The 16th Annual Vancouver International Women in Film Festival (“VIWFF”) will screen 32 films from 16 countries, including 14 Canadian films—with 10 from local BC filmmakers, and 8 Vancouver digital premieres.
Produced by Women in Film and Television Vancouver (“WIFTV’) and themed “Resilience. Challenge. Change.”, this year’s virtual VIWFF showcases an international lineup of short- and feature-length films, from narrative and documentary to experimental and animation.
Vancouver International Women In Film Festival 2021
When: March 4 -14, 2021
Where: All film programs are on demand on festival partner platform, VIFF Connect, through the festival dates March 4-14, 2021 inclusive.
VIWFF 2021 is proud to showcase a majority of women filmmakers and creatives, including the stories and voices of Canadian and international Black, Indigenous and Women of Colour, non-binary, and trans women, in an official selection of 6 feature films and 26 shorts. Each film program includes a Virtual Artist Talk with the filmmakers.
The features slate includes three Canadian films, with two from BC: Brother, I Cry from Indigenous director Jessie Anthony and award-winning The Curse of Willow Song from established horror genre director Karen Lam, as well as Passages from Quebec-based director Florence Pelletier; and two Vancouver premieres of international films—Holy Rights (India) from director Farha Khatun, and the Kyrgyzstan-filmed, award-winning drama Ala Kachuu—Take And Run (Switzerland) from director Maria Brendle.
The shorts programs include films from 8 local BC filmmakers including Camille Hollett-French, Josephine Anderson, Andy Hodgson, Tara-Lee Novak, Inder Nirwan, Maud Pugliese, Sepideh Yadegar, and Hannah Smith. Six shorts will have their Vancouver premiere at VIWFF 2021, including The Bath (Tunisia/France); The Death of Winter (Canada); Doll (Iran); Ivo (Norway); and Synthetic Love (France).
Special Events
VIWFF 2021 is also proud to present a slate of select live streamed events, for free:
March 8, 2021: International Women’s Day Panel#ChoosetoChallenge With government and industry organizations, this year with representatives from the Black Screen Office, Canada Media Fund, CBC, Creative BC, Hire BIPOC, the National Film Board, Telefilm Canada
March 9, 2021: From Our Dark Side Keynote + Finalists A keynote from Diana Williams, Founder, Kinetic Energy Entertainment, followed by a panel with the five Finalist creative teams of this year’s From Our Dark Side genre development incubator. Moderated by Lindsay Peters, From Our Dark Side program director.
March 10, 2021: Screenplay Competition Finalists A conversation with the ten finalists of this year’s VIWFF Screenplay Competition. Moderated by Joan Macbeth, Screenplay Competition program coordinator.
March 12-13, 2021: Tricksters and Writers Actor table reads of scripts/script excerpts from WIFTV’s Tricksters and Writers film writing program for Indigenous women. Facilitated by Renae Morriseau.
March 13, 2021: Digital Marketing with Annelise Larson A digital marketing for media workshop, “How to build a basic digital strategy for your film,” with Annelise Larson, digital strategist
March 7 & 14, 2021: Best of the Fest Awards announcements for Official Selection Features and Shorts, and the International Screenplay Competition. Hosted by Sabrina Furminger, YVR Screen Scene.
Now in its 16th year, VIWFF continues to provide a platform for challenging gender imbalance and the lack of equity and diversity in the screen-based media industry.
The Polygon Gallery presents the Canadian premiere of the delectably colourful touring exhibition Feast for the Eyes: The Story of Food in Photography. Initially scheduled for 2020, but postponed due the COVID-19 pandemic, the sweeping show will be on display from March 4 to May 30, 2021.
Sharon Core, Early American – Still Life with Oranges, 2008, C-print.
Courtesy the artist and Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York.
Feast for the Eyes: The Story of Food in Photography
Where: The Polygon Gallery (101 Carrie Cates Ct, North Vancouver)
When: March 4 to May 30, 2021 (Wednesday to Saturday 10:00am to 5:00pm, open until 8:00pm on Thursdays)
Tickets: Admission to The Polygon Gallery is by donation, made possible through generous, multi-year support from BMO Financial Group.
