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
All the Lovers in the Night
Oct 1, 2, 5 & 11
Dir. Yukiko Sode
“A challenging but also keenly insightful meditation of the self-fulfilling cycles of trauma and the nature of love.” Elizabeth Kerr, Screen Daily
Árru
Oct 1, 2 & 7
Dir. Elle Sofe Sara
“In our current cinematic landscape […] seeing an understated film laced with raw honesty is a refreshing change.” Jessica Fanwong, The Scoop
Frank & Louis
Oct 1 & 3
Dir. Petra Volpe
“It’s a script and a production tightly built around its performers, both superb individually, but most importantly, warmly attentive to each other on screen.” Guy Lodge, Variety
Shame and Money
Oct 1 & 3
Dir. Visar Morina
Grand Jury Prize: World Cinema Dramatic Competition, Sundance 2026
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.
Standby tickets will be available at the door only. No tickets will be available online.
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!
Jim Queen
When far-right activists infect gay influencer Jim Queen with a drug that turns him straight, he must join forces with a closeted follower to cure his ailment. Jim Queen is a film unafraid to skewer gay “body fascism” and bigoted conservatism alike.
Species
Species follows Margot, a young doctor who wakes covered in blood as the pressures of a demanding French ER take a physical toll. As lesions spread across her body, workplace burnout transforms into skin-tearing body horror.
Image: © ARP Sélection Trésor Films Windy Production
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.
Now Playing
Farruquito: a Flamenco Dynasty
Legendary flamenco dancer Farruquito struggles to reconcile his past with his family legacy. Revelling in the artistry of Romani music and dance, Farruquito: A Flamenco Dynasty explores family dynamics and the pursuit of greatness.
Linka Linka
Kangdrun's feature debut depicts a twentysomething filmmaker coming to grips with a shameful act she committed in childhood. Moving between past and present, with each main character played by two actors, this is a provocative and challenging work.
Once Upon a Time in Harlem
Once Upon a Time in Harlem splices together footage shot by William Greaves in 1972 of a group of Harlem Renaissance luminaries in conversation at Duke Ellington’s townhouse. The film is a living archive of memory, disagreement, style, and Black genius.
La Gradiva
Winner of the Grand Prize at Cannes’ Critics’ Week, Marine Atlan's feature debut follows a class of French high-school students on a trip to Naples. While learning about the ruins of Pompeii by day, a different kind of education takes place at night.
Image: © Films du poisson, Bibi Film TV, Arte France Cinema
Fugs Film!
Originating as a group of New York beatniks, The Fugs' taboo-embracing contempt for social norms made them one of the strangest bands of the 1960s. Fugs Film! is a raucous, irreverent celebration of rebellion, poetry, and counterculture legacy.
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.
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.
The Last Angel of History
Special 30th anniversary screening of The Last Angel of History, tracing the origins and significance of Afrofuturism, framed by the journey of a time-traveling data thief. With live performance from Speaker Music and conversation with The Otolith Group.
MUTEK x VIFF Live
MUTEK and VIFF join forces for an unforgettable evening of live audiovisual performance and electronic music featuring legendary electro duo Dopplereffekt, Montreal-based DJ Honeydrip, and Vancouver's MIIIA, in collaboration with visual artist MELT.
Image: © Fre╠üde╠ürique Me╠ünard-Aubin
Kelly Moran
A live performance by acclaimed pianist, producer, and composer Kelly Moran, charting unconventional sonic pathways through classical, avant-garde, and electronic sound. With opening live AV set from Vancouver electronic musician and composer Bahar Khazei.
Derrick Gee's Radio Hour
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
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.
Image: © Randall Michelson
Talks
The world’s leading creators share expertise on their craft.
The Close-Up: In Conversation with Carrie Coon
Carrie Coon is a formidable stage and screen talent, acclaimed for The Leftovers, Fargo, The Gilded Age, The White Lotus, and The Nest. VIFF honours Coon with a Luminary Award, recognizing her remarkable contributions to film, television, and theatre.
Image: © Heather Hazzan
A Wish Come True: The Making of Obsession with Producer Haley Johnson
Producer Haley Johnson takes us behind the making of one of the year’s most culturally impactful films, Obsession.
Worlds Within Worlds: Brandon Tonner-Connolly & Matt Hyland, Production Designers, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma
Production designers Brandon Tonner-Connolly and Matt Hyland dive into their approach to collaboration and how they work with directors like Jane Schoenbrun on I Saw the TV Glow and Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.
Stories Behind the Music: Mark Mothersbaugh, Composer & Musician
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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