Now Playing
The Chef & the Daruma
The inventor of the California Roll, chef Hidekazu Tojo helped bring sushi to mainstream popularity through his renowned Vancouver restaurant, Tojo's. The Chef & the Daruma is a mouthwatering film touching on immigration, identity, and reinvention.
Monkey on a Stick
Monkey on a Stick is a feature-length documentary exposé of the criminal activity that took place in the Hare Krishna movement in America in the 1970s and ‘80s, adapted from the New York Times bestselling book.
Dahomey
The return of stolen cultural artifacts to the Republic of Benin is the inspiration for Mati Diop's Berlin Golden Bear prize winner, which fuses dreamy metaphysics and incendiary political commentary on issues of restitution and self-determination.
Agent of Happiness
In the Kingdom of Bhutan, the government makes a point of asking citizens about their level of contentment. This droll, poetical doc follows census-taker Amber as he takes villagers through the 148-question survey and contemplates his own life too.
Film Studies: Hollywood Through the Looking Glass
Monday Mornings Nov 11 – Dec 9
The movie screen is a magic mirror in which we all like to see reflections of our better selves. Filmmakers are not immune to the attraction, and Hollywood has been mythologizing itself since before movies could talk.
In our latest Film Studies series, film critic and historian Donald Brackett gives us a whistle stop studio tour that’ll take us from the Golden Age of Hollywood to the twenty-first century.
All films will screen again, without the introduction.
Tickets: $18
*VIFF+ Members must log in first
What Price Hollywood?
In our latest Film Studies series film critic and historian Donald Brackett gives us a whistle stop studio tour of movies about movies, taking us from the Golden Age to the C21st, beginning with George Cukor's seminal 1932 film, What Price Hollywood.
Sullivan's Travels
Continuing his exploration of Hollywood's fascination with itself, Donald Brackett introduces one of the great satires of the Golden Age, Sullivan's Travels. Earnest filmmaker Joel McCrea disguises himself as a hobo to get to know the real America...
The Bad and the Beautiful
Film scholar Donald Brackett introduces Vincente Minnelli's 1952 Hollywood melodrama--a portrait of a driven producer, Jonathan Shields (Kirk Douglas) that went on to win five Academy Awards.
The Day of the Locust
Midnight Cowboy director John Schlesinger turned his gaze on Hollywood in this rich adaptation of Nathanael West's famous satirical novel, in the latest screening in our Film Studies series, Hollywood Through the Looking Glass.
Babylon
Damien Chazelle's second Hollywood on Hollywood movie (after La La Land) follows Margot Robbie as a starlet on the make at the tail end of the silent film era in the late 1920s, and a couple of friends she makes along the way.
VIFF Live in November
A Page of Madness: Live Score by Anju Singh / The Nausea
Experimental artist Anju Singh uses her project The Nausea to explore Teinsuke Kinugasa's expressionist horror masterpiece. An asylum janitor wants to help his beloved wife escape, but she doesn't want to leave...
Feven Kidane Quartet: Music Inspired by the Film Soundtrack to a Coup D'Etat
Trumpeter Feven Kidane, with Quincy Mayes on keys, Bernie Arai on drums, and Milo Johnson on bass, present a special set of original music inspired by Johan Grimonprez's brilliant essay film on the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, Jazz, and the Cold War.
Vince Mai Plays Chet Baker + Bruce Weber's Let's Get Lost
A set of smooth, sublime, and smoky jazz from trumpeter Vince Mai backed up by a stellar band with Steve Maddock on vocals. Followed by the first local screening of Bruce Weber's recently restored film about Baker, one of essential films about jazz.
Festival Favourites Returning to VIFF
Missed it at the festival? Now’s your chance to see it on the big screen!
Dahomey
The return of stolen cultural artifacts to the Republic of Benin is the inspiration for Mati Diop's Berlin Golden Bear prize winner, which fuses dreamy metaphysics and incendiary political commentary on issues of restitution and self-determination.
The Chef & the Daruma
The inventor of the California Roll, chef Hidekazu Tojo helped bring sushi to mainstream popularity through his renowned Vancouver restaurant, Tojo's. The Chef & the Daruma is a mouthwatering film touching on immigration, identity, and reinvention.
Inay (Mama)
Bold and deeply personal, Inay investigates the emotional and psychological repercussions of Canada's Live-In Caregiver Program, which attracted Filipino women migrant workers who left their children to care for strangers out of economic necessity.
Bird
In Andrea Arnold's latest, 12-year-old Bailey (Nykiya Adams) lives in a squat near the English seaside. Neglected by her chaotic father (Barry Keoghan), she pursues an adventure with a magnetic stranger named Bird (Franz Rogowski).
Total Cinema
Designed to showcase our new immersive sound system, laser projection and brand new screen, Total Cinema celebrates the elevated experience that comes with watching the best films on the big screen.
The Fall (4K Restoration)
Shot over four years across 24 countries, cowritten by a six year old girl, and entirely self-financed by commercials director Tarsem, The Fall is such a mind- (and eye) boggling movie it's hard to believe it actually exists. Yet here it is!
Winter Kills
An inspired black comic adaptation of the ultimate conspiracy theory, based on a novel by Richard (Manchurian Candidate) Condon. It's a lunatic riff on the Kennedy assassination(s), with Jeff Bridges finding who really killed his brother, the President. Screening in 35mm print.
Relaxed Screenings & Captioned Screenings
Our monthly Relaxed Screenings are open to anyone who would benefit from a sensory-friendly experience.
Our Wednesday matinee Captioned Screenings welcome Deaf and hard of hearing audiences, along with anyone who benefits from captions.
Meanwhile On Earth
Captioned Screening
Nov 13, 3:30 pm
Franck is lost in space. Which leaves his sister Elsa (Megan Northan) struggling with grief and susceptible to making a deal when contacted by an alien offering to trade her brother’s return for a few fresh human bodies…
Bird
Captioned Screening
Nov 20, 3:00 pm
In Andrea Arnold’s latest, 12-year-old Bailey (Nykiya Adams) lives in a squat near the English seaside. Neglected by her chaotic father (Barry Keoghan), she pursues an adventure with a magnetic stranger named Bird (Franz Rogowski).
First Look Fridays
Enjoy $10 tickets at the first Friday matinee screening of these films.
Agent of Happiness
In the Kingdom of Bhutan, the government makes a point of asking citizens about their level of contentment. This droll, poetical doc follows census-taker Amber as he takes villagers through the 148-question survey and contemplates his own life too.
Exhibition on Screen: Van Gogh: Poets & Lovers
The latest film in the long-running Exhibition on Screen series as occasioned by the recent blockbuster show at London's National Gallery, the biggest ever assembled in the UK.
Bird
In Andrea Arnold's latest, 12-year-old Bailey (Nykiya Adams) lives in a squat near the English seaside. Neglected by her chaotic father (Barry Keoghan), she pursues an adventure with a magnetic stranger named Bird (Franz Rogowski).
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