Upcoming Highlights

Canadian Premiere

CAIRO 678

Egypt | Dir: Mohamed Diab

[CAIRO] | Wed. Oct 5, 9:15pm, Granville #4

"Mohamed Diab has tackled Egypt's hush-hush problem of sexual harassment with directness and nuance. 678 deftly connects three women from different social backgrounds and throws in a terrifically dry-witted investigator, forcing viewers to question assumptions and prejudices while refusing to offer up easy answers."—Variety. Winner, Best Actor & Actress, Dubai 2010.

Plays with short film A MAN'S SHADOW (guest in attendance for this short)

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NO ONE KILLED JESSICA

India | Dir: Raj Kumar Gupta | View Trailer

[NONEK] | Wed. Oct 5, 8:00pm, Granville #6
Mon. Oct 10, 3:00pm, Granville #3
Thu. Oct 13, 9:15pm, Vogue

When conspiracy and corruption allow her sister's murderer to walk free, Sabrina (a quietly intense Vidya Balan) enlists a crusading reporter (the fiercely charismatic Rani Mukherjee) in her unrelenting quest for justice. A black eye for India's legal system makes for scintillating drama in Raj Kumar Gupta's politically charged, passionately told thriller.

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International Premiere, Guest in Attendance

WILL THE REAL TERRORIST PLEASE STAND UP?

USA/Cuba | Dir: Saul Landau | View Trailer

[WILTH] | Wed. Oct 5, 6:40pm, Granville #4
Fri. Oct 7, 3:00pm, Granville #4
Tue. Oct 11, 1:30pm, Cinémathèque

Chronicling a half-century of USA-Cuba enmity, Saul Landau's fascinating documentary tells the story of Cuban exile terrorist groups in Miami, and the "Cuban Five," intelligence agents sent to penetrate them. Landau highlights decades of assassinations and sabotage at first backed by Washington and then ignored by the very government that launched a “war against terrorism.”

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International Premiere

THE FRONT LINE

(Gojijeon)

South Korea | Dir: Jang Hun | View Trailer

[FRONT] | Wed. Oct 5, 9:30pm, Granville #7

The Korean candidate for the 2012 Best Foreign Film Oscar (and a big hit on its recent release in Korea) offers a surprising perspective on the Korean War. The always excellent Shin Ha-gyun (Save the Green Planet!) plays young officer Kang who is sent to Aerok Hill on the disputed border to investigate a possible spy and a possible mutiny. What he finds is nothing like what he expected... Jang Hun hits the premier rank of Korean directors with this major film.

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Guest in Attendance

TARGET

(Mishen)

Russia | Dir: Alexander Zeldovich

[TARGE] | Thu. Oct 6, 9:00pm, Granville #7
Fri. Oct 7, 3:00pm, Granville #7
Sun. Oct 9, 8:00pm, Granville #6

Scripted by the most famous maverick of post-Soviet Russian literature, Vladimir Sorokin, Alexander Zeldovich's ambitious science-fiction extravaganza puts one in mind of Stanisław Lem on acid. "Loosely resets Anna Karenina in a near-future Russia where... special goggles reveal numerically how much good and evil exist in any given person... Decidedly strange."—Variety

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North American Premiere

NO MORE FEAR

(La Khaoufa Baada al'Yaoum)

Tunisia | Dir: Mourad Ben Cheikh

[NOMOR] | Fri. Oct 7, 6:45pm, Granville #2
Tue. Oct 11, 3:15pm, Granville #4
Fri. Oct 14, 10:45am, Cinémathèque

When Tunisians banded together to end two decades of repression, Mourad Ben Cheikh was there to capture it. "Passionate, raw, and immediate... Fear brings together news footage of the demonstrations with a variety of players in the revolution, providing a diverse picture of the groundswell that rose up to topple the dictatorial regime."—Variety

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Guest in Attendance

FIRST POSITION

USA | Dir: Bess Kargman | View Trailer

Classification: G—no advisory

[FIRST] | Fri. Oct 7, 6:40pm, Granville #4
Sat. Oct 8, 10:30am, Granville #2
Fri. Oct 14, 12:40pm, Granville #5

Six ballet dancers struggle and sacrifice as they endure an arduous year of preparation for the prestigious Youth America Grand Prix. Bess Kargman's documentary captures the high stakes drama that unfolds as these young talents vie to achieve their ultimate goal. Be warned: Ballet is not for sissies.

