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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

The Wind Will Carry Us

Dir. Abbas Kiarostami
118 min

Kiarostami's dry comic masterpiece follows a Tehrani film team's thwarted attempts to document a traditional Kurdish funeral... Trouble being, there's no one to bury, and, worse, virtually no cell service...

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Late Fame

Dir. Kent Jones
96 min

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.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

American Doctor

Dir. Poh Si Teng
93 min

One of the most powerful documentaries of the year, this puts us smack in the open wound that is Gaza, filtered through the eyes of three American surgeons (of Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian backgrounds) compelled to do their utmost to alleviate harm.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai

Dir. Jim Jarmusch
116 min

Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker) is an assassin, but he's also an existential loner who adheres to his personal code. Despite the thriller trappings, this is really a lampoon of that genre, and a melancholy reverie for the cultural melting pot we call home.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Franz

Dir. Agnieszka Holland
127 min

Veteran Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland takes the bull by the horns to craft a Kafka biopic that's Kafkaesque and then some, artfully layering scenes from Kafka's life and works along with ironic present-day footage for a truly surreal counterpoint.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Straight Story

Dir. David Lynch
112 min

David Lynch goes a different direction in this linear Midwestern about a septuagenarian (Richard Farnsworth) who drives nearly 400km on a lawnmower to visit his ailing brother (Harry Dean Stanton).

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre