:00 Opening Gala: The Man Who Bought the Moon

9:00 Allegro non troppo

12:00 Once Upon a Time in America - extended director’s cut

5:00 Look Up

7:00 Boys Cry

9:00 Fists in the Pocket

3:00 Resina

5:20 A Cat on a Highway

7:30 V6A

9:15 Tribute to Bernardo Bertolucci: The Conformist

1:00 Cinecitta Babilonia

2:30 Umberto D

4:30 Tutti a Casa - Power to the People?

7:00 Juliet of the Spirits

1:15 Once Upon a Time in America - extended director’s cut

6:30 The Guest

8:25 I’m Back

12:45 Tribute to Bertolucci: La Commare Secca

2:30 Fists in the Pocket

4:30 Look Up

6:30 Everybody’s Fine

8:30 The Man Who Bought the Moon

12:00 Look Up

2:00 The Leopard

5:45 Walking on Water

7:45 The Grossi Gang

5:00 The Woman Who Loves Giraffes

7:30 Is There a Picture

4:40 The Woman Who Loves Giraffes

6:30 Look Up

8:20 Is There a Picture

3:00 Yellow Is Forbidden

5:00 Is There a Picture

7:00 The Woman Who Loves Giraffes

8:45 V6A

4:30 Yellow Is Forbidden

6:30 The Woman Who Loves Giraffes

8:10 Is There a Picture

4:00 The Guilty

6:30 Yellow Is Forbidden

8:25 Is There a Picture

4:30 Yellow Is Forbidden

6:30The Woman Who Loves Giraffes

8:15 Is There a Picture

4:20 Science Fair

6:10 A Bread Factory, Part One: For the Sake of Gold

8:30 A Bread Factory, Part Two: Walk With Me A While

6:00 Science Fair

RENTAL

VIFF+ Members Preview Screening RENTAL

VOLUNTEER PARTY

1:00 Yellow Is Forbidden

3:00 Is There a Picture

3:00 PuSh Film Series: The Children Are Watching Us

5:00 Strange Victory

6:30 A Bread Factory, Part One: For the Sake of Gold

8:45 A Bread Factory, Part Two: Walk With Me A While

6:30 Science Fair2:00 A Bread Factory, Part One: For the Sake of Gold

4:20 A Bread Factory, Part Two: Walk With Me A While

4:20 Science Fair

6:10 A Bread Factory, Part One: For the Sake of Gold

8:30 A Bread Factory, Part Two: Walk With Me A While

Vancouver Short Film FestivalJan 25 - 26vsff.com

Vancouver Short Film FestivalJan 25 - 26vsff.com

Vancouver International Film Festival’s Year-Round Showcase

MEDIA SPONSOR

viff.org1181 Seymour St. / Vancouver BC / V6B 3M7Film Info 604.683.3456 / Office 604.685.0260 / Email info@viff.org

Tickets

A Bread Factory Part One: For the Sake of Gold

PuSh Film Series

Exclusive First Runs

The Woman Who Loves Giraffes

Alfonso Cuarón

Ticket sales are final and refunds are only offered in exceptional cir-cumstances at the discretion of our box office. If you have made an er-ror with your booking, please email info@viff.org. Exchanges cannot be made for missed screenings. A fee of $1 per ticket exchange will apply to a maximum of $4 for exchanges done in person.

Film Centre Basic Membership $2To see films at the Vancity Theatre, you must—with a few excep-tions—be age 19 or older and be a member of our registered non-profit society.

VIFF+ MembershipThere is a VIFF+ Membership level that will help save you money, join a community of film lovers and support the VIFF society.

For more membership details, please visit viff.org

Tickets can be purchased in advance on-line at viff.org (up to 60 minutes before showtime) and also in person at our box office. Call 604.683.3456 for the latest info and listings. Double bill tickets avail-able in-person only.

DOUBLE BILL

SINGLE BILL

Adult

Student & Senior

VIFF+ Members

$13$11$10

ALL SEATS

$20(For Vancity

Theatre members)

Nothing Like a DameROGER MICHELL, UK, 2018, 84 MIN. PANORAMA

WED DEC 19 - 1:00PM • THU DEC 20 - 1:00PM WED JAN 2 - 3:45PM • THU JAN 3 - 3:45PMDames Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright and Maggie Smith have let the cameras in on a friendship that goes back more than half a century. The four acting greats discuss their careers and reminisce about their humble beginnings in the theatre... It’s uproariously funny, candid, and utterly irresistible. “Wildly enjoyable... I can’t think of any other recent documentary in which I have laughed pretty much all the way through.” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

100% Fresh, Rotten Tomatoes

Japanese Animation

MiraiMAMORU HOSODA, JAPAN, 2018, 98 MIN. GATEWAY

FRI DEC 21 - 5:15PM • SAT DEC 22 - 12:30PM, 5:15PM SUN DEC 23 - 5:45PM • MON DEC 24 - 11:30AM WED DEC 26 - 11:45AM • THU DEC 27 - 12:30PMFRI DEC 28 - 12:30PMMamoru Hosoda’s anime tells the story of Kun (voiced by Kamishiraishi Moka), a little boy who lives a happy life until the arrival of a new sister throws everything off-kilter. What follows is a retreat into a fantasy world, populated by some interesting characters: a prince (Yoshihara Mitsuo), Mirai’s deceased grandpa (Yakusho Koji) and even a future version of himself (Haru Kuroki). It’s a child’s adventure of the mind, portrayed with the superb animation we’ve long come to expect from Japan.

