Skip to main content
Society of the Snow film image

Society of the Snow

La sociedad de la nieve

This event has passed

The Andean cordillera that cuts off Chile from Uruguay and the rest of the continent is so immense, when planes are lost in these mountains the chances of recovery are negligible. And in the winter months, there’s no sustenance, only snow melt. Famously — notoriously — in 1972, a plane carrying 101 people — many of them belonging to a rugby team — crashed in just these circumstances. A significant number perished in the accident, but in order to survive the remainder had to turn to the unthinkable… Previously filmed by Frank Marshall in the 1993 movie Alive (and an inspiration, probably, for Yellowjackets), this harrowing saga makes for compelling adventure drama without recourse to melodramatics.

Bayona (The Impossible) stresses authenticity along with the spiritual dimension of this prolonged near-death experience. As for the crash sequence… Brace yourself!

Grips with alternating waves of dread, horror and heart-swelling relief.

Guy Lodge, Variety

Society of the Snow contains all the thrills and masterclass filmmaking cinephiles expect in a great survival drama, but it’s the simple yet profound message that resonates the most.

Alex Saveliev, Film Threat

Director

J.A Bayona

Cast

Enzo Vogrincic, Agustín Pardella, Matías Recalt, Esteban Bigliardi, Diego Vegezzi, Fernando Contigiani García

Credits
Country of Origin

Spain/USA/Uruguay/Chile

Year

2023

Language

In Spanish with English subtitles

Awards

Academy Award Nominee for Best International Feature and Best Hair and Makeup

19+
144 min

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits

Screenwriter

J.A Bayona, Bernat Vilaplana, Jaime Marques-Olearraga, Nicolás Casariego

Cinematography

Pedro Luque Briozzo Scu

Editor

Jaume Marti A.M.M.A.C., Andrés Gil A.M.M.A.C.

Original Music

Michael Giacchino

Also Playing

Misericordia

Dir. Alain Guiraudie
103 min

Edgy, eccentric, and unapologetically queer, this film goes from drama to comedy without putting a foot wrong. Sex and murder are the subjects, and writer-director Alain Guiraudie (Stranger by the Lake) mines them for suspense and outrageous laughs.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Stand

Dir. Christopher Auchter
95 min

This rousing doc explores a 1985 dispute over logging in the Haida Gwaii. Taking us from canny retrospective commentary to the thick of the action, director Chris Auchter employs animation and a wealth of archival footage to riveting effect.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Julie Keeps Quiet

Dir. Leonardo van Dijl
97 min

When her coach falls under investigation for inappropriate behaviour, a young tennis ace is thrown into turmoil. Her reluctance to testify about her experience puts her at odds with the club, her parents and her friends.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Resident Orca

Dir. Sarah Sharkey Pearce & Simon Schneider
97 min

Captured in Puget Sound in 1970, killer whale Lolita spent the next half century in a cramped tank in Seaquarium, Miami. The film follows a coalition of Lummi elders, animal lovers and philanthropists on a rescue mission to return her to the ocean.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre