Existentialism is a big word. But for 76 years, for a readership barely old enough to read, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince has conveyed the importance of asking who we are, what connects us to others, and how we should live. I saw this work not too long ago, during the 2019 Victoria Film Festival, and quite enjoyed it (see review here) and it continues to inspire, getting a theatrical screening in Vancouver, BC, on April 19th.
Charles Officer’s acclaimed documentary Invisible Essence: The Little Prince looks beyond what the story of a stranded aviator who encounters an elegant alien child in the Sahara means. This documentary explores the global legacy of The Little Prince 75 years after its publication. It weaves the author Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s extraordinary biography with fascinating discussions from key sections of the book, exploring the many ways life and art can reflect upon one another in curious ways. And in telling the author’s own story of a child who suffered the loss of a father and beloved brother, and who found “himself” as an aviator for the French air-mail company Aeropostale, flying alone over no man’s lands.
With Capital City Comic Con (4C) less than a week away, just what I’ll be doing here is to run two role-playing games, Call of Cthulhu, and also host a panel about the paranormal pop culture scene. I authored enough content not only here, but also for Absolute Underground Magazine, 28DLA.com and Drunk in a Graveyard to know the trends. I have been a paranormal enthusiast ever since Scooby Doo graced the screens back in the ’60s. I’m not that old, but I love those classics!
This show takes place March 22–24, 2019 in Victoria, British Columbia. It has big goals and while it will never compare to the mainland shows, it can hold its own. This event is like that Little Engine That Could. I’ve talked to Biajo Woodward of Cherry Bomb Toys to know it will take years before the loftier ideas can get realized. Support from different industries is needed. In the meantime, it keeps chugging along, and I know at least part of the team simply want to offer good things for the community to enjoy. For those fans wanting something quieter, I recommend this island grown convention. It’s quaint.
Fan Expo Vancouver (March 1-3, 2019) is returning to form, and that’s to offer a mecca of delights to kickstart the first weekend of March with. This includes a larger than usual list of talents behind many a fan favourite comic book, television show or internet streaming channel. There are some video games, especially with Sony spotlighting the latest for the PS4, and this area never disappoints. With everything announced, I feel two days must be spent, minimum.
I’m very excited to see Arthur Adams on the list. I can finally get my Longshot trade paperback autographed! Pamela Anderson is not a regular at pop culture conventions and to hear she’s appearing is just as wonderful. I can “dream of” other talents I would love to see in the future if what’s highlighted here is a sign of who this show wants to bring to Vancouver, BC!
Folks familiar enough with this event will find plenty to do over the three-day event. A tentative schedule is online for folks to plan.
This event will take place in the West Building, and like last year is to have everything put into one huge space instead of spreading out. No explanation is given. On the plus side: everything is within easy reach. On the negative side: noise levels and potential overcrowding. My wish for the future is to have it take up an entire building.
Of particular note to content creators and film enthusiasts are:
The Whistler Film Festival is a jam-packed five-day event taking place north of Vancouver, British Columbia. Established in 2001, local talents and industry bigwigs are here not only to ski but also look at the spotlight of refreshing new talents. This show is not for star spotting. I visited this resort to marvel at the Milky Way and get back to Nature; though for others, to mingle with the likes of Kim Cattrall, Ryan Reynolds or Jason Priestley is more enticing. Even Hollywood’s elite might be here looking for the next big thing.
With no surprise, Mary: Queen of Scots is the gala film. Saoirse Ronan plays the title role, and Margot Robbie is Queen Elizabeth I. Both are rivals for the throne, and for who gets it, they can look at John Guy’s book Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart, which posits the theory that Mary and Elizabeth actually met and planned how to rule. Their on-screen tête-à-tête is one to marvel at.
To revisit this mountain resort town has been on my list for a while, and this year has enough reasons for me to go. The following are my genre picks which caught my eye.
The summaries are from this event’s website:
Anna and the Apocalypse
Nov 29 8:30pm Squamish Cultural Center
Sun, Dec 02, 9:00am Rainbow Theatre
Okay, so you want to see something different at a film festival. How about a Scottish Christmas musical zombie movie? Yup. Shaun of the dead meets Glee. This is the wackiest premise for a film since Trey Parker’s Cannibal The Musical (1993) or Darren Lynn Bousman’s The Devil’s Carnival (2012). When a zombie apocalypse threatens the town of little haven at Christmas time, Anna and her teen friends have to slash, decapitate and sing their way through an assortment of undead snowmen, elves, Santas and Christmas shoppers just to make it across town to the safe haven of their high school. The singing and dancing are show-stoppingly good at times as if the players are auditioning for a Broadway play. And if you are a truly twisted soul, maybe this will even put you in the Christmas spirit.
