Infidels Jazz

Biboye Onanuga Plays Monk + Straight, No Chaser at VIFF Centre
2025-04-13 20:00 - 23:00 (America/Vancouver) | VIFF Centre, 1181 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3M7, Canada
Returning to the VIFF stage, Biboye Onanuga, presents: ’The Music of Monk’.
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The Edmonton-based drummer is joined by an iconoclastic ensemble of Vancouver musicians Quincy Mayes (piano), Jodi Proznick (bass), and John Nicholson (tenor) for an evening of Monk tunes and arrangements before the 1988 documentary Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser.
“The key to swing jazz is to swing it.” Monk’s words are often top of mind when I play this music — “Jazz”. One of the beautiful things about this musical tradition is the ability for an individual’s essence to unravel through their playing. Their touch, feel, interpretations, etc . . . they reveal a person. And while technical skill and ability may be heard, “a genius is the one most like himself” (Monk) — their sound is felt. I am inspired by the players who seek to earnestly express themselves through the medium of music. Monk may have been the greatest of these. So we celebrate him and his contributions the best way we know how – through the music that was uniquely his own. — Biboye Onanuga
Biboye Onanuga is a British-born, Nigerian-Canadian drummer, and imaginative composer. Steeped in the arts scene since high-school, he quickly became a sought-after player – recently completing his music degree at MacEwan University and already joining nationally-recognized players such as Jim Head, Rubim DeToledo, Mboya Nicholson to name a few. Biboye has made meaningful contributions to his local scene through his instrumental hip-hop/jazz band (Good information), 3-year-tenure weekly music series (New Standards) and recent Sunday Jazz series (Daze Days).
About Thelonious Monk: Straight No Chaser
Charlotte Zwerin’s 1988 documentary draws on 14 hours of prime Monk footage shot by Christian Blackwood in 1967 and 1968 (“like finding the Dead Sea Scrolls of Jazz,” enthused producer Bruce Ricker. Featuring Monk on tour in Europe, playing in clubs, recording, and in interviews, the film is supplemented with more recent interviews with band mates and the Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter, among others.

Mary Ancheta plays Betty Davis at VIFF Centre
2025-05-14 19:30 - 22:00 | VIFF Centre, 1181 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3M7, Canada
Early bird tickets are available now! There are a limited number of early bird tickets available, so don’t wait!
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If you don’t know the Betty Davis, prepare to be blown away. With her deep, raw, earthy voice, a knack for stringing together funky riffs, and sexually super-charged lyrics, Davis shook and shocked American soul in the early 70s. As her husband Miles Davis said: “She was Madonna before Madonna, Prince before Prince.” Betty introduced Miles to Jimi Hendrix and psychedelic rock, as well as to 70s fashion; he featured her on Filles de Kilimanjaro and produced some of her prime recordings before the inevitable split. Albums Betty Davis, They Say I’m Different and Nasty Gal included musicians from Sly and the Family Stone and Tower of Power, but failed to chart — only to be rediscovered and celebrated decades after her retirement. Coming somewhere in the lineage between Ma Rainey, Tina Turner, and Donna Summer, Davis more than stands the test of time, she’s an electrifying talent.
Davis has long been an influence on Vancouver based keyboardist, producer, and all-around phenom Mary Ancheta, which has led Mary to this special night at VIFF full of Davis’ most loved tunes, as well as some deep cuts, with Dawn Pemberton on vocals. The live music portion of the event will be followed by a short intermission, and then a rare screening of Phil Cox’s invaluable 2017 film (55 min), made in collaboration with Davis a few years before her death from cancer in 2022.
Mary Ancheta Quintet plays Betty Davis featuring Dawn Pemberton
Dawn Pemberton: Vocals
Mary Ancheta: keys
Tristan Paxton: guitar
Dominic Conway: sax
Drums: Paul Clark
Mary Ancheta is a Canadian Filipina born in Hamilton, Ontario. While teaching at the Ontario Conservatory of Music she received her B.A. of Music at McMaster University. Now living in Vancouver, Mary is a composer and bandleader who has performed all across Canada, in Australia, New York etc,

BC's Blue Note Legacy Quartet at VIFF Centre
2025-05-24 19:30 - 22:00 | VIFF Centre, 1181 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3M7, Canada
Four of Vancouver’s best jazz musicians come together as BC’s Blue Note Legacy Quartet!
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For 85 years, Blue Note Records has been the gold standard for recorded Jazz music all over the world, with icons like John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Ornette Coleman, and literally hundreds of others having recorded thousands of seminal albums for the label that have become indispensable touchstones for those of us that love this music. A very special performance of some of Blue Note’s most iconic releases, as well as some serious deep cuts. Immediately following this unique concert VIFF will be screening the documentary, Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes.

