The Victoria Film Festival Has Come to the West Shore!
February 1st through 7th, at the Caprice

For the first time since its inception, the Victoria Film Festival is bringing the high-quality films and star-studded events that it is internationally renowned for to the West Shore. The one-week festival kicks off in glitzy red-carpet style, just like a Hollywood Premiere, on January 31st at the West Shore Gala Opening and Soiree.

After a showing of Motown High, the silver screen will come alive when the stars of the show—now known as Sounds Like Motown—perform live music at the Soiree. Much more is in store, along with surprises, entertainment, and delicious appetizers.


Motown High
Directed by Barbara Hagar
In Attendance: Director Barbara Hagar and the stars of the Vic High Band
World Premiere. This is truly a made-in-Victoria film not to be missed. The Victoria High School Band is profiled in this outstanding documentary about the band’s growth, its many personalities, and its remarkable journey to the heart of Motown to learn from the source. When the band travels east to play for a Detroit high school, it turns out that they’ll be performing for not only their American peers, but for Motown royalty: Martha Reeves, of Martha and the Vandellas, on of the defining voices of the Motown sound.

At the Caprice

Motown High
Directed by Barbara Hager
Thursday, January 31st at 7:15 p.m.
See above for info.

Siberian Dream
Directed by Janet Gardner
Friday, February 1st at 7:15 p.m.
In Attendance: Actress/Writer/Supermodel Irina Pantaeva
This remarkable documentary offers two distinct, intriguing stories. The first is the journey of Irina Pantaeva, a young Siberian woman who, in 1992, was "discovered" and moved to Paris to pursue a modeling career. Two years later, she was living in New York City and managing to make it through her years as a top model virtually unscathed by the lifestyle. Irina never lost sight of her Buryat roots.

The Hammer
Directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld
Saturday, February 2nd at 7:15 p.m.
In Attendance: Star and Co-writer Adam Carolla
40-year old Jerry Ferro, a once-promising amateur boxer has been knocking around in meaningless jobs and relationships, just waiting to eventually get his life together. After sparring a couple of rounds with an up-and-coming pro, and knocking him out, Jerry ends his 20-year layoff and begins a hilarious quest for Olympic gold.

All Hat
Directed by Leonard Farlinger
Sunday, February 3rd at 7:15 p.m.
Based on Brad Smith's neo-Western novel, this is a classic film about the family farm and the values that go hand in hand with it, and it also manages to be a comic fable about growing up. All Hat is a refreshing and much-needed glimpse of the world outside urban centers - a lifestyle that is often ignored.

Starting Out in the Evening
Directed by Andrew Wagner
Monday, February 4th at 7:15 p.m.
A mutually dependent relationship unfolds between Leonard Schiller, an old-school writer of the Bellow-Roth-Howe generation of realists, and Heather, the eager-beaver Brown University grad who worms her way into Leonard's life and tries to persuade him that her forthcoming Master's thesis on his work will put a new shine on the old man's dusty reputation.

Saving Luna
Directed by Suzanne Chisholm and Michael Parfit
Tuesday, February 5th at 7:15 p.m.
In Attendance: Directors Suzanne Chisholm and Michael Parfit
Victoria residents know very well the story of Luna, a young orca who strayed, or was cast off, from Vancouver Island's L Pod. At first, Luna's playful shenanigans are met with joy and fascination, as he allows kids to pet him, adults to play fetch with him, and the media to capture intimate footage of him. Soon, though, Luna is seen as a hazard, and drastic measures are taken to shun him when all he obviously wants is a friend.

Fierce People
Directed by Griffin Dunne
Wednesday, February 6th at 7:15 p.m.
16-year old Finn wants nothing more than to escape his mother's apartment in New York and spend the summer in South America studying the "Fierce People" with the anthropologist father he's never met. When he is arrested in a desperate effort to help his drug-dependent mother, his mother moves the two of them into a country guest house of an aging billionaire. There they encounter a tribe fiercer than anything they might find in the South American jungle: the super rich.

The Walker
Directed by Paul Schrader
Thursday, February 7th at 7:15 p.m.
Society ladies have very busy husbands and very busy schedules. So, sometimes a gentleman of taste, distinction, and proper breeding who poses no romantic threat is called on to accompany the rich and powerful to must-attend events. Witty conversationalists, snappy dressers, and etiquette snobs, these "walkers" have old-fashioned scruples - which, in the case of Carter Page III, lead to an accusation of murder and the potential ruin of his family's honour.