I had a great time going to different festivals and taking advantage of all the shows. For a lot of the shows I got to personally meet the entertainers and the people working behind the scene

Phil Grabsky’s “The Boy Mir: Ten Years in Afghanistan” is the sequel to the 2004′s rural Afghan drama “The Boy Who Plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan”

The Vancouver International Film Festival is presenting three music films about conquering adversity and triumph where nobody would think of making it. These three stories are an an example of the determination and the hardships that these artists had to endure to achieve their dreams. The characters of the documentaries did reach their objectives and set an example for you to never give up, specially if you live in a first world country like Canada. Their message is not only about success, its also about their struggle for a better world.

Nevertheless the short films show that when people are fed up with the systems change can happen, specially nowadays that technology makes it harder to repress people that can communicate easier through social networks on the internet. The people of Egypt keep revolting to this day longing for real political reforms.
Here is a peak into this film that you cannot afford to miss, the filmmakers combine real footage with actors and sometimes is difficult to differentiate which one is real and which one is not.

Ricky who has a dream to make Staff Benda Bilili the best band in Congo Kinshasa. Benda Bilili is a group of homeless handicapped musicians who live around the grounds of the zoo in Kinshasa.

Once again this year VIFF has been inspired by the remarkable range of new films that marry aesthetic pleasure and environmental sensitivity. There’s more to ecologically astute cinema than explicit admonishments to stop destroying the planet, but of course, that’s often where experiencing the wonders of nature lead us. Whatever your politics, certain kinds of films take us out-of-doors in marvelous ways, leaving us to draw our own conclusions about how to better live our lives.

VIFF is coming this year with a lot of movies about art.
30th VIFF: September 29-October 14th.
Read their Press Release and check some of the music films they are bringing this year. VanMusic will be sponsoring one of these films. If you guess which one is it you will win a pair of tickets to the screening. E-mail us your guess to promotions@vanmusic.ca

The 30th anniversary VIFF is coming up fast! This is the first of several major program announcements leading up to opening night celebrations on September 29.
We’re toasting our 30th …

The legendary director Carlos Saura (whose Mozart film I, Don Giovanni also plays at the Vancity Theatre in December) has been exploring the sensuality of dance, light and music on film since the early 80s in films like Blood Wedding, Flamenco, and the Oscar-nominated Tango.
Fados continues in this tradition.

The film by prolific director Takashi Miike is an homage to the classic samurai films, it brings us back to 7 samurais by the master Kurosawa. The film is really a remake of a 1963 film by Echii Kudo. The movie is packed with action on the second half and it is a treat to the lovers of this genre. You might remember Miike because of films like the disturbing Audition (you will have problems sleeping after watching the torture scene of the amputation of a foot) or the hilariously bloody Ichi the killer.

Interview with the producer of the film Togetherness Supreme Mercy Murugi for 101.9 FM Citr. This is a Kenyan film shot in the slums of Kibera in the capital of Nairobi. The feature had its International premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival. The production Togetherness Supreme is the project of Hot Sun Films. The independent film company is based in Kibera.

Janus Metz’s Armadillo might be a tremendous shock to the few innocent souls and simple minds who believe that soldiers from countries like Denmark (or Canada among many others) go to Afghanistan just to distribute candies to hungry children or other aid to families in need.

The lovely southern neighbors of Canada are here only to help us. They are the peace keepers, policemen, fire fighters, aid senders and deliverers of the entire planet. Whenever there is a problem, or even just a pale shadow of it, they don’t hesitate to give a helping hand. This cute little 264 minute long movie gives us a detailed description about how they helped their Philippine brothers and sisters, in the very same brotherly way the Spaniards did before them. How lucky we are that they are here to save the world! I highly recommend this movie to everybody who would like to congratulate this wonderful nation and to all everyone else as well.

The Iranian Mohammad Rasoulof made an amazing movie about human suffering. It`s poetry in all imaginable ways.

Take a surrealistic trip with an old boatman who paddles on the silent waters of some distant sea visiting the people living on scattered salt isles. OldRahmat has a tough job. The purpose of his never ending journey is to collect tears. There are several smaller surrealistic stories within the story. What else can we expect but fairy tales from a land so famous for magical tale telling and where current reality is too harsh for the authorities to let it be discussed and dissected freely?

So the time of the wonderful winter vacation has finally arrived, you would think if you are from the “right place”.
This winter vacation is not quite like that. You will enjoy stunning pictures of a slice of Chinese Inner Mongolia with wonderful music. In the dirty and deserted streets and standard instant buildings of the miraculous Chinese Socialism there are kids spending their well deserved winter holidays. It feels cold, gray and hopeless in every possible imaginable way.
Will the end of it bring new colors to the lives of the children?

The Vancouver International Film Festival is pleased to announce that GOOD MORNING TO THE WORLD! (Sekai, Good Morning!) directed by Hirohara Satoru of Japanhas won the 17th annual Dragons & Tigers Award for Young Cinema and a cash prize of $10,000 “for his fresh and frontal way of addressing his society’s problems, the jury is pleased to salute the maturity of this very young director.
Good Morning to the World!will receive another screening Saturday, Oct 9, 1:00pm, at Pacific Cinematheque.