BC’s Blue Note Legacy Quartet:
Chris Fraser — Guitar
Ben Sigerson — Keyboards
Piyotr Kao — Bass
Todd Stewart — Drums
About the Film
Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes (2018, 95 min)
Sophie Huber’s musical celebration of Blue Note’s history includes interviews with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Norah Jones, current Blue Note president Don Was, and others, as well as a recording session with star Robert Glasper. Also given just and proper consideration is a history of the stunning LP cover art, most of which featured the graphic artistry of Reid Miles and the gorgeous photography of co-founder Wolff.

Chris Gestrin / The Lodger at VIFF Centre
2025-06-07 20:00 - 22:30 | VIFF Centre, 1181 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3M7, Canada
Presented with an original live score by acclaimed pianist and composer Chris Gestrin, the first signature Hitchcock movie is based on the Jack The Ripper murders (here renamed “The Avenger”). As the suspicion that a neighbour may not be all he seems, the cat- and-mouse tension reaches almost unbearable proportions.
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Made in 1926 for Michael Balcon’s new Gainsborough studios, The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog was Hitchcock’s first thriller, and his first critical and commercial success. Coming shortly after his return from Germany, it draws heavily on the German expressionist tradition established in such films as The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1919) and Nosferatu (1922). These films, which used stylized, angular sets, high contrast light and shadow to convey disturbed psychological states, were to be a major influence on the developing director, and this movie teems with visual invention and excitement.
The Lodger was written by Eliot Stannard from a popular novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes (sister of the poet Hilaire Belloc), and starred matinee idol Ivor Novello as the mysterious lodger who falls under suspicion. June Tripp, the young actress who starred as the landlady’s daughter, Daisy, was the second of a series of actresses who became blonde at Hitchcock’s insistence – the first was Virginia Valli, star of The Pleasure Garden(1925). Joe, Daisy’s policeman fiancé, jokes, “I’m keen on golden hair myself, same as the Avenger is”. It soon became clear that Hitchcock had similar tastes.
The Lodger was a great success, and quickly established Hitchcock as a name director.
Hitchcock: “The Lodger was the first true Hitchcock movie… the first picture possibly influenced by my period in Germany… the first time I exercised my style. I took a pure narrative and, for the first time, presented ideas in purely visual terms…”
Truffaut: “A very good movie which showed great visual inventiveness. I really enjoyed it.”
About Chris Gestrin
Since graduating with a Film Scoring degree from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in 1995, Vancouver native Chris Gestrin has become an integral part of the Canadian music scene. As a versatile pianist and multi-keyboardist, composer, engineer and producer he has worked on over 400 albums covering a wide range of musical styles. From avant garde electronic improvisations to greasy soul organ music, introspective piano jazz to top of the charts pop, rock and hip-hop, Gestrin is in high demand for his eclectic talents and ability to bring a high level of musical inspiration to any situation.
As a jazz artist, Gestrin has performed on and off the stage not only with his great Canadian colleagues, but with a who’s who of the Jazz world. Gary Peacock, David ’Fat Head’ Newman, Kenny Wheeler, Jerry Granelli, Duke Robillard, to name a few. In the more mainstream music world, Chris has had the pleasure of working with a large number of prominent artists including Randy Bachman, Bryan Adams, D.O.A., Bob Rock, Paul Rodgers, Colin James, Jann Arden, Motley Crue, K-OS, Swollen Members, Jim Byrnes, Steve Dawson, Nickelback, Loudon Wainwright III, Long John Baldry and Jeff Healey.

