What's On
The Liberation
Haunted by her past, Rita (a magnificent Carrie Coon) is lured to an all-female commune by a magnetic, manipulative spiritual leader (Lily James). An unsettling yet deeply empathetic exploration of personal freedom, devotion, and control.
Image: © Bleecker Street
Tender Loving Care
Mike Leigh’s film depicts the lives of Amy and Rosie, best friends and fellow social workers, who care for the dispossessed with all the strength they have. Sometimes it's funny, tragic, and often it's balancing both, this is a work of humble compassion.
The Story of Documentary Film – The 2010s & 2020s
In The Story of Documentary Film – The 2010s & 2020s, Mark Cousins follows nonfiction into phones, GoPros, YouTube, TikTok, live streams, and feeds to look at bodily autonomy, surveillance, racism, borders, and truth after vérité.
Image: © Fire of Love, 2022, dir. Sara Dosa, Canada, USA, Sandbox Films, Cottage M, Intuitive Pictures, National Geographic Documentary Films
A Girl Unknown
In this tender, compassionate drama, we see the hardships endured by a young girl adopted in the early 1980s during China’s one-child policy. As a teenager in the 90s, she’s still fighting to find a sense of belonging and assert her worth.
Concrete Land
Filmed over eight years, Concrete Land follows the Najar family, one of Jordan’s last Afro-Palestinian-Bedouin families, as luxury villas close in on their grazing space outside Amman. Asmahan Bkerat preserves their way of life in the face of erasure.
An Incomplete Calendar
A forgotten vinyl record from Venezuela becomes Sanaz Sohrabi's guide through interlocking histories of oil, Iran, music, and political memory in An Incomplete Calendar.
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.
Where the River Begins
This immersive, hypnotic film follows an Indigenous mother and daughter on a journey from the slums of Bogotá to their true home in the jungle, joined by a young gang member with an especially urgent reason to flee.
Close-Up
Kiarostami’s Close-Up blurs documentary and fiction through the story of Hossein Sabzian, who impersonates filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf. The film questions what “real” means on screen while creating an undeniable feeling of realism.
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Having navigated every rite of passage together, five childhood friends now find themselves drifting apart. Clio Barnard conspires with a stellar ensemble to bring these richly detailed, fascinatingly flawed characters to life.
Image: © Chris Harris
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