photo courtesy VIFF THE 1Sth annual Vancouver [International Film Festivai draws severa! big names this year. The opening gala on Sept. 21 features Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: director Ang Lee's first Chinese-language fitm since Eat Drink Man Woman. Starring Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh, the movie is a classical love story with a mar- tial arts twist. The festival runs Sept. 22 to Oct. 5. For more info, see . Katharine Hamer News Reporter khamer@nsnews.com MARTIAL arts, musicals, and protest marches all feature in the 19th annual Vancouver _ International Film Festival. “. oThe festival runs Sept. 22 to Oct.5, but officially opens on the evening of Sept. 21 with a gala screening of Ang Lee’s new film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden . Dragon. : Starring Hong Kong/Hollywood crossover action heroes Chow Yun-Fat . and Michelle Yeoh, the film is Lee’s first “.. Chinese language effort since 1994’s Eat Drink Man Woman. ; “.. Since then, the director's star has risen in the U.S. with box office and critical successes like The Ice Storm and : Pride and Prejudice. *~:.Set in the early 19th Century, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon com- ;, bines classical Chinese culture with mar- ©.) tial arts moves choreographed by The _ Matries Yuen Wo-Ping. It features Yun- » Fat as a legendary warrior bound by honour to deny his love for Yeoh and avenge the death of his master. < Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is -: fust one of many Asian films at the festi- . val. VIFF’s “Dragons and Tigers: The * Cinemas of East Asia” boasts the largest ~ - @ngoing program of Pacific Asian films jn the Americas, with a slate of Japanese fest fil gangster movies and South Korean social comedies on tap, plus a variety of Thai and Taiwanese ttles. Other dedicated national cinema series include Spotlight on France and Spotlight on Iran (a country whose films have grown rapidly in popularity over the past few years. } White Balloon director Jafar Panahi is “back this year with The Circle — the story of three women who escape from prison but continue to face obstacles to freedom. One-time Vancouver resident Bahman Farmanara also returns to town for the opening of his meditation on mortality, Smell of Camphor, Fragrance of Jasmine. , Amongst French entries, Claire Denis’ Bean Travail may well garner the same sort of delirious response it won from European film critics over the sum- ~ mer. Denis’ study of subtle manipulation in the French Foreign Legion topped the “must-see” lists when it was released across the pond. Big Canadian tides to watch for include new films from Denys Arcand (Stardom, with Dan Ackroyd and new- comer Jessica Paré), Robert Lepage (Possitle Worlds), Anne Wheeler (an adaptation of Marine Life, by local author Linda Svendsen), and Stspicious River, Lynne Stopkewich’s follow-up to Kissed, with Molly Parker and Callum Keith Rennie. : iS screens The festival will also showcase several first-cime directors, including Vancouverites Martin Cummins (We Ail Fall Down) and Ross Weber (the intriguingly titled No Afore Monkeys Jumpin? on the Bed). On the documentary front, two of Canada’s biggest resident pop icons are profiled by foreign directors: surrealist David Cronenberg talks to France’s Andre Labarthe about his work in David Cronenberg — I Have to Make the Word Be Flesh, while Brit director Mark Neale charts William Gibson’s sci-fi vision in the world premiere of No Maps For These Territories. With “Same Planet, Different . Worlds” as the overall theme of the festi- val, a sub-theme, “New World Order!” . encompasses films highlighting a : undswell of grass-roots activism, ‘om the APEC and WTO protests to a look at the fallout from the 1991 Gulf far. : This year’s Best Documentary Oscar- winner, One Day in September, is also on show. One of VIFF’s greatest coups this year is its closing gala picture — Danish director Lars von Trier’s Dancer in the Dark. ‘ . The film stars Icelandic singer Bjork as a Czech immigrant in love with: *. Hollywood musicals working in an" . See Total page 27- Wednesdays - hiphop/RSB night with Du's Alibaba and Jial14 Thursdays - 80's music - 80's prices & Pool Tourneys every Thurs! Fridays - Ladies appreciation night free cover ‘ill 41pm - Nightly Winners! 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