Kingsway at VIFF 2018 #MustSeeBC

Comments 11 by Rebecca Bollwitt

Some are unlucky at love. Others are just plain inept. The latter populate writer-director Bruce Sweeney’s heartfelt farce that delivers finely tuned dysfunction while featuring copious local haunts and a surplus of skeletons in closets.

“TIFF kind of ties me up in knots and VIFF kind of unloosens those knots,” writer and director Bruce Sweeney told me over the phone from his cabin this summer, ahead of the busy film festival season. His latest work, Kingsway premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month and it will soon screen at Vancouver’s festival.

Kingsway by Bruce Sweeney

Kingsway at VIFF

Named after a storied thoroughfare that crosses cities and in parts almost seems to intersect with itself, Kingsway, the namesake of Sweeney’s film, also serves as a metaphor. “A loose metaphor for relationships,” he says. “You think you’re going one way and you end up going another.”

It kicks off at the 2400 Motel and comes to a raucous, raunchy close six kilometres away at Main Street’s China Cloud Gallery. In between, it lingers in the veritable cul-de-sacs its players lives have become.

“We all know that there are a lot of movies out there with a ‘life is sh*t’ theme and I get that, but I just didn’t want to do that.”

Camille Sullivan shines as Jess, a rough diamond who must keep Matt (Jeff Gladstone), her emotionally frail brother, from unravelling as his marriage to unrepentantly brash Lori (Colleen Rennison) predictably implodes. Meanwhile, matriarch Mary (Gabrielle Rose) balances romantic trysts with some amateur sleuthing.

What might strike the viewer is the openness of the characters – people actually saying what they mean, what they want, it’s refreshing, or as Sweeney told me, “woven into a narrative that wasn’t punishing to watch” where surface is one thing and subtext is another.

Get Tickets

As the city prepares for VIFF, snapping up tickets and program guides, I’m pleased to sponsor Kingsway this year, and to support the festival in general. As Bruce added, “VIFF is just this very cool thing where people can come and watch films, I watch films at VIFF.” Here’s how you can watch Kingsway:

Get tickets » Saturday, September 29, 2018 5:45pm at the Rio Theatre
Get tickets » Monday, October 1, 2018 4:30pm Int’l Village 9

Win Tickets

I have two pairs of tickets to give away to see Kingsway at the Rio Theatre on Saturday, September 29th. Here’s how you can enter to win:

  • Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
  • Click below to get another entry by posting on Twitter:

[clickToTweet tweet=”RT to enter to win tickets to @KingswayFilm at @VIFFest #mustseeBC #VIFF2018 http://ow.ly/rLN030lS6PN” quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]

I will draw one winner at random from all entries on Friday, September 21, 2018 at 12:00pm.

VIFF 2018 runs September 27 to October 12, 2018. Follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more information about the festival, its events, special guests, and films.

Miss604 is a proud media partner of VIFF 2018.

Update: The winner is Mike!

Current Contests on Miss604
*All contests are open to residents of Canada only, unless otherwise stated. Contest timelines are published on each individual post along with entry methods. Some contests may only be open to those 19 years of age and older. Winners are announced on the contest blog posts. Contest policy »

11 Comments  —  Comments Are Closed

  1. Megan LowTuesday, September 18th, 2018 — 5:03pm PDT

    This looks hilarious! So excited to see this film!

  2. CaraTuesday, September 18th, 2018 — 8:02pm PDT

    Love VIFF!

  3. EileenWednesday, September 19th, 2018 — 10:21pm PDT

    Can’t wait for VIFF to start!

  4. HershThursday, September 20th, 2018 — 8:24pm PDT

    Interested.

  5. Susan J.Thursday, September 20th, 2018 — 8:53pm PDT

    Looking forward to VIFF

  6. AlanThursday, September 20th, 2018 — 10:15pm PDT

    Awesome!

  7. DeeFriday, September 21st, 2018 — 3:25am PDT

    Great local talent

  8. MikeFriday, September 21st, 2018 — 10:44am PDT

    Bruce Sweeney is great.

  9. AdamFriday, September 21st, 2018 — 10:45am PDT

    Looks like a super movie.

  10. Ana SantosSunday, September 23rd, 2018 — 11:27am PDT

    Looks hilarious!!

  11. Lara RiosWednesday, November 7th, 2018 — 9:49pm PST

    I am very interested and Can’t wait for VIFF to start!

Also on Miss604.com
«
»