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Who doesn’t love a good movie?! We at rabble certainly do!  And there is no better time to catch up on some meaningful and moving flicks if you are in Vancouver or in Toronto. Two fantastic festivals are about to begin, and we have two great givewaways for both the Toronto Palestinian Film Festival, and the Vancouver International Film Festival.

First, the Vancouver International Film Festival begins on September 30th and runs through to October 15th.   Now in its 18th year, VIFF is among the five largest film festivals in North America.  VIFF is touted as a festival “designed for the benefit of people who love films and people who make them.” The festival has three main programming platforms: they screen the largest selection of East Asian films outside of that region, they have one of the biggest showcases of Canadian film in the world and they have a very large nonfiction program (42 percent of feature films last year were documentaries).

rabble is very proud to be the media sponsor this year of the Canadian premiere of Revolución.

And we have tickets! To get your hands on two tickets to the 9:30 PM presentation on October 5, write to [email protected] with the name of the author the top featured story on Thursday, September 30.

Here is more on the film: Directed by Carlos Reygadas and Fernando Eimbcke, the cream of the Mexican filmmaking crop come together for this epic omnibus celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Mexican revolution via a wildly divergent series of shorts that augers well for the future of Mexican cinema.

“The 1910 Mexican Revolution, which overthrew dictator Porfirio Diaz, completely changed the structure of a feudal and theocratic society. A century later, despite the country’s many problems, Mexicans are a justifiably proud people, and their film artists share their enthusiasm. Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal’s company CANANA and their producing partner Pablo Cruz are the main forces behind Revolucion, a portmanteau directed, for the most part, by the best and brightest of the post-Cuaron/Inaritu generation. With 10 episodes taking a state-of-the-nation snapshot… Revolución is that rarity: a mostly successful omnibus project… The two most impressive segments bracket the film. They are as different as night and day and point to the diversity of styles and scripts on display. Revolución opens with The Welcome Ceremony, by Ferndando Eimbcke… It is shot in black and white, takes place in a small Mexican village, and only obliquely addresses the subject of revolutionary homage… The final short, 7th and Alvarado, is shot in seductive slow-motion and color, and set in Los Angeles. It is directed by experienced US-based film-maker Rodrigo Garcia… Mexican residents of one barrio, who walk in front of charmless stores, cell phones in hand, are suddenly joined by revolutionaries from a century ago on horseback, as if this were an episode of The Twilight Zone…” – Howard Feinstein, Screen Daily

Not to be outdone, one of Canada’s youngest and most successful film festivals launches this weekend: The Toronto Palestinian Film Festival runs from October 2 to 8. Now in its third year, the festival is dedicated to bringing vibrant Palestinian cinema to GTA audiences, and to promote the richness of Palestinian Arab culture through cinema, music, and other forms of visual arts.  TPFF was conceived in 2008 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Al-Nakba.  This year’s festival includes a broad range of films including by noted directors Elia Suleiman and Michel Khleifi. 

We have a very special prize for those of you in Toronto: To win a pass to the festival, be the third to write in to publisher@rabble by Thursday, September 30, with the title of the video of an exclusive conversation between directors hosted by TPFF and featured recently on rabbletv.

Good luck, and happy viewing to all those of you lucky enough to attend these fabulous festivals!