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
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.
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.
Universal Language
In a wintery, Farsi-speaking city that’s equal measures Winnipeg and Tehran, storylines entangle and the concepts of space, time, and identity grow increasingly opaque. Inventive and absurd, Rankin's poetic fable reminds us that Winnipeg is a wonderland. Rated: G
Are We Done Now?
Down River director Ben Immanuel returns with a wry, self-aware Covid comedy in which a socially distant Vancouver documentarian checks in with a stressed-out therapist (Gabrielle Miller) and several of her patients over the course of the pandemic.