Human destruction of the planet. Chinese immigration. Perseverance and peer pressure.
These are some of the themes in this year’s Port Moody Canadian Film Festival, running March 7 to 10 in the Inlet Theatre at Port Moody city hall.
Hosted by the Port Moody Film Society, the festival puts the spotlight on six works created in Canada and, in one instance, opens the door to discussions with a director.
Jennifer Baichwal will fly from Toronto to Port Moody — courtesy of the Toronto International Film Festival — to talk about Anthropocene: The Human Epoch, a documentary that launches the festival next Thursday.
In her 87-minute flick that was co-directed by Nicholas de Pencier and photographer Edward Burtynsky, Baichwal lays out a case for how pollution is clogging our landscapes.
Meditation Park, by Vancouver director Mina Shum, features scenes from Chinatown and stars Sandra Oh (Grey’s Anatomy) as the daughter of a Chinese immigrant who finds independence after years of being a dutiful housewife.
It runs on March 8 at 7 p.m. while, at 9:30 p.m., are Spice It Up and the 34-minute long La Cartographe.
Saturday’s lineup starts at 4:30 p.m. with a shorts program provided by the Vancouver International Film Festival; viewing is free to the public.
It continues at 7 p.m. with Giant Little Ones (starring Kyle MacLachlan of Sex and the City) about a boys’ friendship and, at 9 p.m., there’s Genesis — a film nominated for Best Motion Picture at this year’s Canadian Screen Awards.
Finally, the fest ends on March 10 with the western Canadian premiere of Ghost Town Anthology by the famed director Denis Coté; to date, it’s only been shown in Montreal and Berlin.
Society president Connie Smith told The Tri-City News, which is sponsoring the event, there’ll be a short Canadian film before each feature.
The films were selected by a four-person committee made up of Smith, Josh Hamm, Josh Cabrita and Greg Hall.
Meanwhile, Smith said the team is already working on the retrospective program for its 20th annual film fest, in 2020.
Admission is $7 per film at the Inlet Theatre (100 Newport Dr.) plus a $5 society membership. A presale of tickets is on Saturday, March 2 from 2 to 5 p.m., at city hall. Visit pmfilm.ca.