Chen Baker Plays J-Pop / Sumo Do, Sumo Don't at VIFF Centre
2025-06-14 19:30 - 22:00 | VIFF Centre, 1181 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3M7, Canada
After selling out multiple venues across Vancouver, Jeffery Chen’s Chen Baker band is back (and bigger than ever) to present a set of city pop and jazzy J-pop before the screening of the hilarious underdog comedy Sumo Do, Sumo Don’t (1992).
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Featuring an ensemble seasoned gigging musicians and rising stars, the septet will be celebrating the music of Miki Matsubara, Taeko Ohnuki, Lamp, and more!
Kitty Jia — vocals
Brittany Or — keyboard
Jack Lee — trumpet
Neal Wang — saxophones
Piyotr Kao — bass
Dario Acosta — drums
Jeffery Chen — guitar
Sumo Do, Sumo Don’t (Masayuki Suô, Japan, 1992, 103 min)
This hilarious sports underdog story from the director of Shall We Dance won 5 Japan Academy Awards including Best Film, and was the inspiration for the recent Disney+ spin off series. Deftly sidestepping the problem that few actors make convincing sumo wrestlers, Suo sets his scenario at the bottom of the ladder, at a college sumo club so low in the standings it only has one member, who has yet to graduate after eight years of trying. Shuhei (Masahiro Motoki) is talked into joining by his wily professor, but decides to stick around when he gets sight of the pretty manager, Natsuko (Misa Shimizu). Humiliated in his first tournament, Shuhei swears to turn things around…

Jesse Zubot / Inedia at VIFF Centre
2025-06-28 15:30 - 18:30 | VIFF Centre, 1181 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3M7, Canada
Jesse Zubot is one of those unique musicians whose praxis spans multiple genres and transcends contextualization.
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Known mainly as a violinist, Zubot is also a multi-instrumentalist and tends to incorporate electronic manipulation and studio gadgetry within his work. For this performance Zubot will perform solo using a violin, viola and miscellaneous electronics. Zubot’s performance will stem from a place of improvisation and will incorporate multiple sounds and techniques that relate to his work as a film composer for award-winning films such as Bones of Crows, Indian Horse, Resident Orca, Nechako: It Will Be a Big River Again, Arthur Erickson: Beauty Between the Lines, Monkey Beach, and many others.
This 60-minute solo performance will be complemented by a preview screening of Inedia (107 mins). Liz Cairns’ mesmerizing debut — filmed on Salt Spring island — tells the disturbing story of a young woman suffering from mysterious food allergies. When all else fails, she joins a remote island community practicing a lifestyle rooted in the theory of nourishment by light. Initially seduced by its charismatic leader (Susanne Wuest) and other members’ peaceful disposition, she soon realizes that not everything is as it seems when hidden tensions emerge and food deprivation becomes its own distraction. Zubot’s score — composed with his brother Josh — incorporates a large palette of sounds including gongs, strings, wood blocks, metallaphones, synthesizers, Arabic flutes, drums and software instruments. They were able to create a very unique and haunting score that supports and helps drive the intensity of the film as it follows the dark psychological journey of lead character. The two composers were able to bring each others’ talents to a higher level by complimenting and challenging each other’s creative output.
About Jesse Zubot:
Zubot is a multiple JUNO award-winning and Canadian Screen Awards nominated artist. He is also the recipient of a SOCAN Award, Leo Award and Canadian Screen Music Award for his work as a film composer. Throughout the years Zubot has collaborated with an extremely diverse range of artists and groups such as Darius Jones, Tanya Tagaq, Gord Grdina’s Haram, Steve Reich, FYEAR, Pura Fé, Dan Mangan, Mats Gustafsson, Peggy Lee, Destroyer, François Houle, Saul Williams, Stars, Hawksley Workman, Fond of Tigers, Marc Ribot, Sandro Perri, Kenton Loewen, Josh Zubot Strings and many others.

Jimi James / Blues for Brando at VIFF Centre
2025-07-05 20:00 - 22:30 | VIFF Centre, 1181 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3M7, Canada
The Jimi James Quintet is honoured to be paying tribute to what might be the most impactful development in jazz history: the emergence of bebop.
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The Method era coincided with the arrival of bebop. Both disciplines combined formal master with greater autonomy, introspection and improvisation. You can be sure Brando was grooving to Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie et al, just as the jazz men would have been checking out hot movies like Streetcar and The Wild One.
In playing the music of such jazz legends as Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Clifford Brown and Charlie Parker, the Jimi James Sextet will highlight the innovations and evolutions of the bebop style. With a sophisticated, heartfelt, and exuberant sound, the group features Hugh Penner — trumpet, Tamas Balai — alto saxophone, Jimi James — piano, Arvind Ramdas — drums, and Kosma Busheikin — bass.
About The Wild One (Laszlo Benedek, 1954, 79 min)
Banned in many countries upon its release, The Wild One is the first film about 1950s youth rebellion, preceding films like Rebel Without a Causeby several years. It features Marlon Brando as the leader of a motorcycle gang – the Black Rebels – that disrupts a legitimate motorcycle race and then rides into a small town where they terrify the residents and fight with a rival gang. The Wild One crystallized Brando’s rebel image.

