Let the Festival Begin!
The wait is over! We are excited to share with you the stellar line-up for the 45th Vancouver International Film Festival, October 1 – 11. Over 160 films, 85 shorts, VIFF Live performances, VIFF Talks, and special events will light up the screens and stages across Vancouver. Take a moment, explore the program and get ready to VIFF!
Today's Highlights
Stories Behind the Music
Mark Mothersbaugh, Composer & Musician
Oct 7
Join legendary DEVO co-founder and composer Mark Mothersbaugh in conversation with award-winning composer and former studio executive Robert Kraft.
A Long Winter
Oct 7 & 10
Dir. Andrew Haigh
“[A] poignant, subversive study of grief and desire […] it is fiercely acted, and wonderfully shot by cinematographer André Turpin.” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
Fireflies in the Dark
Oct 7
Dir. Yogesh Lohan
Three interwoven stories craft distinct but connected portraits of lives caught in the strife of civil conflict.
A Distant Call
Oct 7
Dir. Andrea Suwito
“A Distant Call sees what it means to delicately straddle society in a moment of change.” Pat Mullen, POV Magazine
A Place of Absence
Oct 7 & 11
Dir. Marialuisa Ernst
Best Documentary Feature, San Diego 2026
We Are All Strangers
Oct 7
Dir. Anthony Chen
“There’s some addictively brash storytelling here from [director Anthony] Chen, with a page-turning novelistic energy and a marvellous [sic] sympathy for the whole cast.” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
Ticket Release
Is the movie you want to see on Standby? Check the VIFF Daily emails or this page every morning for seats to your most-wanted films! More tickets may become available throughout the Festival.
Tickets will become available online only at 12:00 pm.
Add These Films to Your Watchlist!
See something you’re interested in? Log into your VIFF account and click the heart icon to add it to your personal watchlist!
Nowhere to Lay My Eyes
VIFF mainstay Hong Sangsoo returns with the story of a daughter, her estranged mother, and the step-family she's never met. Hong's visual style is unadorned as ever — all the better to highlight the strangeness of human interaction.
Aanikoobijigan [Ancestor/Great-Grandparent/Great-Grandchild]
In Aanikoobijigan, Indigenous repatriation specialists work to bring the remains and funerary objects of Ancestors home from institutional collections. This is a film shaped by memory, dignity, and a duty of care.
Whispers in May
Whispers in May follows Qihuo and her friends in China’s Liangshan Mountains as childhood gives way to womanhood. It blends close observation and scenes of the girls' search with animated fragments of Yi oral myth to create a hypnotic coming-of-age film.
Now Playing
James McNeill Whistler
One of America’s greatest artists, James McNeill Whistler fashioned his life as a work of art in its own right. James McNeill Whistler looks beyond his famous portraits and self-styled “nocturnes” to dive into the true depths of Whistler’s legacy.
Forest High
High in the northern Alps, three women take turns caring for a mountain lodge as hikers come and go. Divided into three sections, we follow each caretaker as they settle in for their respective season and have their lives touched in different ways.
Image: © The Blue raincoat
Jaripeo
Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig set their sights on Penjamillo, Michoacán, where the annual Jaripeo — a rodeo of bull riding, drinking, and dust that serves as the town’s public theatre of masculinity — becomes a stage for queer desire.
Afterpiece
This wry, twisty theatrical farce stars Stephen Fung as a playwright, actor, and director who writes a play based on his own past. His rich ex-lover wants to co-star, but our hero has found a sexy new actress, and he’s got a plan to get her the part…
Short Forum 6: Archive Lives!
Before anything becomes archival, it’s lived.
Explore VIFF 2026's Film Program
View festival by genre, country, language and more
View festival on an interactive calendar grid
View festival from A to Z
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.
Derrick Gee's Radio Hour
Oct 7
Fresh from sold-out tours across Europe and Australia, experience the Canadian premiere of cult music tastemaker Derrick Gee’s eclectic Radio Hour, where his on-stage living room welcomes community conversations, special guests, and shared listening.
An Evening with Mark Mothersbaugh
Oct 8
Experience a one-night-only live performance with legendary composer and DEVO founder Mark Mothersbaugh, joined by an 11-piece ensemble, celebrating music from The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, Thor: Ragnarok, The LEGO Movie, A Minecraft Movie, and more.
© Randall Michelson
Talks
The world’s leading creators share expertise on their craft.
Stories Behind the Music
Mark Mothersbaugh, Composer & Musician
Oct 7
Join legendary DEVO co-founder and composer Mark Mothersbaugh in conversation with award-winning composer and former studio executive Robert Kraft, exploring a singular career spanning Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, Thor: Ragnarok, and more.
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