Bouncing through nostalgic aesthetics and genre storytelling, a contemporary point of view comes into focus.
Q&A Oct 4 & Oct 6
This short film program includes the following films:
Red House
Barry Doupé, BC (3 min)
Created using the Amiga computer console and Deluxe Paint IV software, hand-drawn sequences undergo a continual metamorphosis of images, characters, and forms.
My Thoughts Exactly
Mike Archibald, BC (18 min)
Two strangers bring their love, frustration, and desire to the cruising trails within Stanley Park.
Tibi
Jarret Twoyoungmen, AB (14 min)
Using archival and self-shot footage, the teaching of Îethka culture is documented through the making of a tipi under supervision of knowledge keepers.
Framing the Self
Andrea Cristini, BC (12 min)
A heady but emphatic experiment whereby an animated character improvises in a cinematic vacuum through the direction of their creator.
Sexy Highland Stream
Nathan Adler, BC (5 min)
In appreciation of the eponymous stream, this poem is a love letter to the beauty found in nature. Written and spoken in English and Anishinaabemowin.
Late Summer
Ryan Steel, MB (12 min)
A young loner grows attached to his camp counsellor at a haunted summer camp.
The Ballad of Gus
Brian Barnhart, MB (16 min)
Encouraged by two father figures—one a drug dealer, the other an artist—Gus faces a pivotal moment in his life.
Rose
Roxann Whitebean, QC (25 min)
Set in the 1960s, Rose is an Indigenous teen in her last weeks of pregnancy. Pressured by a government agent to give up her baby for Canadian adoption upon delivery, Rose’s family do all they can to intervene—with the help of an unlikely ally.
Supported by
Community Broadcast Partner
Community Partner
Various
Canada
2021-2022
Various with English subtitles
Graphic Violence, Racial Discrimination
Open to youth!
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Nagi Notes
This graceful, serene drama brings former sisters-in-law together in an exploration of art, sexuality, and psychology. There’s a complex backstory here, but not a hint of melodrama: writer-director Koji Fukada is a master of subtle revelation.
Image: © 2026 Nagi Notes Partners (Star SandsHassaku LabsWonderstruck) Survivance Momo Film Co.
A Safe Distance
Following a camping trip gone awry, a woman is rescued by a free-spirited couple living off the grid. As she warms to the pair, she finds herself becoming dangerously entangled in their psychosexual affairs in Gloria Mercer’s red-hot crime drama.
We Are All Strangers
Anthony Chen tells the soulful story of a father and son in contemporary Singapore, each of whom gets married for very different reasons. This is a film about the human cost of poverty — poignant, relatable, and profound.
Possible Love
Lee Chang-dong’s first film since Burning (2018) is a sardonic, slow-burning satire about two couples: a documentary filmmaker married to a wealthy businessman, and a working-class family struggling to make ends meet after the husband has been laid off.
Short Forum 5: Somewhere Else
If space and time are pure perception, let’s build them differently.
Club Kid
A hedonistic New York club promoter gets an unexpected wake-up call when the 10-year-old son he never knew existed enters his life. Jordan Firstman’s charming, funny debut Club Kid is an offbeat story of parenthood, redemption, and unexpected bonds.


