The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF to site newcomers), is nearly here!

Actually, it’s still a few weeks away as this year’s instalment of Vancouver’s largest film festival runs September 30th to October 15th, but with five weeks to go, festival organizers are already busy dishing out some of what we can expect to see in this year’s extensive line-up and my must see list already has a few titles.

On the docket already is the Cannes Palme d’Or winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Certified Copy which stars the fantastic (and best actress winner at Cannes) Juliette Binoche, Xavier Beauvois’ Cannes Grand Prix winner Of God and Men, Xavier Dolan’s follow up Heartbeats, Stephen Frears’ Tamara Drew and Olivier Assayas’ Carlos.

Also back is the Arts & Letters series which is made up of films that convey the power of the arts on film. So far, the stand outs here include Patrick McGrady’s Wagner & Me which explores Stephen Fry’s love for Wagner while reconciling this love with Wagner’s Nazi associations, Tamra Davis’ Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child and the b-boy documentary Turn It Loose.

A new series this year is Africa Today which features a great assortment of films made and set in sub-Saharan Africa. Interesting titles in this lineup include Cy Kuckenbaker Bush League, Andreas Apostolides A Place Without People and Nathan Collett’s Togetherness Supreme.

All of the titles already announced, most with trailers, are tucked under the seats with more updates in the coming weeks. For now, mark your calendars with these important VIFF dates:

September 4
Sneak Preview Guide Available at locations around town.

September 12
VIFF Box Office opens to VISA cardholders.

September 19
Cash sales begin.

September 23
2010 VIFF Program Catalogue available.

September 28
Vancouver Film & Television Forum

September 30
Festival kicks off with Opening Gala film.

More details, including box office locations, hours, parking, transit and theatre information available at the VIFF website. We’ll be posting updates as they become available!

And if you’re looking for up to the minute VIFF updates, follow me and the festival on twitter!

Best of Cannes

UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES Thailand, Director:
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The first Thai film to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes, VIFF regular Apichatpong “Joe” Weerasethakul’s work uses the eponymous elderly character’s final days to launch us on a journey through Thai history and symbolism.

“Not just the best film of the [Cannes] festival; it makes everything else in competition… look slapdash, lazy, hollow.” – Slant Magazine

CERTIFIED COPY France/Italy/Belgium, Director: Abbas Kiarostami
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Juliette Binoche (Best Actress, Cannes) is an antique-shop owner in romantic Tuscany who strikes up a relationship-or is it just a “copy” of a relationship-with an English author (opera singer William Shimmel) in Abbas Kiarostami’s first feature made outside of Iran. A playful “art film” drama anchored by the joint mastery of Kiarostami and Binoche.

OF GODS AND MEN France, Director: Xavier Beauvois
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A French brotherhood stationed in Algeria holds off Islamic fundamentalists with the strength of its faith… Based on a true story, Xavier Beauvois’ classical drama stars Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale, and is close to perfection. It captured the Grand Prix at this year’s Cannes festival.

A SCREAMING MAN France/Belgium/Chad, Director: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
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The country of Chad has been in a devastating state of civil war for more than 30 years. When Adam, who proudly reigns over the pool in an upscale hotel, is replaced in his job by his own son, a civil war of another type breaks out. Faced with pressure from the government, Adam commits an act of betrayal… Winner, Prix du Jury, Cannes 2010

ANOTHER YEAR UK, Director: Mike Leigh
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“Mike Leigh’s latest contemporary, North London-set drama about an interconnected set of family and friends is almost about nothing at all, and yet it gently juxtaposes the big issues of everyday life: loneliness and love, selfishness and kindness, birth and death. Arguably Leigh’s tautest, most likable effort since Secrets and Lies…” – Variety

HEARTBEATS Canada, Director: Xavier Dolan
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Like multiple Cannes prize-winner I Killed My Mother, Xavier Dolan’s sophomore effort garnered the Prix de la Jeunesse at the French festival, as well as the grand prize in Sydney. Dolan and Monia Chokri star as inseparable friends who both fall for the same handsome young man.

ARMADILLO Denmark, Director: Janus Metz
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Janus Metz’s gripping documentation of reality at the frontlines of battle in Afghanistan started a firestorm in Denmark and resulted in a government inquiry into whether Danish soldiers broke the rules of engagement by their all-too-human actions. A vital counterpoint to Restrepo, and an important part of a growing re-evaluation of political goals… Winner, Grand Prix, Cannes Critics’ Week 2010.

TAMARA DREWE UK, Director: Stephen Frears
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When attractive celebrity journalist Tamara Drewe (Gemma Arterton) returns to her rural English village after the death of her mother, the men fall all over themselves… “A charmingly entertaining film that sees director Stephen Frears in relaxed and funny form and… Arterton delivering a sweet and smart performance. It is a fresh and witty film…” – Screen International

CARLOS France, Director: Olivier Assayas
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Edgar Ramirez channels Brando via Che in Olivier Assayas’ celebrated five-hour-plus globetrotting biopic of the notorious terrorist Carlos the Jackal-it’s a historically essential and wholly entertaining big-screen spectacle that never stops moving. Special Presentation pricing.