Tokyo GodfathersSATOSHI KON, JAPAN, 2003, 92 MIN. GATEWAY

FRI DEC 21 - 9:50PM • SAT DEC 22 - 9:50PM MON DEC 24 - 4:30PM*Shinjuku, Tokyo, Christmas Eve. Middle-aged has-been Gin, aging cross-dresser Hana, and teenage runaway Miyuki are three homeless friends who stumble across an abandoned baby and do their best to care for the infant over the course of a long and perilous night. This 2003 seasonal classic from Satoshi Kon, the brilliant anime director of Paprika and Perfect Blue is both sentimental and rude, very funny with a gob-smacking slapstick chase finale, dazzling to the eye and touching to the heart.

*Matinee Screening Classified 14A

Children of MenALFONSO CUARÓN, USA, 2006, 109 MIN. PANORAMA

FRI DEC 28 - 10:00PM • SUN DEC 30 -12:20PM

Alfonso Cuarón's adaptation of PD James's dystopian novel is a Christmas story of a kind. In the year 2027, 18 years since the last baby was born, disillusioned Englishman Theo (Clive Owen) becomes an unlikely champion of the human race when he is asked by his former lover (Julianne Moore) to escort a young pregnant woman out of the coun-try as quickly as possible. Britain, in this imaginary future, has closed its borders and the apparatus of an authoritarian state is out to stop them.

Liz and the Blue BirdYAMADA NAOKO, JAPAN, 2018, 90 MIN. GATEWAY

WED JAN 2 - 1:50PM • THU JAN 3 - 1:50PM

From the (female) director of anime hit A Silent Voice, this spin off from the TV series Sound! Euphonium is a delicate-ly observered portrait of two high school girls, friends and concert bandmates. Mizore plays the oboe, Nozomi plays the flute. For their last concert together before heading off to college they will be playing a duet (the title tune), but somehow the music seems to reflect a growing distance between them...“One of the most touching and moving experiences I’ve seen this year.” IGN

RomaALFONSO CUARÓN, MEXICO, 2018, 135 MIN. PANORAMA

SUN DEC 23 - 3:00PM, 7:45PM MON DEC 24 - 1:45PM WED DEC 26 - 1:45PM, 4:30PM, 7:15PM THU DEC 27 - 2:30PM, 5:15PM FRI DEC 28 - 2:30PM, 5:15PMSAT DEC 29 - 2:30PM, 5:15PMSUN DEC 30 - 2:30PM, 5:15PMMON DEC 31 - 2:15PMTUE JAN 1 - 2:15PM, 5:00PM WED JAN 2 - 5:45PM • THU JAN 3 - 5:45PMMexico’s Alfonso Cuarón’s thrillingly diverse career en-compasses everything from Gravity to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Roma is his masterpiece. An evoca-tion of middle-class household in Mexico City in 1970, this scintillating black and white film focusses on Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), a live-in maid, who tends to the two children, and observes, discreetly, as her employers’ marriage falls apart. “One of the most beautiful films I’ve ever seen.” Wall Street Journal

Winner: Golden Lion, Venice Film Festival

The Woman Who Loves GiraffesALISON REID, CANADA, 2018, 83 MIN. IMPACT

FRI JAN 11 - 5:00PM • SAT JAN 12 - 4:40PMSUN JAN 13 - 7:00PM • TUE JAN 15 - 6:30PMTHU JAN 17 - 6:30PMIn 1956, 4 years before Jane Goodall ventured into the world of chimpanzees and 7 years before Dian Fossey left to work with mountain gorillas, in fact, before anyone, man or woman had made such a trip, 23-year-old Canadian biolo-gist, Anne Innis Dagg, made an unprecedented solo journey to South Africa to study animal behavior in the wild on that continent....

“Reid’s terrific doc is a must-see: a biography of one of Canada’s greatest scientists, woman or man.” POV

Yellow Is ForbiddenPIETRA BRETTKELLY, NEW ZEALAND, 2018, 94 MIN. M/A/D

SUN JAN 13 - 3:00PM • MON JAN 14 - 1:00PM TUE JAN 15 - 4:30PM • WED JAN 16 - 6:30PM THU JAN 17 - 4:30PMA hit at last year’s VIFF, this is a revealing documentary about Chinese superstar fashion designer Guo Pei, whose glittering designs are featured in a current exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery (ending Jan 20). Showing Guo at home and at work in preparations for her make-or-break Paris runway show, the film celebrates her artistry and sug-gests her importance both in China and globally. “Finds the sweet spot between pie-eyed flattery and sober appraisal of Guo and her methods.” Hollywood Reporter

