Films
All In (La Suerte En Tus Manos)
A romantic comedy that starts with a vasectomy and climaxes with rock’n‘roll rabbis. A professional gambler, divorced father, and a ladies’ man declares himself through with love then runs into an old college flame. Needless to say, she will call his bluff.
Café De Flore
Jean-Marc Vallée (C.R.A.Z.Y, The Young Victoria) has produced a deeply personal film with two parallel stories that run through the film. With a Pink Floyd on the soundtrack and a major plot twist late in the film, Vallée proves his remarkable talent for “breathtaking visuals, music-fuelled magic and inspired editing”, to quote one critic.
Crazy Horse
Frederick Wiseman, masterful film director of American social institutions, provides a dazzling and meticulous look inside Paris’s legendary cabaret. Wiseman brings to life “the place where naked ladies dance.” Closing Night Film followed by reception and announcement of Audience Award. Closing Night Film
Knuckleball
Knuckleball! is an inspiring and accessible film for both die-hard baseball fans and casual observers alike: An unprecedented documentary which focuses on one of baseball’s most obscure aspects, the knuckleball. It chronicles the careers of the two most popular modern knuckleball pitchers, Tim Wakefield and R.A. Dickey, as they deal with the unpredictability of the pitch upon which their careers rely.-K.M.
Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present
Considered one of the seminal artists of our time, Abramovic had her first major retrospective in the U.S. in 2010 at the Museum of Modern Art in NY. The mounting of this retrospective and its three-month-long run is the fascinating narrative spine of this film with scenes of the artist at home, in the studio and even in the bathtub, basking in her formidable aura.
October (Octubre)
This may well be one of the best films in VTIFF this year, balancing themes of loneliness and disconnection with an absurd comic tone reminiscent of the films of Aki Kaurismaki or Jim Jarmusch. In the center is a lonely pawnbroker whose life changes radically when someone abandons a baby on his bed. He turns to his neighbor, a devotee of October’s feast of our Lord of the Miracles, for help. Avoiding all melodramatic traps, the Vada Brothers craft an emotionally rich and stylish fresh look at contemporary Lima.-M.N.
Sense Of Humor (Sens De l'Humour)
Canadian director Émile Gaudreault (Surviving My Mother, Mambo Italiano) delivers yet another killer comedy with a very original plot about two stand-up comedians who tour across Québec playing to small town crowds. Part of their shtick every night is to pick a victim and make fun of him. Until they choose Roger, who turns out to be a serial killer. He takes them hostage and wants to be trained how to be funny…-M.N.
Starlet
The story of an unlikely cross-generational friendship between a porn star, 21 year-old Jane played by Dree Hemingway, (Ernest Hemingway’s great-granddaughter and Mariel’s daughter), and an 85 year-old widow, Sadie played by Basedka Johnson in her startling screen debut.
Turin Horse, The
Taking as its starting point the story of Friedrich Nietzsche’s 1889 encounter with a peasant beating his horse that marked the beginning of his 10-year descent into madness and silence, Béla Tarr’s The Turin Horse is a film of unparalleled cinematic power. A rare opportunity to experience on a big screen a film that has already been hailed as a contemporary masterwork.
