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
Sinners
This year's unexpected box office sleeper is that rare beast, a genre movie full of bold invention and surprise. We are in Mississippi in the early 1930s, and the opening of a new blues joint on the edge of town is the signal for all hell to break out.
The Graduate
In The Graduate Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman, 30 playing 20 with masterly understatement) comes home from college and is surprised to be seduced by the wife of his father's business partner, Mrs Robinson (Anne Bancroft).
blur: To the End
Now in their late 50s, Britpopsters blur (of Song 2 fame) do a celebratory lap of Great Britain culminating in their first ever Wembley Stadium show in this appealing observational doc. A companion piece to the concert film Live at Wembley Stadium.
Midnight Cowboy
Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman are street hustlers on different ends of the innocence / experience spectrum who establish something more than a business partnership in the seedy world of late 60s New York City in John Schlesinger's New Hollywood classic.
The Headless Woman
The pictures tell the story -- and you better not blink -- when Veronica (the superb Maria Onetto) hits something on the road home. But what? She is too traumatized, or panic-stricken, to go back and look, and her fears are too terrible to acknowledge.
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)