As the school year draws to a close, we’re excited to announce a series of free screenings for British Columbia high school students. Many of the selected titles align with either Asian Heritage Month or National Indigenous History Month and can spark essential dialogue amongst students. Featuring compelling stories of resilience and connection, the VIFF Ignite program connects youth with powerful forces and experiences shaping our contemporary world and identities. Below you’ll find film summaries, curriculum connections, and details on how to book.
In-Person and Online
Screenings
All eight Ignite films will be screened in-cinema at the Vancity Theatre (1181 Seymour Street, Vancouver), with five of the titles also available on our VIFF Connect streaming platform.
Educational Film Resources & Curriculum Ties
Prior to the screenings, teachers will receive film resource guides. Written with the curriculum in mind, these guides are designed to inspire in-depth exploration and facilitate discussion that connects the cinema and the classroom.
How to Book
Ignite screenings are free for school groups to attend. To book, submit your request with the online form below. Our Ignite team will respond to confirm availability and complete your booking. Note: capacity for all films is limited
Questions? Contact our Ignite team at [email protected]
Ignite Spring 2023 Films
Funded by
Flee
June 8, 9:30 am | In-cinema only
Amin says the diary where he documented what happened to him during the Soviet-Afghan war is written in Dari, a language he now only barely recollects. In Flee, Jonas Poher Rasmussen illustrates how the incomplete nature of this story shapes Amin’s life.
Rosie
June 9, 9:30 am | In-cinema & VIFF Connect
Rosie is an orphaned Indigenous girl sent to live with her reluctant street-smart aunt. Rosie soon transforms the lives of the colourful characters she meets and together, they find acceptance and home with her in a chosen family of glittering outsiders.
Night Raiders
June 15, 9:30 am | In-cinema only
After Niska’s daughter is taken by military occupiers in war-ravaged North America circa 2043, she joins a group of Cree vigilantes to spring their children from a fortified compound. Sometimes, survival hinges on more than just a killer instinct.
Portraits From a Fire
June 16, 9:30 am | In-cinema & VIFF Connect
Undaunted by paltry audiences at his DIY films on the Tl’etinqox Reserve, teenage Tyler remains convinced that he’s bound for bigger things. But when a DV tape resurfaces that casts new light on his family’s history, Tyler must unearth difficult truths.
Unarchived
May 25, 9:30 am | In-cinema only
Unarchived is a feature documentary that explores the diverse, underrepresented and erased histories in British Columbia. We’ll follow local Knowledge Keepers and organizations across the province as they subvert the dominant historical narrative in our museums and archives, and fight for a more inclusive history.
The Six
May 26, 9:30 am | In-cinema & VIFF Connect
Among Titanic’s 705 survivors were six Chinese men whose stories were lost due to America’s Chinese Exclusion Act. Executive produced by James Cameron, this documentary grants them their rightful place in history by uncovering their sacrifices.
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Returning Home
June 1, 9:30 am | In-cinema & VIFF Connect
Intertwining narratives concerning residential school survivors, including Orange Shirt Day founder Phyllis Jack-Webstad, and Indigenous peoples’ relationship with imperiled wild Pacific salmon, Sean Stiller’s documentary is a testament to resilience.
Beans
June 2, 9:30 am | In-cinema & VIFF Connect
In this moving, delicate and raw autobiographical coming-of-age movie, Tracey Deer harks back to her personal rebellion at the age of 12, in the midst of the standoff between Mohawks and settlers in Oka, Quebec that raged 30 years ago this summer.