Canada
2022
English
Featured in:
VIFF Short Forum: Program 2
Fear, doubt, and loneliness give way to pleasure, empowerment, and reclamation—or, is it the other way around?
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Montreal, ma belle
In this Valentine to discovering love later in life, the ever-elegant Joan Chen plays Feng Xia, a 53-year-old Chinese immigrant and mother in Montreal whose world is turned upside down when she meets and falls in love with a young Quebecoise.
The Painted Life of E.J. Hughes
A beautiful portrait of E.J. Hughes, who quietly helped reshape the artistic landscape of British Columbia in the 20th century. This extraordinary documentary explores Hughes’s legacy not only as an artist, but as a devoted, humble human being.
A Poet
When embittered poet Oscar Restrepo takes a job at a local high school, he meets Yurlady, a talented student from a poor background. Seeking to help her cultivate her art, he draws her into the poetry world — to disastrous and comedic results.
Sirât
A desperate father (Sergi Lopez) searchers for his missing daughter through the spiritual wasteland of the Moroccan desert. An unforgettable sensory powerhouse, Sîrat will have you riveted and rattled for hours after the end credits have rolled.
The Love That Remains
Anna and Magnús have separated, leaving her to raise their three children as he spends long stretches at sea, working as a fisherman. As the seasons pass, their emotions ebb and flow. A richly conceived story with unexpected delight and humour.
L'Atalante
Jean Vigo died from TB in 1934 at the age of 29. Yet he is revered as one of the great innovators of the medium, and his only feature, L'Atalante, is a seminal film, a tender, lyrical love story set on a barge on the Seine.
Credits
Producer
Kate Fraser, Chris Strikes, Maya Annik Bedward
Screenwriter
Chris Strikes
Cinematography
Ashley Iris Gill
Editor
Maria Todorov-Topouzov
Production Design
Melissa Dawn Bessey
Original Music
Solitair
Director
Chris Strikes
Chris Strikes is an award-winning director and alumnus of both the HotDocs Accelerator Fellowship and the Reelworld E20 program. In 2021, Strikes’ first feature documentary Becoming a Queen screened in five festivals worldwide, winning Best Feature Film at the 2021 CaribbeanTales International Film Festival, the Audience Choice Award for Best International Feature Film at the 2021 Baltimore International Black Film Festival, and was nominated for Best Picture Editing for Documentary at the 2021 Directors Guild of Canada Awards.
Filmography: Becoming a Queen (2021)


