The Last Night of VLAFF

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CiTR sponsored two films this year at Vancouver Latin American Film Festival: Boleto al paraiso. or Ticket to Paradise,  which myself and my arts correspondent companion Ana found fully lacking, and El Artista (part of Spotlight on Argentine Cinema) which I found fully captivating; a modern, beautiful and satirical look at the art world.

The Arts Report also saw Todos Tus Muertos, or All Your Dead Ones, (part of the Columbian Cinema series) which was a dark, almost magic realist account of a problem being moved from town to town – a problem that hapless farmer Salvador and his corrupt townmates make worse before they come to a “solution.” Like El Artista, it was well paced, thoughtfully shot and the parallels and themes were neither obscure nor shallow. Both films were intelligent, suspenseful and quietly funny.

Starting at 12pm today there are four more films (O palhaco, El arbol de las fresas, Joven y alocada, and Heleno), two shorts series, the audience favourite and the Closing Night Gala featuring Un cuento chino: ” For over 20 years, introverted hardware store owner Roberto (Ricardo Darín of the Oscar-winning The Secret in Their Eyes) has lived virtually shut off from the outside world. Roberto’s orderly yet lonely existence is disrupted when Jun, a young man from China stumbles into his path” (www.vlaff.org).

Check out the full schedule of all the Films here. Thank you to VLAFF for having the Arts Report and CiTR 101.9 at the Festival and congratulations to all the film-makers involved.

Find out more about the Arts Report on the Arts Dept Page. Find extended interviews and special programming on our MixCloud.