The short films in this program illustrate some of the barriers or difficulties people run into with their personal relationships.
October 1 & 3: Q&A with the film teams
This short film program includes the following films:
Hedgehog
D. Mitry, USA (17 min)
As the war starts in Ukraine a young girl is taken to stay with her grandmother. In the shack outside, she discovers a badly wounded Russian soldier.
Nowhere
Garin Hovannisian, Armenia/USA (12 min)
A teacher and a young barista are too prudent to say anything about their mutual attraction, but after dark a world emerges where their shadows come alive.
Hide Your Crazy
Austin Kase, USA (14 min)
A young man’s surprise birthday dinner for his girlfriend is not met with the response he was expecting, which leads to the most frightful night of their lives.
Big Day
Chung Chieh Chiang, Taiwan (23 min)
An older couple take a walk to file their divorce papers and on the way reflect on how their lives came to this.
Snif & Snüf
Michael J Ruocco, USA (5 min)
Two characters discover an interesting new object that teaches them a lot about themselves and what it means to share.
Sushi
Iván Morales, Spain (22 min)
A young man goes out for sushi dinner with a community policeman who has never had sushi before, but the mystery of their connection takes a while to be revealed.
Pisko the Crab Child Is in Love
Makoto Nagahisa, Japan (17 min)
A young woman whose father was a crab takes us on a whirlwind tour of her struggle to find love and acceptance.
Community Partner
Various
Various
2022-2023
International Shorts
Various with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Cookie Queens
A documentary about the annual Girl Scouts' cookie sale is probably not high on your list of must-sees, but don't be too sure — this movie is a delight, a rare celebration of girlhood, supportive family relations, and the art of salesmanship.
A Simple Machine
Cutting costs, swapping four wheels for two, Nick is downsizing to pay off his student debt. It's a path which leads to savings he had not anticipated, even if his girlfriend thinks he's losing it (and she may be right). A lean, low budget gem.
Searching for Satyrus
Award-winning filmmaker and photographer Rena Effendi embarks on a quest to track down the very rare Satyrus Effendi, a butterfly discovered by her father in the mountains of Aberbaijain. But what she finds is altogether more personal, and more upsetting.
Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World
Sasha Waters' documentary takes us through the life of America's best-selling late twentieth century poet, a private woman who shared her innermost thoughts and made them indispensable.
Palimpsest: The Story of a Name
Drawing on home movies and diaries from the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s, Canadian filmmaker Mary Stephen (Eric Rohmer's editor for many years) investigates the origins of her surname. After all, she was born in Hong Kong to Chinese parents. Or were they... ?