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
Farruquito: a Flamenco Dynasty
Legendary flamenco dancer Farruquito struggles to reconcile his past with his family legacy. Revelling in the artistry of Romani music and dance, Farruquito: A Flamenco Dynasty explores family dynamics and the pursuit of greatness.
Linka Linka
Kangdrun's feature debut depicts a twentysomething filmmaker coming to grips with a shameful act she committed in childhood. Moving between past and present, with each main character played by two actors, this is a provocative and challenging work.
Once Upon a Time in Harlem
Once Upon a Time in Harlem splices together footage shot by William Greaves in 1972 of a group of Harlem Renaissance luminaries in conversation at Duke Ellington’s townhouse. The film is a living archive of memory, disagreement, style, and Black genius.
La Gradiva
Winner of the Grand Prize at Cannes’ Critics’ Week, Marine Atlan's feature debut follows a class of French high-school students on a trip to Naples. While learning about the ruins of Pompeii by day, a different kind of education takes place at night.
Image: © Films du poisson, Bibi Film TV, Arte France Cinema
Fugs Film!
Originating as a group of New York beatniks, The Fugs' taboo-embracing contempt for social norms made them one of the strangest bands of the 1960s. Fugs Film! is a raucous, irreverent celebration of rebellion, poetry, and counterculture legacy.
Whispers in May
Whispers in May follows Qihuo and her friends in China’s Liangshan Mountains as childhood gives way to womanhood. It blends close observation and scenes of the girls' search with animated fragments of Yi oral myth to create a hypnotic coming-of-age film.
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)