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A Streetcar Named Desire film image; man pouting

Film Studies: 6 Takes on American Screen Acting

Every Other Wednesday | Jun 11–Aug 20 | Presented by Harry Killas

Image: A Streetcar Named Desire

We look up at them and to them. We desire them, dream about them. They embody our noblest aspirations, and channel our darkest impulses. They live out our fantasies and expose our vulnerabilities. While we watch, they act.

The movies — not only, but especially in America — have been built on the people who perform in them. We call them stars. But the story of screen acting in American cinema is not only about beauty and glamour. It arcs towards exploration, psychoanalysis, realism and authenticity. This Film Studies series charts the changing fashions and styles in screen acting in the wake of World War Two under the influence of The Method, certainly, but also wider social and political currents.

Every other Wednesday afternoon, from June 11, at 2:00 pm, Professor Harry Killas will introduce a totemic film in the history of screen acting, analyzing the production methods and social assumptions which informed the performances.

The films in this series will get repeat screenings as part of the VIFF Centre’s wider survey of the era, Getting Real: The Arc of American Screen Acting.

Tickets

Adult $18 VIFF+ $15
Senior $16 VIFF+ Premium $13
Student $16 VIFF+ Patron Free
6-Ticket Pack $84 Buy Pack

Harry Killas is Professor and Assistant Dean in the Film + Screen Arts program at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver. His most recent documentary films include Collective Agency about a group of seniors who became photo-artists in late life, and Greek to Me, an autobiographical documentary about his family and ethnic identity. His research/ filmmaking theme areas include education, the arts, and social, political and other histories. As a curator, Killas programmed seven seasons of the series The Image Before Us: A History of Film in British Columbia at The Cinematheque.

Notorious

Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
102 min

In the first of our new Film Studies series, Ingrid Bergman is pimped out by US agent Cary Grant to Nazi-sympathizer Claude Rains (ironically the most likeable character in the film). Hitchcock's thriller is a prime example of classic Hollywood star power.

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2:00 pm
Wed Jun 11
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Guests/Q&As Hearing Assistance
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4:30 pm
Sun Jun 15
VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
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A Streetcar Named Desire

Dir. Elia Kazan
122 min

"I don't want realism. I want magic!" declares Blanche du Bois, the tragic heroine who meets her nemesis in her sister's husband, Stanley Kowalski, in Tennessee Williams' great play. Brando's performance as Stanley is a turning point in American acting.

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2:00 pm
Wed Jun 25
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
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8:30 pm
Sat Jun 28
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
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5:30 pm
Sun Jun 29
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
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Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Dir. Mike Nichols
131 min

A young couple accept an invitation for a nightcap with history professor George (Richard Burton) and his wife Martha (Elizabeth Taylor). At first it's fun and games. But what passes for caustic wit soon degenerates into vicious mind games.

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2:00 pm
Wed Jul 09
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
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7:30 pm
Sun Jul 13
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
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Klute

Dir. Alan J Pakula
114 min

This acclaimed paranoia thriller stars Jane Fonda as Bree Daniel, a New York City call girl who becomes enmeshed in an investigation into the disappearance of a business executive. It's a role that won Fonda the Academy Award.

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2:00 pm
Wed Jul 23
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
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6:30 pm
Fri Jul 25
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
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Nashville

Dir. Robert Altman
159 min

With 26 actors getting more-or-less equal screen time and half of them singing their own tunes, Robert Altman's state-of-the-nation satire on bicentennial USA is a movie that repays multiple views.

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2:00 pm
Wed Aug 06
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
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7:30 pm
Sun Aug 10
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
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Raging Bull

Dir. Martin Scorsese
129 min

In the throes of a near-fatal drug problem Martin Scorsese made what he believed could be his last movie. Its subject: the Bronx Bull, Jake La Motta, a graceless but indomitable boxer who never quits beating himself up. De Niro has never dug deeper.

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2:00 pm
Wed Aug 20
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
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8:30 pm
Sun Aug 24
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Hearing Assistance
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