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
The English Patient
In the first of a new Film Studies series exploring literary adaptations, director Anthony Minghella tackles Michael Ondatje's challenging, poetic WWII novel about an enigmatic, badly burnt patient with a tragic past. Introduced by Patricia Gruben.
Sirât
A desperate father (Sergi Lopez) searchers for his missing daughter through the spiritual wasteland of the Moroccan desert. An unforgettable sensory powerhouse, Sîrat will have you riveted and rattled for hours after the end credits have rolled.
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary, and Special Jury Prize Winner, Sundance, 2025, this exposé shot by a Russian primary teacher shows how the Putin propaganda machine works to militarize children.
2026 Oscar® Shorts (Documentary)
Don't come to the program of Oscar®-nominated documentary shorts for escapism. But let's talk about the Canadian contender, Perfectly a Strangeness, featuring an abandoned observatory and three donkeys. More of this, please.