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International Shorts: Relational Baggage

Image: Big Day, VIFF 2023

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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

Director

Various

Country of Origin

Various

Year

2022-2023

Series

International Shorts

Language

Various with English subtitles

18+
110 min
Shorts

Book Tickets

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Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other

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100 min

This intimate and candid film by a younger husband and wife artist team is a delicate and immensely moving dual portrait of two artists, husband and wife, together and apart, at that point in life when the end casts a shadow over even the sunniest day.

Image: © Manon et Jacob and Final Cut For Real

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Suburban Fury

Dir. Robinson Devor
120 min

Sara Jane Moore was a 1970s housewife who took the unusual step of trying to assassinate the President of the United States. An action that cost her dearly. This is her story.

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Blue Road - The Edna O'Brien Story

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Judging by this candid, funny, passionate biographical documentary, it would have been a wild ride to have been Irish novelist Edna O'Brien, or even to have been in her circle of friends and lovers. Well, for an hour and a half we can pretend we were.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Erupcja

Dir. Pete Ohs
72 min

Charli xcx headlines this indie gem about a young English couple coming unmoored over a few days in Warsaw. Will means to propose. Beth has cold feet -- and an escape hatch she has barely admitted to herself... Think Before Sunrise 2025.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Palestine '36

Dir. Annemarie Jacir
118 min

An epic historical drama from director Annemarie Jacir that follows an ensemble of rural villagers who face off against British colonial forces during the 1936 Palestinian revolt.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
Tony Wilson's The Homeless Project
man playing a guitar

Tony Wilson's The Homeless Project

120 min

Combining music, text, still photography, and film to shine a sympathetic light on Canada's urban dispossessed, The Homeless Project is the third in composer, guitarist Tony Wilson's series of multimedia projects addressing pressing social issues.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema