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Basri and Salma in a Never-Ending Comedy film image

International Shorts: Family Adventures

Image: Basri and Salma in a Never-Ending Comedy, VIFF 2023

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The challenges of relations with one’s family are the basis for the short films in this program.

 

October 3 & 5: Q&A with the film teams

 

This short film program includes the following films:

Basri and Salma in a Never-Ending Comedy
Khozy Rizal, Indonesia (15 min)

A husband and wife who run a carnival kids ride have been married for 5 years and are still childless, a fact that brings constant reminders of this from their family.

 


Southern Afternoon
Tian Lan, China (16 min)

A Uyghur father living in southern China accidentally finds an ornate letter to his teen daughter, he assumes it is from a boyfriend but he can’t read Mandarin.

 


The Family Circus
Andrew Fitzgerald, USA (18 min)

A Vietnamese-American family’s plan to cover up a drunk driving accident begins to unravel when their emotional baggage spills out in front of the police.

 


Where the Time Goes
Justin Tyler Close, USA/Canada (15 min)

Two young brothers navigate the challenges of their parents’ failed marriage, their deep bond helps them support each other and their mother.

 


Lovebugs
Teddy Alvarez-Nissen, USA (13 min)

“Would you like to hear a story?” From his cozy library inside the walls of a suburban home an intellectual snail tells of his life’s love, loss and change.

 


Just the Two of Us
Clara Lemaire Anspach, France (20 min)

A young woman’s mother, in the hospital seriously ill with cancer, asks her daughter to take her on a trip to the south of France. She reluctantly agrees.

 


In Too Deep
Chris Overton, UK (16 min)

A couple are deeply grieving the death of their young daughter in their own ways, but the father’s obsession with memories of her is becoming dangerous.

 

Community Partner

Director

Various

Country of Origin

Various

Year

2022-2023

Series

International Shorts

Language

Various with English subtitles

18+
113 min
Shorts

Book Tickets

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

All That's Left of You

Dir. Cherien Dabis
145 min

Jordan's submission for the Academy Awards, All That's Left of You makes the most of its epic format to chronicle seven decades of Palestinian history while tracking the psychological impact of cycles of exile and oppression on three generations.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

L'Étranger

Dir. François Ozon
122 min

Recreating 1940s Algeria in vivid, high contrast black and white cinematography, L'Etranger is erotic, enigmatic and brutal in equal measures, a masterful screen version of Albert Camus's insoluble classic of existential alienation.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Sentimental Value

Dir. Joachim Trier
135 min

A once-revered director crashes back into his family’s lives, eager to recruit his daughter for a film role. When she declines, he finds a new muse in an eager but unpolished Hollywood star, sending his botched reconciliation spiraling into chaos.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Holding Liat

Dir. Brandon Kramer
97 min

An intimate, moving film about the parents of one of the Oct 7 Jewish hostages taken by Hamas, and their campaign for a speedy, peaceful resolution to the crisis. Winner: Best Documentary, Berlin Film Festival

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Mother and the Bear

Dir. Johnny Ma
100 min

Johnny Ma’s film stars Kim Ho-jung as a Korean woman who flies to Winnipeg when her immigrant daughter is hospitalized there. This crowd-pleaser plays up cultural differences to hilarious effect and offers a touching take on mother-daughter tension.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Islands

Dir. Jan-Ole Gerster
123 min

In this sly, engrossing mystery, a dissolute English tennis coach in a Canary Islands holiday resort falls under suspicion when the husband of a beautiful guest disappears after a night of heavy drinking...

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre