High School Outreach Program

Now in its third year, the Vancouver International Film Festival’s high-school outreach program offers a unique opportunity for Vancouver-area students to experience the best that international cinema has to offer. As the overwhelming number of films distributed in Canada are made in Hollywood, we are presenting a diverse selection reflecting the Festival’s “Same Planet, Different Worlds” theme. All but one of the films in our high-school program are foreign films presented in their original language with subtitles. Each foreign film is grounded in a particular environment that is different from our own, expressing a specific sense of another place. They all make use of situations of crisis—political, social, and romantic—to reveal common insights into what makes us human. We are also casting our net a bit wider by including our first documentary. All of the films, however, will expand young audiences’ horizons, exposing them to different worlds, values and narrative forms, while strengthening students’ critical and analytical skills.
   In Don’t Make Trouble—Everyday Racism, 12 of France’s best-known directors work from surprisingly fresh and inventive scripts written by youngsters aged 16–26 to explore the absurdity and injustice of racism. A contemporary Asian riff on De Sica’s classic The Bicycle Thief, Wang Xiaoshuai’s Beijing Bicycle is a vivid and moving film about a stolen bicycle which winds up being shared by two owners. The award-winning Iranian film Under the Moonlight mixes dollops of comedy into a drama about a young seminarian who sets out to catch a thief and ends up educated about the extreme poverty and misery of Tehran’s underbelly. Peter Lynch’s documentary Cyberman is an enthralling portrait of the quirky Steve Mann, Toronto-based inventor, privacy advocate, performance artist and “cyborg.”
   These films have been classified to allow under-18 audiences to attend. Special screenings have been scheduled at the VISA Screening Room at the Vogue in order to make them available for school groups (Grades 11 and 12).

Cyberman: Tuesday, October 2, 12:30pm

Under the Moonlight: Wednesday, October 3, 12:30pm

Beijing Bicycle: Thursday, October 4, 12:30pm

Don’t Make Trouble—Everyday Racism: Friday, October 5, 12:30pm

For Classification and Ratings
call Bell Info Line: 604.683.FILM (3456)
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