Maudie, the life and times of 1930s Nova Scotia native art movement icon Maude Lewis captured the hearts of 2016 Vancouver International Film Festival viewers to win the VIFF Super Channel People’s Choice Award.
Vancouver’s Nettie Wild took the Women in Film and Television Vancouver (WIFTV) Artistic Merit Award by unanimous vote for her film KONELINE: our land beautiful, a documentary about the ongoing conflict between humankind and nature.
The awards were announced at the VIFF Closing Gala on Saturday at the Telus World of Science where director Terrance Mallick’s Voyage of Time: The IMAX Experience screened. The film has its public opening at the theatre on October 22.
Additional audience awards — determined by audience voting — included VIFF Most Popular International Feature Winner: I, Daniel Blake from legendary UK director Ken Loach. Human by France’s Yann Arthus-Bertrand was the VIFF Most Popular International Documentary winner.
In a particularly poignant moment in the awards announcements, director Pete McCormack and singer John Mann came to the podium to collect the VIFF Most Popular Canadian Documentary for Spirit Unforgettable. The film — about the band Spirit of the West and its lead singer’s (Mann) struggle with early onset Alzheimers — is a candid and moving look at the ties that bind family, friends and bandmates facing an inevitable end.
“I just really love to help people,” said Mann. “Thank you.”
The audience applause clearly indicated how the man and his music have been a part of the Canadian cultural landscape for a generation.
Over 300 films screened over the 16 day long film festival and many of those could have sold out additional viewings. In recognition of the fact that many wanted to see some of the audience favourites and couldn’t, VIFF Repeats will give everyone a second chance to see some key titles.
Among the selections are Vancouver director Ann Marie Fleming’s Window Horses, the documentary Freightened: The Real Price of Shipping and director Olivier Assayas’ Personal Shopper, The Cannes Film Festival Best Director Prizewinner.
VIFF Repeats full schedule
Tickets and info: viff.org.
Saturday, Oct. 15
12:30 p.m.: Seasons
2:30 p.m.: Two Trains Runnin’
4:30 p.m.: Kedi
6:30 p.m.: Window Horses
8:30 p.m.: Goldstone
Sunday, Oct. 16
12 p.m.: Strangers on the Earth
2 p.m.: Where the Universe Sings
4 p.m.: Twilight Over Burma
6:15 p.m.: Like Crazy
8:45 p.m.: Teacher
Monday, Oct. 17
10:30 a.m.: French Tour
12:30 p.m.: 1:54
4:30 p.m.: Infinite Flight of Days
6:30 p.m.: Freightened: The Real Cost of Shipping
8:30 p.m.: Elle
Tuesday, Oct. 18
4:30 p.m.: RiverBlue
6:30 p.m.: A New Moon Over Tohoku
8:45 p.m.: Personal Shopper
Wednesday, Oct. 19
4:30 p.m.: Vita Activa
7 p.m.: Yohji Yamamoto | Dressmaker
9 p.m.: Cadence
Thursday, Oct. 20
2 p.m.: Playing Lecouna
4:30 p.m.: Portrait of a Garden
