What's On
A Duke Ellington Tribute with the Mike Braverman Sextet
After a scintillating session of Duke standards performed by The Mike Braverman Sextet, enjoy a roundup of Ellingtonia on Film: his first short sound films from the late 20s and 30s, and clips from the scores he composed in the 50s and 60s.
Scarface
Our tour through Hollywood's pre-Code precinct takes a left turn into the dangerous district of organized crime with Scarface, starring Paul Muni in a ferocious performance as the ambitious low-level gangster, Tony Carmonte.
How Green Was My Valley
This month's VIFF+ Premium member selection was made by Mathew Englander, who chose the movie that beat Citizen Kane to Best Picture in 1941. Set in a Welsh mining village, it's a bittersweet reflection on a community sundered by industrialization.
The Lunchbox
In the first of our new monthly film series for 55+, a modern classic rom-com from India. Enjoy the movie and stay for refreshments and informal chat.
Mambar Pierrette
The third and final film of the spring session of African Cinema Now is the first dramatic feature from Cameroonian non-fiction filmmaker Rosine Mbakam (Chez Jolie Coiffure), an imaginative portrait of her seamstress cousin.
Freaks
Beautiful circus trapeze artiste Cleopatra likes to flirt with one of the sideshow attractions, Hans, a dwarf. When she learns that Hans is a wealthy man she decides to marry him. It's a choice she will live to regret... An unforgettable 1932 shocker.
Trouble in Paradise
Herbert Marshall and Miriam Hopkins play lovers and thieves attempting to fleece the chic owner of a French perfume company, played by Kay Francis. What ensues is a modern ménage à trois in the most elegant, innuendo filled film comedy of all time.
Bicycle Thieves
De Sica's film about a labourer desperate to track down the bike that has been stolen from him is a landmark in film history, the movie that cemented the impact of Italian neo-realism on world cinema.
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
RW Fassbinder's lop-sided love story (60 year old German widow and a Moroccan twenty years her junior) shines an unflattering light on social hypocrisies.
The Cloud-Capped Star
Ritwik Ghatak is the unsung genius of Bengali cinema. His best known film is a a brilliantly structured melodrama about the terrible demands of poverty and family on the prospects of a young woman.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Céline Sciamma's queer costume drama -- about a painter covertly studying a young noblewoman who refuses to sit for her portrait -- was voted 30th Greatest Film Ever Made in a 2022 poll, the highest ranking film of the past decade.
