Film Festival May Not Survive Closure of Granville 7

whatnext · #1 Posted **Oct 10, 2012, 7:29 PM**

IMHO, this is a wake-up call for the city to be a little more proactive in magaing cultural zones. Not every square metre of town needs to be taken up by condos.

The Vancouver International Film Festival may not survive the closure of the Empire Theatres Granville 7 cinema, festival director Alan Franey said Tuesday.

"They've been a good partner in making it affordable for us," Franey said. "I don't want to sound alarmist, but I think it's perfectly possible that we would say 'Look, we can't do the festival any more' ... That's definitely a threat and it's something that we will overcome, but I'm not sure exactly how yet."

The Granville 7 will close Nov. 4, said Dean Leland, vice-president of media and studio relations for Nova Scotia-based Empire Theatres. That date was chosen specifically to allow both VIFF and the subsequent South Asian Film Festival to go ahead this year, he said...

... Before the Granville 7, VIFF used to be held at a number of other smaller theatres in the downtown core such as the Caprice, the Paradise and the Capitol 6, none of which exist any more, Franey said.

"They're all gone. It used to be Theatre Row."....

http://www.vancouversun.com/entertai...2/story.htmlre than 75 countries and wraps up on Friday...

officedweller · #2 Posted **Oct 10, 2012, 7:34 PM**

Yes, it's being alarmist.

I'll bet they strike a deal with Cineplex to use the International Village theatres...

jlousa · #3 Posted **Oct 10, 2012, 9:25 PM**

Perhaps for the time being. I have a feeling something is being cooked up to help deal with the situation in the longer term...

Locked In · #4 Posted **Oct 11, 2012, 4:32 AM**

^ VIFF Lightbox?

osirisboy · #5 Posted **Oct 11, 2012, 4:43 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatnext

IMHO, this is a wake-up call for the city to be a little more proactive in magaing cultural zones. Not every square metre of town needs to be taken up by condos

What are u talking about? Who said it's getting replaced by condos

LeftCoaster · #6 Posted **Oct 11, 2012, 2:42 PM**

They have to do something. The Vancouver International film centre is a very nice facility but can only hold so many film venues. VIFF will never be what TIFF is, and I dont think that is their goal anyway, so it doesn't need the same level of infrastructure, but with smaller cinemas closing all the time the VIFF needs some sort of stability in its future.

Hopefully the facility Jlousa has rumoured isnt far off. Might even be a part of the Beach&Howe development... although I doubt the film fest will be showing twilight any time soon.

memememe76 · #7 Posted **Oct 11, 2012, 4:09 PM**

What about the new theatre at New West Station? Yeah, far away but it's very easy to get to.

MistyMountainHop · #8 Posted **Nov 28, 2012, 8:56 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Locked In

^ VIFF Lightbox?

It's called the Vancity Theatre. Pretty nice, I say!