Jusi Sala, Pierre Savu-Massé
Canada
2021
In Inuktitut with English subtitles
Coarse language; nudity; violence
Featured in:
VIFF Short Forum: Program 2
Fear, doubt, and loneliness give way to pleasure, empowerment, and reclamation—or, is it the other way around?
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Gymnasts of Fisherman Colony
The Gymnasts of Fisherman Colony follows a group of young female gymnasts in Pakistan's Machar Colony, a highly conservative fishing settlement. Habiba Nosheen's deeply empathetic documentary is a celebration of girlhood, resilience, and self-expression.
Midnight Momo
Kunga, a waiter at a Queens momo shop, finds himself trapped in a loop of the final minutes of his shift. Midnight Momo is a frenetic, distinctly Tibetan American indie comedy that puts a working-class spin on the Buddhist cycle of suffering and rebirth.
Tangles
Based on the graphic memoir by Vancouver artist Sarah Leavitt, Tangles is a stunning, hand-drawn animated feature about a cartoonist coming to terms with her mom’s early-onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Nominated for the Caméra d’Or at Cannes 2026.
Death Has No Master
When Caro returns to Venezuela to sell her late father’s cacao plantation, she finds the family mansion occupied by its former staff, who have no intention of leaving. After legal action proves ineffectual, Caro decides to dispense justice herself.
Once Upon a Time in Harlem
Once Upon a Time in Harlem splices together footage shot by William Greaves in 1972 of a group of Harlem Renaissance luminaries in conversation at Duke Ellington’s townhouse. The film is a living archive of memory, disagreement, style, and Black genius.
Credits
Producer
Sandrine Berger
Screenwriter
Jean-Sébastien Beaudoin-Gagnon, Éric K. Boulianne
Cinematography
Van Royko
Editor
Alain Loiselle
Original Music
Jean-Olivier Bégin
Director
Gabriel Allard Gagnon
Gabriel Allard Gagnon has directed some 50 music videos and six documentary feature films. After doing a project in the Canadian far north during which he met Inuit Nation members, he created Sikiitu, his first work of fiction.
Filmography: T’es où, Youssef? (2017); Les Poussières de Daech (2020)


