In the wake of 9/11, BC filmmaker Velcrow Ripper (Incandescence) embarked on a form of pilgrimage, visiting ground zero in Manhattan and other sites of disaster and human calamity around the globe — war-torn Cambodia and Bosnia, Bhopal in India, Palestine, Afghanistan… A sobering itinerary, to be sure. But the artist’s mission was to seek out hope and the seeds of regeneration; to turn fear on its head and connect with what is truly sacred. Twenty years on, the world remains a scary and a fragile place, but the lessons Ripper took, from the Dalai Lama and others, are all the more precious.
This free screening is presented as a tribute to producer Tracey Friesen, a friend of the festival and a tireless progressive in our industry, who believed in the power of art and culture to effect lasting change. Tracey died much too young in January.
Velcrow Ripper and other special guests in attendance
In Partnership with
Velcrow Ripper
Canada
2004
English
Book Tickets
Wednesday April 16
Credits
Screenwriter
Velcrow Ripper
Cinematography
Velcrow Ripper
Editor
Velcrow Ripper
Also in This Series
Canadian Film Week spotlights 18 features, including six Vancouver premieres and four brand new films from BC filmmakers, plus returning classics, new favourites, and free screenings on National Canadian Film Day.
Sweet Summer Pow Wow
After the local hit The Great Salish Heist, writer-director Darrell Dennis proves his versatility with this charming love story about two young people who meet cute on BC's Pow Wow circuit. Her mom wants her to become a lawyer, but Jinny loves to dance...
The Decline of the American Empire
Friends from the History Department at the University of Montreal come together for a dinner party. While the men prepare the meal, the women work out at the gym. In both groups, the conversation returns repeatedly to sex...
Village Keeper
In Karen Chapman’s sensitive debut feature, a widowed mother desperate to shelter her teenage daughter and son from a surge of gun violence in Toronto takes it upon herself to cleanse the blood from crime scenes in her Lawrence Heights neighbourhood.
The Barbarian Invasions
Arcand's belated sequel finds his erstwhile "sensual socialist" facing terminal cancer and trying to make peace with his financier son. This is one of the most acclaimed Canadian films ever made, garlanded all over the world.
Incandescence
Filmed across the Okanagan before, during and after several devastating fires by veteran non-fiction filmmakers Nova Ami and Velcrow Ripper (Metamorphosis; ScaredSacred), Incandescence is a mesmerizing cinematic contemplation of the power of wildfires.