Women on Film: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

In celebration of the first major retrospective of Cindy Sherman’s work in Canada for 20 years, the Vancouver Art Gallery has partnered with the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) to present a series of the internationally acclaimed artist’s favourite films, as selected by her.

For almost 50 years, Sherman has consistently explored the tension between identity and persona through the creation of characters that she assumes in each of her photographs. Her work, therefore, has always had a performative aspect, often reminiscent of movie types and suggestive of wider dramatic scenarios. Using make-up, wigs, costumes and other means to transform her appearance, Sherman draws on the iconography of old and new Hollywood, as well as fashion advertising, historical painting and contemporary portraiture, to suggest the myriad ways women project themselves into the world. This short film series is meant to complement and extend that investigation.

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
Friday December 27, 2 PM
As a child, Baby Jane Hudson was the toast of vaudeville. Decades later she lives with her crippled sister, Blanche, and relives her glory days… This gothic thriller is predicated on the shock value of two iconic Hollywood stars from the 1930s (played by Bette Davis and Joan Crawford) reveling in the grotesquerie of old age. It’s a dark, twisted, campy confection, and the first of a short series programmed to complement the Gallery’s current exhibition Cindy Sherman.

Also Playing:
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
Saturday December 28, 2 PM

Under the Skin
Sunday December 29, 2 PM