Sunset Cinema inflates the big screen, with musicals and more, August 16 to 24

Sing 2 kicks off the fun at šxʷƛ̓exən Xwtl’a7shn plaza this week, followed by Pitch Perfect, Spider Man: No Way Home, and In the Heights

Vancouver Civic Theatres screens Sing 2 on August 16, Pitch Perfect on August 17, Spider-Man: No Way Home on August 24, and In the Heights on August 31, at sunset on šxʷƛ̓exən Xwtl’a7shn plaza (by the Queen Elizabeth Theatre)

OUTDOOR MOVIE events are thriving this summer—and the weather has been unusually cooperative.

That holds true for this week, when, in the heart of downtown, Vancouver Civic Theatres hosts a program of four fun, mostly music-filled popcorn features at its Sunset Cinema series.

The free event features a gigantic inflatable screen under the stars at šxʷƛ̓exən Xwtl’a7shn (the former QET Plaza) outside the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

Bring out the kids for the adorably animated Sing 2, which is on deck for the Tuesday night launch, followed by the surprisingly edgy musical teen comedy Pitch Perfect the following evening.

Spider-Man: No Way Home, with Tom Holland as the titular web-spinner, hits the screen the following Wednesday, while Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical In the Heights wraps up the series on the last day of August, gearing crowds up for the theatrical season indoors.

Viewers will want to bring blankets, chairs, and pillows to the outdoor plaza, and “four-legged companions” are welcome. Movies begin shortly after sunset, weather permitting.

Arrive early to secure a spot.

Articles

Bayaan and Saints and Warriors among this year's Sundar Prize Film Festival winners

Recipients were unveiled during a ceremony at Landmark Cinemas Guildford

Film reviews: At DOXA fest, life off the grid, bio-digital surveillance, and other highlights

Idyllic meditations, sharp investigations, and deeply personal questions arise in our quick takes on Green Valley, The Sandbox, There Are No Words, Numakage Public Pool, and Replica

Silent classic The Passion of Joan of Arc gave Beautiful Violence a sonic challenge

The musical duo of Simon Dobbs and Jon McGovern found scoring Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1928 film a more daunting prospect than they anticipated

At DOXA, təm kʷaθ nan Namesake confronts the painful legacy of colonialism

Documentary by Eileen Francis and Evan Adams looks at the Tla’amin Nation’s efforts to change the contentious name of the city of Powell River

At DOXA, Concrete Turned to Sand surveys a mysterious, haunting universe under the waves

Contemplative new work by acclaimed filmmakers Jessica Johnson and Ryan Ermacora explores imperfect balance between an ancient, shifting ecosystem and a Cortes Island community of oyster farmers

Saigon Story unpacks the complicated history of an image synonymous with Vietnam War violence

In the National Film Board documentary making its local premiere at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival, Canadian director Kim Nguyen traces the repercussions of an execution photo through the decades

Sundar Prize Film Festival spotlights queer pride, April 25

“Egg Yolk Custard Bun”, “Ramen Boys”, “It’s Not You”, and the feature Blood Lines contribute to a diverse and often playful program

Haunting Reedland draws on age-old Netherlands trade, at Dutch Film Festival April 25

A reed cutter tries to solve a murder in Academy Award submission for Best Foreign Language Film; plus documentaries and soccer as fest enters second installment

Bella Sutra kicks off this year's DOXA Documentary Film Festival at an Opening Gala, April 30

Director OK Pedersen narrates the cine-concert featuring violinist Eden Glasman and pianist Jakub Tokarczyk

At Sundar Prize Film Festival, A Cree Approach pays tribute to a language matriarch

Vancouver filmmaker Tristin Greyeyes takes a personal approach to documentary that explores her grandmother’s role in nêhiyawêwin revitalization

B.C.-filmed Hunting Matthew Nichols toys with true-crime documentaries, opening April 10

Creepy trip into the West Coast woods has been earning praise for its fresh spin on the horror genre

Local lens-based artists share their influences in The Cinematheque x Capture Film Series, to April 25

As part of Capture Photography Festival, Dana Claxton, Althea Thauberger, and Stephen Waddell screen the films that shaped them

Listening as Activism explores the power of sound, vision, and a decolonized conception of time

Vancouver New Music event brings together artists and activists for a roundtable discussion and performances

DOXA Documentary Film Festival unveils program of 40 features, including live, opening-night cinematic performance Bella Sutra

Running April 30 to May 10, 25th annual event features a South Korean spotlight, Fire of Love director Sara Dosa’s Iceland-set Time and Water, and world premieres Under the Red Roof, Illustrated Legacies: Graveyard of the Pacific, and more

Sundar Prize Film Festival unveils this year's award nominees

Among the titles nominated across 14 categories are Bikas Ranjan Mishra’s Bayaan, Josias Tschanz’s The Fire in Our Hearts, and more

The Passion of Joan of Arc screens at the Shadbolt Centre with a live score, May 2

Local duo Beautiful Violence performs original music for silent film about the titular 15th-century teenage warrior

Family visit subtly reveals the strain in What Does That Nature Say to You, at The Cinematheque to April 6

In South Korean filmmaker Hong Sangsoo’s hazily-shot latest, the viewer becomes increasingly aware that parents are casually interrogating their daughter’s poet boyfriend

Nuns hit the road in New Zealand in Holy Days, to March 30

B.C. filmmaker Nat Boltt brings scenic, gentle comedy to the Park big screen

Dutch Film Festival returns to Vancouver for sophomore edition, March 27 to 29 and April 23 to 26

Program includes offerings from Suriname, Indonesia, Belgium, and the Netherlands

Western Front hosts a screening of I Am the Art NOBUO KUBOTA at The Cinematheque, April 9

Presented with the Powell Street Festival Society, Annette Mangaard’s documentary captures the life of the titular Japanese Canadian artist

The Cultch screens Starwalker ahead of its wide theatrical release, March 18 to 22

The film version of Corey Payette’s Indigenous-empowered drag musical has roots in the York Theatre stage

The Collaborators brings retrospective of cinematic art to Paul Kyle Gallery, to March 28

Nettie Wild’s projected and VR-headset works include a mesmerizing three-channel ode to herring migration, the salmon-run-themed Uninterrupted, and “moving paintings”