What kind of alchemy occurs to transform hardship into fortune? Here, the extraordinary burn brightly.
Q&A Oct 1 & Oct 3
This short film program includes the following films:
Municipal Relaxation Module
Matthew Rankin, QC (6 min)
Ken has a perfect spot for a city bench, and is calling the city to share his idea.
The Runner
Amar Chebib, BC (17 min)
Darius Sam, a young man from the Lower Nicola First Nation, attempts to run a 100-mile ultramarathon in subzero temperatures to raise awareness for addiction and mental health in his community.
Coin Slot
Scott Jones, NS (17 min)
Nearing the anniversary of a traumatic attack, a paraplegic writer navigates the many shades of trauma and healing.
Nanitic
Carol Nguyen, QC (15 min)
Using the metaphor of nanitic—a descriptor of the first worker ants produced by the queen using only the reserved nutrition of her body—this story follows a day in the life of two young girls Mai and Trang, their Aunt Útty, and Trang’s ailing grandmother.
Mariposa
John Greyson, Bongani Ndodana-Breen, ON (6 min)
An operatic cine-poem weaving together the stories of African-Canadian singer Portia White, South African chef Phelokazi Ndlwana, and the Free Gender activist group—a Black lesbian organization based in Khayelitsha, a township on the outskirts of Cape Town.
From Chile to Canada: Media Herstories
Sarah Shamash, Sonia Medel, BC (17 min)
Through feminist solidarities on unceded Coast Salish land, the contributions of Latinx women reveal an intergenerational network of media art genealogies.
I Thought the World of You
Kurt Walker, BC (17 min)
An enigmatic mosaic built on the lore existing around Canadian musician Lewis and his 1983 album, L’Amour.
Rumination
Ashleigh Vaillancourt, BC (4 min)
At night, a woman’s mind wanders as she chops firewood.
Mother’s Skin
Leah Johnston, NS (20 min)
Six-year-old Molly copes with her father’s alcoholic rage and mother’s worsening depression. One day, Molly and her mother discover a secret hidden underneath the floor grate.
Supported by
Community Broadcast Partner
Community Partner
Various
Canada
2021-2022
Various with English subtitles
Sexual Violence, Domestic Violence
Open to youth!
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
There's Still Tomorrow
A critical and box office sensation in Italy, Paola Cortellesi's triumphant directorial debut is the tale of a Roman housewife in 1946, who stands up against the routine sexist abuse she suffers. Funny, heartbreaking and inspiring.
The Way, My Way
All manner of pilgrims flock to France and Spain to walk the 800 km Camino de Santiago. One such is Bill, a stroppy sexagenarian Australian filmmaker who's determined to do the Camino with minimal prep, a dickey leg, and no firm idea why.
The Stand
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.
Resident Orca
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.
No Other Land
Deemed by many critics one of the essential films of 2024, a multiple festival award winner and Academy Award winner for Best Documentary, No Other Land is a reminder that mass expulsion is by no means a new reality for Palestinians.
Misericordia
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.