Science FairCRISTINA COSTANTINI, DARREN FOSTER, USA, 2018, 90 MIN. IMPACT

FRI JAN 18 - 4:20PM • SAT JAN 19 - 6:00PMMON JAN 21 - 6:30PM • THU JAN 24 - 4:20PM

Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster’s joyful documentary can’t help but inspire hope. Nine science-obsessed teenag-ers are portrayed in the lead-up to the esteemed Intel In-ternational Science and Engineering Fair, where the winner stands to pocket a cool $75,000 and perhaps change the world. With entries from 78 countries—a Brazilian girl and a German boy are featured alongside the Americans—the fair is huge, and the film evolves into “an affectionate and supremely entertaining celebration…” Variety

A Bread FactoryPart Two: Walk With Me A WhilePATRICK WANG, USA, 2018, 120 MIN.

FRI JAN 18 - 8:30PM • SUN JAN 20 - 8:45PMWED JAN 23 - 4:20PM • THU JAN 24 - 8:30PM

"The focus on the workings of an American institution may remind some of the expansive comedies of Robert Altman or the documentaries of Frederick Wiseman. But also, the blurring of the line between performance and reality, the embrace of an intimate theatricality, recalls the work of Jacques Rivette. These are cinematic giants, and this director may be on his way to joining them." Bilge Eberi, New York Times

Is There a PictureRIC BEAIRSTO, HARRY KILLAS, CANADA, 2018, 95 MIN. SEA TO SKY

FRI JAN 11 - 7:30PM • SAT JAN 12 - 8:20PMSUN JAN 13 - 5:00PM • MON JAN 14 - 3:00PMTUE JAN 15 - 8:10PM • WED JAN 16 - 8:25PMTHU JAN 17 - 8:15PM

The Vancouver School of photo-conceptualists changed the very idea of what photography could be. Like all self-respecting schools, it’s not a designation the artists cares for. There was no mission, no mandate, but an explosion of creative energy which for some reason came into sharp focus in a small, rapidly evolving city on the west coast. This fascinating film tracks the origins and inspirations of five artists, Marian Penner Bancroft, Rodney Graham, Christos Dikeakos, Ian Wallace and Jeff Wall. Photo: Greg Masuda

Guests in attendance (Fri Jan 11) : Filmmakers & Artists including: Marian Penner Bancroft, Christos Dikeakos and Ian Wallace.

Presented by

A Bread FactoryPart One: For the Sake of GoldPATRICK WANG, USA, 2018, 122 MIN.

FRI JAN 18 - 6:10PM • SUN JAN 20 - 6:30PMWED JAN 23 - 2:00PM • THU JAN 24 - 6:10PMHailed as one of the discoveries of the year, Patrick Wang’s two-part love letter to a small town theatre company and the arts community at large is hard to describe but easy to enjoy. Made on a wing and a prayer, it keeps flying off in unexpected directions, whether its following a wide range of characters, satirising different modes of theatrical per-formance (avant-garde/musical/civic politics), or restaging Euripides’ Hecuba with expertise and sincerity.

Although Patrick Wang’s diptych can be seen and enjoyed in isolation, the two films are companion pieces and should be seen together, in chronological order.

Therefore we are offering the two films for a double bill price of $18 when purchased in advance.

PuSh International Performing Arts Festival is one of Vancouver’s signature events. Produced over three weeks each January and February, the PuSh Festival presents groundbreaking work in the live performing arts. VIFF is thrilled to partner with PuSh to co-present our 2nd annual PuSh Film Series.

To round out your PuSh Festival experience, we offer a selection of films inspired by, and intended to be paired with, performances and artists in the 2019 PuSh pro-gram. In this partnership with VIFF, the darkened cinema matches the darkened theatre in illuminating and surprising ways.

*Tickets are free, but booking ahead is recommended. Seats are not guaranteed and will be allotted to ticket-holders on a first-come, first-served basis. This talk is open to all ages.

The PuSh Film Series is not eligible for the PuSh Pass.Join us for our screening of A Scanner Darkly following the talk.

Visit pushfestival.ca for more program information.

The Children Are Watching UsVITTORIO DE SICA, ITALY, 1944, 85 MIN.

SUN JAN 20 - 3:00PM

Five years before Bicycle Thieves, director De Sica and screenwriter Cesare Zavattini collaborated for the first time (along with three other writers) on this heartbreaking tale of a family breakup witnessed through the eyes of a child. Shot in 1942 under the fascist regime, the film broke with the pieties of the time by acknowledging the tensions that can tear apart a marriage.

De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves screens in PuSh with a new live score.

PripyatNICHOLAS GEYRHALTER, AUSTRIA, 1999, 100 MIN.

SUN JAN 27 - 3:00PMA haunting, monochromatic vision of life in the not entirely abandoned radioactive “Workers’ City” of Pripyat more than a decade after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986, Nicholas Geyrhalter’s film is akin to a documentary version of Tarkovsky’s Stalker, a potent, patient meditation on a post-apocalyptic city which is gradually being reclaimed by nature, and the handful of hold-outs who refuse to give up the ghost.

