By Loose Lips Mag
@looselipsmag
From September 26 to October 11–the entire run of the 32nd annual Vancouver International Film Festival–the city is sure to be abuzz with thought-provoking film. With the help of the National Film Board of Canada, we rounded up five projects that absolutely can’t be missed, including an immersive, virtual reality project from noted Canadian author Joy Kogawa.
The Whale and The Raven
Director Mirjam Leuze’s The Whale and The Raven illuminates the many issues that have drawn whale researchers, the Gitga’at First Nation, and the Government of British Columbia into a complex conflict. This cinematic, immersive film–shot on Gil Island and Hartley Bay in northern BC–follows whale researchers Hermann Meuter and Janie Wray, who founded the Cetacea Lab on Gil Island to study the unique marine environment inhabited by humpback whales, pods of orca, fin whales, and porpoises.
As the people in the Great Bear Rainforest struggle to protect their territory against the pressure and promise of the gas industry, caught in between are the countless beings that call this place home.
The Whale and the Raven was co-produced in Vancouver by Andrew Williamson, Henrik Meyer, Shirley Vercruysse and more at the NFB.
Catch the film’s North American premiere on Friday, October 4 and Sunday, October 6 at the Vancouver International Film Festival.
Highway to Heaven: A Mosaic in One Mile
Sandra Ignagni film depicts a place utterly unique in British Columbia and the world: Richmond’s No. 5 Road. Also known as the “Highway to Heaven,” the road hosts a multitude of faiths. Side by side are numerous houses of worship, including Buddhist temples, a Sikh gurdwara, Hindu and Swami temples, Shia and Sunni mosques, Christian churches, and Jewish, Islamic and Christian schools. Ignagni merges beautiful, carefully framed images with a symphonic soundscape that illuminates the intimate lives of the faithful. An evocative documentary that is both a meditation on multiculturalism and a subtle critique of the tensions that underlie cultural diversity in Canada today.
Watch Highway to Heaven: A Mosaic in One Mile as part of the “Beyond Belief” shorts segment on Sunday, September 29 and Sunday, October 6 at VIFF.
Jordan River Anderson, the Messenger
In her 53rd film, celebrated Abenaki director Alanis Obomsawin tells the story of Jordan River Anderson, and how as a result of his short life, thousands of Indigenous children today have health care equal to that enjoyed by the rest of Canadians. Because of Jordan’s Indian status, a dispute arose between the governments of Canada and Manitoba over who was responsible for his care, and Jordan did not receive the appropriate home-based services that would have allowed him to end his life in his own community.
You can watch Jordan River Anderson, The Messenger during VIFF on Wednesday, October 2 and Thursday, October 3. Obomsawin will be in attendance at the festival.
Conviction
Conviction, by Nance Ackerman, Ariella Pahlke and Teresa MacInnes, envisions alternatives to prison through the eyes of women behind bars, and those fighting on the front lines of the decarceration movement. Not another “broken prison” film, this collaboration is a “broken society” film—an ambitious and inspired re-build of our community, from the inside out. The film compels viewers to examine why we imprison the most vulnerable among us, and at what cost.
The film originally premiered at Hot Docs 2019.
You can catch a screening of Conviction on Thursday, October 3 and Saturday, October 5.
East of the Rockies
Written by revered author Joy Kogawa, East of the Rockies, an augmented reality (AR) app from the NFB, has its Vancouver festival premiere at VIFF Immersed! Inspired by Kogawa’s own life, the app is an interactive narrative AR experience told from the perspective of a 17-year-old girl forced from her home and made to live in BC’s Slocan Japanese internment camp during the Second World War.
Get immersed in East of the Rockies as part of the VIFF Immersed Exhibition, from Saturday, September 28 to Wednesday, October 2.
Kristi and Brittany are the co-founders and co-editors of Loose Lips Mag. Together with intern Tayvie, they’re building their feminist media empire—leaving the patriarchy, charcuterie boards and empty bottles of wine in their wake. Loose Lips Media is grateful to operate on the unceded Coast Salish territory of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations.
