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The Encampments
When pro-Palestine protests took hold of Columbia last year, the filmmakers were there from the beginning. This documentary charts the mounting tensions between students and the administration, as the protests were picked up across North America.
Bob Trevino Likes It
When her toxic, narcissistic dad cuts her out of his life, Lily Trevino looks him up on Facebook and happens across his namesake, Bob (John Leguizamo), a gentle, genial contractor who lives nearby, and who proves an altogether better dad...
Faces
Ten years after his landmark debut, Shadows, John Cassavetes returned to the indie model, self-financing this wrenching portrait of the sexual mores and miseries of American middle class. Gena Rowlands is luminous as Jeannie, the film's emotional barometer.
Secret Mall Apartment
The stranger-than-fiction true story of a group of artists who built and furnished a hidden apartment inside a mall, remaining undetected for years. This is an absurdly fun and surprisingly profound film about gentrification and art.
The Genius of Gena Rowlands
Apr 25 – Jun 3
Dedicated to one of the most inspiring and influential American actresses of the past half century, this series showcases the versatility and star power that was Gena Rowlands.
Faces
Ten years after his landmark debut, Shadows, John Cassavetes returned to the indie model, self-financing this wrenching portrait of the sexual mores and miseries of American middle class. Gena Rowlands is luminous as Jeannie, the film's emotional barometer.
A Woman Under the Influence
Gena Rowlands is extraordinary in this painful and compassionate trial of love, the most intense and essential movie from legendary independent filmmaker John Cassavetes. "The toughest of all great American films." Kent Jones
Minnie and Moskowitz
John Cassavetes' deliciously witty take on Hollywood romance is a modern screwball comedy, a mismatched love story between a car park attendant (Seymour Cassel) and a museum administator (Gena Rowlands) who believes herelf to be too good for him.
Gloria
Gena Rowlands was nominated for Best Actress for her portrait of gangster's moll Gloria Swenson: a tough, chain-smoking broad who finds herself running from her former friends in the mob to protect her next door neighbour's orphaned six-year-old kid.
Love Streams
The last movie Gena Rowlands and John Cassavetes made together is an eccentrically beautiful, painful piece about a writer (Cassavetes) broken out of his self-imposed exile by the arrival of a son he doesn't know, and a sister he hasn't seen in years.
Talking Pictures
Last Tuesday of the Month
Created for film lovers 55+, the Talking Pictures series offers films, refreshments and an open invitation to chat about our shared experience of the movie.
The Lunchbox
Apr 29
In the first of our new monthly film series for 55+, a modern classic rom-com from India. Enjoy the movie and stay for refreshments and informal chat.
Mother's Day
This Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 11, celebrate with your film-loving mom! Enjoy a screening of an iconic ’80s flick, and keep the love going all year with a discounted VIFF+ Premium Membership.
Bring Mom to the Movies
Enjoy 2-for-1 tickets to beloved ‘80s classics Steel Magnolias or Terms of Endearment. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry – and you’ll give your mom an extra hug. Add two tickets to your cart and the second is on us.
Give Mom a Gift that Lasts All Year
Save $20 on a VIFF+ Premium Membership, including $5 off cinema tickets, 30% off festival passes, free popcorn vouchers and more! Enter code LOVEYOUMOM at checkout.
Film Studies: Hollywood Babylon
Monday Afternoons Apr 7 – May 12
SIN! SEX! SHOCK! SCANDAL! Welcome to the sordid cinema of Pre-Code Hollywood! Classic film scholar Michael van den Bos is your tour guide on a 5-part trek through the seamier, steamier and sinister side of Hollywood movies from the early 1930s.
Freaks
May 5
Beautiful circus trapeze artiste Cleopatra likes to flirt with one of the sideshow attractions, Hans, a dwarf. When she learns that Hans is a wealthy man she decides to marry him. It’s a choice she will live to regret… An unforgettable 1932 shocker.
Trouble in Paradise
May 12
Herbert Marshall and Miriam Hopkins play lovers and thieves attempting to fleece the chic owner of a French perfume company, played by Kay Francis. What ensues is a modern ménage à trois in the most elegant, innuendo filled film comedy of all time.
VIFF Live
Live performances that push the boundaries of traditional film programming, intersecting cinema culture with music, comedy, podcasting, and performance in unique, cinema-infused live shows.
Kryptic
May 9
Oozing psycho-sexual anxiety, Kourtney Roy’s fascinating feminist horror movie feints toward creature-feature quirk, but morphs into something much stranger. Chloe Pirrie plays a double role, or maybe Everywoman, adrift in a world of men and monsters.
Mary Ancheta Plays Betty Davis Tribute
May 14
In this VIFF Live event, keyboardist Mary Ancheta and her band channel the phenomenal funk of 70s sensation Betty Davis, featuring Dawn Pemberton on vocals. The live music portion of the event will be followed by Phil Cox’s invaluable 2017 documentary, They Say I’m Different.
DOXA at VIFF
Western Canada’s largest documentary film festival returns from May 1-11, 2025. DOXA will screen a roster of timely and thought-provoking documentaries in venues across the city — including here at the VIFF Centre.
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