Report to Community Barry Jenkins, Moonlight Expand The Frame In 2016, VIFF celebrated its 35th anniversary. Over this time, we evolved from a small community festival to one of the largest and most prestigious in North America, and now boast a permanent state-of-the-art home and exciting year-round programming. Instead of breaking out balloons and cake, we celebrated by taking a step back, looking at the legacy of our growth, and its impact on our community, stakeholders and creators worldwide. We asked ourselves if our identity truly reflected what we’d become. We proudly produce our world-class festival, but we also do much more. And as the landscape of cinematic content creation and consumption rapidly changes, bringing with it fresh opportunities and challenges, we are inspired to explore and continue to evolve at this edge of discovery. While film remains core to our values, VIFF now expands the frame to explore new media, platforms and trends through multi-experiential programming streams that include talks, events, workshops and installations in a unique 365 ‘film+’ model. Audiences can find exactly what they are looking for and discover more all year round. Reflective of an engaged global community with an appetite for discovery, our bold new vision and mission brings audiences and creators together on the horizon where we’re the first to see all that is coming next, be it a good story or an exciting new way to tell it. We believe that discovery is an act to be celebrated. After all, discovery leads to discussion, which leads to connection, which creates an enriched community. VIFF stands proudly at the edge, in conversation with the world. Jacqueline Dupuis, Executive Director Panorama Ignite True North Impact Next Gateway M/A/D ALT Report Community to 1 Aisling Walsh, Maudie Vision Celebrating excellence in screen based storytelling. Mission We produce screenings, talks and events as a catalyst for a diverse community to discover, discuss and share the creativity and craft of storytelling on screen. Report Community to 2 324 films 73 countries 481 screenings growth in average per 133,000 admissions with a 10% screening attendance creators and industry professionals 400 welcomed to the city 59,000 admissions 250 films 875 screenings Report Community to 3 Panorama The world’s boldest creators and their exceptional works. Panorama included the year’s most anticipated international films and new discoveries curated specifically for VIFF audiences. This stream included Galas and Special Presentations, as well as the popular film series Contemporary World Cinema, Spotlight on France, and Documentaries. 1 2 3 4 1. Oscar-nominated Manchester by the Sea, directed by Kenneth Lonergan and starring Casey Affleck 2. Lauded South Korean filmmakerPark Chanwook’s lastest work, The Handmaiden 3. Newcomer Sasha Lane starred in Andrea Arnold’s American Honey, Jury Prize winner at Cannes 2016 4. A thrilling, Oscar-nominated performance by Isabelle Huppert in Paul Verhoeven’s Elle 5. Director/Star Nate Parker at the Vancouver premiere for his film,The Birth of a Nation. 5 Report Community to 4 7 6 6. VIFF Executive Director Jacqueline Dupuis welcomed guests at VIFF’s Opening Gala screening 7. Winner of Cannes Palme d’Or, Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake was named VIFF Most Popular International Feature 8. VIFF Most Popular International Documentary, Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s Human 8 10 11 9. Academy Award Best Picture Winner, Barry Jenkin’s Moonlight was the breakthrough indie film of 2016 10. Super Channel People’s Choice Award Winner, Aisling Walsh’s Maudie 11. Festival guests at VIFF’s Opening Night gala party at The Vancouver Club 9 Report Community to 5 Presented by Ignite The Ignite programming stream, presented by TELUS, is a showcase of the inspired works emerging from the creative nexus that is British Columbia. The BC Spotlight film series, presented by TELUS Optik, Local featured 10 titles that left audiences thrilled by the talent being developed right here in British Columbia. Totally Indie Day, presented by STORYHIVE, brought together emerging content creators with industry professionals and offered targeted business, creative and personal development opportunities. 1 2 1. Nettie Wild’s KONELĪNE: Our Land Beautiful offered a stunning look at mining and pristine land in Northern BC 2. Jeff Chiba Stearns’ Mixed Match had its world premiere at VIFF 3. Kevan Funk won the BC Emerging Filmmaker award for his debut feature, Hello Destroyer 3 4 4. Jennifer Chiu and Jessica Parsons took home the inaugural Ignite award. This $20,000 award for their short film,Cabbie , presented by TELUS recognized the outstanding work of a female key creative on a BC-produced feature or short. 