You won’t find many nicer locations in the world to catch a movie than what is on offer this summer on the North Vancouver waterfront.
Starting June 23, The Polygon Gallery will be teaming up with the City of North Vancouver to hold Deckchair Cinema, a series of movie screenings on Cates Deck in The Shipyards District. You’ve got the architectural marvel that is the Polygon Gallery behind, a stunning view of downtown Vancouver over Burrard Inlet in front, and bustling Lonsdale Quay and Shipbuilders Square on either side, with an outdoor film smack dab in the middle.
The screenings are by donation, with a concession open in the gallery offering snacks and off-sale beverages from local wineries and breweries available for consumption on the licensed deck. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own blankets or low chairs, with seating available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
The first movie on deck is Carts of Darkness, a classic local documentary that is very familiar to North Shore film fans. Released in 2008 by filmmaker Murray Siple, Carts of Darkness chronicles a group of men experiencing homelessness in North Vancouver. The bottle pickers add excitement to their challenging lives by participating in the extreme sport of shopping cart racing down the municipality's steep hills.
Siple worked as one of the first extreme sports filmmakers in Canada before a 1996 car accident paralyzed him from the waist down, sidelining his career for about a decade. His comeback began with the release of Carts of Darkness, which won Best Documentary Program at the 2009 Leo Awards.
Carts of Darkness will be preceded by Prize Home, a new short film by Siple.
Here are the other films on the Deckchair Cinema schedule so far:
June 30 – Cleo from 5 to 7
July 7 – Persepolis
July 14 – Smoke Signals
July 21 – Enter the Dragon
July 28 – Hairspray (1988)
August 4 – Summer of Soul
August 11 – Paprika
Films start at sundown, with music from local DJs and concessions open at 7 p.m. for each Deckchair Cinema Thursday.