“A non-fiction horror story… fascinating and deeply trou-bling.” Joe Leydon, Variety

Graham Reynolds & Joelysa Pankanea in conversation with Mark Haney60 MIN.

SUN FEB 3 - 3:00PM

Composers Graham Reynolds (Pancho Villa from a Safe Distance) and Joelysa Pankanea (Bicycle Thieves) in con-versation with Mark Haney (Aim for the Roses) will discuss music and movies, the inspiration and discipline of com-posing for the screen. Reynolds will talk about his regular collaborations with director Richard Linklater, including Be-fore Midnight, Bernie, and A Scanner Darkly, which screens after this conversation.

A Scanner DarklyRICHARD LINKLATER, USA, 2006, 100 MIN.

SUN FEB 3 - 4:30PM

Composer Graham Reynolds has worked with director Richard Linklater on 4 feature films, including Before Mid-night, Bernie, and Last Flag Flying. But their first collabora-tion was on this weirdly funny but inescapably prophetic Rotoscope-animated adaptation of Philip K Dick’s novel about alternate realities, drugs, paranoia, and the surveil-lance state. Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr and Winona Ryder can still be detected underneath the movie’s digitally scrambled vision of suburban stoner simulacra.

Discover More.See great films for as little as $8 Year Round!

Whether you see a few films or dozens of films each year, there is a membership level just for you. All memberships include savings, exclusive invitations, free popcorn and a nifty member newsletter.

Share the Joy!Give a VIFF+ membership to the film lover in your life.

Visit viff.org for more details or contact plus@viff.org

VIFF's programming streams:

PANORAMA

Contemporary world cinema

SEA TO SKY

Celebrating BC filmmakers

TRUE NORTH

Canadian stories from coast to coast

NEXT

Next-level experiences in screen-based storytelling

GATEWAY

Compelling world of East Asian cinema

M/A/D

Focus on music, art + design

ALT

Fantastic cinema that defies classification

IMPACT

Films that change the way we see the world

The GuiltyGUSTAV MÖLLE, DENMARK, 2018, 85 MIN. PANORAMA

WED JAN 16 - 4:00PMThis taut thriller from debuting director Gustav Möller gives us an ex-cop (Jakob Cedergren, onscreen through-out and masterful) relegated to the emergency services call room, where he takes a call from a kidnapped woman. As he races against time to save her--while never leav-ing the confines of the room--the camera stays at his side, and we become him… “Möller masterfully ratchets up tension without the benefit of the usual visual aids… [but] with chillingly effective results.” Hollywood Reporter

Winner: Audience Awards, Sundance 18 and Rotterdam 18

Vancouver Foreign Film Society Presents:

Roma

Gift Cards

Considered by the Vancouver Sun to be the "Best of the best... the city's top-rated all-round cinema", admission to the Vancity Theatre is the gift that keeps giving. Choose between giving someone you care about a reloadable VIFF Gift Card or a VIFF+ membership that offers year-round discounts.

Visit viff.org for details.

Give the gift of film!

1181 Seymour Street 604.683.FILMDiscover more at viff.org

What’s on at theVancouverInternationalFilm Centre

December 23 - January 26, 2019December 23 - January 26, 2019

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

Now in its sixth year, the Vancouver Italian Film Festival offers a unique celebratory mixture of movies new and old.

Visit iffest.ca for more information.

All films in Italian with English subtitles and 19+

Opening Gala + Reception - The Man Who Bought the Moon $40

Opening Double Bill with Allegro non troppo $45

Italian Film Festival Ticket Pack Available :

5 Ticket Pack $40 (excludes Opening Gala + Once Upon a Time...)

MEDIA SPONSOR

viff.org1181 Seymour St. / Vancouver BC / V6B 3M7Film Info 604.683.3456 / Office 604.685.0260 / Email info@viff.org

Vancouver International Film Festival’s Year-Round Showcase

Best of 2018 Ticket Packs Available: 3 Ticket Pack $30

Best of 2018

Italian Film Festival January 4 - 10, 2019

The Man Who Bought the Moon

The Man Who Bought the Moon L’uomo che compro la lunaPAOLO ZUCCA, ITALY, 2018, 103 MIN.

FRI JAN 4 - 6:00PM (OPENING GALA)WED JAN 9 - 8:30PM

Alarmed to learn that an unidentified Sardinian has legal title to the moon, the authorities dispatch an undercover agent to investigate. But first, the recruit must be schooled in Sardinian lore so that he can pass muster with the locals... This whimsical, visually sophisticated comedy from Paulo Zucca (L’arbitro) serves up a joyous blend of droll slapstick, deft physical comedy, and absurdism and still contrives to make us care about the fate of a man, the woman he loves, and the planet they share.

This Opening Gala includes food, music from the Steve Kaldestad Trio, and a glass of vino, and always sells out so be sure to book early. Doors from 6pm, speeches at 6.45. Tickets $40.

