The Vermont International Film Festival

Join us for the 19th Vermont International Film Festival (VIFF) on October 23-26, 2008, here at the Palace 9 and at Burlington’s Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center at Lake & College for one of the region’s most important cultural events of the year. The 2008 festival will present work by a handful of Vermont filmmakers, including a special showcase of college and university student films, as well as a select program of films from around the world!

Special Events:

Thursday (10.23)

• Opening night celebration and Award Ceremony
• Screening of Trouble With Water followed by Question and Answer session with filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal.
• Premier Showing of Pride and Glory.

Friday (10.24)

• Screening of High and Outside with a special appearance by Red Sox great, Bill "Spaceman" Lee and producer Jim Brown.

Saturday (10.25)

• Senator Virigina Lyons, Stephanie Mueller (VNRC's Development & Membership Director) and Amy Dowley from Food and Water Watch's Take Back the Tap Campaign will be present as special guest speakers following the screening of Flow: For the Love of Water.
• Premier showing of Happy Go Lucky @ 6:30p
• Premier showing of RocknRolla @ 9:15p

Sunday (10.26)

• Senator Diane Snelling and Johanna Miller (VNRC's Outreach Director) will be guest speakers after the screening of Flow: For the Love of Water.

Also be sure to catch free screenings at the Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center featuring Vermont Filmmakers!

For more info on films playing there, and special events, visit vtiff.org for more information!

Schedule:

Download your very own Film Festival Schedule here!
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Our Film Line-up:

RocknRolla
Director & Screenwriter: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Thandie Newton, Mark Strong, Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, Toby Kebbell, Jeremy Piven, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges

Plot Summary: When a Russian mobster orchestrates a crooked land deal, millions of dollars are up for grabs, and all of London's criminal underworld wants in on the action. Everyone from a dangerous crime lord to a sexy accountant, a corrupt politician and down-on-their-luck petty thieves conspire, collude and collide with one another in an effort to get rich quick.

Pride and Glory
Director: Gavin O'Connor
Screenwriter: Joe Carnahan, Gavin O'Connor
Starring: Edward Norton, Colin Farrell, Jon Voight, Noah Emmerich, Jennifer Ehle, Frank Grillo

Plot Summary: A gritty and emotional portrait of the New York City Police Department, the film follows a multi-generational police family whose moral code is tested when one of two sons on the force investigates an incendiary case involving his older brother and brother-in-law. The case forces the family to choose between their loyalties to one another and their loyalties to the department.

Taking Root
Taking Root tells the story of the Green Belt Movement of Kenya and its founder Wangari Maathai, the first environmentalist and first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.  Starting with the simple act of planting trees, Maathai organized rural women to work successively against deforestation, poverty, and violent political oppression until they became a political force that helped bring down Kenya’s 24-year dictatorship. 

More at takingrootfilm.com

Wendy and Lucy
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Screenwriter: Jon Raymond, Kelly Reichardt
Starring: Michelle Williams, Will Patton, Larry Fessenden, Will Oldham, Walter Dalton, John Robinson

Plot Summary: Proving why she is one of the most highly-regarded auteur of current cinema, Kelly Reichardt’s (“Old Joy”) subtle storytelling technique uses a formal minimalist style to weave together a unique emotional and political road film. Wendy Carroll (Michelle Williams) is driving to Ketchikan, Alaska, in hopes of a summer of lucrative work at the Northwestern Fish cannery, and the start of a new life with her dog, Lucy. When her car breaks down in Oregon, however, the thin fabric of her financial situation comes apart, and she confronts a series of increasingly dire economic decisions, with far-ranging repercussions for herself and Lucy. “Wendy and Lucy” addresses issues of sympathy and generosity at the edges of American life, revealing the limits and depths of people’s duty to each other in tough times.

Flow: For Love of Water
Director: Irena Salina
Official Website: Flowthefilm.com

Plot Summary: Irena Salina's award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - The World Water Crisis.

Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel. Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question "Can Anyone Really Own Water?"

Beyond identifying the problem, "Flow" also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround.

Stranded: I Have Come From a Plane
That Crashed on the Mountains
Director: Gonzalo Arijon

Plot Summary: For the first time ever, survivors of the famous 1972 Andes plane crash tell in their own words their harrowing story of survival.  The actual survivors of the 1972 Andes plane crash have finally spoken, and you will be captivated by their words. Gonzalo Arijon, a neighbor and friend of many of the survivors, has put together a documentary called "Stranded: I Have Come From a Plane that Crashed on the Mountains" that retells the story and illuminates it with commentary from all the survivors. The result is the closest one could possibly get to empathizing with that situation and gaining any sort of understanding of how life changes when you are stranded in the mountains for over 70 days.

Trouble the Water
Director: Tia Lessin, Carl Deal
Official Website: TroubletheWaterfilm.com

Plot Summary: "Trouble the Water" is an extremely visceral account which begins from the perspective of a couple (aspiring rap artist Kimberly Roberts and her husband Scott Roberts) who filmed their neighborhood the day before and the day of Hurricane Katrina with a camcorder they had bought on the street a week earlier. This story of survival under extreme conditions touches on issues of race and class and the stratification of our society, and speaks to anyone interested in the 'state of our union' and the upcoming election.

Phoebe in Wonderland
Director: Daniel Barnz
Screenwriter: Daniel Barnz
Starring: Elle Fanning, Felicity Huffman, Patricia Clarkson, Campbell Scott, Bill Pullman

Plot Summary: "Phoebe in Wonderland" is the fantastical tale of Phoebe (Elle Fanning), a young girl who longs to be in the school production of Alice in Wonderland. After her peculiar drama teacher Miss Dodger (Patricia Clarkson) casts her, Phoebe struggles to control her behavior so her Principal (Campbell Scott) won't kick her out. As Phoebe's stress mounts, her behavior grows worse, creating intense pressure on her parents Hillary and Peter (Felicity Huffman and Bill Pullman). Hillary, who already feels a failure in both her personal and professional life, desperately tries to understand and help her daughter. But this connection proves elusive as Phoebe begins retreating to an imaginary fantasy world peopled by characters from Alice in Wonderland, a world which grows increasingly disturbing and treacherous. As Alice observes to the Caterpillar, "It is very confusing being so many different sizes in a day," and in the end both Hillary and Phoebe (under Miss Dodger's tutelage) must try to navigate the strange, painful, exhilarating transformation from chrysalis to butterfly.

Happy-Go-Lucky
Director: Mike Leigh
Screenwriter: Mike Leigh
Starring: Sally Hawkins, Alexis Zegerman, Andrea Riseborough, Samuel Roukin, Sinead Matthews, Kate O'Flynn, Sarah Niles, Eddie Marsan, Joseph Kloska, Sylvestra Le Touzel
Official Website: HappyGoLuckythemovie.com

Plot Summary: Just how hard is it to be happy? In the effervescent new comedy from writer/director Mike Leigh ("Vera Drake," "Secrets & Lies"), Sally Hawkins stars as Poppy, an irrepressibly free-spirited school teacher who brings an infectious laugh and an unsinkable sense of optimism to every situation she encounters, offering us a touching, truthful and deeply life-affirming exploration of one of the most mysterious and often the most elusive of all human qualities: happiness. Poppy's ability to maintain her perspective is tested as the story begins and her commuter bike is stolen. However, she enthusiastically signs up for driving lessons with Scott (Eddie Marsan), who turns out to be her nemesis – a fuming, uptight cynic. As the tension of their weekly lessons builds, Poppy encounters even more challenges to her positive state of mind: a fiery flamenco instructor, her bitter pregnant sister, a troubled homeless man and a young bully in her class, not to mention that she has also thrown out her back. How this affects not only Poppy's world view but also the outlook of those around her begs the question "glass half full or half empty"?

