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Human Rights & Social Justice

Ma - Cry of Silence

Dir. The Maw Naing
74 min

This bracing political drama tells the story of female sweatshop workers in Myanmar and their courageous struggle for justice. It’s a dark, unflinching work, in which the depiction of oppression is meant to spark outrage and action.

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3:15 pm
Thu Oct 02
International Village 8
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9:30 pm
Thu Oct 09
International Village 9
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1:30 pm
Sat Oct 11
International Village 8
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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.

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6:00 pm
Thu Oct 02
The Cinematheque
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5:45 pm
Fri Oct 10
International Village 7
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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.

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11:00 am
Fri Oct 03
International Village 8
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9:30 pm
Sat Oct 04
International Village 9
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3:45 pm
Wed Oct 08
International Village 9
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Two Prosecutors

Dir. Sergei Loznitsa
119 min

In the midst of Stalin’s purges, a naïve prosecutor sets out to investigate a prisoner’s innocence, unaware of the labyrinthine bureaucracy awaiting him. A Kafkaesque procedural thriller about the pursuit of justice in the face of corruption.

Image: © SBS Productions

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3:00 pm
Fri Oct 03
Granville Island Stage
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8:45 pm
Tue Oct 07
International Village 10
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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.

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3:30 pm
Fri Oct 03
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
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8:30 pm
Tue Oct 07
International Village 8
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8:45 pm
Sat Oct 11
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
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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.

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6:00 pm
Fri Oct 03
International Village 9
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2:45 pm
Mon Oct 06
International Village 8
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Gazelle

Dir. Nadir Saribacak & Samy Pioneer (Selman)
103 min

Yakup, a Turkish music teacher seeking political asylum in New York, is trying to keep his head above water as he navigates the US immigration system and lays the ground to bring his wife and daughter abroad.

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8:30 pm
Fri Oct 03
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
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1:15 pm
Sun Oct 05
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
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9:15 pm
Sun Oct 12
International Village 8
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MODES 2

Dir. Various
109 min

Intimate and unapologetic stories of women and queer lives are uncovered through provocative and deeply personal accounts that examine memory, identity, and dignity.

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9:00 pm
Fri Oct 03
The Cinematheque
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6:15 pm
Sat Oct 11
International Village 7
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Landmarks

Dir. Lucrecia Martel
122 min

Lucrecia Martel’s first documentary is a haunting portrait of land, violence, and resistance. With rare access to trial footage and the Chuschagasta community, Landmarks reframes a 2009 murder within centuries of Indigenous dispossession in Argentina.

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3:15 pm
Sat Oct 04
International Village 10
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8:45 pm
Tue Oct 07
Fifth Avenue Cinema - 19+ only
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A Moment of Innocence

Dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf
80 min

Iranian master filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf stages a filmed reenactment of a political skirmish from his youth. Equal parts autobiographical comedy, Brechtian behind-the-scenes documentary, and metaphysical poem, A Moment of Innocence shines.

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3:45 pm
Sat Oct 04
The Cinematheque
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10:30 am
Sat Oct 11
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
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Life After

Dir. Reid Davenport
99 min

What happened to Elizabeth Bouvia? Reid Davenport investigates the disabled woman’s legacy and public disappearance, reframing the assisted-dying debate into a fight for the right to live. Winner of the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award at Sundance.

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6:45 pm
Sat Oct 04
International Village 8
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11:30 am
Sun Oct 05
International Village 9
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2: Memory & mediation

Dir. Various
108

Shorts from: Canada, France, Lebanon, Netherlands, Portugal, Poland, Syria, USA.

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8:30 pm
Sat Oct 04
International Village 7
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6:15 pm
Sun Oct 05
International Village 7
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