The Apology

Three elderly “comfort women”, forced into sex slavery by the Japanese imperial army during World War II, battle shame and official indifference in this searing doc, hailed by POV magazine as “a landmark film for its subject matter” and “one of the best films ever produced by the NFB”. Filmmaker Tiffany Hsiung will be there to present The Apology for two not-to-be-missed nights at the Vancity Theatre, starting Saturday (December 3 and 4). Another screening has been added on Wednesday (December 7).

When Elephants Were Young  An indigent man in Bangkok bids farewell to his elephant, sending her back into the wild in Patricia Sims’s touching doc, coming to the Vancity Theatre with the director in attendance for one night only on Saturday (December 3). So long, Stampy!

Two Trains Runnin’  The murder of three civil-rights activists is paralleled with the concurrent tale of two separate parties trying to track down Son House and Skip James—all of it converging in Mississippi in 1964. DOXA brings this VIFF hit to the Kay Meek Centre on Monday (December 5).

Jackie  It opens wide on December 16, but Vancity Theatre members get a sneak preview of Pablo Larrain’s biopic on Mrs. Kennedy, starring Natalie Portman in the pink Chanel suit and skull fragments. There’s a two-tix max, so get there early for the 1 p.m. screening on Tuesday (December 6).

Possession  We’re highlighting Possession because it’s the most notorious of Polish madman Andrzej Zuławski’s films—the one with Isabelle Adjani, the electric carving knife, the subway miscarriage, and the lover with the tentacles—but anyone with a taste for visionary Euro cinema will want to catch all four of the films playing in this sweet retrospective at the Cinematheque, including the filmmaker’s restored sci-fi epic, On the Silver Globe. Starts Thursday (December 1) and runs until December 9.