I WISH I KNEW China, Director: Jia Zhangke
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Master director Jia Zhangke’s eloquent Shanghai elegy recreates the hustle, the drama, and the music of that fabled, romantic Eastern city’s glorious history. From glamorous art deco gangsters to modern-day literary idols, interviews and cityscapes bring cosmopolitan ghosts to vivid life.

INSIDE JOB USA, Director: Charles Ferguson
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The financial crisis of 2007-10 that gave rise to losses in the trillions of dollars and kicked the global economy into the worst financial disaster since the Great Depression could have been avoided. Charles Ferguson (No End in Sight) makes the dizzying Byzantine complexities explicitly clear in his riveting and profoundly important documentary.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF NICOLAE CEAUSESCU Romania, Director: Andrei Ujica
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Completely compiled from official Romanian state propaganda, Andrei Ujica’s masterful third film in a loose trilogy is a galloping, globetrotting reinvention of found-footage filmmaking, showing Nicolae Ceauşescu as the Great Dictator wanted himself to be presented. The parades in North Korea alone are worth the price of admission.

Arts & Letters

CHECKPOINT ROCK: SONGS FROM PALESTINE Spain, Directors: Javier Corcuera, Fermin Muguruza
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That music often flourishes despite – and maybe because of – desperate times is brought home with joyous and affecting force in Javier Corcuera and Fermin Muguruza’s journey through the Palestinian music scene. From uncannily soulful singers to rappers to classical musicians, the vivacity on display puts paid to any preconceived notions of life under occupation.

RIDE, RISE, ROAR USA, Director: David Hillman Curtis
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David Hillman Curtis’ boundlessly energetic concert film captures David Byrne at his musical and theatrical peak while detailing the collaborative process that makes the performances come alive. “Stop Making Sense is a tough act to follow, but David Byrne gives his younger self a run for his money with Ride, Rise, Roar.” – Hollywood Reporter

RIO SONATA France, Director: Georges Gachot
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Brazilian great Nana Caymmi’s languid voice – and turbulent personal life – are the stuff of legend and gossip. Georges Gachot intimately chronicles her many ups and downs, showing how – more than her personal relationship with Gilberto Gil – her peerless musicianship has ensured her place as one of Brazil’s most influential singers.

WAGNER & ME UK, Director: Patrick McGrady

Noted actor and writer Stephen Fry’s love for the music of Richard Wagner – and, as a Jew, his attempts to reconcile this love with Wagner’s Nazi associations – serve as the focus of Patrick McGrady’s dazzling, emotional whirlwind of a documentary. Wit as sharp as ever, Fry visits Russia and Switzerland – and even gets backstage access at the Bayreuth festival.

THE YELLOW BITTERN: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF LIAM CLANCY Ireland, Director: Alan Gilsenan
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The late, great Liam Clancy, the last surviving member of The Clancy Brothers, who vaulted to fame in the 60s singing bittersweet Irish ballads and outselling The Beatles, recalls moments both storied (the Civil Rights movement) and tragic (the alcoholism that almost destroyed his career) in director Alan Gilsenan’s warmly affectionate documentary.

REJOICE AND SHOUT USA, Director: Don McGlynn
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Don McGlynn has made films about musicians as diverse as Glenn Miller and Howlin’ Wolf, and in this, his most ambitious film to date, he uncovers the progression in gospel music over the course of two centuries. A rousing combination of rare vintage clips, probing interviews and fantastic music will, indeed, make you want to rejoice and shout.

STRANGE POWERS: STEPHIN MERRITT AND THE MAGNETIC FIELDS USA, Directors: Kerthy Fix, Gail O’Hara
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“The thing that makes you really want to watch a Magnetic Fields documentary – aside from the fact that it’s about a brilliant band… – is that the genius behind Magnetic Fields, Stephin Merritt, is so prickly… in interviews that no journalist has ever gotten an accurate picture of him.” – The Stranger. Until now… Kerthy Fix and Gail O’Hara direct.

DANIEL SCHMID Switzerland, Directors: Pascal Hofmann, Benny Jaberg
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Daniel Schmid made documentaries and dramas, directed plays and operas, and collaborated with Fassbinder. Pascal Hofmann and Benny Jaberg’s deeply affectionate documentary captures the ineffable mystery of the creative process through Schmid’s oeuvre. “Brilliant, funny, stirring, self-deprecating, idealistic, diva-ish – a worthy salute to Schmid…” – Strangeflowers

THE WOODMANS USA, Director: C. Scott Willis
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C. Scott Willis’s documentary sheds light on a fascinating figure. “The photographer Francesca Woodman had all the markings of becoming the next big art star: precocious talent, beauty, charisma, a driving ambition and a work ethic to match… Almost 30 years after her suicide at age 22, the art world remains transfixed…” – The New York Times

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT: THE RADIANT CHILD USA, Director: Tamra Davis
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“Tamra Davis has surpassed the art world’s expectations with [this] definitive documentary, that superbly sets out the life and times of [Basquiat] with never-seen-before first-hand footage of the artist; source and anecdotal interviews and quotes from almost every player in the 1980s art scene in New York…” – Moving Pictures

WASTE LAND UK/Brazil, Director: Lucy Walker
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Renowned artist Vik Muniz takes us into the world of the catadores – the inhabitants of the world’s largest landfill outside Rio who recycle trash for a living – and his three-year artistic collaboration with them. Lucy Walker’s powerful film won the World Cinema Documentary Audience Award at Sundance 2010 and the Panorama Audience Award at Berlin 2010.

