World Premiere
In February 2020, Angels’ Atlas premiered onstage to rapturous reviews, but it soon became the National Ballet of Canada’s final show before the pandemic shutdown; fittingly, when the company returned in November 2021, this ballet was the first that was performed. Crystal Pite: Angels’ Atlas brilliantly captures crucial moments of the ballet’s rebirth, from tentative disbelief, to the joy of reunion, to intense rehearsal and refinement. The documentary is a remarkable record of the creative process; in the retrospective context of global loss, the project acquires a ghostly, prophetic quality. What occurs on stage is nothing short of extraordinary—the unearthly lighting, the evocative music, and especially the bodies of the dancers, straining and stricken in sorrow. In a bold decision, the performance of Angels’ Atlas is shown in its entirety in the second half of the film. Sublime, moving, cathartic in its pulsing grief and meditation on mortality and transience, this documentary is one of the most moving pieces of art to ever be captured on film.
Q&A Oct 2
Community Partner
Canada
2022
English
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Adventures of Tintin
Could this be Spielberg's most underrated film? It's his only stab at animation, and it moves like Raiders of the Lost Ark on caffeine. The plotting may be antiquarian but the action never lets up. It's delirious stuff, often laugh-out-loud funny.
Ghost Elephants
Everyone's favourite German adventurer, Werner Herzog goes on the hunt for the largest land mammal on the planet, the fabled "ghost elephant" of the Angolan highlands -- that may, or may not, exist.
Miroirs No. 3
Following a car crash that kills her boyfriend, piano student Laura is physically unhurt but emotionally distraught. A local woman takes her in, but she gradually realizes she's in the midst of an eerie, mysterious family situation.
Image: © Schramm Film A4 Kopie
The Things You Kill
Thirty-something professor Ali leads an apparently stable life. But when his ailing mother dies under ambiguous circumstances, he starts to unravel, resulting in an act that shatters our understanding of his person.
Credits
Executive Producer
Barry Hughson, Karen Kain, Hope Muir
Producer
Sean O’Neill
Cinematography
Maya Bankovic
Editor
Lindsay Allikas
Director
Photo by Luis Mora
Chelsea McMullan
Chelsea McMullan (they/their) is one of Canada’s leading filmmakers. They make documentary, experimental narrative, and hybrid films that explore the work of leading international artists. McMullan’s features, including My Prairie Home (2013), a musical documentary about the pioneering transgender musician Rae Spoon, have premiered at Sundance, Toronto, True/False, and other leading international festivals. They have directed episodes of the documentary series This is Pop (Netflix/Crave) and In the Making (CBC). McMullan has also made numerous short films about and in collaboration with international artists such as Eileen Myles, Zhang Huan, Isabelle Marant, and Ken Lum.
Filmography: My Prairie Home (2013); Michael Shannon Michael Shannon John (2015)