Tag: Victoria Film Festival

VFFOnline: Watching Paolo Head to the (Great) Big North (Il Grande Nord)

The only sad part of watching this film is that we can’t see the true majesty of the terrain as it was intended-on the big screen. Witnessing the glacial landscapes from a small screen perspective really doesn’t do this work justice.

Il Grande Nord [Italian Edition]By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Streaming Online
at the Victoria Film Festival
Get your pass here to view beginning Feb 5th, 2021

Note: Available to view for residents in British Columbia

Also available to purchase on DVD on Amazon USAII Grande Nord

British Columbia can’t look any more beautiful in the documentary, Big North (Il Grande Nord). This work looks at the life of Paolo Cognetti, an Italian and award winning author, on a pilgrimage through this province, the Yukon and Alaska as he explores the grandiose nature of the region, himself and what it all means. 

He’s following in the footsteps of those authors he admires–Jack London, Ernest Hemingway and many others–during his trek, and in what we all see are beautiful shots of the terrain with drone cameras, a cameraman or two, and thankfully no bear encounters! The goal is to have the same experience as they had, and it’ll no doubt translate into his next novel, when he’s ready to write it!

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TheNFB at VFF2021 Part 3: The Myth & Mystery in Altötting, Germany

Andreas Hykade’s Altötting is a very personal story about his first time meeting the blessed Virgin Mary and his experiences. He speaks highly of her, as though she was a lover, but the context is far more allegorical–pertaining to her role in 20th Century history–as a lady in waiting for those seeking salvation.

Altötting (2020) - IMDbBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

National Film Board of Canada
Victoria Film Festival: Animate Me Shorts Program beginning Feb 5th, 2021

Andreas Hykade‘s Altötting is a very personal story about his first time meeting the blessed Virgin Mary and his experiences. He speaks highly of her, as though she was a lover, but the context is far more allegorical–pertaining to her role in 20th Century history–as a lady in waiting for those seeking salvation.

This minimalist animated short is very alluring in its approach of describing the power of her being. The erotic implications are minimal, and whether that was intentional by this filmmaker, it’s hard to say.

As for the experience of seeing the power of her being for the first time, the feelings may well be simliar to how Lucia Abobora, and her cousins, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, described the angel who came to visit them in Fatima, Portugal and afterwards, the Virgin Mary. But this filmmaker set his piece in a small German town with an equally historical landmark built to honour this person (and be a tourist attraction). The similarity is in how the two are often visited by those in search for a miracle.

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TheNFB at VFF2021 Part Two: Analyzing I, Barnabé

I, Barnabé at the ChapelPlaying as part of the Victoria Film Festival: Animate Me Shorts Program beginning Feb 5th, 2021

Spoiler Alert 

Click here to buy tickets (disclaimer: region locked to BC residents)

Barnabé is a pastor having a crisis of faith. He can’t take it anymore in this ethereal animated short by Jean-François Lévesque.

This character wants to end his life. To see him taking to alcohol to numb his senses is only a start to a wild and woolly ride of his past, his present and what may come in a Dickenson type of tale. The gothic tropes are nicely used to showcase his deterioration, but it’s his journey which takes on a different tone.

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TheNFB Showcase at Victoria Film Festival 2021

TheNFB Black and White LOGOSix National Film Board of Canada (NFB) produced and co-produced feature-length documentaries and animated shorts are being showcased at this year’s Victoria Film Festival (February 5–14, 2021).

Like many other events, this city’s celebration of cinema is going online for residents in British Columbia to screen. The organization announced their line-up earlier today. For details, please visit their website.

For those living in other regions interested in seeing either these works or others, please check out your local film festival listings.

The following will be presented:

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Who Needs YouTube when you have Cat Video Fest?

Cat Video Fest Promotional PosterPlaying at
The Vic Theatre
808 Douglas Theatre
Victoria, BC

Fri | March 13 | 5:30 PM
Fri | March 13 | 7:45 PM
Sat | March 14 | 3:00 PM   ALL AGES
Sat | March 14 | 5:30 PM

Please check local listings for a feline time at a venue near you. This event has over 80 theatres joining in the fun!

Just when the Internet cannot offer enough of the felines being too cute for viewing at home, the Victoria Film Festival crew operating The Vic Theatre is upping the ante and working in partnership with Cat Video Fest to display them on the big screen this weekend for special screenings. A portion of ticket sales will be donated to Cat’s Cradle Animal Rescue to help support cats in need.

This event is not limited either. Please check local listings to the finest of curated cat videos to aww at. Michael-san (of What’s Michael) and Garfield need not be jealous. Instead of the finest celebrity cats, we are getting a curated collection of submitted works and well-known shorts to go meow with.

A Matter of Faith in The Seer and the Unseen

nullBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Screened at the Victoria Film Festival 2020
For upcoming presentations, please click here.

Belief in elves, or even leprechauns, all depends on where  you’re raised. In some countries, they simply exist and you don’t want to piss them off. The Seer and the Unseen looks deep into Icelandic tradition to understand our relationship with these hidden folk, the land and modernization. The Huldufólk lives with us; just because not everyone can commune with them doesn’t mean disrespecting them.

The plot is simple. A road is needed and it cuts through a swath of ancient lava rock in the outskirts of Reykjavik. Four different protest groups gathered to say we cannot destroy it since it represents more than our past. It’s a life vein of Gaia, and elves live here. In greater context, belief in spirits is not restricted to one culture. This film is excellent in how just a bit of dialogue connects with other cultures. The belief of elves in Iceland is no different than those who follow the ways of Shinto or even those of First Nations–where spirits reside within Nature everywhere.

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