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Ponto Final film image, director Miguel López Beraza

International Shorts: Personal Journeys

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The films in this shorts program are all about discovery. Beautiful and thought-provoking voyages of internal and external discovery that honour relations and history, while encountering stimuli that promote a new understanding of self.

 

Q&A Oct 4 & Oct 6

 

This short film program includes the following films:

Before Birth
Álex Mena, Carmen Jiménez, Spain (20 min)

A documentary/diary film that focuses on one of the directors, Álex Mena, who journeys to her grandmother’s village looking for a closure never realized after she died.

 


Firecracker Bullets
Chad Charlie, USA (14 min)

In this personal documentary, Indigenous comedian Chad Charlie goes to participate in the Standing Rock occupation and has a transformative experience.

 


Ponto Final
Miguel López Beraza, Spain/Portugal (23 min)

The director returns to his parents’ home and talks them into playing roles in a film he is making, addressing delicate personal and familial subjects in the process.

 


Will You Look at Me
Shuli Huang, China (20 min)

A 25-year-old gay man returns to his hometown in China after film school, and reflects how his coming out as gay affected (and continues to affect) his mother.

 


For You Today the Light of the Sun Will Not Shine
Andrea Bordoli, Switzerland (19 min)

Two construction workers wander through a hybrid natural-industrial zone by day and night, exploring and discovering seemingly insignificant details.

 


Empire of My Melodious Mind
Jeannette Louie, USA (9 min)

The odds and ends within a single cabinet spark an interior rumination of the self, family, and culture that form the identity of an American-born Asian woman.

 

Community Partner

Director

Various

Country of Origin

Various

Year

2021-2022

Language

Various with English subtitles

18+
105 min
Shorts

Book Tickets

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Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Gabriel Figueroa & Alex Phillips: Painting It Black
Painting It Black film image; collage of black and white film imagery

Gabriel Figueroa & Alex Phillips: Painting It Black

30 min

In this free talk, educator and filmmaker Devan Scott (himself a professional cinematographer) will introduce you to the artistry of two giants of Mexican cinematography, Gabriel Figueroa and Canadian Alex Phillips.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Things You Kill

Dir. Alireza Khatami
113 min

Thirty-something professor Ali leads an apparently stable life. But when his ailing mother dies under ambiguous circumstances, he starts to unravel, resulting in an act that shatters our understanding of his person.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Él (This Strange Passion)

Dir. Luis Buñuel
93 min

A seemingly genteel and highly reputable gentleman reveals his true nature on his wedding night in this searing melodrama from surrealist Luis Buñuel, one of the most shocking films from his Mexican period.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

La Otra

Dir. Roberto Gavaldón
98 min

Dolores del Rio plays twins on different sides of the wealth divide in this fiendish Mexican Noir thriller. Maria decides to murder Magdelana and step into her high heels. But can she carry it off?

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Dir. David Borenstein & Pavel Talankin
90 min

Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary, and Special Jury Prize Winner, Sundance, 2025, this exposé shot by a Russian primary teacher shows how the Putin propaganda machine works to militarize children.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Women Talking

104 min

Sarah Polley's adaptation of Miriam Toews' novel is the most compelling movie to come out of the #MeToo movement to date, with stellar performances from Jessie Buckley, Rooney Mara, and Claire Foy, as Mennonite women confronting a terrible truth.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema