Skip to main content
Swan Song film image

Swan Song

This event has passed

In a 50 year career as dancer and artistic director with the National Ballet of Canada, legendary dance icon Karen Kain tackle Swan Lake for her first directing role and farewell project. For Kain, the making of this ballet is a labor of love, as it launched her career to superstardom when she made her acclaimed debut in the feature role of Odette/Odile in 1971. Swan Song captures the creative process, the determination and vision in re-staging this classical ballet, which was complicated by a two year pandemic-related delay. Featuring ballet stars past, present and future, the documentary provides an intimate glimpse into the grueling physical and emotional sacrifice required to create this sumptuous, lush re-imagining. Directed by Chelsea McMullan (My Prairie Home, Crystal Pite: Angels’ Atlas, winner of VIFF’s 2022 Showcase Audience Award), Swan Song is an immersive, thrilling glimpse behind the curtain.

 

October 1: Q&A with director Chelsea McMullan

 

Media Partner

Community Partner

Director
Cast

Karen Kain

Credits
Country of Origin

Canada

Year

2023

Series

Special Presentations

Language

English

Film Contact
Content Warning

Self Harm, Coarse Language

PG
99 min
Art, Music & Photography Documentary Women Directors

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits

Executive Producer

Sean O’Neill, Chelsea McMullan, Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, Anna Godas, Oli Harbottle, Neve Campbell

Producer

Sean O’Neill

Screenwriter

Chelsea McMullan & Sean O’Neill

Cinematography

Tess Girard, Shady Hanna

Editor

Brendan Mills

Original Music

Katie Stelmanis

Director

Chelsea McMullan headshot

Photo by Luis Mora

Chelsea McMullan

Chelsea McMullan is a director, writer and producer. Their work in documentary, experimental narrative, and hybrid films has often centered on leading international artists in different practices. Ever Deadly (2022), directed in collaboration with the Inuk artist, writer and musician Tanya Tagaq screened at VIFF last year. Their previous features include My Prairie Home, a musical documentary about the transgender musician Rae Spoon and the feature documentary Crystal Pite: Angels’ Atlas about the world-renowned choreographer. Both screened at VIFF and many other festivals.

Filmography: My Prairie Home (2013); Crystal Pite: Angels’ Atlas (2022); Ever Deadly (2022)

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Marcel the Shell With Shoes On

Dir. Dean Fleischer-Camp
121 min

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is a heartwarming film for all ages. Marcel, a tiny shell, lives with his grandmother Connie in a human house. When a filmmaker discovers Marcel, they team up to search for his long-lost relatives. Rated: G

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Wedding Banquet

Dir. Andrew Ahn
103 min

This joyful comedy cleverly updates Ang Lee's 1993 gay marriage comedy and transports the action to contemporary Seattle (actually, Vancouver).

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Tornado

Dir. John Maclean
91 min

Scotland in the 1790s, travelling circus samurai Tornado (Kōki) runs afoul of a band of murderous brigands led by Tim Roth and his ambitious son, Jack Lowden. Mayhem ensues.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Two Women

Dir. Chloé Robichaud
100 min

In this light-hearted, emancipatory take on a classic sex farce, two neglected married women discover the joys of casual sex and get their plumbing fixed.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
Nechako: It Will Be a Big River Again
Nechako: It Will Be a Big River Again film; overhead shot of churning water

Nechako: It Will Be a Big River Again

Dir. Lyana Patrick
91 min

In the face of environmental destruction, two Nations fight to restore their river and a way of life.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Fairy Creek

Dir. Jen Muranetz
86 min

Considered the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history, the Fairy Creek blockade led to more than 1200 arrests. What Jen Muranetz's film gives us is the story from the front line from the activists' point of view (often, from the treetops).

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre