What's On
Gabriel Figueroa & Alex Phillips: Painting It Black
In this free talk, educator and filmmaker Devan Scott (himself a professional cinematographer) will introduce you to the artistry of two giants of Mexican cinematagraphy, Gabriel Figueroa and Canadian Alex Phillips.
Él (This Strange Passion)
A seemingly genteel and highly reputable gentleman reveals his true nature on his wedding night in this searing melodrama from surrealist Luis Buñuel, one of the most shocking films from his Mexican period.
Take Me In Your Arms
In this boldly stylized musical melodrama mixing reformist politics with outrageous musical numbers, the incomparable Ninón Sevilla is the poor fisherman's daughter navigating a success of dodgy men on her way to true love.
Sensualidad
Prostitute Aurora (Cuban-born dance queen Ninón Sevilla) gets out of prison and exacts her vengeance by seducing the very married and respectable judge who put her behind bars (Fernando Soler). Eros makes a mockery of rectitude and righteousness.
The Criminal Life of Archivaldo de la Cruz
Wealthy aesthete Archie de la Cruz has a confession to make (several in fact). Luis Buñuel's kinky black comedy is an elegant study in perversity, steeped in Freud and revelling in the repressed.
El Suavecito
Victor Parra is Roberto, "el Suavecito", the smoothie. Sprinkling his Spanish with slang and English, and sporting a Zoot suit, he's a gangster-wannabe, an obnoxious macho who isn't quite as tough as he likes to make out...
Salón México
Cheated by her pimp, Mercedes recklessly steals his wallet and is only saved from a severe beating by the intervention of a kindly policeman. Hard-hitting social realism sits beside patriotic sentimentality and multiple red hot dance sequences.
Crepúsculo
A brain surgeon (Arturo de Córdova) begins to doubt his own sanity when the woman he's in love with (Gloria Marin) marries his brother — and he starts fantasizing about murder.
Sansho the Bailiff
The third of the great Japanese masters (with Ozu and Kurosawa), Mizoguchi is a poet of suffering. There's plenty of that here in his exquisite telling of an ancient folktale about the enslavement of a woman and her two children.
Tony Wilson's The Homeless Project
Combining music, text, still photography, and film to shine a sympathetic light on Canada's urban dispossessed, The Homeless Project is the third in composer, guitarist Tony Wilson's series of multimedia projects addressing pressing social issues.
FernGully: The Last Rainforest
VIFF Kids Club is our monthly family series with films, crafts and more! Doors at 11 am for activities, film at 12. FernGully is a magical adventure where fairy Crysta and her friends seek to protect their rainforest home.
