Meet the Creative Minds Shifting Cinema and Culture
This year, Industry Days embraces the theme “Create. Connect. Transform.” We focus on revolutionary filmmaking ways and universal connections, opening doors to lasting opportunities through curated conversations, masterclasses, case studies and networking sessions. More than ever, artists — and the stories they create — need space to grow. These sessions provide a unique opportunity for accredited filmmakers and industry professionals to connect behind the scenes and engage in mutual learning, recognizing cinema as a collective art form enriched by cultural diversity and shared vision.
How do I access VIFF Industry?
If you are an industry professional, you can register for an Artist & Industry Pass and get access to exclusive Industry panels and more.
Sessions
Co-Producing Across the Pacific
Bridging Canadian and Korean Stories
As part of our Spotlight on Korea, we will explore treaty mechanisms, financing strategies, and creative collaboration, guiding participants through the opportunities and challenges of co-productions between Canada and Korea.
Featured Speakers: Seo Woosik (Producer, CEO of Barunson C&C), Sung Moon (Programmer Jeonju International Film Festival)
Supported by
New Documentary Frontiers
Tech, Poetics & Politics
Addressing urgent questions in documentary today, we will focus on how emerging technologies intersect with bold nonfiction storytelling. Filmmakers, funders, technologists and curators will discuss evolving forms shaping the future of the genre.
Featured Speakers: Timeea Mohamed Ahmed (Co-Director, Khartoum), Igor Bezinovic (Director, Fiume O Morte!)
Moderator: Ruun Nuur (VIFF Documentary Programmer)
Supported by
The Future is Drawn
Independent Animation as Auteur Cinema
Independent animation is pushing the boundaries of narrative and form. Animators discuss how bold visual storytelling and risk-taking redefine what animated cinema can be.
Featured Speakers: India Barnardo (Director, Cat and Moth), Luciano A. Muñoz (Lead Animator, Bardel Entertainment)
Moderator: Morgana Duque (VP of Productions, WildBrain Studios)
Embodied Futures
Acting, Identity and AI on Screen
This session will explore global performance practices, emphasizing diverse acting methods and their role in fostering international collaboration. It will also examine how AI is reshaping performance, voice-over, authorship, and embodiment across film, within an evolving expressive landscape.
Featured Speakers: Matthew Rankin (Director, Universal Language), Sophy Romvari (Director, Blue Heron)
Moderator: Aryo Khakpour (Interdisciplinary Performer)
Supported by
Decolonizing the Frame
New Voices, New Structures
This conversation centers BIPOC creators and industry allies who are dismantling dominant film languages and rebuilding storytelling systems, grounded in equity, imagination and collective power.
Moderator: Deepika Suseelan (VIFF Guest Programmer, Focus)
Supported by
Crafting the Cut
Post-Production as Creative Authorship
Post-production is more than polish, it’s authorship. This panel explores the creative power of editing, sound, and color, while examining how AI, remote collaboration, and cloud platforms are transforming workflows, not only from a creative and narrative perspective, but also through the lens of sustainability and clean tech.
Featured Speaker: Noah Rogers (DGC BC, Sustainability Committee Chair)
Presented by
Building International Visibility
From Distribution to Audience Design
This panel explores strategies for elevating films on the international stage, from securing distribution and festival exposure to applying audience design principles. Industry experts share insights on positioning, campaign building, and connecting with audiences across borders to maximize a film’s global visibility.
Featured Speaker: Monika Łuczyk (PR & Marketing Manager)
Virtual Production Futures
Big Worlds, Smaller Footprint
Bringing worlds to life once meant big sets, big travel, and big budgets. Today, virtual production makes it possible to create stunning, sustainable, and forward-thinking stories — no matter the size of the production.
Supported by
Tech Showcase
FilmTrade
Tap to Watch
How can you better leverage in-person events like film festivals to build awareness for your film and a lasting connection with your core audience? What does merch have to do with streaming & distribution? See demos and take part in the discussion at this session — followed by a networking mixer.
Featured Speakers: FilmTrade team
Workshops
Film Business: From Treaties to Audiences
Session 1: Coproduction Essentials for Ambitious Producers
Navigate treaty frameworks, optimize funding stacks across multiple territories, and structure agreements that protect IP while accessing global markets and financing.
Featured Speaker: Mark Edwards, Edwards Creative Law
Session 2: Anatomy of Audience Design
With Anatomy of a Fall as a case study, this marketing class shows how to build stronger international positioning, sharpen communication, and design campaigns that resonate with target audiences.
Featured Speaker: Monika Łuczyk, PR & Marketing Manager
Indie Animation: Unlocking the Visual Language
Session 1: A Single-handed Animation Journey
From writing and storyboarding to animating, background painting, and compositing, the director of The Worlds Divide — which premiered at Annecy in 2024 — reveals what it takes to make a solo animated feature film.
Featured Speaker: Denver Jackson, Cloudrise Pictures
Session 2: From Sketch to Screen
With a selected animated film as a case study, this masterclass examines how storytelling, technique, and strategy shape an animation’s journey from creation to international circulation.
Story as Resistance: Creative Innovation in Nonfiction
Session 1: Rewriting Reality: Pushing Documentary Boundaries
With a focus on experimentation and hybrid forms, this session highlights how Khartoum weaves together the stories of five Sudanese citizens through animated dreams, street revolutions, and war, demonstrating how documentary storytelling can innovate, amplify underrepresented voices, and position creative resistance as a driving force in contemporary practice.
Featured Speaker: Timeea Mohamed Ahmed, Director
Session 2: Nonfiction in the Marketplace
Focusing on the circulation of nonfiction, this session examines distribution strategies that expand a film’s reach and impact, while considering audience engagement and positioning tactics that align with the political and social urgency of the work.
Featured Speaker: Ruun Nuur, Programmer
Please sign up for the workshops through Swapcard (Limited Capacity)
Creative Business Hub
The Creative Business Hub is a strategic platform designed to facilitate international collaboration by connecting projects and professionals with potential co-producers, financiers, and partners worldwide, while also highlighting local talent and encouraging the exchange of services and expertise. Each year, the Creative Business Hub will spotlight a specific country, with programming tailored accordingly.
As part of this year’s Spotlight on Korea, we will host two case studies and 1:1 sessions between the Korean and the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) delegations, fostering new relationships and paving the way for future collaborations.
Session 1
Case Study: How to Work with the Korean Film Industry
Speaker: Sung Moon
1 to 1 meetings
Session 2
Case Study: Coproducing with Korea
Speaker: Seo Woosik
1 to 1 meetings
By invitation only
Presented by
