Canadian Premiere
In the summer of 2021, the United States withdrew its military forces from Afghanistan, marking an end to the so-called Forever War, while leaving behind a hamstrung government and an undersupplied Afghan National Army to fend for themselves against increasingly aggressive Taliban forces. Director Matthew Heineman (A Private War, Cartel Land) captures intimate details of American and Afghan soldiers navigating the politics and bureaucracy, focusing in on the beleaguered General Sami Sadat, who is left bearing the brunt of responsibility to fight an unwinnable war. Sadat is committed to the goal of a democratic Afghanistan, but as the remaining American personnel find their hands tied by policy decisions from their superiors, and the Afghan military’s morale declines as they suffer loss after loss, he begins to realize that victory is impossible. After 20 years, hundreds of thousands of lives lost, and trillions of dollars spent, the Taliban is back in control and the country is still mired in civil war.
Media Partner
USA
In English, Dari, and Pashto with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Blue Heron
In the late 1990s, eight-year-old Sasha and her Hungarian immigrant family relocate to a new home on Vancouver Island. Their fresh start is interrupted by increasingly dangerous behaviour from Jeremy, the family’s oldest child.
How Deep Is Your Love
Filmmaker Eleanor Mortimer tags along with a team of oceanographers and marine biologists as they survey the Clarion-Clipperton fracture, one of the most remote spots on Earth, home to a dazzling array of unknown creatures.
Omaha
Cole Webley's road movie about a single dad taking off with his two young kids is really just a fragment of a story, yet it unfolds with such authentic lyricism it lands with a heartbreaking emotional wallop.
The Last One for the Road
Two middle-aged drunkards drive across the Veneto region on a freewheeling bender, taking a young college student along for the ride. A celebration of the spirit of drink and the kinds of stories told around a table of old friends and too much wine.
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.
Credits
Executive Producer
Carolyn Bernstein, Baktash Ahadi, David Fialkow, Joedan Okun
Producer
Matthew Heineman, Caitlin McNally
Cinematography
Tim Grucza, Matthew Heineman, Olivier Sarbil
Editor
Pablo Garza, Matthew Heineman, Grace Zahrah
Original Music
H. Scott Salinas
Director
Photo by Michael Ori
Matthew Heineman
Matthew Heineman is an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker. The Sundance Film Festival called Heineman “one of the most talented and exciting documentary filmmakers working today,” while Anne Thompson of IndieWire wrote that Heineman is a “respected and gifted filmmaker who combines gonzo fearlessness with empathetic sensitivity.” He most recently directed National Geographic Documentary Films’ The First Wave (2021), about the harrowing first four months of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is currently available on Hulu and Disney+.
Filmography: Cartel Land (2015); City of Ghosts (2017); A Private War (2018); The First Wave (2021)