January 15–April 16, 2018
The Image Before Us: A History of Film in British Columbia – Take 4
Curated by Harry Killas
Our fourth season of “The Image Before Us: A History of Film in British Columbia” continues to draw inspiration from The Image Before Us (1986), written and directed by poet, scholar, and filmmaker Colin Browne. In this documentary essay film, within the genre of the compilation film, Browne investigates and gently critiques the images of Vancouver that have been presented to us in many historic motion pictures, primarily newsreels and travelogues, produced in and about B.C.
“What is the image before us?” Browne asks. “And how did it get that way?” How do we “read” our own films? If one focuses on this story or that image, what about the stories and images that have been left out? What stories and images have been presented and persist in our imaginaries of here? What others are not presented and consequently need to be? Browne’s rich, condensed, pungent, and ultimately moving work asks these questions and sets up our series: What do the films of British Columbia represent to us, and what are the cinematic narratives of here?
As in previous seasons, place continues to resonate in the films this year, with a variety of takes on life across this province, including the Peace River country, Alert Bay, Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, and Lower Mainland suburbia. Themes relevant to today’s audiences reverberate throughout this season’s series and our province’s film history—from the resource economy to reconciliation with our First Nations; from masculinities and the dark sides of professional sport to the international movements of peoples and our diverse heritages. We acknowledge the continuing phenomenon of Hollywood North, as it addresses themes of the imagination as well as stories from here. And we push into new territory with screenings devoted to “Directions in New Documentary” and “Cult Classics.” Our many highlights include celebrations of the bodies of work of our most outstanding filmmakers, treasures from the archive, and filmmakers in attendance! – Harry Killas
List of Programmed Films
| Date | Film Title | Director(s) | Year | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-Jan | Alert Bay | |||
| 2018-Jan | Lucky Corrigan | Lewis D. Collins | 1936 | Canada . . . |
| 2018-Jan | Big Meat Eater | Chris Windsor | 1982 | Canada |
| 2018-Jan | Bloodied but Unbowed | Susanne Tabata | 2011 | Canada |
| 2018-Feb | Directions in New Documentary | |||
| 2018-Feb | Finding Dawn | Christine Welsh | 2006 | Canada |
| 2018-Feb | Hello Destroyer | Kevan Funk | 2016 | Canada |
| 2018-Feb | Crime | Tom Scholte | 2008 | Canada |
| 2018-Mar | Star 80 | Bob Fosse | 1980 | USA |
| 2018-Mar | The Thing | John Carpenter | 1982 | USA |
| 2018-Mar | Human Cargo | Brad Turner | 2004 | Canada |
| 2018-Mar | Bones of the Forest | Heather Frise . . . | 1995 | Canada |
| 2018-Mar | A Tribute to David Rimmer | |||
| 2018-Mar | Backbone: Vancouver Experimental Cinema 1967–1981 | Richard Martin | 2013 | Canada |
| 2018-Apr | Another Smith for Paradise | Tom Shandel | 1972 | Canada |
| 2018-Apr | America, Love It or Leave It | Tom Shandel | 1991 | Canada |
| 2018-Apr | The Road Forward | Marie Clements | 2017 | Canada |
Note
An alumnus of NYU's grad film program, Harry Killas is an Associate Professor of Film + Screen Arts at Emily Carr University of Art + Design. His historical documentaries about British Columbia include Spilsbury's Coast; Glowing in the Dark, on the history of Vancouver's neon art and design; Picture Start, about the first generation of Vancouver's "photo-conceptual" artists; and Is There a Picture, an expanded version of Picture Start. He is completing an autobiographical documentary, Greek to Me.