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"Folks used to tell me that heaven's someplace up north, too, but until I find a friendlier, more vibrantly programmed film festival than Vancouver's, I'm sticking with the assumption that those two venues got confused." Chuck Stephens, L.A. Weekly VIFF DemographicsVIFF's audience is comprised predominantly of young, well-educated urban professionals (61 percent) and students (19 percent) who live in Vancouver and surrounding communities. Ages
With 151,000 admissions, the Vancouver International Film Festival is the second largest film festival in Canada and the third largest in North America. A fall fixture on the international film festival calendar, VIFF is a microcosm of its home city: cosmopolitan, friendly, culturally complex, laid-back and accessible. The two-week festival shows approximately 350 films from 70+ countries on 10 theatre screens in downtown Vancouver. VIFF is one of the largest cultural events in Canada. The 26 th annual Vancouver International Film Festival takes place September 27 to October 12, 2007. Same Planet. Different Worlds.The festival is a not-for-profit cultural society whose mandate is to encourage the understanding of other nations through the art of cinema, to foster the art of cinema, to facilitate the meeting in British Columbia of cinema professionals from around the world and to stimulate the motion picture industry in British Columbia and Canada. Programming highlightsThese sections are perennial highlights at VIFF: Canadian Images shows the best features and shorts from all regions of Canada. It is one of the biggest showcases of Canadian film in the world. In 2006, the fest screened 112 Canadian films (39 feature and mid-length films and 73 shorts), chosen from 590 submissions. Dragons and Tigers: The Cinemas of East Asia is the largest annual exhibition of East Asian films outside that region. It highlights the most important cinematic developments from the major film-producing nations of East Asia: Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the People's Republic of China, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. In 2006, D&T showed 76 films (40 feature and mid-length films and 36 shorts). Nonfiction Features is immensely popular with VIFF audiences, who annually vote documentary films among their favourites. This program is internationally recognized as a large and successful showcase of documentary cinema. Last year's NFF showed 64 feature/mid-lengths and six shorts. In addition, the fest showed 27 documentaries outside NFF. Cinema of our Time offers the most innovative and exciting cinema from around the globe. In 2006, there were 73 features and 10 shorts in this section. Spotlight on France This popular annual sidebar program (12 films in 2006) provides a broad view of French cinema from new and veteran directors. Other programming strands will be announced closer to the festival . Calendar (26 th annual VIFF, September 27 October 12)
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