What's On
The Mother and the Bear
Johnny Ma’s film stars Kim Ho-jung as a Korean woman who flies to Winnipeg when her immigrant daughter is hospitalized there. This crowd-pleaser plays up cultural differences to hilarious effect and offers a touching take on mother-daughter tension.
Measures for a Funeral
When a young academic discovers a personal link to Canadian violinist Kathleen Parlow, she is compelled to dig deeper. Her investigations lead her on the trail of an elusive concerto, lost for over a century, but which she is determined to bring to light.
Ouaga Girls
In this documentary we meet a group of young women training to become mechanics in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. It's a male-dominated profession, but they are determined to prove they can handle it.
Googoosh - Made of Fire
Still on stage in her 70s, Iranian pop icon Googoosh has lived through decades of political persecution, 20 years of house arrest, exile, and a comeback. A fascinating portrait of a troubled and turbulent Iran through the life of an extraordinary woman.
Paying For It
Sook-Yin Lee adapts a graphic novel by her ex-boyfriend Chester Brown about the end of their relationship and Brown’s decision to start paying for sex. Brave, bracing, and funny, this is a film unafraid to explore sexuality in all its complexity.
VIFF Short Forum 4
Shorts from Brazil, Kenya, Martinique, Mexico, Taiwan, and USA.
The Hands of Ida
Join us for an exclusive screening of The Hands of Ida, the only known copy of a repudiated TV movie directed by the visionary Guy Maddin. Rumoured to have been destroyed in a black magic ceremony, this film aired only once on CKND TV in Winnipeg in 1995.
Bird
In Andrea Arnold's latest, 12-year-old Bailey (Nykiya Adams) lives in a squat near the English seaside. Neglected by her chaotic father (Barry Keoghan), she pursues an adventure with a magnetic stranger named Bird (Franz Rogowski).
House of the Seasons
Distinguished by its complexity, its fine ensemble cast, and the beauty of its exteriors, this is a rich, relatable family drama. Making his feature debut, Oh Jung-min uses the seasons to create visual splendour and deep metaphorical power.
Marco, the Invented Truth
An intricate web of lies unravels in Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño’s riveting biographical thriller about Enric Marco, a high-profile activist in Spain who claimed to be a Holocaust survivor, only to be exposed in 2005 as an impostor.
A Stranger Quest
David Rumsey has dedicated himself to assembling a vast collection of historical maps. Looking back on his life and pondering his legacy, he reflects on how we trace our place in the world, on maps, memory, and mortality.
At Averroes & Rosa Parks
Averroès and Rosa Parks are psychiatric units in Paris supporting patients with mental illness. A powerful, thought-provoking follow-up to 2023 Golden Bear winner On the Adamant by veteran documentarian Nicolas Philibert.