The 35th annual Vancouver International Film Festival (“VIFF”) has wrapped up but you can still enjoy some repeat screenings, and celebrate some of the homegrown talent that won prizes this year.

VIFF 2016 Award Winners

BC Spotlight Awards

Ignite Award
Recognizes the outstanding work of a female key creative on a BC-produced feature or short.
Presented by TELUS
WINNER: Cabbie (dirs. Jessica Parsons, Jennifer Chiu)
Honourable Mention: Here Nor There (dir. Julia Hutchings)

Best BC Film Award
Presented by the Harold Greenberg Fund, Encore by Deluxe
WINNER: Window Horses (dir. Ann Marie Fleming)

BC Emerging Filmmaker Award
Presented by UBCP/ACTRA & William F. White
WINNER: Hello Destroyer (dir. Kevan Funk)

Canadian Film Awards

Narrative Features

Best Canadian Film
Presented by Directors’ Guild of Canada
WINNER: Window Horses (dir. Ann Marie Fleming)

Emerging Canadian Director
Presented by Directors’ Guild of Canada
WINNER: Never Eat Alone (dir. Sofia Bohdanowicz)

Documentary Features

Best Canadian Documentary
Presented by the Rogers Documentary Fund
WINNER: Living With Giants (dirs. Sebastien Rist, Aude Leroux-Lévesque)
Honourable Mention: Quebec My Country Mon Pays (dir. John Walker)

Short Film Awards
Best BC Short Film
Presented by CreativeBC
WINNER: Here Nor There (dir. Julia Hutchings)
Honourable Mention: Srorrim (dir. Wayne Wapeemukwa)

Best Canadian Short Film
Presented by Lexus
WINNER: Ceux qui restent/Those Who Remains (dir. Mathieu Vachon)
Honourable Mention: Fish (dir. Heather Young)

Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film
WINNER: Parent, Teacher (dir. Roman Tchjen)
Honourable Mention: Old Man (dir. Alicia Eisen)

Impact Awards

Radcliffe Foundation Refugee Crisis Awareness Short Film Competition
Presented by The Radcliffe Foundation
WINNER: Helpful Hand (dir. Alex Nagy)

VIFF Impact Award
Presented by Leonard Schein to one of the nine issue-oriented documentary films in the Impact Stream

WINNER: Power to Change – The Energy Rebellion (dir. Carl-A. Fechner)

VIFF Industry Builder Award
Presented by MPPIA to celebrate BC Creates with support from Western Economic Diversification and CreativeBC

2016 Honoree: Chris Carter

Audience Awards

Super Channel People’s Choice Award
WINNER: Maudie (dir. Aisling Walsh)

VIFF Most Popular International Feature
WINNER: I, Daniel Blake (dir. Ken Loach)
Runner up: The Salesman (dir. Asghar Farhadi)

VIFF Most Popular International Documentary
WINNER: Human (dir. Yann Arthus-Bertrand)

VIFF Most Popular Canadian Documentary
WINNER: Spirit Unforgettable (dir. Pete McCormack)

#mustseebc Presented by TELUS Optik Local
WINNER: Cadence (dir. Alex Lasheras)

Follow VIFF on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more information about VIFF events and screenings throughout the year.

This Saturday, movie lovers can enjoy a morning of free family-friendly movies at their local Cineplex theatre during Cineplex Community Day. Proceeds from donations and concession sales will go towards Cineplex’s national charitable partner, WE, a movement that brings people together and gives them the tools to change the world.

Cineplex Community Day 2016

Popcorn, Candy, Drinks and ‘Change Bracelets’ Available for $2

On the morning of Saturday, October 22nd, nearly all of British Columbia’s theatres will open their doors to guests, but seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis only. Doors will open at 8:30am, movies will begin between 9:00am and 10:00am, and all locations will return to regular programming in the afternoon.

This year’s film line-up includes recently released popular films like The Good Dinosaur, Inside Out, Zootopia, The Finest Hours and The Jungle Book.

Theatres will also be selling ME to WE Cineplex ‘Change Bracelets’ for $2 each, which feature a motivational statement to inspire youth to create positive change. All proceeds from select concession and bracelet sales will benefit WE.

Participating theatres in British Columbia:

Follow #CommunityDay online along with Cineplex on Facebook and Twitter for more information. Theatre listings for all Canadian cities can be found online.

Join in on one of the most unique beer tasting events around as Hot Glass Cold Beer brings together 9 local breweries, hot glassblowing demonstrations, music by DJ Darkcloud, food trucks, and a Halloween costume contest at Terminal City Glass Co-Op.

Hot Glass Cold Beer

• Where: Terminal City Glass Co-Op (“TCGC”)
  1191 Parker St, Vancouver
• When: Saturday, October 29, 2016.
  3:00pm to 6:00pm or 7:00pm to 10:00pm. Only 125 tickets per session.
• Tickets: Available online now.
  $55 ticket price includes: A handblown taster glass designed, made and signed by glass artist Scott McDougall (whose design was selected by a jury of brewery representatives); 7 beer tasting tokens; glassblowing demonstrations by TCGC members.

Food trucks will be on site for each session, with Chickpea for the first and Disco Cheetah for the second. Participating breweries are: Storm Brewing, Strange Fellows Brewing, Steamworks, Steel & Oak, Powell Street, Postmark, Faculty Brewing, Callister, and Bomber Brewing.