The Great Buck Howard
Director: Sean McGinly
Screenwriter: Sean McGinly
Starring: Colin Hanks, John Malkovich, Emily Blunt

Plot Summary: In the comedy "The Great Buck Howard," recent law school dropout Troy Gable (Colin Hanks) answers an ad for a "Road Manager and Personal Assistant for Celebrity Performer", thinking it will break him into the entertainment industry. In actual fact, he has signed on to work for Buck Howard (John Malkovich), a has-been magician trying to revitalize his waning career. With the help of a fiery publicist (), Troy and Buck embark on a cross-country tour in hopes of staging the comeback of a lifetime.

Let the Right One In
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Screenwriter: John Ajvide Lindqvist
Starring: Kare Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson

Plot Summary: A fragile, anxious boy, 12-year-old Oskar is regularly bullied by his stronger classmates but never strikes back. The lonely boy's wish for a friend seems to come true when he meets Eli, also 12, who moves in next door to him. But Eli's arrival coincides with a series of gruesome deaths and attacks. Though Oskar realizes that she's a vampire, his friendship with her is stronger than his fear... Swedish filmmaker Tomas Alfredson weaves friendship, rejection and loyalty into a disturbing, darkly atmospheric, yet unexpectedly tender tableau of adolescence.

Based on the best-selling novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, which the U.K. press qualified as "reminiscent of Stephen King at his best."

Children of all Ages
Directors: Scott Galloway and Brent Pierson

Plot summary:  “Children of all Ages” is an amazing three-ringed documentary showcasing the most storied entertainment form in American history: the circus. Ring 1 is Sailor Circus the longest running children's circus in the country. Ring 2 is the world's LARGEST miniature circus an astonishing 3,800 square feet tabletop tableau showcasing more than a million pieces. Ring 3 is an exclusive talk with the greatest living circus performers ever to work under the tented Big Top.

Yonkers Joe
Director & writer: Robert Celestino
Starring: Chazz Palaminteri, Christine Lahti, Tom Guiry, Michael Lerner

Plot summary:  Family life gets in the way of a con man's search for the perfect scam when he has to take over the care of his child with Downs’ Syndrome.

American Swing
Director:  Jon Hart & Matthew Kaufman
2008 Toronto International Film Festival Selection
Plot summary: “American Swing” chronicles the rise and fall of 1970’s New York City nightclub Plato's Retreat. It was 1977 and New York was scorched by stifling heat waves; Studio 54 was the exclusive hot club, and the notorious sex club Plato’s Retreat was in full swing. Plato’s Retreat evolved from a desire to have straight sex out in the open, a privilege flaunted by the city’s gay clubs. Filmmakers Mathew Kaufman and Jon Hart have unearthed footage of a lost era chock full of chest hair, gold medallions, platform shoes and a multitude of penis and bra sizes. The city government headed by Mayor Koch of NYC was so repulsed by went on inside Plato’s retreat that they tried to pass ordinances to close it. As the AIDS epidemic hit, gay bathhouses were shut down, and pressure was put on Plato’s to shut down; which was closed on New Year’s Eve 1985.
American Swing is sexy, sleazy, sweaty...it is the seventies, baby…celebrating the sexual revolution birthed in the 1960’s.

The Betrayal
Director:  Ellen Kuras
Co-director: Thavisouk Phrasavath

Plot summary:  Filmed over the course of 23 years, “The Betrayal” is the story of a family’s epic journey from war-torn Laos to the mean streets of New York.  Thavisouk Phrasavath tells his own story as a young man trying to survive both the war and the   hardships of immigrant life, as well as his mother’s astonishing tale of perseverance.  Renowned cinematographer Ellen Kuras’s directorial debut is a remarkable collaboration- a poetic, deeply personal film about the hidden, human face of war’s “collateral damage”.

Le Cedre Penche
Director & Screenwriter:  Rafael Ouellet
Starring:  Viviane Audet, Marie Neige Chatelin

Plot summary:  After their mother's passing, the Provencher sisters return to live in the family home. While Brigitte takes time to explore her past, Candide becomes very reclusive even having trouble finding inspiration for her songwriting. Caught up in their separate words, the two sisters awkwardly try to connect. Distant and different, it's through their mother's music that they will discover the bond that ties them and find the means necessary to flourish.

How About You
Director: Anthony Byrne
Screenwriter:  Jen Pasley (based on a story by Maeve Binchy)
Starring:  Haley Atwell, Vanessa Redgrave, Imelda Staunton, Elizabeth Moynihan, Joss Ackland, Orla Brady, Brenda Fricker, Joan O’Hara

Plot Summary:  “How About You” tells the story of Ellie, a young woman left in charge of the residential home run by her older sister, over the Christmas period. Whilst most of the residents have left to spend the festive period with their families, four residents, known as 'the hardcore' remain. Their behavior is so terrible that the home faces closure as potential new residents are put off by their appalling antics.

Cherry Blossoms
Director & Screenwriter:  Doris Dorrie
Starring: Elmar Wepper, Hannelore Elsner, Aya Irizuki, Maximilian Bruckner, Nadja Uhl, Birgit Minichmayr, Felix Eitner, Floriane Daniel

Plot Summary:  When Trudi learns that her husband Rudi is dangerously ill, she suggests visiting their children in Berlin without telling him the truth. As Franzi and Karl don't care much about their parents, Trudi and Rudi go to the Baltic Sea, where Trudi suddenly dies. Rudi is thrown out of gear, even more when he learns that his wife wanted to live a totally different life in Japan...

High & Outside
Director: Peter J. Vogt

Plot Summary:  Labeled "The Spaceman", Bill preferred the nickname "Earthman" because it reflected the things he cared about deeply. Bill became the spokesperson for a generation that came of age in the 1960s and frequented the right field bleachers at Fenway. Lee was a voice of reason and sanity in a game corrupted by "planet-polluting owners" and the corporate mindset.   

Bill was all business on the mound, and a human highlight reel in the interview room - consistently unpredictable, "a free man, and a free-radical, not owned by any corporation", yet becoming "increasingly difficult to handle". Meanwhile, Bill ran to the ballpark every day, shagged balls in a coonskin cap, a gas mask, or pinwheel beanie, and won 17 games three years in a row for the Red Sox. He was a key figure in the labor movement, elected American League Rep his entire career because he was intelligent, tough, and he wouldn't back down.

In 1975 "Spaceman" was flying high, winning 17 games and pitching brilliantly in the World Series. Bill gave it all to the Sox, the workhorse of the staff, and the conscience in the clubhouse. Yet in 1978, he was traded to Montreal, and after the 1981 strike, banished from the game forever, unable to hook onto another team at an age when many pitchers are coming into their prime. What happened?

Through interviews and archival film, High and Outside traces Bill's baseball pedigree, looks at his union activism, and uncovers his poignant political awakening and finds some surprising answers behind Bill's banishment from baseball. The film discovers Bill today - still playing ball, still high and outside.

 

Planet B-Boy
Director: Benson Lee

Plot Summary:  With compelling characters and vibrant dance sequences, PLANET B-BOY is set in the International world of b-boying – the urban dance more commonly known as “breakdancing.” Weaving between the vivid backdrops of Osaka, Paris, Seoul and Las Vegas, unforgettable images frame the intimate stories of dancers who struggle for their dreams despite being misunderstood by larger society and even their own families.
 
An American dancer in Vegas looks for his big break; a Korean son seeks his father’s approval; a twelve-year-old boy in France confronts his family’s racism – all the b-boys’ lives collide in Germany where their skills are put to the ultimate test: the “Battle of the Year” finals, with crews from 18 nations vying for the title of World Champion. PLANET B-BOY features electrifying dance performances and astonishing displays of power and grace, showing how a street dance from New York has evolved into an inspiring art form for a new generation around the world.