Curated by writer Susan Bright and Aperture Foundation’s senior editor Denise Wolff, Feast for the Eyes tells the history of photography through the enticing lens of food. Featuring the work of more than 60 of the world’s leading artists from the late 19th century to today, including Guy Bourdin, Man Ray, and Wolfgang Tillmans, the exhibition brings together a mouth-watering assortment of over 100 images from photojournalism to fashion photography, from rare cookbooks to advertising.
“The exhibition documents not only the history of photography through one of the most commonly depicted subjects in visual mediums — food — it also illuminates the shifting outlines of our individual and collective identities through acts of communing, hospitality, and sharing. We are delighted to showcase some of the more provocative images created by renowned artists such as Andy Warhol and Cindy Sherman, and to share how disparate genres of photography have been used to express food’s central, sustaining, role in our lives.” – Reid Shier, Director of The Polygon Gallery.
Carl Kleiner, Hembakat är Bäst, 2010, Pigment print on acid-free cotton rag 300 gr. Courtesy Carl Kleiner and Evelina Kleiner.
Still Life pays homage to photography’s earliest inspiration, still-life painting, with a focus on classical subjects and composition. The images demonstrate how photography has both borrowed from and subverted the genre of still-lifes, while showcasing the technical and artistic potential of the photographic medium. Black-and-white works by photographer Roger Fenton, one of the world’s first war photographers, are featured alongside work of other pioneers, Edward Weston, the first photographer to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship, and Imogen Cunningham, who broke through gender barriers to help redefine modern photography.
Around the Table examines the social and cultural rituals and traditions around food and community. Some highlights include photographs by Weegee (Arthur Felig), who documented everyday rituals around food such as early-morning bagel deliveries in 1930s and 40s New York, and the Foods of the World series of cookbooks published by Time and LIFE, which captured representations of cultural and national identities through food. A special display of both historical and local cookbooks will be showcased adjacent to the section.
Playing With Your Food reveals how food ignites all five of the senses. Carolee Schneemann’s groundbreaking performance Meat Joy NYC (1964) reflects patriarchal views on cooking by visualizing men and women in ecstatic ritual with food. Pop Art’s tongue-in-cheek humour will be on display with Vik Muniz’s peanut butter and jelly recreation of Warhol’s Double Mona Lisa, and Ed Ruscha’s deadpan portraits of cans of Spam. This section is complemented by a library of rare cookbooks attendees can browse through.
Following the 2017 Aperture publication of a book by the same name, Feast for the Eyes has since traveled to Foam (Amsterdam), The Photographer’s Gallery (London) and the Hasselblad Foundation (Gothenburg).
COVID Safety Protocols
The Polygon has put in place preventative measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. All exhibitions are planned in accordance with the Provincial Health Officer’s most recent order, including capacity restrictions, social distancing, mandatory mask wearing, and sanitization of high-frequency touch points.
Enter to Win
To spread the word about the exhibition, the Polygon has offered up a $150 prize package to a lucky Miss604 reader! The package will include a variety of kitchen supplies, pantry items, and a cookbook. All of the items will be pulled from The Feast Shop, an expansion of the gallery’s retail store (open during the exhibition’s run) guest curated by Eric Pateman from Edible Canada.
A mural festival, photography exhibit, online talks and classes, and art programming wrap up February in Vancouver. Black History Month concludes with a few online events, which are listed below, and check out a few more things to do in Vancouver this weekend, online and beyond:
It’s already time for cherry blossoms and spring break! This month you can tune into arts programming online, from dance to opera, along with virtual galas, conferences, and community celebrations. Check out the list of March events in Metro Vancouver below and feel free to send in your event to be listed – anytime – for free.
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Please note current Provincial Health Orders require that we dine only with someone from our own household, and within our local community. So, support your neighbourhood restaurants with take out or dine in.
How would you like to try something new for dinner tonight? Taste of the Tri-Cities is the first ever foodie event of its kind in this region, serving up dozens of offers at restaurants throughout Coquitlam, Port Moody and Port Coquitlam, including over 25 in Coquitlam alone.
Beanery Coffeehouse & Eatery
Taste of the Tri-Cities
If you aren’t already excitedly researching your options, here are 10 reasons to support some of your favourite local restaurants during this event from Monday, February 15 until Friday, March 19, 2021.