Bonnie Northgraves Quintet: To Louis with Love + Jazz on a Summer’s Day at VIFF Centre
2025-08-10 14:00 - 16:30 | VIFF Centre, 1181 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3M7, Canada
A joyful celebration of the legendary Louis Armstrong.
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Experience the magic of Armstrong’s timeless tunes as Bonnie Northgraves and her band brings his music to life, capturing the spirit and brilliance of his remarkable career. After Bonnie’s set and a brief intermission, enjoy one of the most beloved and revered of all jazz concert films, Bert Stern’s Jazz on a Summer’s Day.
About Jazz on a Summer’s Day (Bert Stern, 1959, 85 min)
Filmed at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island and directed by world-renowned photographer Bert Stern, Jazz on a Summer’s Day features intimate performances by an all-star line-up of musical legends including Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, Gerry Mulligan, Anita O’Day, Chuck Berry, Dinah Washington, and closes with a beautiful rendition of The Lord’s Prayer by Mahalia Jackson at midnight to usher in Sunday morning. The film has been beautifully and extensively restored in 4K.

Cory Weeds Plays Sonny Rollins + Saxophone Colossus screening at VIFF Centre
2025-09-07 19:00 - 21:30 | VIFF Centre, 1181 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3M7, Canada
Early bird tickets are available now! There are a limited number of early bird tickets available, so don’t wait!
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Cory Weeds is an expressive saxophonist with a warm and impactful sound rooted in jazz tradition. Jazz aficionados know that Cory, when playing tenor or alto sax, conveys an unerring sense of swing. Recording more than 20 albums as a leader that document his dynamic saxophone playing on both hard-swinging tunes and gentle ballads, he has shared stages and recording studios with the likes of Bill Charlap, Joey DeFrancesco, Champian Fulton, Jeff Hamilton, Harold Mabern, Roy McCurdy, Brad Turner, and many other high-level artists. He’s a fearless musician who embraces a broad range of playing situations and then delivers with performances that shine.
On this night he will be joined by pianist Sharon Minemoto, bassist David Caballero and drummer Jesse Cahill to play music from Sonny Rollins’ 1957 Riverside Records release The Sound Of Sonny. Sonny’s performances and recordings were at a peak during 1957 as Down Beat magazine proclaimed him the Critics’ Poll winner under the category of ’New Star’ of the tenor saxophone.
This performance will be part of Vancouver Celebrates Sonny, a multi-venue celebration in honour of the great Sonny Rollins’ birthday.
About Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus (Robert Mugge, 1986, 101 min, Ira Gitler, Gary Giddins, Francis Davis)
“In addition to capturing Rollins in prime form, wielding his tenor in ways that have elicited hosannas from fans and critics alike for decades on end, [the film] examines the saxophonist’s methodical approach to performing and improvising. Practice alone may take some musicians to Carnegie Hall, but as Rollins tells Mugge at one point, meditation and visualization are a big part of his pre-concert regimen. Here we also see, during an outdoors concert filmed at the Opus 40 quarry garden in upstate New York, various aspects of Rollins’ persona onstage: the full-throated improviser who seems incapable of physically exhausting himself or depleting the wealth of his ideas; the gifted dramatist, skillfully balancing emotional tension and release; the unabashed entertainer, whimsically stringing together the familiar melodies that pop into his head. (This is also the storied concert in which Rollins jumps off a six-foot stage ledge, only to end up on his back with a broken heel. The misadventure, however, doesn’t prevent him from quickly resuming the performance, albeit in a supine position.) The quintet concert footage is effectively juxtaposed with an ambitious, large-scale production: the world premiere of Rollins’ Concerto For Tenor Saxophone and Orchestra, performed in Tokyo by Rollins and the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra.” Mike Joyce, Jazz Times

