Skip to main content
Ellie film image, director Fernando Bonelli

Ellie

Canadian Premiere

The daughter from a man’s first marriage feels left out and misunderstood at a birthday celebration for her younger stepsister. This is a beautifully made family relations story about a child’s insecurities and a father’s failure to recognize his daughter’s needs in a difficult situation. Reminiscent of Catherine Breillat’s emotionally rich works minus the sexual identity aspects, the film captures the mood and feelings of awkward belonging and frustration the daughter is overwhelmed by. Baby stems directly from the director’s experience growing up and exposes the difficulties and confusion children may have when parental relationships change.

 

Community Partner

Director
Cast

Verónika Moral, Jorge Kent, Liz Lobato, María Zuheros, Bernabé Fernández, Montse Pla

Credits
Country of Origin

Spain

Year

2022

Language

In Spanish with English subtitles

Film Contact
20 min

Featured in:

Mumu film image

International Shorts: Family Ties

The bonds of family form the basis of this program of short films. Bonds with history and responsibility—sometimes close, sometimes strained—now and for the future.

 

MORE INFO

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

One Battle After Another

Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
162 min

PT Anderson's breathless satire is the best political action movie of 2025, a defiantly anti-MAGA rallying cry featuring a six pack of crackerjack performances. They'll still be talking about this one 50 years from now.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Mother and the Bear

Dir. Johnny Ma
100 min

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.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

All That's Left of You

Dir. Cherien Dabis
145 min

Jordan's submission for the Academy Awards, All That's Left of You makes the most of its epic format to chronicle seven decades of Palestinian history while tracking the psychological impact of cycles of exile and oppression on three generations.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

L'Étranger

Dir. François Ozon
122 min

Recreating 1940s Algeria in vivid, high contrast black and white cinematography, L'Etranger is erotic, enigmatic and brutal in equal measures, a masterful screen version of Albert Camus's insoluble classic of existential alienation.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Holding Liat

Dir. Brandon Kramer
97 min

An intimate, moving film about the parents of one of the Oct 7 Jewish hostages taken by Hamas, and their campaign for a speedy, peaceful resolution to the crisis. Winner: Best Documentary, Berlin Film Festival

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Dr. Strangelove film image; close on serious man in military uniform

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Dir. Stanley Kubrick
95 min

Our Premium Pick series invites out Premium members to turn their hands to programming. This month's film was suggested by Steven Savitt, who says Dr Strangelove is "as funny as ever, but even more terrifying."

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Credits

Producer

Elena Zabía, Miguel Ángel Larraya, Fernando Bonelli

Screenwriter

Fernando Bonelli

Cinematography

Enrique Silguero, Carlos Garcés

Editor

Ascen Marchena

Original Music

Juan Antonio Simarro, Fernando Bonelli

Art Director

Isi G. San Martín

Director

Fernando Bonelli headshot, Ellie director

Fernando Bonelli

Fernando Bonelli began his career leading Globo Media’s artistic department. In 2003, he founded Bonelli & Asociados, a company specializing in advice and legal support in the artistic field, and a few years later, Consuelo Films and Mayfield Pictures.