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
A Bit of Light
Oct 2, 8 & 11
Dir. Ali Asgari
“A finely focused, mature, and moving drama with a quietly perfect ending that repays the title and then some.” Sophie Monks Kaufman, IndieWire
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Oct 2 & 4
Dir. Clio Barnard
People’s Choice Audience Award: Director’s Fortnight, Cannes 2026
© Chris Harris
Elephants in the Fog
Oct 2, 4, 6 & 9
Dir. Abinash Bikram Shah
Jury Prize: Un Certain Regard, Cannes 2026
MUTEK x VIFF Live
Oct 2
MUTEK and VIFF join forces for an unforgettable evening of live audiovisual performance and electronic music.
© Fre╠üde╠ürique Me╠ünard Aubin
The Quiet Applause
Oct 2, 3 & 6
Dir. Byun Sung-bin
Join the filmmakers for a Q&A after today’s screening.
That Shadow Fading
Oct 2 & 3
Dir. Samuel Urbina
A quiet, deeply affecting mother and son drama.
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!
Yellow Letters
Derya and Aziz, a theatre couple based in Ankara, are celebrating the premiere of their latest play when they find themselves targeted by state investigations. Their lives change practically overnight, they find their political convictions put to the test.
Image: © EllaKnorz ifProductions Alamode Film
Birds of War
Told through phone videos, voice notes, texts, and news footage, Birds of War documents the love story of Lebanese journalist Janay Boulos and Syrian activist Abd Alkader Habak as their connection deepens and their communications grow in urgency.
Heysel 85
This harrowing drama recreates the 1985 European Cup Final in Belgium, when rival football fans clashed before a ball had even been kicked. Teodora Mihal's film captures the hubris, incompetence, and politicking that compounded the escalating chaos.
Now Playing
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.
Fjord
A conservative family faces state scrutiny over their parenting in a progressive Norwegian town. Starring Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve, Cristian Mungiu’s Palme d’Or–winning Fjord is a morally knotty drama about the limits of tolerance.
Trial of Hein
After 14 years on the mainland, Hein returns to the cloistered fishing village where he grew up. But when he arrives, he goes unrecognized. Amid mounting suspicion and hostility, the community holds a three-day trial to verify his identity.
Relax, Open Your Eyes
Confronted with her husband's declining health, Carrie Radomski dedicates herself to building Canada's first cryonics facility in this intimate documentary about hope, conviction, and humanity's enduring quest to overcome death.
Send the Rain
In Kaayla Whachell and Hayley Gray's tender drama Send the Rain, a young Okinawan-Canadian attempts to evacuate her stubborn grandmother from a wildfire zone, forcing both women to confront family history, responsibility, and the pull of home.
The History of Concrete
After attending a workshop on pitching saccharine Hallmark movies, John Wilson tries to apply all the same best practices to his documentary about concrete. Frequently absurd and endlessly entertaining detours, asides, and digressions ensue.
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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