Films about creatives make for great VIFF consumption
Credit to Author: Dana Gee| Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2019 18:06:16 +0000
A great thread that is part of the Vancouver International Film Festival is the abundance of films that focus on people who create. Whether it’s music, visual art, dance or architecture, there’s a bounty of interesting stories, including stunning cinematic portraits of Haida artist Robert Davidson in Charles Wilkinson’s film Haida Modern and in Werner Herzog’s look at his late friend the novelist and journalist Bruce Chatwin in Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin.
With a view toward that theme, here are just a handful of other arty films to add to your list:
Leonardo: The Works offers up an up0close tour of the great master’s paintings. Photo: VIFF
This film from U.K. director Phil Grabsky makes its world premiere at the VIFF.
Grabsky takes the viewer up-close to the paintings of the great master with this big-screen, perfectly lit and crowd free tour of the greatest museums in the world. Think about it, you don’t have to stand way in the back and stretch over the sea of cellphones to get a glimpse of the Mona Lisa.
Sept. 29, 5:45 p.m., SFU Gold Corp Theatre; Oct 1, 1 p.m., Vancity; Oct. 9, 11 a.m., Vancity
The art of taxidermy is revealed in the new documentary Stuffed. Photo: VIFF
American director Erin Denham answers the question of how does someone make a dead bird look so alive? This is a look inside (literally) the art of taxidermy. To the untrained eye it may seem like a macabre activity that reeks of death, but a closer look shows people who are deeply devoted to the natural world and want to educate and excite others.
Sept. 28, 8:30 p.m., Vancity Theatre; Oct. 6, 1:30 p.m. SFU Gold Corp Theatre
Director Selina Miles offers a look at the photography of Martha Cooper in Martha: Picture Story. Photo: VIFF
In this Australian/American co-production, director Selina Miles gets a Canadian premiere here with this look at the photography of Martha Cooper. The American shooter trained her focus on the colourful world of hip-hop graffiti. Her photos really helped to elevate graffiti from the currency of juvenile delinquents to a legitimate art form.
Sept. 30, 11 a.m., International Village; Oct. 11, 6:45 p.m., SFU Gold Corp Theatre
Famed architect Richard Neutra’s design (seen here is the famed Kaufmann House in Palm Springs) is recognized around the world. The modernist is the focus of Neutra – Survival Through Designm a new documentary showing at VIFF. Photo: VIFF
Anyone who likes a good bit of desert modernism architecture will know the name Richard Neutra. His 1946-built Palm Springs Kaufman House is an iconic example of desert cool. Built in the late 1920s, his Lovell House in L.A. is often cited as the first steel-frame house in the U.S. It also plays a role in the award-winning neo-noir film L.A. Confidential. So bottom line, he built some cool stuff and director PJ Letofsky has put those designs front-and-centre in his new history-packed film that gets its international debut at the VIFF.
Sept. 28, 3:30 p.m., SFU Gold Corp Theatre
Art from the Japanese Edo period is the star of the new documentary Edo Avant-Garde.
Edo Avant-Garde
This Japan/U.S. co-production sees director Linda Hoaglund reveal the affects Japanese artists from the Edo era (1603-1868) had and still have on modern art.
The art spotlighted in this world-premiere film shows how these long-ago artists innovated and set some groundwork for abstraction, surrealism and the illusion of 3-D. Shot in 4K, Hoaglund’s camera captures 200 works of art in museums and private collections in the U.S. and Japan.
Oct., 3, 6:15 p.m.; Oct. 5, 2:15, p.m.
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