5 5. Window Horses, directed by Ann Marie Fleming and featuring the vocal talents of Sandra Oh, Ellen Page and Don McKellar, was honoured with both Best BC Film and Best Canadian Film at VIFF 6. Fighting early onset Alzheimer’s, John Mann is at the centre of Pete McCormack’s Spirit Unforgettable, which won the audience award for VIFF’s Most Popular Canadian Documentary Report Community to 6 6 7. Kim Guise, Director of Local and Original Programming at TELUS and VIFF’s Executive Director Jacqueline Dupuis make a stop on the red carpet before the BC Spotlight Awards gala. 8. Brad Wilke, Co-Founder and Principle of Smarthouse Creative spoke to audiences at Totally Indie Day 9. Leaders in the film and digital industry shared their knowledge with aspiring content creators at Totally Indie Day 8 7 9 10. Guests enjoy Totally Indie Day 11. John Mann and Spirit of the West band members joined director Pete McCormack to introduce the BC Spotlight gala screening of Spirit Unforgettable 10 11 #mustseebc campaign Films in the BC Spotlight series competed in the #mustseebc competition, presented 7, 319 10,900 by TELUS Optik Local which determined the votes page views year’s most anticipated local films by engaging thousands of fans in online voting. The winning film,Cadence , received a red carpet screening 8,650,000 following the festival. social reach Report Community to 7 Presented by True North As part of VIFF’s commitment to Canadian creators, 22 Canadian feature films were selected to screen as part of the True North stream. The films were programmed in two series,Canadian Images and Future//Present. Presented by Telefilm Canada, theTrue North stream celebrates the extraordinary creativity and craft being demonstrated by Canadian storytellers from coast to coast. 1 2 3 1. Joey Klein’s The Other Half, starring Emmy-winner Tatiana Maslany, shone an important light on a relationship between a bipolar woman and a grief-stricken man. 2. Celebrated Inuit filmmakerZacharias Kunuk, brought his latest filmMaliglutit (Searchers) to VIFF 4 3. Set in the ‘70s, Bruce McDonald’s Weirdos was a truly Canadian road flick featuring music from Patsy Gallant, Gordon Lightfoot and Murray McLauchlin 4. Mean Dreams, directed by Nathan Morlando, followed the story of young love and crime 5. Mia Kirshner was on the red carpet for the world premiere of Milton’s Secret Report Community to 5 8 6. Revered Canadian filmmakerAlanis Obomsawin attended the screening for her filmWe Can’t Make the Same Mistake Twice 7. Living with Giants from directors Sebastien Rist and Aude Leroux-Levesque was awarded Best Canadian Documentary 6 7 The world’s largest annual showcase of Canadian cinema. 8. Red carpet action at Milton’s Secret world premiere 9. Tatiana Maslany, Deragh Campbell and director Joey Klein with VIFF programmer Adam Cook following the VIFF screening of The Other Half 8 9 Future//Present Series The new Future//Present series highlighted the work of emerging independent filmmakers from across the country. With a diverse range of styles and subjects, the series focused on filmmakers with originality and vision who challenge the medium. 10 10. Sofia Bohdanowicz was awarded Emerging Canadian Director for her filmNever Eat Alone 11. Ashley McKenzie’s Werewolf 12. Karl Lemieux’s Maudite Poutine 11 12 Report Community to 9 Impact The Impact stream featured uncompromising films and insightful discussions that sparked action and changed the way we see the world. Impact included the VIFF Impact film series featuring a selection of documentaries that addressed issues of interest to viewers, a creator talk on the environmental impact of our shipping and manufacturing processes, and presented the creator of The X-Files, Chris Carter, with the annual VIFF Industry Builder Award. The stream also included the Sustainable Production Forum, a first-of-its-kind event that invited experts from major Hollywood studios to share best practices for implementing sustainable efforts during production. 1 3 2 1. David McIlvride and Roger Williams shared the impact of manufacturing on the environment with the world premiere of RiverBlue. 2. Denis Delestrac’s Freightened: The Real Price of Shipping uncovered the many hidden impacts of the 4 shipping industry. 3. Gianfranco Rosi’s Oscar-nominated Fire at Sea told the human story of the refugee/migrant crisis in Europe 4-5. Director of International Programming, Alan Franey hosted a Q&A with Carl A. Fechner, Director of Power to Change: The Energy Rebellion which won the VIFF Impact Award Report Community to 5 10 6 9. The X-Files creator, Chris Carter, was honoured with the VIFF Industry Builder Award at a luncheon hosted by the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade 7. Mayor Gregor Robertson welcomed guests to the Sustainable Production Forum 7 8 8. Part of VIFF’s High School Outreach program, Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami’s Sonita was a young refugees story of defiance and finding her voice as an activist. 9. The environmental impact of manufacturing and shipping is discussed by Denis Delestrac, Director of Freightened: The Real Price of Shipping and Roger Williams, Director of RiverBlue.