VFF 2021 Archives - Awesome Friday!

13 February 202111 January 2022

Victoria Film Fest Interview: Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli on their film ‘Violation’

Violation is the first feature film by Canadian filmmakers Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli. A take on the rape-revenge genre, it is a tense and uncomfortable film, but in the best way possible. I had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with the pair via Zoom during the Victoria Film Festival.

10 February 202111 January 2022

Victoria Film Fest Review: ‘Fanny Lye Deliver’d’ tells of a woman’s awakening with mixed results

It is easy to romanticize the past but what we often overlook is how difficult and awful it was for women. Women in historical stories are often portrayed as fierce, headstrong, and independent, but much more common was that they were sheltered and abused. This the case of one Fanny Lye (Maxine Peake), husband to John Lye (Charles Dance), a devout Christian and former member of Oliver Cromwell’s army. It is, at least, until two strangers happen into their lives.

9 February 202111 January 2022

Victoria Film Fest Review: ‘Queen of the Andes’ explores big ideas with a micro-budget

Space travel is in our future. Of course, we will get to other planets one day, but how we get there and who we send will be an ongoing project. What, though, if it weren’t a choice for us as a society or the people we send?

8 February 202111 January 2022

Victoria Film Fest Review: ‘The Secret Garden’ is gorgeous to look at but not much else.

A great story is timeless and as resonant in the present as it was at the time it was written. Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 children’s novel The Secret Garden is one of these. A timeless classic with themes that resonate today as well as they did in 1911.

There have been quite a few adaptations of this story over the years, with four film versions being made before this one and at least that many television serials and specials, most of which in the last 30 years. Adapting a classic, it seems, still requires that something new is offered the viewer. What then, after so many visits to this garden, does this new version have to offer? Well, it’s really, really pretty. Unfortunately, not much else.

8 February 202111 January 2022

Victoria Film Fest Review: ‘The Reason I Jump’ examines the world from the perspective of those with autism

It has been 14 years since Higashida Naoki’s book, The Reason I Jump was first published in Japan, and 8 since English novelist David Mitchell translated it. Naoki was 13 at the time and is autistic and unable to communicate verbally. He was able to write his book by using an alphabet board his mother created, and in the process provided a roadmap for how his mind works and how he experiences the world.

That roadmap has proven invaluable to the families of those on the spectrum, especially those who are non-verbal. This documentary by Jerry Rothwell explores how that roadmap has impacted the lives of five such people. The result is a film that will open your eyes and your heart.

7 February 202111 January 2022

Victoria Film Fest Review: ‘Once Upon a Time in Venezuela’ is a heartbreaking look at a country in crisis

Imagine living in a place that is literally rotting away beneath you. No matter what you do, what help you ask for from local and national governments, your home slowly but surely disappears. This is the story of Congo Mirador, a tiny village of fewer than 1000 people situated on Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela. It’s also the story of the whole country, and it’s heartbreaking.

6 February 202119 April 2022

Victoria Film Fest Review: ‘Violation’ is a tense, uncomfortable twist on the rape-revenge genre

There are few things that one person can do to another that is more violating than rape. It is an act of power, selfishness, and an act of degradation. Violation is a film about such an act—a moment when a man sees a woman and takes what he wants. The result is a visceral and uncomfortable watch that sees a woman go to extremes to take her revenge.

5 February 202111 January 2022

Victoria Film Fest Review: ‘Skyfire’ doesn’t make a lick of sense, but is still fun

Disaster movies occupy a small but bombastic niche of filmmaking. They’re big on spectacle, small on plot, and medium on characterisation in the case of the best ones. When it comes to the science of whatever disaster they are portraying, they are usually either accurate to a point, or seemingly completely unresearched. Skyfire, the first blockbuster budgeted disaster movie from China, is one of these movies, and a fun example of one, too.