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Hot Events this week: MOV-ie in the Park & VAFF's Mind your Bidness

By Midya Tsoy

A week of Food & Film--what could be better? Enjoy a MOV-ie on a large outdoor screen in Vanier Park on Monday, August 23 at 9PM. Then come out on Wednesday, August 25, at 8PM with your dance shoes and check out VAFF's fundraiser: MIND YOUR BIDNESS, a one of a kind live auction and dance party.

The 6th Annual Vancouver Women in Film Festival | Call For Submissions | September 1, 2010

By Manori Ravindran

The New York Times recently reported that out of approximately 600 films reviewed by their paper in 2009, only 60 had female directors. These paltry numbers will come as a shock to most people, but one group it may not surprise is the Vancouver chapter of Women in Film and Television (WIFTV). With their upcoming 6th annual Vancouver Women in Film Festival, WIFTV has officially launched its Call for Submissions and all independent filmmakers (both women and men) are encouraged to apply. The festival supports submissions featuring strong female characters and stories.

Waiting 4 Goliath | Vancouver Queer Film Festival

By Genie MacLeod

Last week cries of jubilation and sighs of relief were heard all over California as U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker decreed Proposition 8, the legislation that banned gay marriage, a violation of constitutional rights. In perfect juxtaposition, this decision comes hot on the heels of Pride Festival season—Vancouver's being just a few days before the ruling. What better time then, to celebrate your wonderful LGBT selves, or your amazing LGBT friends. Just because our Pride Parade has passed us by, there is no reason to let your rainbow fade!

Mao's Last Dancer | channelAPA | Film

By Genie MacLeod, originally published by Steve Nguyen, ChannelAPA

Another day, another Hollywood film about love, honour, and artistic expression starring a Chinese ballet dancer. Wait, what? That's right ladies and gents, no bit roles, no stereotypes, just raw talent. Once again we borrow from our dear friend Steve Nguyen at ChannelAPA to tell you about Mao's Last Dancer, the awe-inspiring and based-on-fact story of a boy hand-picked by the Chinese government to become one of the greatest ballet dancer's in the world.

3rd Vancouver Brazillian Film Festival | July 15-18, 2010 | Vancity Theatre

By Kwaku Adu-Poku

The 3rd Brazilian Film Festival will take place at the Vancity Theatre from July 15th-18th, courtesy of the Inffinito Festival Circuit.

Taiwanese Film Festival Movie Review | A Place of One's Own

By Justin Ko

A remarkably funny and at times uplifting black comedy, which still refuses to sugar coat the dark and depressing aspects of its cynical realm, director Yi-An (Ian) Lou has managed to craft a charming and moving work that resonates simultaneously with the absurd and the realistic, while drawing attention to such current issues as the Taiwanese popular music industry and the plight of indigenous Taiwanese peoples.

Spring Fever | A Chinese Director Goes Rogue

By Genie MacLeod

Director Lou Ye is no stranger to controversy. His last film, Summer Palace, was a graphic depiction of the intense and passionate relationship of two students at the fictional Beiqing University during the time of the student revolution. This feature earned him critical acclaim from Western film critics, as well as a five-year ban on all his filmmaking endeavours from the Chinese authorities. Spring Fever, Lou's latest offering, is a tribute to a powerful love hidden in a secret affair.

NAFF 2010 | 7 Days in Slow Motion

By Gayatri Bajpai

7 Days in Slow Motion is a sweet little independent that follows a week in a harried schoolboy's life. His exams are coming up, and his mother's sole wish in life is that he make a 'first division', so that her mother will for once be impressed with her 'second daughter's' skills in raising a child.

NAFF 2010 | My Toxic Baby

By Angela Jung

This is not a film about Momzillas. This is a film that reveals the toxicity in our lives, and even the toxicity that we sometimes unknowingly expose babies to. Award-winning director Min Sook Lee gave birth to this film My Toxic Baby after realizing the chemicals and harmful substances that are in products her baby uses. And if you are a Momzilla, you may have nightmares after watching this.

NAFF 2010 | The Golden Pin

By Justin Ko

Despite its abbreviated length, The Golden Pin is an ambitious and adventurous film in terms of content and underlying message. Director Cuong Ngo crafts a short that manages to explosively challenge several unspoken boundaries, such as interracial and homosexual barriers, which are rarely ever addressed in feature-length Asian cinema.

NAFF 2010 | 30 Day Promise

By Kwaku Adu-Poku

30 Day Promise follows a man named Vincent Ternida as he recounts his experience of love lost. This is the kind of film that you need to just see for yourself.

NAFF 2010 | A Summer Family

By Gayatri Bajpai

Kamimura is an ageing dancer living in the south of France and giving lessons in the Japanese art form Butoh to students who come to his farm. Every summer it seems his much younger lover, Yuzuko, leaves to be in New York - her presence in Kamimura's household overlapping only briefly with that of his middle-aged wife, Akiko, and their daughter, Mayu.

NAFF 2010 | Fish in Barrel

By Angela Jung

Is it possible to capture a crucial moment in time into a tidy 8 minute piece? Local director, Randall Okita, explores an emotional journey of a man's internal struggles with slow motion sequences. Okita relies on the part of the audience's intelligence in order to understand what is truly captivated within these 8 minutes.

NAFF 2010 | Digital Underground in the People's Republic of China

By Kwaku Adu-Poku

Digital Underground is a documentary that traces the proliferation and dissemination of independent film in China. These films represent some of the last vestiges of independent media in China today, and as such they often provide an unauthorized look into the experience of Chinese people as it is actually lived, rather than what the state allows to be seen.

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