[Editor’s note: This movie will play at select theatres beginning Dec 7 courtesy of Orion Pictures. Please check local listings]
Elijah and the Rock Creature
Dec 02 4:00pm
Village 8 Cinema
A delightful family film that structurally resembles E.T., but on a tiny fraction of the budget. It demonstrates what great costume design and luminescent photography can accomplish when filtered through the eyes of visual artist and painter Jennifer Walden in her first feature, shot near Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories.
Elijah and his mother are grieving a loss when they decide to see the stars in Wood Buffalo National Park, the largest dark sky preserve in the world. Elijah gets separated from his party and wanders the beautiful but marker-less landscape, frightened and lost. Along the way, he encounters a mythological rock creature “from beyond the stars”, who is also trying to find his way home. Together, they become a team. But when Elijah tries to explain the existence of his extraterrestrial guide, the folks back home assume he is suffering from hallucinations.
Using mostly local talent, with a particular nod to costume designer Adrienne Cartwright, this is proof that resonant stories can be made in any part of this country, and it marks the arrival of a major new directorial talent on the Canadian scene.
At Eternity’s Gate
Nov 28, 9:00pm
Nov 30, 12:00pm Rainbow Theatre
Willem Dafoe is Vincent van Gogh. With his sunken cheeks and haunted eyes, it is difficult to imagine any other actor in the role. The film, directed by acclaimed artist Julian Schnabel (Basquiat, The Diving Bell & the Butterfly), focuses on Van Gogh’s final months, living hand to mouth in the south of France. He drinks too much, is extremely productive, but fails to connect with the locals, who taunt him and tease him. His artistic response to the beauty of the country around him continues to inspire him, even as his daily life and very survival become more difficult. Using lighting and natural settings, Schnabel successfully evokes the artist’s unique way of seeing the world around him. The nature of genius, and of artistic obsession is captured with deep insight in this oft-told story, but it is Dafoe’s performance as Van Gogh that will stay with you, long after the final images from the film have faded. This is the film’s first festival showing in Canada.
Treeline
Nov 30, 9:45pm
Dec 02, 9:45pm
Maury Young Arts Center
Trees are the oldest living beings humans have encountered since our time on Earth. They provide us with sustenance, shelter, fuel, and materials that we cannot live without. This year’s winter film from Patagonia takes us on a journey through the enshrined cypress groves of Japan, into the ancient bristlecones of Nevada and through British Columbia’s own towering red cedar forests. We follow skiers, snowboarders, scientists and healers as they each explore their relationship with the silent giants. Vancouver filmmaker Jordan Manley breathes life into these forests with his stunning cinematography. A unique look into the power of nature, treeline is as visually encapsulating as it is spiritually moving.
Shortwork Series
Up to nine short films make up this unique set of screenings. Beginning November 28th, each day will offer something special. Of note, Girl in the Galactic Sun (see below) and Cedar Tree of Life will certainly sate the sci-fi enthusiast and hedgewitch in me. Guy Maddin is one of three directors in Accidence (Day 2, Nov 30 12pm)
The following make up unit four, of student’s works, (playing Dec 3, 1:30pm). Of these pickings from this category, I find the shorts offered in this collection may well traverse beyond the line of what fantasy, a thriller or science fiction means. Rod Serling must be proud!
EGG – A surreal animation about a woman locked in her home with an egg, towards which she feels both attraction and fear. She eats the egg, she repents; she kills the egg; she lets the egg die of hunger. The woman controls the egg… or does the egg control the woman?
Fantasmagoria – Struggling to cope with the loss of her daughter, a grieving mother embarks on a surrealist journey filled with bizarre characters in search of peace in the realm of lucid dreams. As she gets closer to her daughter, Mara comes to realize what she needed all along.
Girl in the Galactic Sun – A genderless alien who longs for a different life decides to transform into a woman in order to reproduce and save the species. G944 arrives at the Galactic Sun Facility unaware of the risks, and its desperation to understand what it is to be a woman leads it down a dangerous path with unnerving consequences.
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By Ed Sum 
By Ed Sum 
By Ed Sum 
I’m very excited to see 
By Ed Sum
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