It is an annual challenge for the Vancouver International Film Festival, set to unspool its 24th edition Sept. 29 to Oct. 14, to map an entirely unique course for itself. While it offers distinctive film programs, the fest sometimes can’t help but follow in the footsteps of the Toronto festival, which this year wrapped less than two weeks prior to the commencement of VIFF.

Underscoring the situation is VIFF’s decision to open with the India-set period drama Water, the well-received closing chapter in Deepa Mehta’s ‘elemental’ trilogy that already made headlines for opening Toronto on Sept. 8. According to Alan Franey, festival director of VIFF, some of the other potential picks – Atom Egoyan’s behind-the-scenes murder mystery Where the Truth Lies and David Cronenberg’s modern western thriller A History of Violence – simply didn’t work because of their opening dates – Oct. 7 and Sept. 23, respectively.

‘That’s just the way the cookie crumbles, and we’re delighted to have Deepa’s film as an opener,’ says Franey. ‘It’s a very strong film.’

He takes a philosophical view on the matter of VIFF being disadvantaged by not beating major films to market in a season when ‘serious’ movies are released with eyes on Oscar. ‘You miss one, there’s another one coming,’ he says.

Franey characterizes VIFF 2005’s American Independence and The New World themes (both appearing within the Cinema of Our Time program and not specifically broken out in program literature) as the festival engaging in editorializing of its own.

American Independence, with its focus on indie film, came about as a result of VIFF noting a new trend in American filmmaking – less edge and more reflection.

The New World – named after Paul Rosdy’s film essay New World, which will screen – offers titles from central and eastern Europe and was introduced because, as Franey says, it was simply a very strong year for films from that part of the world. He also notes there has recently been a large influx of immigrants from the region to Vancouver, as they flee strife in the Balkans.

‘They’re a very educated and knowledgeable new section of the Vancouver population who are quite [cinema savvy] and who attend the festival in great numbers, so we wanted to pay tribute to them,’ Franey says.

That’s much the same sentiment that continues to propel the popular Dragons & Tigers: The Cinemas of East Asia program. Running at VIFF since 1985 (the D&T moniker was adopted five years later), this year’s program features some of the festival’s most-anticipated premieres, including Japanese director Nagasaki Shunichi’s quasi-remake of his own 1982 Super 8 film Heart, Beating in the Dark (with a screening of the original as well) and first-time Tibetan feature helmer Wanma-caidan’s The Silent Holy Stones.

Other highlights include a pair of South Korean thrillers screening as D&T special presentations: Lee Myung-Se’s Duelist and Kim Dae-Seung’s Blood Rain. The festival’s biggest seller so far, also from South Korea, is Hur Jin-ho’s romantic drama April Snow.

Outside of D&T, Franey heaps particular praise on Adolfo Aristarain’s Roma, an Argentine drama about a novelist’s recollections of his relationship with his mother, which makes its Canadian premiere.

Despite the strong contingent of foreign titles, domestic cinema continues to take center stage. Unlike Toronto, VIFF has kept Canadian films in their own branded section, Canadian Images.

‘We don’t see a need to change our commitment to that program,’ says Franey. ‘On balance it really works well for us – with the Vancouver public and with visiting critics and programmers – to highlight them and to wear it on our sleeve.’

This year’s fest features 99 Canadian films – 38 mid-lengths and features, down four from last year. There are 61 shorts and 16 docs.

Canadian Images will open with rookie feature director Aubrey Nealon’s A Simple Curve, a comedy-drama about a young man growing up in B.C. with his hippie draft-dodger parents. The film received a warm response in Toronto.

‘A Simple Curve is local and it’s a strong film, and we have a pretty good representation of B.C. films this year,’ Franey says. ‘The opening is not just for the prestige of it, it’s also for all the festival aspects – having a party around the film that everyone can celebrate and stand behind.’

Also significant this year is the opening of the Vancouver International Film Centre and Vancity Theatre (see story, above). The $5-million, 14,000-square-foot building will allow VIFF to continue its mandate of being a home for new cinema and related activities all year round.

Franey says VIFF went with quality over quantity in the facility’s design. ‘We could have had a lot more seats, but we chose to have it small and intimate so that post-screening discussions can happen more easily,’ says Franey of the center’s 175-seat theater.

One of the complex’s first VIFF-related events will be a meet and greet and a screening of Guy Maddin’s new short film My Dad Is 100 Years Old, starring Isabella Rossellini in a love letter to her late father, the Italian neorealist filmmaker Roberto Rossellini, whose 1945 classic Rome, Open City will be shown afterward. Both Maddin and Rossellini will be on hand.

The center will also play host to VIFF’s Trade Forum program, which celebrates its 20th anniversary of offering industry lectures, workshops and master classes on TV and film.

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