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VIFF Short Forum: Program 2

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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

Director

Various

Country of Origin

Canada

Year

2021-2022

Language

Various with English subtitles

Content Warning

Sexual Violence, Racial Discrimination

Open to youth!

106 min
Shorts

Book Tickets

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

Muzizi

Dir. Jamila Pomeroy
84 min

From the director of the award-winning film Union Street, Jamila Pomeroy, Muzizi embarks on a great culinary adventure through Vancouver’s African diasporic culinary scene. Muzizi explores powerful stories of immigration, resilience, and joy.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Emergence: Women in the Storm

Dir. Velcrow Ripper & Nova Ami
85 min

Stories of resistance and recovery, courage, creativity and community in the face of the climate emergency gleaned from women first responders and those impacted in Western Canada, particularly Lytton and the Fraser Valley.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Nino

Dir. Pauline Locquès
97 min

Québécois actor Théodore Pellerin gives a quietly devastating performance as a young man shocked to learn he has throat cancer.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

2026 Oscar® Shorts (Animated)

Dir. Various
83 min

The nominees for Best Animated Short Film include The Girl Who Cried Pearls, a fable from Canadian filmmakers Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, narrated by Colm Feore.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

2026 Oscar® Shorts (Live Action)

Dir. Various
119 min

This year's contenders in the Live Action category include comedies, drama, an experimental musical, and a dystopian fantasy; films from the UK and the US, France and Israel.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Nomadland

Dir. Chloe Zhao
108 min

Hamnet director Chloe Zhao picked up one of three Academy Awards (along with Best Picture and Best Actress) in 2021 for this unconventional, compassionate adaptation of Jessica Bruder's nonfiction book, Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema