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
NAZA
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.
The Best Years of Our Lives
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.
Ray Gunn (Special Advance Screening with Brad Bird)
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).
The Bloodettes
In this early Afro-futurist shlocker from Cameroonian director Jean-Pierre Bekolo (made in 2005 and set in 2025), two sex workers try to dispose of the body of a high profile politician who's died on the job (theirs, not his).
La Bola Negra
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.
Akashi
In Mayumi Yoshida’s tender drama, struggling artist Kana journeys to Tokyo to attend her grandmother’s funeral. While there, she reconnects with her childhood love and stumbles across a family secret that prompts her to reconsider her place in the world.