VIFF Programmers

Curtis Woloschuk articulates VIFF’s artistic vision through innovative curation, impactful program development, and essential community building. He has launched artistic development and education programs, developed new platforms for filmmakers, and reshaped the organization’s curatorial methodology. He serves as VIFF’s key liaison with international film suppliers, agencies, and organizations, developing partnerships that create opportunities for filmmakers and advance film culture on multiple fronts. In addition to writing on film for numerous international outlets, he’s also served on juries at a variety of prestigious festivals, including Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente, and Jeonju International Film Festival.

Sonja Baksa is a film programmer and curator. She has been with the VIFF programming team since 2018, currently leading the curation of the competitive Vanguard section and focusing on narrative feature selections from France, South, Southeastern and Eastern Europe, among other regions. She also works as the International Programmer for Short Cuts at the Toronto International Film Festival. Baksa holds an MSc in Film, Exhibition and Curation from the University of Edinburgh; and a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Zagreb. Her niche interests in arts and the occult in cinema have extended into academic research, curatorial projects, and written pieces for various publications.

Casey Wei is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice in filmmaking, writing and performance is informed by participatory activities such as editing, publishing and programming. Her video installation The Zhang Clan (2024) won the inaugural Lind Biennial in 2024. In 2019, she was the Canadian Spotlight Artist at Images Festival (Toronto, ON). Wei has played in numerous festivals and concerts around the world with her band Kamikaze Nurse, and her solo project, hazy. Her writing has been featured in C Magazine, the Journal of Visual Culture, and Made in China Journal. She is Moe Ray’s mom.

Ruun Nuur is an independent cinematic practitioner with a hyper-focus on narratives from the Global majority. She’s the co-founder of NO EVIL EYE CINEMA, a radical nomadic microcinema and former features programmer at Cleveland International Film Festival. As documentary programmer of VIFF, Nuur leads the curation of Insights (international documentaries) and Spectrum (expansive creative non-fiction) with contributions to Northern Lights and Showcase.

Nuur is a frequent contributor to Film Comment, IDA’s Documentary Magazine, and Filmmaker Magazine. She’s a proud member of Color Congress, Future Film Collective, and Brown Girls Doc Mafia.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, PoChu graduated in Communications and Film Studies from Concordia University. She worked for the CBC in Montreal and the OECD in Paris before moving to Vancouver in 1988. Since then, she has been with the Vancouver International Film Festival, serving as a key curator for the festival’s international program. In 2025, she stepped down from her role as Program Manager and Senior Programmer to continue as a programmer with focus on Asian cinema. In recognition of her contribution to promoting French cinema during her tenure, she was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 2023.

Alan Franey has been with VIFF since its inception in 1982, being Festival Director from 1988 to 2013, and the linchpin for the conception, design, and realization of the Vancouver International Film Centre. He was Manager of the Ridge Theatre (1979-1985), co-ran the Vancouver East Cinema (1982 to 1991), was Administrative Director of the Calgary Olympic Film Festival in 1988, and has served on the board of The Cinematheque and the Vancouver Oral Centre for Deaf Children, now CHSC (1992 to 2004).

As the founder of MODES at VIFF, T’s curatorial practice presupposes a lens of intersectionality and a deep reverence for the relationships among art, experimentation, and cinema. An alumni of the International Confederation of Art Cinemas and a former member of the Director’s Guild of Canada, their expertise spans the avant-garde, Canadian documentary programming, animation education, and fostering film appreciation through organizations such as the NFB and DOXA. Since 2016, they have served as the director of programming at Reel 2 Real.

Cole Forrest is an Anishinaabe filmmaker and programmer from Nipissing First Nation. They have written and directed films that have screened at film festivals including imagineNATIVE, TIFF Next Wave, and VIFF. Cole is a recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal for their work in community. Cole has supported programming at festivals in both Canada and the USA; including TIFF, imagineNATIVE, VIFF, SFIFF, and Pathways Indigenous Film Festival. Cole is currently the Cinema Artistic Programmer for the Center for Contemporary Arts of Santa Fe, New Mexico. They are grateful to represent their community in all artistic pursuits.

Tristin Greyeyes is a Two-Spirit nēhiyaw-ojibway & proud mom of two. She is from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation. A film curator and a visual storyteller, Tristin received her bachelor’s degree in Motion Picture Arts, 2021. She recently completed her first feature documentary, A Cree Approach, 2025. Tristin also founded Ācimowin Film Festival; it currently stands as the only Indigenous film festival in Saskatchewan. She is determined to empower Indigenous voices across Turtle Island through the art of film.

Jaewoo Kang is a queer Korean-Canadian interdisciplinary artist working across film, animation, textiles, and performance. His practice explores queer eroticism, intimacy, and transformation through costume, moving image, and installation. Recent projects include World as Tripod at Centre A, which reimagined the childhood game Legend of Heroes IV through a queer lens. He has presented fashion-based performance work through a residency at Griffin Art Project and collaborates with performers across disciplines. Kang is also a member of 2G1B Collective, whose puppet-clown performance Hearts & Bootz has been presented through vActory and Asian Heritage Month at Morrow.

Ashley Sugimoto (she/her) is a biracial, fourth-generation Japanese Canadian filmmaker and curator. Her work centers intergenerational stories from the Japanese Canadian community, exploring how memory, displacement, and cultural repair shape identity and healing from within. She is best known for her short documentary Aiko (2019), which screened on Yahoo! Japan. Ashley has also recently completed her new short documentary, Road to Ogawa, slated to premiere later in 2026. She has received mentorship through VIFF Catalyst and Story Money Impact, and works contractually as a curator for festivals including GEMFest, Run N Gun, FORM Fest, and DOXA documentary film festival.

Deepika Suseelan is a film festival professional with extensive experience in programming, curation, and artistic direction. Currently a Programmer at the Vancouver International Film Festival, she has previously served as Artistic Director of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) and Head of International Film Programming at International Film Festival of India (IFFI Goa). Deepika has curated programs for festivals in India, South Africa, and beyond, and has served on international juries across Europe, the US, and the Middle East. A gold medalist with a Master’s degree in Communication and Journalism, Deepika champions underrepresented voices, emerging filmmakers, and global storytelling with strong artistic vision, fostering cross-cultural dialogue through the transformative power of Cinema.

Sophy Romvari is a Canadian-Hungarian filmmaker based in Toronto. Since 2015, her critically acclaimed short films have screened at festivals internationally, earning her recognition as one of Canada’s most exciting emerging filmmakers. A collection of her short films, including her critically acclaimed thesis film Still Processing, are currently available on the Criterion Channel, as well as select films on MUBI and The New Yorker. Her debut feature, Blue Heron, premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in 2025, where it won the Swatch First Feature Award. It went on to make its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in the Centrepiece section, where it received the Best Canadian Discovery Award, among other international honours. Blue Heron is distributed by Janus Films and has received widespread critical acclaim, including recognition from The New Yorker, Variety, and The New York Times, which named it a Critics’ Pick. The Hollywood Reporter described it as “the most acclaimed film of the year so far.”