What's On
Love
This warm, thoughtful piece offers shrewd comic observations on modern dating as it trains a quizzical eye on the trysts of a female doctor, Marianne (Andrea Bræin Hovig), and her colleague, a gay male nurse, Tor (Tayo Cittadella Jacobsen).
The Wedding Banquet
This joyful comedy cleverly updates Ang Lee's 1993 gay marriage comedy and transports the action to contemporary Seattle (actually, Vancouver).
On Swift Horses
A young couple's California dream turns sour when his charismatic card shark brother (Jacob Elordi) upends their ideas about what they want. This is a sumptuous 50s melodrama with a queer viewpoint.
Another Woman
Gena Rowlands as philosophy teacher whose meticulously controlled life begins to unravel after she starts to eavesdrop on a psychotherapist's sessions.
Desert of Namibia
A prizewinner at Cannes, Yôko Yamanaka's second film is an acerbic portrait of an arrogant, attractive, diffident, "difficult" 21-year-old woman, Kana (a mesmerizing Yuumi Kawai), who numbly drifts between boyfriends, leaving wreckage in her wake.
Night on Earth
Gena Rowlands takes a cab driven by Winona Ryder in this low-key charmer from Jim Jarmusch, one of five taxi rides around the globe, each ending with a sliver of insight and understanding.
Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day
In this powerful period drama, a Yugoslav filmmaker falls out of favour with the Communist regime in the 1950s. Suspected of homosexuality and ideological impurity, he has enemies in high places, but refuses to concede his human rights.
The Friend
Based on the bestselling novel, writer and teacher Iris (Naomi Watts) finds her comfortable, solitary New York life thrown into disarray after her closest friend and mentor (Bill Murray) bequeaths her Apollo, his 150lb Great Dane.
Lust, Caution
Each month we showcase a movie selected by one of our VIFF+ Premium members. This month, Shanwen Yan chooses Ang Lee's erotic WWII spy 2007 thriller, starring Tany Wei, Tony Leung and Joan Chen.
Never Forgotten / On To Ottawa Trek
This fascinating documentary sheds light on a pivotal moment in labour relations in Canada at the height of the Great Depression, when striking BC labourers made their way to Ottawa to protest conditions in government work camps. There will be a filmmaker Q&A after the screening.