Combine your Gala ticket with Allegro non troppo (9pm) for an additonal $5

Paddington 2

Paddington 2PAUL KING, UK, 2018, 103 MIN. PANORAMA

MON DEC 31 - 12:00PM

While searching for a present for his beloved Aunt Lucy, Paddington spots a unique pop-up book in Mr Gruber’s antique shop. He takes a series of odd jobs to pay for it, but when the book is stolen suspicion inevitably falls on the ursine immigrant... This delish musical comedy has the daz-zling style of a Wes Anderson or Amelie, with Tati-eseque slapstick, a soupcon of anti-Brexit fervour, and Hugh Grant in multiple costumes.

“The Godfather Part II of Peruvian bear movies.” Wall Street Journal

Phantom ThreadPAUL THOMAS ANDERSON, USA, 2017, 130 MIN. PANORAMA

THU DEC 27 - 8:00PM

Paul Thomas Anderson’s beautifully tailored piece is a battle of the sexes comedy (and a black comedy at that) dressed up as a prestige picture. In what he declared would be his last film role, Daniel Day Lewis is Reynolds Wood-cock, a renowned dressmaker and an obsessive perfection-ist. Vicky Krieps is Alma, a waitress who becomes his latest muse, and who is determined to prove more than that, his match. “Devlishly funny and luxuriantly sensual.” Slate

Leave No TraceDEBRA GRANIK, USA, 2018, 108 MIN. PANORAMA

FRI DEC 28 - 8:00PM

Will (Ben Foster) and his teenage daughter, Tom (Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie), have lived off the grid for years in the forests of Portland, Oregon. When their idyllic life is shat-tered, both are put into social services. After clashing with their new surroundings, Will and Tom set off on a harrow-ing journey back to their wild homeland. “A gorgeous story about adolescence, about basic human kindness, about separation and reconciliation, about the limits of what par-ents can teach their kids.” Stephanie Zacharek, Time

The Death of StalinARMANDO IANNUCCI, UK, 2017, 107 MIN. ALT

SAT DEC 29 - 8:00PM

Moscow, 1953: when Joseph Stalin drops dead, his para-sitic cronies square off in a frantic power struggle to be the next Soviet leader. Among the contenders are the dweeby Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor), the wily Nikita Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi), and the sadistic secret police chief Beria (Simon Russell Beale). Political satirist Armando Iannucci (Veep; The Thick of It) ups the ante with this jet black com-edy about the terrors of totalitarianism. Banned in Russia, recommendation enough, surely?

MandyPANOS COSMATOS, USA, 2018, 121 MIN. ALT

SAT DEC 29 - 10:10PM

The most extreme genre movie of 2018 comes from Vancouver native Panos Cosmatos, son of Rambo di-rector George Cosmatos. Delivering in spades on the promise of his debut Beyond the Black Rainbow, Mandy is (be warned) an ultra-violent revenge fantasy, but the emphasis falls squarely on the last word. Filmed in Bel-gium but set in a gothic Cascadia suggestive of Heavy Metal album covers, this is a movie of blood-drenched sunsets, dark woods, stoner spiritualism, and acidic wit. + Nic Cage on overdrive.

FoxtrotSAMUEL MAOZ, ISRAEL/GERMANY/FRANCE/SWITZERLAND, 2017, 112 MIN. PANORAMA

SUN DEC 30 - 8:00PM

Rated 100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, but less popular in Israeli government circles (Israel’s Minister of Culture condemned the film when it won the Grand Jury Prize at Venice in the fall), Foxtrot is a truly extraordinary work from Samuel Maoz (Lebanon). A film about grief and loss, it is also a weirdly compelling and audacious piece, a movie that keeps turning the tables on us. “No film will be able to deal with a similar subject without being weighed against Foxtrot.” Hollywood Reporter

First ReformedPAUL SCHRADER, USA, 2017, 113 MIN. PANORAMA

TUE JAN 1 - 7:45PM

One of the most resonant and powerful dramas of the year, First Reformed marks a late renaissance for filmmaker Paul Schrader, whose long career includes the screen-plays for Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. Ethan Hawke plays Ernst Toller, a priest suffering not so much a crisis of faith as an acute and overwhelming sense of despair. Toller is a good man, but he’s not the right priest to alleviate the anguish of Michael, a troubled young man in his parish convinced that climate catastrophe is inevitable.

Edge of the Knife Sgaawaay K’uunaGWAAI EDENSHAW, HELEN HAIG-BROWN, CANADA, 2018, 100 MIN. SEA TO SKY

TUE JAN 1 - 10:00PMShot on stunning Haida Gwaii and scripted in two Haida dialects, Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown’s 19th-century epic is both a landmark work of cinema and a nod to the grand storytelling traditions that lure us to the big screen. Guilt-ridden after a tragic accident, Adiits’ii (Tyler York) retreats into the wilderness where he’s plagued by spirits and transformed into Gaagiixid, the Haida Wildman. As his loved ones set out to capture and cure him, a riveting tale of survival and forgiveness unfolds.

