Advertisement
Presented in partnership with the American Cinematheque, ‘Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair’ is an annual film festival showcasing some of the greatest works of cinema from across the globe that venture into the darkest sides of humanity and the bleakest points in human history.The fifth annual edition in June 2026 expands to nearly 100 theaters across the U.S., Canada,U.K. and South and Central America, with each venue presenting its own original curated lineup of uncompromising films defined by unpleasant truths and raw empathy. The Park Theatre is delighted and honoured to take part in this monumental series, and sought selections from local filmmakers and friends of the venue to curate the series.
*********************************************************************
THE CELEBRATION Selected by local actor Finn Wolfhard (STRANGER THINGS, IT)
*********************************************************************
The Danish Dogme 95 movement that struck world cinema like a thunderbolt began with THE CELEBRATION, Thomas Vinterberg’s international breakthrough, a lacerating chamber drama that uses the economic and aesthetic freedoms of digital video to achieve annihilating emotional intensity.
On a wealthy man’s sixtieth birthday, a sprawling group of family and friends convenes at his country estate for a celebration that soon spirals into bedlam, as bombshell revelations threaten to tear away the veneer of bourgeois respectability and expose the traumas roiling beneath. The dynamic handheld camera work, grainy natural lighting, cacophonous diegetic sound, and raw performance style that would become Dogme hallmarks enhance the shattering visceral impact of this caustic indictment of patriarchal failings, which swings between blackest comedy and bleakest tragedy as it turns the sick soul of a family inside out.
“A funny, volatile, visually dynamic story about the unraveling of one extended family during the course of a patriarchal 60th-birthday dinner.” (Entertainment Weekly)
“An assured, admirably abrasive little movie which never outstays its welcome.” (Time Out)
“As sharp and ruthless as the family dynamic that powers its plot, The Celebration blends tragedy and comedy to brilliant effect.” (Rotten Tomatoes)
“At a time when filmmaking so often falls back on the familiar, its effect indeed manages to be excitingly inventive and pure.” (New York Times)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, June 23
Doors 6:00 pm | Movie 6:30 pm *Start time subject to change. Please arrive on time.
Bleak Week Passes just $40!
Tuesday 2-for-1 Tickets!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE CELEBRATION “Festen” (Thomas Vinterberg, 1998 / 101 mins / 14A ) At Helge’s 60th birthday party, some unpleasant family truths are revealed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*We recommend purchasing your tickets in advance at tickets.theparktheatre.ca. If a screening or live event is not sold out, the remaining tickets will be available for purchase at the Park Theatre’s box office on the day of the show, prior to showtime (subject to availability). Our box office is typically open 30 minutes before showtime.
*Please arrive at least 20-30 minutes prior to showtime to ensure time to locate seats seats, and purchase snacks at concession.
*All Park Theatre tickets are final sale. No refunds, transfers, or exchanges.
Advertisement
Event Venue
3440 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, British Columbia V5Z 2W8
Tickets
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.