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Runner-Up, Audience Award, TIFF 2011

STARBUCK

Canada | Dir: Ken Scott | View Trailer

[STARB] | Fri. Oct 7, 6:30pm, Granville #7
Sat. Oct 8, 7:00pm, Vancity Theatre
Sun. Oct 9, 12:45pm, Granville #7

David’s greatest financial success has been via his prolific donation of sperm—until a lab mix-up results in fatherhood on an epic scale. Ken Scott's comedy is of the warm and upbeat variety, presenting hard choices for its hero and plenty of obstacles—533, to be exact.

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SLEEPING BEAUTY

Australia | Dir: Julia Leigh | View Trailer

[SLBEA] | Fri. Oct 7, 9:15pm, Granville #7
Sun. Oct 9, 4:00pm, Granville #7

Novelist Julia Leigh's haunting sex-and-the-subconscious debut features newcomer Emily Browning as a beautiful university student who allows herself to be drugged by older men and then manhandled while "asleep." "Browning has gone the distance for her director and together, they have delivered something here that sometimes catches your breath."—Screen Daily

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North American Premiere, Guest in Attendance

SUFFERROSA

Poland/UK | Dir: Dawid Marcinkowski | View Trailer

[SUFFE] | Fri. Oct 7, 9:00pm, Vancity Theatre
Sun. Oct 9, 4:00pm, Vancity Theatre

The hard-boiled detective tale takes a turn for the high tech in Dawid Marcinkowski's acclaimed interactive cinema experience, for which he will be here. As this gripping neo-noir unfolds, it's left for the audience to decide which tangent the narrative follows next. Three alternate endings promise a host of dark possibilities.

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EMPIRE NORTH

Denmark | Dir: Jakob Boeskov

[EMPIR] | Thu. Oct 6, 8:45pm, Granville #5
Tue. Oct 11, 12:40pm, Granville #5

When troublemaker Jakob Boeskov crashes a Qatar weapons expo to flaunt his make-believe “ID Sniper Rifle,” he’s aghast to discover that it's a hot commodity. Blurring the fact/fiction divide, this is a chilling vision of the dystopian future we’re already living in.

Plays with JEAN-LUC PERSECUTED
(Jean-Luc persécuté)

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North American Premiere, Guest in Attendance

OK, ENOUGH, GOODBYE.

(Tayeb, Khalas, Yalla)

Lebanon/UAE | Dir: Rania Attieh, Daniel Garcia | View Trailer

[OKENO] | Fri. Oct 7, 7:00pm, Granville #1
Sat. Oct 8, 12:20pm, Granville #1

A sardonic and wistful comedy and a portrait of a city (Tripoli, Lebanon), Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia's terrific feature debut could be a Lebanese version of I Killed My Mother. Except, in this case, the mother is wise enough to ditch her sad-sack baker son, who must learn to fend for himself—and fails miserably. Winner, Best New Director, Abu Dhabi 2010.

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World Premiere, Guest in Attendance

THE GIRL IN THE WHITE COAT

Canada | Dir: Darrell Wasyk

[GIWHI] | Thu. Oct 6, 9:30pm, Granville #1
Sat. Oct 8, 12:45pm, Vancity Theatre

Élise is an outsider. She works at a factory where she is alienated by her colleagues who focus their bullying torment on her old-fashioned, threadbare, once-white coat. Filmmaker Darrell Wasyk re-imagines Gogol's The Overcoat in this transportive tale, set in wintry Montreal.

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Guest in Attendance

HERE I AM

Australia | Dir: Beck Cole

[HEREI] | Fri. Oct 7, 6:20pm, Granville #3
Sat. Oct 8, 3:00pm, Granville #3
Wed. Oct 12, 5:30pm, Granville #6

Karen (the striking Shai Pittman), newly out of prison, tries to get her life together in inner-city Adelaide in Beck Cole's debut drama. Cole—a woman—fashions a powerful tale about the strength and resilience she finds in Karen and her fellow Aboriginal women, all looking for a break and a fresh start. "A deeply felt first feature from both actor and director."—Screen

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Rush tickets at the door just before show time; advance tickets sold out

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