Best BC Film Winner, VIFF 2018

Best Canadian Film, VIFF 2018

Sorry to Bother YouBOOTS RILEY, USA, 2018, 111 MIN. ALT

WED JAN 2 - 8:25PMIn one of the invigorating and original movies of the year, Lakeith Stanfield plays Cassius Green, a telemarketer who is finding it tough to make ends meet until an unexpected mentor confides the secret to his success... Boots Riley’s hilarious and alarming feature debut is a provocative, absurdist comedy about race and capitalism, politics and gender. Imagine Being John Malkovich directed by Spike Lee - and made in the heat and madness of our own mis-begotten times.

Support the GirlsANDREW BUJALSKI, USA, 2018, 93 MIN. PANORAMA

THU JAN 3 - 8:25PMThe latest from prolific writer-director Andrew Bujalski (Re-sults, Computer Chess) is set in a “sports bar wtih curves”. Here, over the course of a day, manager Lisa (Regina Hall) will see her essentially optimistic outlook tested on all fronts, by the sad, horny customers, her obnoxious boss, and her scantily-clad waitress staff, for whom Lisa is as much a den mother as a manager. “A biting commentary on American capitalism in the form of a mainstream crowd pleaser.” The Film Stage

Italian Film Festival January 4 - 10, 2019

The Grossi Gang La banda GrossiCLAUDIO RIPALTI, ITALY, 2018, 113 MIN.

THU JAN 10 - 7:45PM - CLOSING FILM

Central Italy, 1860: a poor farmer by the name of Terenzio Grossi leads a band of outlaws in local rebellion against the newly formed Piedmont State. Disillusioned with politics, hungered by ever-increasing taxes and unwilling to partici-pate in the mandatory military draft, the gang will seize the Pesaro and Urbino Province with the help of a restless and angry population. This independently produced historical gangster film brings to life a turbulent and under-examined period in Italian history. Guest: Filmmaker in attendance.

THE ITALIAN FILM FESTIVALPRESENTED BY:

SPONSORED BY:

Boys Cry

La terra dell’abbastanzaDAMIANO D’INNOCENZO, FABIO D’INNOCENZO, ITALY, 2018, 96 MIN.

SAT JAN 5 - 7:00PM

Set in the outskirts of Rome,teenage pals Mirko and Manolo joke around on the drive home after the end of their pizza delivery shifts. Distracted, they don’t see the pedestrian wandering into the road. It is an accident that will set them on a path to crime, fast money, and corrosive danger. Writ-ten and directed by the self-taught twins the D’Innocenzo Brothers, this stylish debut is not the slick Gomorrah knock off you think you are in for. Instead its a probing, psychologi-cally acute study of two young males losing their way.

Fists in the Pocket I pugni in tascaMARCO BELLOCCHIO, ITALY, 1965, 108 MIN.

SAT JAN 5 - 9:00PM • WED JAN 9 - 2:30PM

Tormented by twisted desires, a young man (Lou Castel, Look Up) takes drastic measures to rid his grotesquely dysfunctional family of its various afflictions in this aston-ishing 1965 debut from Marco Bellocchio. Charged by a coolly assured style, shocking perversity, and savage gal-lows humor, Fists in the Pocket was a gleaming ice pick in the eye of bourgeois family values and Catholic morality, a truly unique work that continues to rank as one of the great achievements of Italian cinema. New 4K restoration

ResinaRENZO CARBONERA, ITALY, 2017, 90 MIN.

SUN JAN 6 - 3:00PM

Disillusioned young cellist Maria returns to the village in the Alps where she was born to attend her brother’s funeral. This isolated community clings to its own ancient dialect (Cimbric). Its future looks bleak. But Maria, almost reluc-tantly, becomes re-integrated when she is persuaded to help conduct the award-winning local choir, even if its own glory days were long ago. She accepts the challenge, and in the process falls back in love with the possibilities of music again. + short Radici (21 min - Filmmaker in attendance).

A Cat on a Highway

Come un Gatto in TangenzialeRICCARDO MILANI, ITALY, 2017, 98 MIN.

SUN JAN 6 - 5:20PM

Giovanni (Antonio Albanese) and Monica (Paola Cortellesi) come from very different places. He is an affluent social planner who lives in downtown Rome, while she deals every day with a challenging working class district on the edge of the city. Their paths would not normally cross, except that their teenage kids start dating, coercing these two single parents to combine forces in order to keep a watchful eye on the relationship. Part rom-com, part class satire, this caustic comedy is a delight.

V6ARUGGERO ROMANO, CANADA, 2018, 67 MIN.

SUN JAN 6 - 7:30PM • SUN JAN 13 - 8:45PM*

Italian filmmaker Ruggero Romano came to Vancouver in 2016 and was moved to make a film about the inhabitants of postal code V6A, the people of Hastings Street and the DTES. We all know the issues: homelessness, poverty, ad-diction, exploitation and racism. Yet Romano’s film is un-expected: a loving and inspiring celebration of artists and musicians, street poets, philosophers and activists. Please join us in welcoming the film team to Vancity Theatre for the red carpet premiere. Guest: Filmmaker in attendance + music & art show.

World Premiere

*Not part of Italian Ticket Pack

Cinecitta Babilonia Cinecittà Babilonia: Sesso, Droga & Camicie NereMARCO SPAGNOLI, ITALY, 2016, 72 MIN.

