VANCOUVER — The opening-night gala of the 26th Vancouver International Film Festival on Thursday was vintage VIFF.

Six hundred cinephiles converged on Vancouver’s old-time Theatre Row Thursday, lining up outside the Empire Granville 7 Cineplex in the West Coast drizzle, exchanging ‘must-see’ VIFF recommendations with friends and strangers, anticipating the 6:30 p.m. screening of Atonement, and what’s to unspool over the next 16 days.

In an understated and short welcome, festival director Alan Franey told the packed audience, ‘I’m not going to say a lot about the film [Atonement], it speaks for itself.’

Atonement stars Keira Knightley and James McAvoy as two lovers torn apart during World War Two. Directed by Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice), produced by Paul Webster, Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan, the film premiered at the Venice Film Festival to rave reviews.

This year’s VIFF marathon of 333 films, from over 75 countries, runs from Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, boasting 13 world premieres, 31 North American premieres, and 35 Canadian premiers.

‘I think we have one of the most successful programs of films ever, simply the best selection of films,’ Franey says, pointing to the role digital technology plays in empowering filmmakers around the world to tell their stories.

Speaking to Playback Daily, while watching gala-night patrons line up at the concession stand for popcorn and soft drinks, Franey admitted the gala screenings aren’t the same since the closing of the venerable 800-seat Vogue Theatre in January 2006.

‘With the loss of the Vogue, there is no grand theater anymore. Yeah, it’s a drag, but that’s the reality; you can’t afford to run a place like that with these real estate prices, this market. But we’re lucky to have the Cineplex, it’s the largest place in the city we can do this.’ And to Franey, it’s always about the films, just like it was when he started with the festival 20 years ago.

After the screen faded to black, invitees boarded awaiting buses to be taken to an after-party at the Rocky Mountaineer Station.

VIFF wraps on Oct. 12 with Priceless, writer/director Pierre Salvadori’s comedy set on France’s Côte d’Azur, in which a gold digger (Amélie‘s Audrey Tautou) goes after a bartender (The Valet‘s Gad Elmaleh), thinking he’s a rich guy.