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
KAKU KAKU SHIKA JIKA fka Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist's Journey
Adapted from acclaimed manga artist Akiko Higashimura’s autobiographical manga is a funny and sharply observed coming-of-age story about the creative awakening of a master of manga.
A Sad and Beautiful World
This Lebanese love story chronicles the romance between a level-headed businesswoman and a romantic restauranteur across several decades in wartorn Beirut. It's funny, charming, melancholy and you'll feel it all.
Blue Boy Trial
Transgender filmmaker Kasho Iizuka revisits 1960s Japan and the sensational “Blue Boy Trial,” sparked by the arrest of a doctor performing sex reassignment surgeries. With trans actors in central roles, the film powerfully illuminates buried history, identity, dignity, and resilience.
Aruku - I Walk
This meditative documentary, captures the stories of four contemporary pilgrims on the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage as they follow in the footsteps of master Kūkai, the monk who shaped Japanese Buddhism. Each is burdened, in different ways, by exhaustion, solitude, or quiet disillusionment.
How Dare You?
A bug-loving boy, a passionate classmate, and a troublemaker launch playful eco-protests against their town’s careless habits. As their missions escalate, they face real consequences in Director O’s witty, bittersweet Grand Jury Prize winner from the Toronto Japanese Film Festival.


