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The Klabona Keepers film image, co-directors Tamo Campos and Jasper Snow-Rosen

Ignite: High School Program

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Image: The Klabona Keepers

Each year, VIFF welcomes thousands of secondary students to experience exceptional international and Canadian cinema at the festival. This year, thanks to generous support from the Far Star Impact Fund, we are now offering films for high schools throughout the 2024-25 school year, bringing back some of the top sold-out favorites from past VIFF Ignite programs. Thes Ignite films are available in cinema and can also be streamed at school for limited dates, all completely free for schools.

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 around the world, or right here in Canada, this year’s selected films for the Ignite High School program present memorable stories that connect youth with powerful themes and human experiences shaping our contemporary world, our identities, and our planet.

Supported by

The Chef & the Daruma film image; man staring at a large collection of daruma dolls

Films in Cinema and Online via VIFF Connect

All Ignite films will be screened in-cinema at the VIFF Centre (1181 Seymour St, Vancouver), and streamed online using our VIFF Connect platform. All films are free for schools.

Draw Me Egypt film image; three people listing to someone offscreen

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.

November Films at a Glance

This fall, we’re bringing back 3 sold out favorites from recent VIFF Ignite programs. In December, we’ll offer a new selection of short film programs. Join our education email list to receive Ignite film announcements.

Rosie explores personal and universal experiences of identity, family, belonging, and connection through the story of precautious 6-year-old Rosie and the memorable family and friends she meets when she moves to live with her Aunty Fred. Set in Montreal in the 1980s, this is a heartwarming and funny bilingual film about finding family and facing your fears, together with those who support you.

The Klabona Keepers is one of our most popular VIFF Ignite films ever. This nuanced documentary sheds light on environmental issues and Indigenous land movements, focusing on the barricades of the Tahltan nation’s land defenders at the Klabona Headwaters here in BC.

Timely, eye-opening, and hopeful, Common Ground showcases inspiring voices and communities working for global climate change. Their work unveils the immensely powerful potential of regenerative farming – and how saving the soil can help change the course of the climate crisis we face.

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]

November Films

Common Ground film image

Common Ground

An eye-opening plea to care for the thing that feeds us, balances the climate, and sustains life on earth: soil. Common Ground unveils the potential of regenerative farming, to show us how saving the soil can help save us, and the planet, along with it.

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The Klabona Keepers film image, co-directors Tamo Campos and Jasper Snow-Rosen

The Klabona Keepers

The Klabona Keepers is a fierce account of the Tahltan Nation’s struggle to protect the Klabona Sacred Headwaters from commercial mining. Interspersing verité cinematography with interviews, the film documents the tactics used by the land defenders.

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Rosie film image, director Gail Maurice

Rosie

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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Booking Request Form

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Past Ignite Programs