George Garzone + Fire Music at VIFF Centre
2025-09-24 19:30 - 22:30 | VIFF Centre, 1181 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3M7, Canada
Early bird tickets are available now! There are a limited number of early bird tickets available, so don’t wait!
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George Garzone is a giant of the contemporary saxophone, having performed with Jazz luminaries like Joe Lovano, Jack DeJohnette, Kenny Barron, & Ingrid Jensen, and having recorded over a dozen albums as a leader since the 1990s. In short, he’s considered one of the true living masters of this instrument. He’ll be performing a very special set music at the VIFF Centre, in tandem with a screening of Fire Music, documenting the birth and growing pain of Free Jazz in the 1960s & 1970s. This music is near and dear to George’s heart and to celebrate it, he’s enlisted one of the Pacific Northwest’s most explosive Jazz groups to perform with him, the Jerry Steinhilber Trio.
George Garzone – Tenor Saxophone
Josh Cook – Tenor Saxophone
King Dahl – Bass
Jerry Steinhilber – Drums
About Fire Music (Tom Surgal, 2021, USA, 84 min)
The most reviled and misunderstood evolution in the (repeatedly reviled and misunderstood) history of jazz, Free Jazz took bebop as a key to unlock deeper mysteries of musical harmonics, a transcendent art pioneered by John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor. You may think you don’t like improvisational jazz… but this is the film to open your ears to a spiritual quest analogous to abstract expressionism in painting, or beat poetry in literature.

(Advance tickets SOLD OUT) Köln 75 + Chris Gestrin at VIFF: Vancouver Playhouse
2025-10-11 18:00 - 20:30 | Vancouver Playhouse, 600 Hamilton Street, Vancouver, BC, V5T 1B4, Canada
Experience the transcendent power of improvised music for a special VIFF Live concert and film screening.
Advance tickets SOLD OUT.
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Renowned Vancouver pianist Chris Gestrin performs a solo set of Keith Jarrett–inspired music to accompany this special event screening of Köln 75 — a film that captures the compelling, entertaining, and, until now, unknown back story of jazz pianist Keith Jarrett’s one-hour, entirely improvised concert, which became the best-selling solo album in jazz history.
Chris Gestrin is a stalwart of Vancouver’s jazz scene — a renowned pianist, multi-keyboardist, composer, engineer, and producer who has worked on over 500 albums covering a wide range of musical styles. From avant garde electronic improvisations to greasy soul organ music, introspective piano jazz to top-of-the-charts pop, rock, and hip-hop, Gestrin is in high demand for his eclectic talents and ability to bring a high level of musical inspiration to any situation.
Keith Jarrett’s legendary performance in January 1975 nearly didn’t happen. Based on a true story, Köln 75 explores how the concert was conceived and orchestrated by the efforts of an up-and-coming teenage concert promoter, Vera Brandes (played by Mala Emde). Vera’s enthusiasm led her to multitasking — from organizing the Cologne Opera House as the concert venue, to promoting the event, selling the tickets, and convincing Jarrett to perform when he almost dropped after the Bösendorfer Imperial Grand piano he was promised was nowhere to be found. John Magaro plays Jarrett with his own intensity, a sublime counterpoint to Emde’s joyful portrayal of the enthusiastic and unstoppable Vera. Köln 75 captures the compelling, entertaining, and, until now, unknown back story of Jarrett’s one-hour, entirely improvised concert, which became the best-selling solo album in jazz history.

(SOLD OUT) Dawn Pemberton Sings Aretha + Amazing Grace screening at VIFF Centre
2025-11-15 20:00 - 23:00, 2025-11-16 15:30 - 18:30 | VIFF Centre, 1181 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3M7, Canada
Aretha Franklin is one of the biggest musical icons of the 20th century. She helped transform the musical landscape of America in the 1960’s & 1970’s, and was one of the premier faces of what we would eventually call Soul Music. In 1972 she performed at the New Bethel Baptist Church, for a concert film that was directed by Sidney Pollack, but wouldn’t be seen by audiences for over 45 years. On November 15 & 16, VIFF Centre will be hosting two screenings of Amazing Grace (99 mins) a landmark film that has quickly become known as one of the greatest concert films of all time.
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Before the movie, enjoy a live music set in Aretha’s honour. There’s nobody better suited to help celebrate this legend than the Canadian Queen of Soul, Dawn Pemberton. She’s a multiple time Juno Nominee known for her ability to blur the lines between Jazz, Soul, Blues & Funk, and she’ll be joined by an all-star band:
Mike Ardagh – Drums
Max Zipursky – Keys
André Lachance – Bass
Tristan Paxton – Guitar
Dawn Pemberton – Voice

