What's On
Preface to a History
This short experimental feature applies minimalist dramatic techniques to a fraying millennial relationship with rich, fulsome cinematography and a sophisticated sound mix to explore the destabilising dichotomy between our interior and external selves.
Lucky Star
Former gambler Lucky has settled down with a mortgage, a wife and daughters. After falling for a tax scam, he goes all in at the card table. Gillian McKercher helms a tense and gripping narrative about Asian-Canadian familial bonds, deceit and sacrifice.
Who by Fire
Jeff, a 17-year-old aspiring filmmaker, goes on vacation with his friend Max and his family to an isolated lodge. Philippe Lesage’s film is a tense, mesmerizing tour de force that is both agonizing and cathartic. A Berlinale award winner.
Eyimofe (This Is My Desire)
The acclaimed 2020 debut feature from brothers Arie and Chuko Esiri, Eyimofe traces the journeys of two distantly connected strangers as they each pursue their dream of quitting Lagos for a new life in Europe.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
A tense mystery and an act of radical protest, this film tells the story of an Iranian lawyer who’s lost his handgun and knows someone in his family took it. With every moment, his wife and daughters grow more afraid of him–yet none of them will confess…
VIFF Short Forum 7
Shorts from Armenia, Canada, Tibet, Colombia, Japan, and Turkey.
Searching for Amani
Years after his father's murder while working in Kenya’s largest private wildlife sanctuary, 13-year-old Simon Ali searches for the killers. An unflinching chronicle of postcolonial upheaval and one family’s choice to search for peace.