MON JAN 7 - 1:00PM

With a nod to Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon, Cinecit-ta Babilonia chronicles the early history of Italy’s famous studio. Created by Mussolini, Cinecitta was a decadent pre-war wonderland. Marco Spagnoli’s doc is especially fascinated by the plight of the studio’s goddesses, stars like Maria Denis, Isa Miranda and Alida Valli as they sought or fought off the favours of their fascist overlords. It’s part feminist critique, part historical chronicle, part sleazy muck-raker, and all revelatory.

Tribute to Bernardo Bertolucci: The Conformist Il ConformistaBERNARDO BERTOLUCCI, ITALY, 1970, 111 MIN.

SUN JAN 6 - 9:15PM

Last November we lost one of the greats: Bernardo Ber-tolucci. Arguably his most perfect film, this adaptation of Alberto Moravia’s novel is one of the most visually dazzling movies ever made (DP Vittorio Storaro went on to shoot Apocalypse Now and most of Bertolucci’s subsequent epics). Jean Louis Trintignant is the existential anti-hero, pressed into a political assassination by Mussolini’s secu-rity apparatus.

I’m Back Sono tornatoLUCA MINIERO, ITALY, 2018, 92 MIN.

TUE JAN 8 - 8:25PM

Rome. Today. 80 years since his death, Benito Mussolini inexplicably reappears in Piazza Vittorio. The war is over and everything seems changed. Yet il Duce is not one to shirk a challenge, and given what he sees around him, the time seems ripe for the plucking. With an opportunistic documentarian in tow - his own Boswell, or Sancho Panza, Mussollini sets out to retake Italy...

Tribute to Bernardo Bertolucci: The Grim Reaper La Commare SeccaBERNARDO BERTOLUCCI, ITALY, 1962, 93 MIN.

WED JAN 9 - 12:45PM

Bertolucci’s first film was based on a story by Pier Paolo Pasolini, with whom Bernardo had apprenticed a year be-fore. In a scenario similar to Kurosawa’s Rashomon, the film is based around a series of police interviews with suspects who were seen late at night in a park in Rome, the scene of the murder of a prostitute. The interviewees’ accounts are often contradicted by flashbacks. Bit by bit, Bertolucci builds up a picture of the shady activities taking place in this corner of the city at night.

Umberto DVITTORIO DE SICA, ITALY, 1952, 89 MIN.

MON JAN 7 - 2:30PM

This neorealist masterpiece by Vittorio De Sica follows an elderly pensioner as he strives to make ends meet during It-aly’s postwar economic recovery. Alone except for his dog, Flike, Umberto struggles to maintain his dignity in a city where human kindness seems to have been swallowed up by the forces of modernization. His simple quest to satisfy his basic needs—food, shelter, companionship—makes for one of the most heartbreaking stories ever filmed, and an essential classic of world cinema.

Juliet of the Spirits Giulietta degli spiritiFEDERICO FELLINI, ITALY, 1965, 137 MIN.

MON JAN 7 - 7:00PM

Cinematographer Gianni di Venanzo’s masterful use of Technicolor transforms Juliet of the Spirits, Fellini’s first color feature, into a kaleidoscope of dreams, spirits, and memories. Giulietta Masina plays a betrayed wife whose inability to come to terms with reality leads her along a hal-lucinatory journey of self-discovery. “Fellini’s best movie” Roger Ebert

Tutti a Casa - Power to the People?LISE BIRK PEDERSEN, DENMARK/ITALY, 2017, 93 MIN.

MON JAN 7 - 4:30PM

Banned from state TV and shunning the Berlusconi me-dia empire, Italian comedian and political activist, Beppe Grillo, turns to the streets and the internet to fight political arrogance and corruption. His popular protest movement, Movimento 5 Stelle, vows to send all politicians home and bring the people to power. They win a stunning 25% of the vote to become the single largest party in Italy, and send 163 ordinary people into Parliament. “Entertaining and scary” Soundvenue

The Guest L’ospiteDUCCIO CHIARINI, ITALY, 2018, 94 MIN.

TUE JAN 8 - 6:30PM

Guido (Daniele Parisi, Ears) is thrown into a midlife crisis when his longstanding girlfriend tells him she’s weighing moving to Canada – alone. A week of couch surfing with friends and family doesn’t exactly reaffirm his faith his re-lationships; it seems like everyone is on the verge of break-ing up, cheating, or alternatively – like his parents – mired in cozy disgruntlement and recrimination. This immensely likeable comedy earns plentiful laughs with wry observation and engaging performances.

Walking on WaterANDREY PAOUNOV, ITALY/USA, 2018, 100 MIN.

THU JAN 10 - 5:45PM

The mountains surrounding Lombardy’s Lake Iseo are the backdrop to the Mona Lisa. In 2016 they became the set-ting for another stunning art work, Christo’s long-cherished dream “The Floating Piers”, a golden jetty that allowed visitors to walk across the lake. This fascinating documen-tary (in English and Italian) captures the tension, angst and inspiration as the project came to fruition, bringing together artist, engineers, bureaucrats, volunteers, and thousands of the general public.

