Canadian Premiere
The latest in the popular Exhibition on Screen series, John Singer Sargent: Fashion & Swagger provides new insight into one of America’s most beloved painters. Known for his incandescent portraits of the upper echelons of high society, Sargent possessed the ability to capture the essence and soul of a person, producing some of the most memorable portraits ever created. Filmed in conjunction with twin blockbuster shows at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Tate Gallery in London, this allows a detailed look at his masterworks alongside the wardrobes that have been preserved, allowing us to see how Sargent rendered each fold and gather with his brushstrokes.
The film also highlights other important aspects of his work, like his large-scale murals in Boston, and explores his artistic influences, placing his painting within the context of art history and haute couture. Director David Bickerstaff gathers art historians, curators, artists, and fashion experts to illuminate the intersection of art, fashion, and society, and invites us to arrive at a new appreciation for this master of portraiture and light.
Sept 28 & 30: Q&A with producer Phil Grabsky
Presented by
Media Partner
UK
2024
English
Nudity
Open to youth!
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Phil Grabsky
Producer
Phil Grabsky
Screenwriter
David Bickerstaff, Phil Grabsky
Cinematography
David Bickerstaff, Joshua Csehak, Phil Grabsky, Hugh Hood
Editor
David Bickerstaff
Original Music
Asa Bennett
David Bickerstaff
David Bickerstaff is an artist, award-winning filmmaker, and BAFTA member who founded AtomicTV in 1997. His work has been showcased internationally at venues like the Wellcome Collection and the documentary fortnight at the Museum of Modern Art New York. He directs short artist documentaries for Art360 Foundation and collaborates with producer Phil Grabsky at Exhibition on Screen, creating acclaimed features on artists like Van Gogh and Michelangelo. As Creative Director at NewAngle Productions, David designs video installations for institutions including the Royal Collection Trust and the British Museum.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Art of Adventure
The unbelievable adventure story of how painter Robert Bateman and ecologist Bristol Foster drove a Land Rover from Africa to Australia in 1957, developing a love of nature to last a lifetime. An inspirational love letter to the adventure of life itself.
Chasing Ice
This visually stunning film follows renowned National Geographic photographer James Balog on a harsh Arctic expedition where he captures a multi-year record of the world's changing glaciers — undeniable evidence that our planet is in crisis. The screening will be introduced by James Balog.
Dead Lover
A foul-smelling gravedigger's romance ends in tragedy, spurring her to attempt a resurrection through a madcap series of science experiments. Grace Glowicki and Ben Petrie’s film is a zany DIY horror that zaps fresh life into Mary Shelley's classic.
Calle Málaga
Seventy-nine-year-old María Ángeles lives independently in Tangier's Spanish quarter. When her daughter pressures her into selling her apartment, she refuses to give in, finding in her old age a new resilience and an unexpected romantic connection.
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.