Pumpkin Carving Contest

Bring your pre-carved pumpkin to TCGC on Saturday, October 29th between 12:00pm and 2:00pm to enter. Every Hot Glass Cold Beer guest can vote on the best pumpkin. The winner will take home a gorgeous Halloween bowl.

Costume Contest

Guests who dress in their best Halloween costume could win a swag prize from the participating breweries. Prizes will be given for costumes that are: Hottest; Glassiest; Coldest; Beeriest; Best duo or group; Requiring most explanation.

The taster glasses designed by Scott McDougall.

Enter to Win

I have a pair of tickets to give away to Hot Glass Cold Beer‘s 3:00pm to 6:00pm tasting event (value $110)! Here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment on this blog post (1 entry)
• Like, share, or comment on this post on Facebook (1 entry)
• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

Must be 19+. Please enjoy responsibly. Proceeds from this event help support TCGC’s non-profit arts centre. Follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for more information. I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 9:00am on Sunday, October 23, 2016.

Update The winner is Vince!

“I never imagined my firstborn, my daughter, would die before me. But she did. And she passed away in the most beautiful, loving environment,” mother Michaela Evanow shared with the Canuck Place Gift of Time Gala audience on Saturday night. “We will never see her grow up, but we were able to plan how we wanted to release her.” The Westin Bayshore’s ballroom was packed with supporters whose eyes welled with tears, and hearts filled with love and inspiration.

The theme of the 12th annual Gift of Time Gala, presented by the Ledcor Group of Companies, was Love is Timeless, and along with smooth jazz, craft cocktails, and Gatsby-worthy decor, guests enjoyed a lovely three course meal and fabulous auction prizes. By the end of the night, over $1.1 million was raised for Canuck Place families!

Michaela’s powerful speech was a defining moment during the event and reminded us all of the great work Canuck Place does to help families in BC and the Yukon. Canuck Place has continued to support the Evanow family in the year and a half since Florence’s death, through bereavement counselling, and regular visits to the house.

“When we visit, we feel at peace, knowing Florence had the finest care. Standing in the place where our daughter found rest and finally received a heavenly strength brings tremendous healing to us.”

A photo posted by Canuck Place Childrens Hospice (@canuckplace) on Oct 16, 2016 at 11:44am PDT

Mark your calendars for the 13th annual Gift of Time Gala, which will take place October 14, 2017, to be a part of another magical evening filled with love. Follow Canuck Place on Facebook and Twitter for more information.

You can really get spoiled with a CityPass in Chicago. Front of the line access to popular attractions and no admission fee when you’ve got your CityPass ticket in hand. There’s even a red carpet rolled out at the Art Institute of Chicago, which added to the VIP experience. I recently enjoyed my first trip to the Windy City and with a CityPass in hand, I got a great introduction to some of its most iconic attractions.

Using CityPass in Chicago

Booklet Cost

• Adult C $135.26; Child C $113.18 (at time of publishing)

Included Attractions:

• • Shedd Aquarium – VIP Entry
  • Skydeck Chicago – FAST PASS
  • The Field Museum – VIP Entry
  • Museum of Science and Industry – VIP Entry or
    360 Chicago – EXPRESS Entry
  • Adler Planetarium – VIP Entry or
    Art Institute of Chicago – FAST PASS

Delivery & Use

• • • • Select Email voucher when you purchase online or
        have a ticket booklet sent to a physical address
      • To use, bring your booklet to the ticket counter at the participating attraction and they will rip it out and issue admission tickets. Do not rip out the ticket ahead of time.
      • You then have 9 days to use your CityPass perks, starting at the time of first use

Along with my sister and sister-in-law — who is from the area but was playing tourist-in-her-hometown — I spent an full morning exploring the Art Institute of Chicago, which has one of the finest Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collections outside of France. Of course it’s also the home of a famous scene from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and we made sure to stand and observe George Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” quizzically, with our arms crossed.

I really wanted to see American Gothic, not only because it’s the country’s most famous painting, but because painter Grant Wood is from the same county in Iowa where John grew up. Unfortunately it is out on tour this year but I did see many other iconic pieces like Nighthawks by Edward Hopper, The Old Guitarist by Pablo Picasso, Two Sisters (On the Terrace) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Bedroom by Vincent van Gogh, and rooms full of Monet, Matisse, Cézanne, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec pieces.

Over in the Sculpture Court, my Sister-in-Law joined in on a free sketching class, while I explored Modern American Art (1900-1950) upstairs where a docent was giving a free artist talk. We met up later in the Modern Shop (one of two gift shops), which it also worth a lengthy visit.

Prices start at about C $38 for Art Institute admission alone so bundle that with a few more attraction visits, and the perks of VIP or FAST PASS Entry, and the booklet is worth its value and more. Chicago is also the only CityPASS city where all attractions offer express service so you can skip the normal lines. As a bonus, my sister who is currently attending SFU received the student discount, and just came with me in the FAST PASS line when I used my CityPass. I was also offered the audio tour as a part of my admission.

We had many more attractions to visit but in one morning we were already feeling grateful for the savings (which we then spent in the gift shop) and the front-of-the-line perks.

CityPass booklets have different offerings for each location, with a variety of attractions and perks. Participating locations currently include: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Southern California, Tampa Bay, Toronto.

I’ve used CityPass in Seattle before as well, and it includes favourites like the EMP Museum, Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass, and Argosy Cruises Harbour Tour. If you’re heading to a new city, or would just like to play tourist, a CityPass the best introduction you can ask for, to explore on your own in style.