Juno nominated Cris Derksen is an internationally respected Indigenous cellist and composer. Originally from Treaty 8 in Northern Alberta, she comes from NorthTall Cree Reserve on her father’s side and Mennonite homesteaders on her mother’s.
Derksen will introduce audiences to the unforgettable virtuosity that has led to her break-out solo career, while also collaborating with some of Canada’s Finest; Tanya Tagaq, Buffy Sainte Marie, Naomi Klein, and Leanne Simpson to name just a few.
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VIFF Live is giving four Resident Artists the opportunity to immerse themselves in the 2023 Festival and perform at The Ironworks.
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Cris Derksen
Cellist/Composer
Juno-nominated Cris Derksen is an Internationally respected Indigenous cellist and composer. Originally from Treaty 8 in Northern Alberta, she comes from NorthTall Cree Reserve on her father’s side and Mennonite homesteaders on her mother’s. Derksen’s composition strength lies in her diversity for all artistic fields including dance, theatre, film, television, animation, fashion, podcasts, symphonic, chamber, choral, and installations. She performs as soloist-composer for symphonies and chamber orchestras across Canada and has been commissioned by the Calgary Philharmonic, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Thunder Bay Symphony and Orchestre Metropolitan – Yannick Nézet-Séguin. In 2022 Derksen was the composer for the Canadian Pavilion for the World Expo in Dubai. Her work on the podcast Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s by Connie Walker and Gimlet Media won both a Pulitzer and a Peabody. Derksen is always up for the challenge of bringing an Indigenous perspective to all aspects of sonic storytelling.
Missing VIFF? Check Out What's Playing at the VIFF Centre
The History of Concrete
After attending a workshop on pitching saccharine Hallmark movies, John Wilson tries to apply all the same best practices to his documentary about concrete. Frequently absurd and endlessly entertaining detours, asides, and digressions ensue.
La Bola Negra
A big, old-school historical melodrama gets a thrillingly modern, queer makeover from Spanish duo Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, who artfully juggle three gay protagonists across stories set in 1932, 1937, and 2017. Winner: Best Director, Cannes. Screening on 35mm.
NAZA
NAZA is a codeword euphemistically used by Israeli intelligence to indicate the number of civilians it expects will be killed in an airstrike. This chilling documentary exposes the policy and process of state-sanctioned mass killings.
The Mad Dog of Europe
The story of an unmade screenplay from the writer of Citizen Kane. In 1932, Herman Mankiewicz wrote a film that foretold the persecution of the Jews and the war in Europe. But Hollywood wouldn't take the risk and The Mad Dog of Europe was never made.
The Mortal Storm
In this explicitly anti-Nazi melodrama directed by Frank Borzage (Three Comrades) a year before the US entered the war, Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart fall in love as their friends and family fall prey to the rise of Hitler's Nazi party in Germany.
Three Comrades
Scripted by F Scott Fitzgerald, Three Comrades (1938) was the first US studio film to chronicle the rise of European fascism in the 30s. Three German veterans open up a repair shop and try to regain a normal life, but political extremists have other ideas.