Skip to main content
Back to What's On

Documentary

Factory

Dir. Hao Zhou 周浩
148 min

Shot inside a Lenovo factory in Wuhan, Factory is a chilling study of life under global capitalism. Hao Zhou captures a world of control, exhaustion, and quiet revolt. where employees work under surveillance and time itself becomes a mechanism of power.

More info
2:30 pm
Thu Oct 02
International Village 7
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Book Now
8:30 pm
Mon Oct 06
International Village 8
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Book Now

Orwell: 2+2=5

Dir. Raoul Peck
119 min

Oscar-nominated director Raoul Peck reimagines 1984 in this urgent essay on power, language, and control. With narration by Damian Lewis, it’s a chilling portrait of how Orwell’s warnings became our reality.

More info
3:00 pm
Thu Oct 02
International Village 10
Hearing Assistance
Book Now
8:30 pm
Sun Oct 05
SFU Woodwards
Hearing Assistance
Book Now

La Salsa Vive

Dir. Juan Carvajal
103 min

An exuberant celebration of salsa that traces the genre's evolution from New York City in the 1960s and 70s to Cali, Colombia — the salsa capital of the world. Carvajal’s documentary highlights the rich legacy of this musical form and the joy it inspires.

More info
5:30 pm
Thu Oct 02
International Village 8
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Book Now
5:30 pm
Sun Oct 05
International Village 9
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Book Now

Marriage Cops

Dir. Shashwati Talukdar & Cheryl Hess
80 min

In a cramped police station in India, an all-woman unit attempts to mediate fractured marriages with warmth, pressure, and limited power. Marriage Cops reveals the fragile, improvised systems women build to survive where the law and tradition fall short.

More info
5:45 pm
Thu Oct 02
International Village 9
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Book Now
3:45 pm
Fri Oct 03
International Village 10
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Book Now

MODES 1

Dir. Various
108 min

From the indoctrination of youth to increasing surveillance, populist ethno-nationalist and fascist ideologies continue to take root, yet dissent remains at the fore.

More info
6:00 pm
Thu Oct 02
The Cinematheque
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Book Now
5:45 pm
Fri Oct 10
International Village 7
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Book Now

The Great North

Dir. Jenn Nkiru
52 min

Jenn Nkiru’s The Great North transforms Manchester into a portal of memory, labour, and resistance, where red brick echoes with diasporic histories. A radical, rhythmic debut rooted in Afro-surrealism and ancestral recall.

More info
9:00 pm
Thu Oct 02
International Village 7
Hearing Assistance
Book Now
4:00 pm
Wed Oct 08
International Village 10
Hearing Assistance
Book Now

Cutting Through Rocks

Dir. Sara Khaki & Mohammadreza Eyni
95 min

Winner of Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize, Cutting Through Rocks follows Sara Shahverdi — motorcyclist, midwife, and first-ever councilwoman elected in her Iranian village. A vérité triumph by Sara Khaki & Mohammadreza Eyni.

More info
11:00 am
Fri Oct 03
International Village 8
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Book Now
9:30 pm
Sat Oct 04
International Village 9
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Book Now
3:45 pm
Wed Oct 08
International Village 9
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Book Now

Always

Dir. Deming Chen 陈德明
84 min

This dreamy, serene film documents Youbin Gong, an adolescent boy living in Sangzhi County. Director Deming Chen shines a light on Gong’s family and his beautiful natural surroundings, which are imbued with hints of the mystical.

More info
1:00 pm
Fri Oct 03
Fifth Avenue Cinema - 19+ only
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Book Now
8:45 pm
Tue Oct 07
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Book Now

I Want It All. Hildegard Knef

98 min

A glamorous icon full of poise and style, Hildegard Knef was one of the 20th century’s true film stars. This documentary reveals the multi-faceted layers beneath her larger-than-life persona, exploring her rise to fame while piercing the masks she hid behind.

More info
3:15 pm
Fri Oct 03
International Village 9
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Book Now
10:45 am
Sat Oct 11
International Village 9
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Book Now

Khartoum

Dir. Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy, Timeea Mohamed Ahmed & Phil Cox
80 min

Displaced by war, five exiles of Sudan’s capital give voice to their experiences through reenactment, animation, and recollection. Khartoum is a lyrical, collaborative documentary about survival, exile, and the enduring pulse of a fractured city.

More info
3:30 pm
Fri Oct 03
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Hearing Assistance Open Captioning Subtitles
Book Now
8:30 pm
Tue Oct 07
International Village 8
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Book Now
8:45 pm
Sat Oct 11
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Book Now

Ancestral Visions of the Future

Dir. Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese
90 min

Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese returns with Ancestral Visions of the Future, a poetic reflection on memory, myth, and exile. Guided by a dream-speaking mother and a life-extending puppeteer, the film traces Mosese's personal journey.

More info
4:00 pm
Fri Oct 03
International Village 8
Hearing Assistance
Book Now
8:30 pm
Sat Oct 11
International Village 8
Hearing Assistance
Book Now

Free Leonard Peltier

Dir. Jesse Short Bull & David France
110 min

Leonard Peltier spent nearly 50 years in prison for a crime he says he didn’t commit. This searing, award-winning documentary revisits his case and the fight for his freedom — exposing a justice system built to punish resistance and erase Indigenous voices.

More info
6:00 pm
Fri Oct 03
International Village 9
Hearing Assistance
Book Now
2:45 pm
Mon Oct 06
International Village 8
Hearing Assistance
Book Now
1 2 3 4 5 6