Each year, VIFF welcomes over 2500 secondary students to experience exceptional international cinema at the festival. From stories of tradition and history to films that capture impactful events as they’re unfolding, great world cinema challenges and expands our perspectives, promotes inquiry, develops critical thinking skills, and ignites imaginations.
Be they set in Kenya, the Philippines, 1960s Paris, or here in Canada, this year’s selected films for the Ignite High School program present stories that connect youth with powerful forces and experiences shaping our contemporary world and identities.
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Films at a Glance
The Track and Remaining Native are both compelling documentaries centered on youth athletes training for their dreams, each grappling with legacies of the past and questions of the futures they hope to see. Young Blood is a heart racing hockey drama by Hubert Davis (Black Ice a hit at VIFF 2022) offering a nuanced exploration of race, father and son relationships, and masculinity in sports through the story of a hopeful and determined young hockey player.
Nouvelle Vague is a fun, romp of a French drama set in Paris in the 1960s that expertly pays tribute to the cultural treasure that is Breathless, Jean Luc Goddard’s unconventional film that changed cinema forever and gave birth to French New Wave cinema.
In the Room centers the personal stories, brave experiences and enduring resilience of Afghani women who have challenged the stereotype of silent victim since the Taliban have taken power in their homeland. They explore complex relationships with cultural identity, reframing the narrative to celebrate Afghani women uniting throughout the diaspora.
Shadow Scholars and How to Build a Library are two eye-opening documentaries from Kenya. One sheds light on the young, brilliant Kenyans ghost-writing essays for more privileged college students overseas, while the other follows a dedicated group of Kenyans striving to decolonize local libraries in Nairobi. Once made for ‘whites only’, they seek to reinvent them as vital community hubs for Kenyans, by Kenyans.
A Place of Ghosts is a thrilling and suspenseful Indigenous ghost story that follows two brothers as they travel through time, receiving help from ancestors and descendants in their quest to put a ghost from their past to rest.
Treasure of the Rice Terrace explores the revival and celebration of once banned Indigenous Kalinga tattooing the Philippines, the remarkable 106-year-old Indigenous tattoo artist Apo Whang and the strong role this art form has come to symbolize for Filipino cultural identity worldwide.
And our ever-popular Short Fuse collection showcases new Canadian and International shorts, specially selected for the ways they inspire new approaches for storytelling or animation. Charming, funny, and at times touching, these filmmakers explore stories and memories from around the world, remembering loved ones who made a lasting impact and celebrating voices not often heard. Together they offer a memorable collection for the next generation of filmmakers.
Ignite 2025 Films
How to Build a Library
In Nairobi, two women strive to transform a colonial-era library into a cultural hub by and for Kenyans. Along the way, they navigate local politics, raise funds, and confront the lingering ghosts of Kenya’s colonial past.
In the Room
In the Room centers compelling stories of Afghan women who refuse to become silent victims. A film about resilience, reclaiming cultural identity, and what’s at stake for women’s rights and human rights around the world.
Nouvelle Vague
Linklater’s love letter to cinema, Paris in 1959, and the difficult creation of Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless, channels the auteur’s unwavering self confidence and the making of a film that would change everything. It’s the next best thing to being there.
Remaining Native
Teenage runner Ku Stevens chases his dream of college athletics while confronting his family’s history, including memories of his great-grandfather’s escape from an Indian boarding school. Slowly, a plan to bring healing begins to take shape.
The Shadow Scholars
An Oxford professor uncovers Kenya’s hidden essay-writing industry, where underemployed academics create papers for Western students. The film questions global education inequality and the human cost of this billion-dollar underground economy.
Short Fuse
An eye-opening collection of shorts exploring memories, experiences and relationships between friends, family, and across generations. From powwows in North America, to the rivers of Ethiopia and beyond, these shorts offer memorable stories on screen.
The Track
Three teens chase Olympic dreams on Sarajevo’s war-damaged luge track. Amid hardships in postwar Bosnia, the friends’ dedication and perseverance guide them to a brighter future beyond the lingering shadow of conflict.
Treasure of the Rice Terraces
Filipino Canadian filmmaker Kent Donguines returns to the Philippines to explore Indigenous Kalinga tattoos. Guided by 107-year-old artist Apo Whang-od, he discovers the strong role it has come to symbolize for Filippino cultural identity worldwide.
Youngblood
Youngblood is a heart-racing hockey drama by Hubert Davis, director of the hit VIFF 2022 film Black Ice. A thoughtful, nuanced exploration of race, complex father-and-son relationships, and masculinity in sports.
How to Book
Free for schools, capacity for all films is limited. To book, submit your request with the online form linked below. Our Ignite team will respond to confirm availability and complete your booking.
Questions? Contact our Ignite team at [email protected]
How Ignite Works
Cinema In-Person & Online
All Ignite films will be screened in-cinema at International Village.
Exclusive Dialogue with Filmmakers and Subject Experts
After most screenings, students will have a live Q&A with filmmakers or subject experts connected to the film. Ask questions about careers in filmmaking, what inspired them to tell this story, how the film was really made, and more.
Educational Film Resources & Curriculum Ties
These films offer bold approaches to pressing social and environmental concerns and personal journeys, offering thought-provoking connections to subjects across the BC curriculum. Prior to the screenings, teachers will receive film resource guides. Written with the curriculum in mind, these guides are designed to open up in-depth exploration and facilitate discussion that connects the cinema and the classroom.
