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Beans film image

Ignite: High School Program

Spring 2023

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Image: Beans, at VIFF Centre

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 film image

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.

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Rosie film image, director Gail Maurice

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.

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Night Raiders film image

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.

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Portraits From a Fire film image

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.

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Unarchived film image, co-directors Hayley Gray and Elad Tzadok

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.

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The Six film image

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 film image

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.

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Beans film image

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.

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Booking Request Form

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