September 27, 2023

WIFF 2023 MIDNIGHT MADNESS

The weird, wild and ridiculous 🏉

WIFF) is thrilled to announce the WIFF 2023 Midnight Madness slate, which includes an anticipated screening of the controversial parody film, The People’s Joker directed by Vera Drew. The film was an instant sensation after its world premiere at TIFF 2022, but all upcoming screenings were promptly cancelled due to rights issues. The screening at WIFF will be only the second in Canada. Vera Drew, writer, director and star, of The People’s Joker will be attending WIFF 2023 for the special screening and will host a Q&A after the film.

The People’s Joker will be screened during Opening Weekend on Friday, October 27, 2023.

The following night on Saturday, October 28, 2023, the Midnight Madness selection is Dicks: The Musical, the new hit comedy from A24. Directed by Larry Charles, the uproarious musical-comedy riff on The Parent Trap that follows a pair of identical twins who conspire to reunite their divorced and disturbingly deranged parents (Nathan Lane and Megan Mullally).

During WIFF’s second weekend, the Midnight Madness slate includes two special anniversary screenings. The 15th-anniversary screening of Twilight, directed by Catherine Hardwicke and based on the popular book by Stephenie Meyer, will be screened on Friday, November 3, 2023. The iconic film helped launch careers for both Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, and was a cultural sensation in the late 2000’s.

The 20th-anniversary screening of WIFF-staple The Room, directed by Tommy Wiseau, will be screened on Saturday, November 4, 2023. The film is famously known as one of the worst films ever made. Shown every year at the Festival, WIFF audiences show up in droves to participate in the cult film.

Both Midnight Madness screenings during the second weekend will be hosted by pop culture expert, Tanner Zipchen.

“To be bringing The People’s Joker back to the big screen is a great privilege for us, and to host Vera Drew for the weekend only makes it that much more special,” said Vincent Georgie, Executive Director and Chief Programmer for WIFF. “This year’s Midnight Madness slate is one of the best we’ve had. We can’t wait to show new and exciting films alongside some cult classics. All four films are not to be missed.”

Learn more about this year’s Midnight Madness slate:

DICKS: THE MUSICAL

Two self-obsessed businessmen (writers Aaron Jackson & Josh Sharp) discover they’re long-lost identical twins and come together to plot the reunion of their eccentric divorced parents, in this riotously funny and depraved musical from comedy icon Larry Charles (Seinfeld, Borat) also starring Megan Thee Stallion, Nathan Lane, Megan Mullally, and Bowen Yang as God.

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THE PEOPLE’S JOKER

https://youtu.be/zWROQlIIWZo

After years of numbing herself with irony and an inhalant called Smylex, an unfunny aspiring clown grapples with gender identity, first love, and old foes all while founding an illegal comedy theatre in Gotham City. It’s a queer coming-of-age Joker parody. Completely unlicensed by DC and Warner Brothers. Starring and directed by Vera Drew (“Beef House,” “Who Is America”) and featuring the work of 200 independent artists on three separate continents, all made during a global pandemic!

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THE ROOM – 20th Anniversary screening

Johnny is a successful banker who lives happily in a San Francisco townhouse with his fiancée, Lisa. One day, inexplicably, she gets bored of him and decides to seduce Johnny’s best friend, Mark. From there, nothing will be the same again.

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TWILIGHT – 15th anniversary screening

High-school student Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), always a bit of a misfit, doesn’t expect life to change much when she moves from sunny Arizona to rainy Washington state. Then she meets Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), a handsome but mysterious teen whose eyes seem to peer directly into her soul. Edward is a vampire whose family does not drink blood, and Bella, far from being frightened, enters into a dangerous romance with her immortal soulmate.

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Tickets are available online now and in person at our box office on October 19, 2023.