The Leopard Il gattopardoLUCHINO VISCONTI, ITALY, 1963, 186 MIN.

THU JAN 10 - 2:00PM

Lampedusa’s elegiac account of a 19th century Sicilian aristocrat, Prince Salina (Burt Lancaster) fading into his-tory is one of the pinnacles of Italian cinema. The first half shows us social upheaval through sweeping martial conflict, but the second half of this stately three hour film principally concerns marital arrangements for his nephew Tancredi (Alain Delon) to the nouveau riche Angelica (Claudia Cardinale), ultimately a more radical change. “Mi-raculous.” Roger Ebert

New 4K DCP

Allegro non troppoBRUNO BOZZETTO, ITALY, 1976, 81 MIN.

FRI JAN 4 - 9:00PM • MON JAN 7 - 4:15PM

Maverick animator Bruno Bozzetto’s best known feature is a counter-cultural riposte to Disney’s Fantasia - definitely for grown-ups - an often inspired, manic riff on six classi-cal music staples from Debussy, Dvorak, Sibelius, Vivaldi, Stravinsky and (unforgettably) Ravel’s Bolero. Interspersed with the animated sonatas are black and white live action slapstick sequences starring Maurizio Nichetti as a harried animator, a sleazy promoter, a bullying conductor, and a female geriatric orchestra...

Once Upon a Time in America - extended director’s cutSERGIO LEONE, ITALY/USA, 1984, 250 MIN.

SAT JAN 5 - 12:00PM • TUE JAN 8 - 1:15PM

Never before seen theatrically in Vancouver, the Italian Film Festival is proud to present the extended director’s cut of Sergio Leone’s masterpiece. At 250 minutes, this is the version that was released theatrically in Italy in 1984, and nowhere else (and which was recently restored). Leone took a slim autobiographical novella about Jewish hoods in New York in the 1920s and produced a meditative epic steeped in his own passionate imaginative relationship with the mythology of America.

FlashbacksNew Year's Eve

La La LandDAMIEN CHAZELLE, USA, 2016, 128 MIN. M/A/D

MON DEC 31 - 5:00PM

Out with the old? The winner of six Academy Awards (in-cluding Best Actress and Best Director), La La Land is itself a valentine, a love letter to Hollywood romance, to the great movie musicals of the past, to jazz, and to the dream that still inspires young people to head West and show us what they're made of. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone star as an aspiring jazz pianist and actress, respectively. It's a genu-inely romantic comedy, a rhapsody in rainbow colours that will leave you dancing on air.

Winner: 6 Academy Awards including Best Actress, Best Director, Original Score, Cinematography.

The Magnificent AmbersonsORSON WELLES, USA, 1942, 88 MIN. PANORAMA

TUE JAN 1 - 12:30PM

RKO’s desecration of Welles’s second film may be the worst act of studio vandalism in Hollywood history. They cut 50 minutes from the running time and tacked on a happy ending. Even in this debased form, Ambersons is a wonderful film, a deeply moving adaptation of Booth Tarkington’s novel charting the demise of a wealthy American family and the comeuppance of spoiled young George (Tim Holt), who has wrecked his mother’s chance of happiness.

Strange VictoryLEO HURWITZ, USA, 1948, 71 MIN. PANORAMA

SUN JAN 20 - 5:00PMIn 2017 and 2018 we marked the inauguration of the President with The Great Dictator and All The President’s Men. This year we spotlight a truly remarkable document, one of those shadow classics that cast the USA in a dif-ferent light, but which has largely gone unseen. Made in the wake of WWII, Leo Hurwitz’s shocking film is a tribute to the men and women who defeated Nazism, but also, exceptionally, a wake up call concerning the prevalence of fascism, racism, inequality and bigotry in the US. Everybody’s Fine

A casa tutti beneGABRIELE MUCCINO, ITALY, 2018, 105 MIN.

WED JAN 9 - 6:30PM

Director Gabriele Muccino (whose credits include Will Smith’s Seven Pounds and The Pursuit of Happiness, as well as the international hit The Last Kiss) returns with an emotionally expansive ensemble drama set on a beautiful island, home to a couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in the company of children, grandchildren, and children’s ex-wives… Inclement weather extends the party beyond breaking point, as ex partners quarrel, singles pair off, and teenagers fall in love…

Look Up Guarda in altoFULVIO RISULEO, ITALY, 2017, 90 MIN.

SAT JAN 5 - 5:00PM • WED JAN 9 - 4:30PMTHU JAN 10 - 12:00PM • SAT JAN 12 - 6:30PM*

Teco, a bored young man, one day discovers the existence of an ‘upperground’ world on Rome’s rooftops, a world of fantasy, of children, spaceshipes, hot air balloons and secret pathways and passages, a place where anything can happen if you are willing to take the plunge... A little like an adult, earth-bound version of The Little Prince, this contemporary fairy tale is a priceless escapade into the un-expected. “Only Fulvio Risuleo could make such a bizarre and original movie.” Rolling Stone

*Not part of Italian Ticket Pack

December 23 - January 26, 2019