SNOW WHITE France, Director: Angelin Preljocaj

A major stage event in France, this is a tremendously sophisticated dance film set to the sublime music of Mahler and the otherworldly costumes of Jean Paul Gaultier. The age-old tale of a beautiful girl and a wicked queen undergoes a profound reinvention; choreographer Angelin Preljocaj seemingly achieves the impossible by focusing on the more complex emotions at the heart of the story.

DANCING DREAMS: TEENAGERS PERFORM “KONTAKTHOF” BY PINA BAUSCH Germany, Directors: Anne Linsel, Rainer Hoffman
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Legendary choreographer Pina Bausch’s most enduring work Kontakthof (“Contact Zone”) is given lusty new life through the addition of surging adolescent hormones in Anne Linsel and Rainer Hoffman’s gorgeous documentary. Forty high-school students investigate the complex rituals of social dance, sex and desire under Bausch’s inimitable direction.

TURN IT LOOSE UK, Director: Alistair Siddons
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It’s a b-boy battle royal in the heated heart of Soweto, as 16 of the world’s most explosive dancers – all of them kids with touching stories from different parts of the world – compete for the title of world champion. With little attention paid to the the limits of the human body, Alistair Siddon’s riotous documentary reinvents physical possibility.

PALIMPSEST Hungary, Director: János Domokos

“My father used to teach philosophy here and these young people from Hungary are making a film about him.” Part reminiscence, part city symphony, János Domokos’ film accompanies an old woman around Moscow. It is a heartbreakingly lovely evocation of her city of Rachmaninov and philosopher Gustav Spet, who she knew well.

Africa Today

BUSH LEAGUE USA, Dir: Cy Kuckenbaker
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The players on the Tony Bombers football team in Zokolere, Malawi, serve as a microcosm for Cy Kuckenbaker’s on-the-ground look at social progress – and the lack thereof – in that Malawian village. The team’s engaging players shed light on their issues and concerns while the film as a whole captures the frustrations faced by Westerners trying to “do good.”

KINSHASA SYMPHONY Germany, Dirs: Claus Wischmann, Martin Baer
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Claus Wischmann and Martin Baer’s film shows how people living in one of the most chaotic cities in the world – Kinshasa, in the war-riven Democratic Republic of Congo – have managed to forge one of the most complex systems of human cooperation ever invented: a symphony orchestra. “An ode to joy.” – The Economist

A PLACE WITHOUT PEOPLE Greece/Tanzania, Dir: Andreas Apostolides
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In the name of “conservation” the vast Serengeti plain in Tanzania has been made off-limits to the very Massai who have historically populated and lived from it. Andreas Apostolides’ cogent documentary examines the growth of nature reserves and tourism there, and the social ramifications for the country’s indigenous peoples.

RAINDROPS OVER RWANDA Rwanda, Dir: Charles Annenberg Weingarten
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At the Kigali Memorial Centre in Rwanda, the bodies of Tutsis murdered during the genocide are left unburied as a powerful reminder of the violence that claimed the lives of 800,000 people. Director Charles Annenberg Weingarten travels throughout the country with survivor Honore Gatera to discover how Rwandans are working to forgive and move forward.

SHOOTING WITH MURSI UK, Dirs: Ben Young, Olisarali Olibui
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More extraordinarily “exotic” than Leni Riefenstahl’s Africa, this unique work has co-director Olisarali Olibui patrolling his tribe’s ancient lands in SW Ethiopia with a Kalashnikov in one hand and a camera in the other, documenting the inter-tribal rivalries and threats of encroachment on the Mursi’s traditional lands from a consummate insider’s point of view.

TOGETHERNESS SUPREME Kenya, Dir: Nathan Collett
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Nairobi resident Nathan Collett’s debut feature focuses on three young adults from three different tribes, all living in Kibera, Kenya, East Africa’s largest slum, and getting caught up on the 2007 post-election violence that saw Kibera as a flashpoint. An insightful humanist drama full of startling authenticity, made with locals in key roles both in front of and behind the camera.

ZANZIBAR MUSICAL CLUB France/Germany, Dirs: Philippe Gasnier, Patrice Nezan
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Given the island nation’s place at the crossroads of the spice route, Taarab, the music of Zanzibar, reflects two millennia of cultural exchange between East and West. Philippe Gasnier and Patrice Nezan’s stirring documentary uncovers a world fed with Arabic tones, Latin rhythms, Indian melodies and African drums.