VIFF M/A/D (MUSIC, ART AND DESIGN) MINI REVIEWS
VIFF M/A/D is a stream at the Vancouver International Film Festival that focuses on silverscreen showcases of music, art and design. While most of us are familiar with a good band documentary or Knowledge Networkstyle artist focus, many of the films programmed into M/A/D fall outside those general-interest areas and open up a world of alternative views to entertain, challenge and surprise viewers.
The following six films are highly recommended:
BUNCH OF KUNST
Director: Christine Franz. Cast: Sleaford Mods, Iggy Pop, Steve Ignorant, others.
No less an authority on aggrorock than Iggy Pop calls Sleaford Mods “the world’s greatest rock ’n’ roll band.” The U.K. duo of 40-something lads — vocalist/ ranter Jason Williamson and beat-maker Andrew Ferns — are one of the most unlikely success stories of recent years. Making music that spews working-class opinions into the faces of the elites carried on raw-to-brutal electronic rhythms, the group is a self-made, unique and more than a tad rough around the edges.
First showing: Vancity Theatre, Friday, 6:30 p.m.
SCHUMANN’S BAR TALKS
Director: Marieke Schroeder. Cast: Charles Schumann. Charles Schumann is a 76-year-old legend in the world of bartending. From his Munich institution, Schumann’s, he has been a leading light of the global cocktail revival. His 1991 publication, American Bar, celebrated such classics as the Hemingway Daiquiri to such personal recipes as the French 68. In this delightful film, travel with the bartender as he searches out the best cocktail bars and bartenders in New York, Tokyo, Havana and beyond.
First showing: Simon Fraser University, Saturday, 4 p.m.
PLANETA PETRILA
Director: Andrei Dascalescu. Cast: Ion Barbu and the townsfolk of Petrila, Romania.
A look at the actions of the people of the Romanian coal mining town of Petrila in response to the closure of their industrial livelihood and history. This documentary traces the anarchist/surrealist former miner-turned-artist Ion Barbu as he tries to save some of the structural legacy of the mine to turn it into a cultural hub and keep something alive in what could otherwise be a dead city. The inventiveness on display here could inspire some really new ideas in activism.
First Showing: Cinematheque, Thursday, 6:30 p.m.
CHAVELA
Director: Catherine Gund, Daresha Kyi.
Cast: Chavela Vargas, Pedro Almodóvar, Laura Garcia-Lorca.
When singer Chavela Vargas sang the melancholy Mexican love ballads called rancheras, she imbued them with a passion and depth that took the form somewhere else entirely. Born in Costa Rica, the self-described “hija rebelde” (rebellious daughter) went from highs starring in films and topping the charts while hanging in the bohemian Mexico City scene with Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera to years as a desperately poor and abusive drunk. A lesbian legend who came out later in life and became a movement icon in Mexico, Vargas was a power to be reckoned with into her 90s. Showing: Playhouse, Thursday, 9 p.m.
WHERE YOU’RE MEANT TO BE
Director: Paul Fegan. Cast: Aidan Moffat, Sheila Stewart.
When former Arab Strap frontman Aidan Moffat decided to release an album of updated classic folk songs, he ran into an obstacle in the shape of 79-year-old Scottish legend Sheila Stewart. Not only did the last remaining member of the famous traveller family whose name was synonymous with the folk music of the land (the song Jock Stewart is written about her relative) think Moffat’s treatment of the material was “not on,” she pushed him to learn to respect the lore and love that went into the songs. What results is a delightful journey of musical discovery and some moments where you may welcome the subtitles. Sponsored by the Vancouver Folk Music Festival.
Showing: International Village 8, Oct. 10, 8:45 p.m.
THE MOUNTAIN OF SGAANA
Director: Christopher Auchter. Cast: Animation.
Haida animator Auchter takes a folk tale about a young warrior kidnapped into the spirit world and the young woman who journeys there to rescue him into the contemporary realm in this time-travelling, genre-mashing, stunning film. The NFB-animation-produced The Mountain of SGaana recently won the Best Animated Film of Series for Young Audiences at the Ottawa International Film Festival.
First showing: International Village 8, Thursday, 9:15 p.m.