Leading Ladies play Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite + The Nutcracker at Wethersfield, at VIFF Centre
2025-12-14 17:00 - 20:00 | VIFF Centre, 1181 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3M7, Canada
If you’ve never experienced the jazz version of The Nutcracker Suite before, you’re in for a treat!
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Legendary composer/arrangers Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington brilliantly reimagined the classic Tchaikovsky ballet for a full-sized jazz orchestra. Taking cues from the vintage stylings of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, the Leading Ladies blend beloved jazz and blues classics with fresh, original arrangements and a high-energy, swingin’ performance style. Directed by trombonist Casey Thomas-Burns, this dynamic and vibrant group of women first came together to perform a single show in 2019. They’ve stuck together ever since.
About the film: The Nutcracker at Wethersfield (Annie Sundberg, 2025, 83 min)
Back in the long, dark Covid winter of 2020, there was no way the New York City Ballet could mount its beloved traditional Christmas production of Tchaikovsky’s magical fairytale. But choreographer Troy Schumacher had a dream to save the show and get his fellow dancers back to work. Relocating two hours’ drive north of Time Square, Troy set about staging The Nutcracker in and around the magnificent Wethersfield country estate in the Hudson Valley. With only a couple of weeks to rehearse, 50 dancers and production crew come together to reimagine a classic without a stage, wings, or even seats for the socially-distanced audience.
Award-winning filmmaker Annie Sundberg (The Devil Comes on Horseback) was on hand to celebrate their trials and triumphs.

(SOLD OUT) Dean Thiessen Plays Vince Guaraldi + A Boy Named Charlie Brown at VIFF Centre
2025-12-20 19:00 - 22:00 | VIFF Centre, 1181 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3M7, Canada
The great Vince Guaraldi is best known for his iconic compositions and performance from Charles M Schultz’s beloved Charlie Brown Christmas Special (1965). He continued to write exciting and clever music for 16 more ’Peanuts’ TV specials over the next 12 years of his career, as well as the score for Chuck’s first feature length movie: A Boy Named Charlie Brown. The Dean Thiessen 5-tet is paying homage to the Christmas-spirit origins of his career as well as the most catchy ear-worms in the years that followed. After the set, there will be a brief intermission, then enjoy the movie.
SOLD OUT
Dean Thiessen – piano
Bonnie Northgraves – trumpet
John Nicholson – flute
Bella Fedrigo – bass
Tyler Murray – drums
About the film: A Boy Named Charlie Brown (Bill Melendez, 1969, 85 min)
Charlie Brown enters — and wins! — the school spelling bee contest and is sent to compete in the nationals… The first Peanuts movie makes the most of the opportunities afforded by the big screen format: it’s a much more sophisticated piece of visual storytelling than the TV specials. Vince Guaraldi contributed the instrumental score (much of it drawn from the TV pieces), while John Scott Trotter and Rod McKuen also contributed songs. All three composers were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song, though they lost to the Beatles’ Let It Be.

True North: Andy Milne in Concert + Film Premiere
2026-02-28 17:00 - 21:45 | VIFF Centre, 1181 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3M7, Canada
Or: Everything You Wanted to Know About the Black Experience in Canada, But Were Too Afraid to Ask.
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Michèle Stephenson’s brilliant essay film is an electrifying history of Black Canada, a story of displacement and discrimination, prejudice and Black pride, from Freedom Road to Africville and the civil rights movement of the 1960s, fused from a mind-bogglingly rich cache of archival material, first person accounts, and a remarkable score by celebrated jazz pianist Andy Milne. Showtimes are 5pm and 8:15pm.
In this double-header of a West Coast premiere, Andy Milne will perform a 45-minute set followed by a 15-minute Q&A (5pm show); and then a longer set sans Q&A (8:15pm show), along with a screening of the film at both shows
The story of Blacks in Canada is complicated. It is a story of displacement and discrimination, of the Freedom Road, and of shanty towns like Africville, in Halifax. In the second half, Stephenson hones in on the overspill from the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and a critical protest at the George Williams Medical School in Montreal. Activists like Rosie Douglas led the charge for change.
Andy Milne is a 2x JUNO Award-winning pianist & composer known for his Dapp Theory & Unison projects, and for his work with artists such as Ravi Coltrane, Steve Coleman, William Shatner & Bruce Cockburn. His most recent recording, “Time Will Tell”, was nominated in 2025 for the JUNO “Best Jazz: Group”.
This VIFF Live event is co-presented with Infidels Jazz and part of our Celebrating Black Futures series with the Vancouver Art Gallery, curated by Kika Memeh. With thanks to Tom Lee Music and Yamaha.
