The end of summer always seems so rushed – I always want to have gone more places and done more things before the weather closes in. With sunset seeping backwards into the day, and the complete isolation of the smoke this week, I’ve been dwelling on the feeling of fall.
What always marked this time of year while I went to school was the Vancouver International Film Festival. I would get a student pass and try to cram in as many films as possible, sometimes picking at random in the slots I had available around classes. A family member who I lost in 2018 would often come visit during this time and we would see films together and have long talks after about what we had witnessed together. I hold those experiences in particular, very dear.
I remember the Granville 7 and seeing Rubber there late at night. Knowing someone from film class was in the same theatre as me because they had such a distinctive laugh. Having my horizons expanded with documentaries like Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, Aatsinki, and People of a Feather. Seeing the visual feast that is The Tale of the Princes Kaguya at the The Centre for Performing Arts in a packed theatre. Being obsessed with Mads Mikkelsen in Flame and Citron. And again with Alicia Vikander in A Royal Affair. Falling into a delightful adventure with Ernest and Celestine. Enamoured with the vivid cold colour of Black Coal, Thin Ice. Seeing the 3D remaster of the 1964 spectacle The Monkey King: Uproar in Heaven. The insanity of Invasion of Alien Bikini. The Russian stop-motion musical adaptation of The Ugly Duckling. The slow devastation of Leviathan. Spending a whole summer’s worth of time with a band of rebelling old folks with And the Birds Rained Down. I would spend the week leading up to the festival with a VIFF schedule sprawled across my bed with highlighters and sticky notes along with the huge bound guides that you used to have to buy – there was always way too much to see.
Needless to say, with the pandemic nixing all live events this year, the cancellation of Cinema Spectacular (for a hopeful return in 2021), I miss the festival atmosphere absolutely.
Where:
Lac du Bois Grasslands Protected Area, British Columbia
Music:
Lee Rosevere
“Deliverance”
https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com/album/the-time-of-missing
🌠 Hey guess what? A streaming pass to VIFF this year is only $60!
https://viff.org/
🌠 Women in Film and Television Vancouver is currently offering an economic hardship option for their memberships – it’s just $25 for the year
https://www.womeninfilm.ca/
🌠 Clytemnestra by Beatrice Wood via the Philadelphia Museum of Art
https://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/87820.html?mulR=1184624726%7C9&utm_medium=socialmedia&utm_source=tumblr&utm_campaign=collections&utm_content=WHM_BeatriceWood_bday#
Trans & queer places in Vancouver to donate, volunteer, and advocate!
🥨 Saige Community Food Bank
https://saigecommunityfoodbank.com/
🥨 Urban Native Youth Association
https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/40525
🥨 QMUNITY
https://qmunity.ca/take-action/donate/
Sagebrush for your thoughts
