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Live

Unparalleled experiences that go beyond the screen

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Live performances that push the boundaries of traditional film programming, intersecting cinema culture with music, comedy, podcasting, and performance in unique, cinema-infused live shows.

Upcoming Events

Tony Wilson's The Homeless Project
man playing a guitar

Tony Wilson's The Homeless Project

120 min

Combining music, text, still photography, and film to shine a sympathetic light on Canada's urban dispossessed, The Homeless Project is the third in composer, guitarist Tony Wilson's series of multimedia projects addressing pressing social issues.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Man With a Movie Camera Live Scored by Taras Luka

67 min

Bottomless invention and frenetic, dizzying montage make this city symphony one of cinema’s sharpest, most exciting experiences nearly a century after its release — here presented with a brand new score by Ukrainian composer and pianist Taras Luka.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Cassidy Waring + Hearse Chasing

118 min

Indie folk singer Cassidy Waring is the subject of a new 43-min documentary about coming to terms with childhood trauma, Hearse Chasing. After the film, Cassidy will perform a live set with her band.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music as Realized by Aram Bajakian, Stefan Maier and Anju Singh

156 min

Guitarist Aram Bajakian takes up the challenge issued to him by Lou Reed many years ago to perform the controversial noise album, Metal Machine Music. Plus Lou Reed performing Berlin from 2006.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Street Hassle: Songs by Lou Reed
Faraway, So Close film image; angel holding a man

Street Hassle: Songs by Lou Reed

70 min

Guitarist Aram Bajakian takes on the Lou Reed song catalogue in this second concert of the weekend. A ticket to this show includes free admission to Faraway, So Close at 3:30 pm.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Miles Davis 100! Vince Mai Plays Miles Davis

189 min

Vancouver trumpet legend Vince Mai Vince Mai will be performing music from some of Miles Davis's most memorable 1950s albums, including Kind of Blue, Walkin', Relaxin' and more. After his live set, enjoy Stanley Nelson's definitive documentary.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Miles Davis 100! Elevator to the Gallows + Julian Borkowski

166 min

24-year-old Louis Malle came out of the gate with this cool noir about a perfect murder that goes horribly wrong. A man (Maurice Ronet) kills his boss in his office, only to get stuck in the lift... Meanwhile his lover (Jeanne Moreau) is going frantic.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Feven Kidane Plays Ethio Jazz + Broken Flowers Film Screening

181 min

The Kidannes Ethio-Jazz Ensemble will be performing a unique blend of traditional Ethiopian & Eritrean music, combined with a healthy dollop of Western Jazz, in advance of the Jim Jarmusch movie which popularized Ethiopian Jazz in the West.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Coastal Jazz & VIFF Present: Lina Nyberg Live Score: The Norrtull Gang

Coastal Jazz & VIFF Present: Lina Nyberg Live Score: The Norrtull Gang

81 min

This collaboration with Coastal Jazz brings together a proto-feminist silent film from the early 1920s with a new live score written and performed by Swedish singer-composer Lina Nyberg with stellar local a string quartet.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Past VIFF Live Events

Beverly Glenn Copeland performing

Beverly Glenn-Copeland, online performance, VIFF 2020

Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin Plays Deep Red Live, VIFF 2019

On Cinema at the Cinema Live!, VIFF 2019

This is Spinal Tap: Anniversary Live Score, VIFF 2019

Song Exploder Live with Chuck D, VIFF 2019

Feminist Live Reads Some Like It Hot, VIFF 2019