World Premiere
During the summer before college, city girl Waverly (Andrea Bang) finds herself in Tofino, completely alienated by the local beach culture. Things start to look up when she meets the local lifeguard Blake (Robbie Amell), who welcomes her into his life. And when he finds out that she doesn’t know how to swim and takes it upon himself to teach her, she discovers a new world of possibilities which throws her carefully planned future into question.
Adapted from Kate Marchant’s hit novel, a smash success on the self-publishing platform Wattpad, Float is a tender romance grounded in the universal theme of becoming, but here centered on the specific experiences of a young Asian woman, allowing filmmaker Sherren Lee to bring her own background into Waverly’s story. Lee, here making her feature debut, directs with remarkable assurance, while Bang and Amell turn in luminous lead performances. Filmed right here in BC, this is a film that finds new depths in a classic story.
September 30: Q&A with director Sherren Lee
Presented by
Series Media Partner
Robbie Amell, Sarah Desjardins, Andrew Bachelor
Canada
2023
Northern Lights
English
At International Village
At The Rio
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Executive Producer
Emily Alden, Sandra Desrosiers Karr, Noah Segal, Lindsey Ramey, Allen Lau, Jamie D. Greenberg
Producer
Jeff Chan, Robbie Amell, Aron Levitz, Aaron Au, Shawn Williamson, Chris Paré, Matthew Kariatsumari
Screenwriter
Sherren Lee, Jesse LaVercombe
Cinematography
Alfonso Chin
Editor
Simone Smith
Production Design
Jessica Fish
Original Music
Jesse Zubot, Dan Mangan
Director
Sherren Lee
Sherren Lee is a writer-director born in Taiwan, bred in Montreal and currently based in Toronto. Her first feature film Float will be released by Lionsgate in 2024. Sherren directed the poignant short films Benjamin (TIFF 2015) and The Things You Think I’m Thinking (SXSW 2017), which has screened at over 70 film festivals across the globe, won a dozen awards, was selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick and has over 2 million views on YouTube’s Omeleto Channel. Sherren is a member of the Director’s Guild of Canada, is a 2014 Alumna of the CFC Directors Lab and was named as one of Hollywood Reporter’s Fifteen Canada’s Rising Stars of 2018.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Late Fame
Based on a novella by Arthur Schnitzler (Eyes Wide Shut) this is a sly, poignant comedy about vanity and art from director Kent Jones, starring Willem Dafoe as a mailman belatedly acclaimed for a book of poetry he wrote in his youth.
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.
Hanging by a Wire
The Himalayas, Aug 22, 2023: a cable car bearing 8 passengers (six of them schoolkids) is left dangling 900 feet above the ground when two out of three cables snap. This nailbiting documentary recounts the increasingly frantic rescue attempts.
The Sun Never Sets
At the suggestion of her much older (divorced) boyfriend, Wendy (Dakota Fanning) takes a summer to reevaluate her life and date other people. She's reluctant at first, but then reconnects with an old flame... A gentle indie comedy from Joe Swanberg.