Art

3 B.C. women filmmakers to watch at VIFF

Local independent filmmaker Anne Marie Fleming, who was born in Japan to Chinese and Australian parents, often incorporates animation, documentary and drama to explore themes of family history. Fleming's 89-minute feature Window Horses is a visually stunning animation about Rosie Ming, a young Canadian poet who dreams of an artistic...

By Jenny Peng /

The Vancouver International Film Festival returns with films by Anne Marie Fleming, Nettie Wild and Linda Ohama

Local independent filmmaker Anne Marie Fleming, who was born in Japan to Chinese and Australian parents, often incorporates animation, documentary and drama to explore themes of family history. Fleming’s 89-minute feature Window Horses is a visually stunning animation about Rosie Ming, a young Canadian poet who dreams of an artistic life abroad. An unexpected trip to a poetry festival in Shiraz, Iran, leads to a journey of self-discovery as she comes to peace with her father’s mysterious disappearance. The narration cast includes Don McKellar, Sandra Oh and Ellen Page.
 
Screening Dates: 
September 30, 6:15 Playhouse
October 3, 3:45

Documentary filmmaker Nettie Barry Canada Wild was born in New York City to a Canadian mother and British father who made sure she didn’t forget her roots. In her new documentary Koneline: Our Land Beautiful, which won best Canadian Feature Documentary at HotDocs this year, her focus turns to the North as she captures the tension between a pristine landscape and the changes economic development brings. In Wild’s 96-minute film, expect the unexpected with scenes of horses slogging through a torrential river and fish being airlifted out of a river for their protection.
 
Screening Dates: 
October 3, 6:30 Playhouse
October 9, 12:30 Vancity Theatre

Not many Canadians can say they grew up on a potato farm as director Linda Ohama did. The filmmaker of New Moon Over Tohoku is a third-generation Japanese-Canadian born and raised in Rainier, Alberta.  She spent two and a half years in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures in Japan to document the aftermath of the 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster that devastated the coastal region of Tohoku. Through interviews and narration, the 98-minute film shot by cinematographer Kirk Tougas focuses on individual lives affected by the disaster.

Screening Dates: 
October 5, 6:15 International Village
October 7, 1:30 International Village