Fear, doubt, and loneliness give way to pleasure, empowerment, and reclamation—or, is it the other way around?
Q&A Oct 2 & Oct 4
This short film program includes the following films:
i see me watching
Sidney Gordon, BC (8 min)
Through formal experimentation based on the artist’s personal struggle with gender identity, a singular self has been split into two.
Scaring Women at Night
Karimah Zakia Issa, ON (11 min)
Two strangers walking alone at night in the same direction notice each other. While one becomes increasingly afraid, the other tries—unsuccessfully—to appear less threatening.
Blond Night
Gabrielle Demers, QC (17 min)
Worlds entwine when Victor, an autistic man who resides in a housing community, goes for a walk and meets Jessy, a sex worker ejected from a customer’s vehicle.
Adore
Beth Warrian, ON (11 min)
Luci, a queer Peruvian-Canadian woman, gives her beloved nephew the Christmas gift of his dreams: a beautiful sequined dress. But when he tries to show the rest of the family, Luci finds herself enacting the same restrictions and shaming she has experienced herself.
First Months of Freedom
Kriss Li, QC (10 min)
Cat, a transgender woman in Tennessee, has completed parole. Using phone videos, Skype calls, archival material, and footage shot by a friend, a portrait emerges of the challenges posed by her newfound freedom.
Tongue
Kaho Yoshida, BC (2 min)
Tired of her date’s racist and sexist comments, a woman decides to liberate his tongue.
Patty Vs. Patty
Chris Strikes, ON (19 min)
In 1985, Jamaican bakers went head-to-head with the Canadian government over the name of the beef patty, as recounted by Michael Davidson of Kensington Patty Palace.
Minus Twenty
Jack Parker, AB (7 min)
A day in the life of a cold storage facility worker.
Sikiitu
Gabriel Allard Gagnon, QC (21 min)
A coming-of-age story in the small Arctic village of Ivujivik, where teenage Ali would rather spend his time dreaming of being a hip-hop superstar instead of going hunting with his dad.
Supported by
Community Broadcast Partner
Community Partner
Various
Canada
2021-2022
Various with English subtitles
Sexual Violence, Racial Discrimination
Open to youth!
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Agent of Happiness
In the Kingdom of Bhutan, the government makes a point of asking citizens about their level of contentment. This droll, poetical doc follows census-taker Amber as he takes villagers through the 148-question survey and contemplates his own life too.
Bird
In Andrea Arnold's latest, 12-year-old Bailey (Nykiya Adams) lives in a squat near the English seaside. Neglected by her chaotic father (Barry Keoghan), she pursues an adventure with a magnetic stranger named Bird (Franz Rogowski).
Arthur Erickson: Beauty Between the Lines
This new documentary offers the most complete account so far of the life and work of Canada's greatest architect, the man responsible for several of the finest buildings in Vancouver -- including the Museum of Anthropology and the SFU Campus.
Feven Kidane Quartet: Music Inspired by the Film Soundtrack to a Coup D'Etat + Film Screening
Trumpeter Feven Kidane, with Quincy Mayes on keys, Bernie Arai on drums, and Milo Johnson on bass, present a special set of original music inspired by Johan Grimonprez's brilliant essay film on the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, Jazz, and the Cold War.
Ghost Cat Anzu
When fifth grader Karin is deposited with her grandfather for the summer she takes out her unhappiness on his giant talking cat, Anzu -- who looks out for her even so. This wildly original anime riffs on Spirited Away with pleasing irreverence. Rated: PG.