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International Shorts: Nothing Comes Easy

Image: Mira, VIFF 2023

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In this program of short films our protagonists discover that sorting out their lives can be much more difficult to achieve than they realized.

 

This short film program includes the following films:

Far From the Tree
Emma Marková, Czech Republic (23 min)

A woman and her teen daughter live in a small dead end city where both women are trying to break out of their miserable circumstances.

 


Cut
Samuel Lucas Allen, Australia (19 min)

A teenage boy caught in a web of lies is pulled in different directions as he tries to juggle anti-Semitism, his queerness and an orthodox Jewish father.

 


Night Shift
Santiago Lago, Argentina (27 min)

The night shift clerk at a sex hotel, suffering from narcolepsy, is faced with a night when things are unusually busy and housekeeping finds a gun in room 6.

 


Spasm
Sahra Asadollahi, Iran (27 min)

A woman who has never acted in film before goes for an audition that becomes a test of more than just her acting ability.

 


Mira
Eva Louise Hall, USA (12 min)

A struggling accordionist busker gets more than she bargained for when her desire to get noticed attracts the attention of a mysterious and enticing competitor.

 

Community Partner

Director

Various

Country of Origin

Various

Year

2022-2023

Series

International Shorts

Language

Various with English subtitles

18+
108 min
Shorts

Book Tickets

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Shadow of a Doubt

Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
108 min

In our latest film studies series, FRAMEWORK, Michael van den Bos explores the work of Alfred Hitchcock across four monochrome masterworks. This week: smalltown US thriller Shadow of a Doubt (1943), one of the director's personal favourites.

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La Bola Negra
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La Bola Negra

Dir. Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo
155 min

A big, old-school historical melodrama gets a thrillingly modern, queer makeover from Spanish duo Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, who artfully juggle three gay protagonists across stories set in 1932, 1937, and 2017. Winner: Best Director, Cannes. Screening on 35mm.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
The History of Concrete
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The History of Concrete

Dir. John Wilson
101 min

After attending a workshop on pitching saccharine Hallmark movies, John Wilson tries to apply all the same best practices to his documentary about concrete. Frequently absurd and endlessly entertaining detours, asides, and digressions ensue.

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NAZA
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NAZA

Dir. Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor
80 min

NAZA is a codeword euphemistically used by Israeli intelligence to indicate the number of civilians it expects will be killed in an airstrike. This chilling documentary exposes the policy and process of state-sanctioned mass killings.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Best Years of Our Lives

Dir. William Wyler
170 min

One of the finest films to come out of WWII, The Best Years of Our Lives sympathetically conveys the difficulties returning veterans faced in readjusting to life at home. It won 7 of the top Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director and Actor.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Ray Gunn (Special Advance Screening with Brad Bird)

Dir. Brad Bird
119 min

In an alternate future as seen from 1939, a private eye (Sam Rockwell) is drawn into a case involving aliens, murder, and a multimedia star (Scarlett Johansson). Followed by a moderated discussion with director Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille).

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema