Previewing My Vancouver Film Festival Lineup
We are now 10 days away from the start of the Vancouver Film Festival, and for those who aren't aware - I will be covering it for Rogue Eye Media! This is my first film festival ever for Rogue Eye Media and the lineup is stacked with a wide variety of projects. We have films with big Hollywood stars, first-time directors, and indie projects looking to make an awards push. The festival will be taking place October 1st-11th and we will be attending for those first four days! Make sure to stay tuned to this website, our YouTube channel, and all of the other social platforms for all the content!
With the festival coming up in just over a weeks time, I thought it would be a good time to show the films I have lined up for my coverage. As I said I'll only be in attendance for the first half, meaning that I'll unfortunately miss out on films like I Play Rocky and Wild Horse Nine, but we still have an incredible festival lineup to look forward to. Click here to see the full festival lineup, including the ones I won't talk about here today. I'm planning to see eleven films in those four days and I'll go into detail on all of them here! I'm going to start with highlighting my most anticipated before then going into some of the lesser known projects. Let's get into it!
Fjord
Plot:
"After the deaths of Mihai’s (Sebastian Stan) parents, Mihai and Lisbeth Gheorghiu (Renate Reinsve) leave everything behind in Romania and move with their children to a remote village in Norway, hoping to rebuild their lives near Lisbeth’s family. There, they grow close to their neighbors, the Halbergs, whose warmth offers the promise of a fresh start. But the fragile peace begins to unravel when the Gheorghius’ young daughter, Elia, arrives at school covered in bruises."
Release Date: October 9th
When a film features two of the best actors working right now and also receives incredibly standout reviews, then it has to skyrocket to the top of any list. Renate Reinsve has quietly become one of my favorite actors following Sentimental Value last year and Stan continues to build up a filmography that rivals any of his peers. Although it's been a more mixed reaction out of TIFF, the film won the top Palme d'Or prize at Cannes this year and is shaping up to be a major awards contender. The trailer is now out and continues to sell me on this NEON project. It appears based on the traiuler and the reviews that this takes a lot of big swings narratively, not being afraid to represent many opinions that may end up being controversial. As long as the film isn't bogged down too much by that kind of thing, that's something that just gets me even more excited. Will Renate and Stan be up for acting awards? Is this another example of a NEON project winning Best International Feature? Is the ending truly as controversial as it is said to be? These are all questions I'll have answers to in a few weeks!
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother
Plot:
"Latif, (Mahershala Ali), a devoutly religious hitman, struggles to balance work, faith and fatherhood. When his wife dies, he embarks on a desperate journey across Houston to protect his children, confronting the forces closing in around him – and the beliefs threatening to unravel within."
Release Date: October 9th
Most originally heard of this film due to the Blade controversy, but frankly I'm just here to anticipate what appears to be an incredible film. Lead Mahershala Ali has proven himself in this industry time and time again, especially after winning two Oscars in the past decade, and it appears he really feels passionate about this project. The film screened for the first time at TIFF last week and it received an incredible amount of praise. Most critics praised the film for its standout cast, action sequences, and religious narratives. That sounds to me like enough to make an awards contender that I'll be anticipating plenty heading into my screening during VIFF. The film is still at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and I frankly haven't really seen any major negatives yet, so the question does become how much of an awards contender will this be? You'd have to imagine Mahershala, as an Academy favorite, as well as maybe production design and other technical awards.
The Debut
Plot:
"When Mona Friedman (Julianne Moore) is cast in a bit part at a small community theater, she transforms from a shy, unassuming housewife into a zealous method actor willing to do anything to protect the artistic integrity of her marginal role—even if it means waging war against the show’s domineering director."
Release Date: December 11th
I'll admit, at first I was a little reserved on what I thought when I heard Jesse Eisenberg had an "Untitled Musical" coming out this year. In no way have I thought of any of his work in this setting and I wasn't too familiar with him as a filmmaker rather than an actor. I thought the trailer looked good, but in no way was I expecting anything crazy awards wise. That perspective was flipped on its head afterThe Debut has now crushed it at multiple film festivals in the past month. Julianne Moore is now the early favorite to win Best Actress, as she became what appeared to me to be the first ever actress to receive a mid-movie standing ovation at the premiere for this. She'll be performing many songs in a film that should be up for a ton of categories come awards season. The more I've been reading about it the more I've come around for this film and I always enjoy a good musical. Paul Giamatti in the cast just feels like the cherry on top!
Club Kid, The Only Living Pickpocket in NY, And More!
I'd say those top three are very clearly my top three most anticipated, in whatever order, but there's still some really great films remaining on this list. The first would be Club Kid, featuring the directorial debut of Jordan Firstman as a NYC club promoter who suddenly finds out he has a child. This one has received fantastic reactions at every festival its been at and it is always nice to hear from new directorial voices. Next would be The Only Living Pickpocket In NY, which I'll be seeing on opening night of the festival. It stars John Tuturo as a pickpocket struggling to find his skill in a world that is digitized. Tuturo has become a favorite for me after Severance and I'm always a sucker for a good NY film (plus we have Tatiana Maslany and Giancarlo Esposito in the supporting cast!). Tender Loving Care is another one I'm really looking forward to, with the red hot Kate O'Flynn and it potentially being Mike Leigh's final film. I'm a little more mixed on the reviews and look of Paper Tiger, but with the cast you can't go wrong: Miles Teller, Scarlet Johansson, Adam Driver.
Here's some quick hitters for the remaining four films!:
Fatherland features the 2026-queen Sandra Huller in another potential awards worthy performance for her this year.
Iron Boy showcases a beautiful bit of a hand-painted animation and still sits at 100% from its festival screenings.
The biggest surprise sensation out of Cannes was La Gradiva, an international feature candidate from first time director Marine Atlan.
Gentle Monster was a late addition to my lineup, but appears to feature a standout performance from Lea Seydoux in an emotional story.
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