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The Track film image; man walking across the horizon at dawn or dusk

Northern Lights

Image: The Track

The next wave of Canadian and Indigenous storytellers

Hosting seven world premieres and welcoming several films that have already earned considerable acclaim on the festival circuit, Northern Lights once again serves notice that Canadian and Indigenous filmmakers are a force to be reckoned with. Many of the films found here take the form of involving journeys, be they across oceans or into the depths of memory. Elsewhere, there are accounts of indoctrination, incarceration, and fumbling bids for sexual liberation.

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Hemela

Dir. Pirouz Nemati
72 min

Hemela is a tender documentary celebrating resilience and cultural memory in a diasporic community. Through food, laughter, and tradition, Pirouz Nemati crafts a luminous portrait of a woman whose everyday life radiates extraordinary warmth and joy.

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3:00 pm
Wed Oct 08
International Village 8
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
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Akashi

Dir. Mayumi Yoshida ​吉田真由美
105 min

In Mayumi Yoshida’s tender drama, struggling artist Kana journeys to Tokyo to attend her grandmother’s funeral. While there, she reconnects with her childhood love and stumbles across a family secret that prompts her to reconsider her place in the world.

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3:00 pm
Thu Oct 09
Granville Island Stage
Guests/Q&As Hearing Assistance Subtitles
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Clan of the Painted Lady

Dir. Jennifer Chiu
101 min

Jennifer Chiu’s engrossing documentary explores the Hakka — a people, a language, and a culture that have been obscured for far too long. Tracing her own lineage back to from Canada to China, the director creates an illuminating, bravely personal film.

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3:30 pm
Thu Oct 09
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Guests/Q&As Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Book Now

A Welcome Distraction

Dir. Brian Daniel Johnson
97 min

In the wake of a personal tragedy, a young man living in Vancouver does whatever he can to avoid reconnecting with his family. An ambient ode to our city, and a sensitive and relatable portrait of life within it.

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6:00 pm
Thu Oct 09
The Cinematheque
Guests/Q&As Hearing Assistance
3:15 pm
Sat Oct 11
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Hearing Assistance
12:45 pm
Sun Oct 12
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Guests/Q&As Hearing Assistance

Modern Whore

Dir. Nicole Bazuin
80 min

In director Nicole Bazuin’s cheeky, stylized documentary, Modern Whore-memoirist Andrea Werhun (Paying for It, VIFF 2024) recounts her experiences as an escort and stripper in Toronto, debunking misconceptions about the world’s oldest profession.

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8:30 pm
Thu Oct 09
Granville Island Stage
Guests/Q&As Hearing Assistance
Book Now
4:00 pm
Sat Oct 11
International Village 9
Closed Captioning Descriptive Video Guests/Q&As Hearing Assistance
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Levers

Dir. Rhayne Vermette
95 min

After the world is plunged into darkness, an intrepid civil servant undertakes an odyssey into a world shrouded in mystery. An ominous story conveyed through a potent mixture of bewitching fantasy and the idleness of the everyday.

More info
4:00 pm
Fri Oct 10
The Cinematheque
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Book Now
8:30 pm
Sun Oct 12
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Book Now

Nesting

Dir. Chloé Cinq-Mars
101 min

Adjusting to her new life as a mother after the traumatic birth of her son, Pénélope witnesses a violent robbery that triggers visions of her sister’s death. Chloé Cinq-Mars’s debut feature is a tense psychological thriller exploring postpartum depression.

More info
6:15 pm
Fri Oct 10
International Village 8
Guests/Q&As Hearing Assistance Subtitles U18 May Attend
Book Now
3:00 pm
Sun Oct 12
Alliance Francaise
Guests/Q&As Hearing Assistance Subtitles U18 May Attend
Book Now

Follies

Dir. Eric K. Boulianne
101 min

After two kids and 16 years of marriage, François and Julie decide to open up their relationship in a bid to rekindle their dwindling sex life. A painfully hilarious and brutally honest depiction of love, sex, and intimacy.

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9:15 pm
Fri Oct 10
International Village 9
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Book Now
3:15 pm
Sat Oct 11
The Rio Theatre
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Book Now

The Track

Dir. Ryan Sidhoo
91 min

In the middle of a mountain forest above Sarajevo, three boys train for the Olympics in a bullet-ridden luge track abandoned since the 1984 Winter Games. An ambitious, hopeful look at the next generation striving to overcome the sins of their fathers.

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100 Sunset

Dir. Kunsang Kyirong
99 min

Kunsel, an introverted young woman in Toronto’s Tibetan community, commits petty theft and spies on her neighbours. When a newcomer moves into the neighbourhood with her older husband, however, Kunsel is gradually drawn out of her solitary existence.

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Blue Heron

Dir. Sophy Romvari
90 min

In the late 1990s, eight-year-old Sasha and her Hungarian immigrant family relocate to a new home on Vancouver Island. Their fresh start is interrupted by increasingly dangerous behaviour from Jeremy, the family’s oldest child.

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Finch & Midland

Dir. Timothy Yeung 楊永光
110 min

Timothy Yeung’s film tells the story of four Hong Kong immigrants living in Scarborough, Ontario. With exceptional performances from its four leads, the film explores the Asian diaspora, social malaise, and the hardships of life under late capitalism.

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Nika & Madison

Dir. Eva Thomas
87 min

Two young Indigenous women become fugitives following an act of self-defence and are forced to flee into the wilderness. Inspired by Thelma and Louise, this compelling story of unbreakable friendship sheds light on systemic injustices.

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Treasure of the Rice Terraces

Dir. Kent Donguines
75 min

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.

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Thanks to the Hard Work of the Elephants

Dir. Bryce Hodgson
91 min

High on LSD and eager to break loose, two teenage boys escape the youth treatment centre that has kept them confined. Four hundred kilometres later, they wrestle with the trauma of their experiences in director Bruce Hodgson's unsettling debut.

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This event has passed.