Get in for a rollercoaster journey through the depths of struggle and perseverance. Not for the faint of heart, this collection is as difficult as it is beautiful.
October 1 & 2: Q&A with the film teams
This short film program includes the following films:
Sisters
Marisa Hoicka, ON (3 min)
Mid-century advertisements, public service announcements, and product demonstrations are stitched together to create an unsettling narrative of two sisters.
Four Mile Creek
Ryan McKenna, QC (21 min)
Aurore Cormier was a settler child who died from smallpox at the turn of the 20th century, near what is now known as Thunder Bay. 100 years later, her relatives search for her grave.
Cloud Striker
A.W. Hopkins, BC (17 min)
Set in the 1930s, Chief Cloud Striker is on a quest to find his son Elijah, who has been forcibly taken from home and placed in Saint Ignatius Indian Residential School.
Conviction
Bruce Thomas Miller, AB (13 min)
Following release from prison, Joseph is faced with the challenges of reintegration into society.
Black Box Investigations
Paige Smith, BC (3 min)
Form and function are deconstructed through the artist’s interventions with the camera.
Autre Chose
Étienne Lacelle, QC (26 min)
Following a crippling motorcycle accident that killed his lover, a young man rebuilds his bike to take one last ride deep into the Canadian wilderness.
The Great Kind Mystery
Ella Morton, NL (17 min)
Inuk and Mi’kmaw artist Amy Hull reflects on her hometown of Daniel’s Harbour, Newfoundland and her connection to the natural world through the Mi’kmaq language.
Element
Will Niava, QC (22 min)
Struggling to make a living in the markets of Abidjan, a group of young men decide to step up their hustle and cast a spell in order to make some real money.
Supported by
Community Partner
Various
Canada
2022-2023
VIFF Short Forum
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 Blue Star
In crisis, a popular singer quits Spain to backpack in Argentina. There he comes under the spell of a veteran musician, who teaches him the art of chacareras, zambas and vidalas. It's a journey of musical kinship and spiritual reawakening.
The Mother and the Bear
Johnny Ma’s film stars Kim Ho-jung as a Korean woman who flies to Winnipeg when her immigrant daughter is hospitalized there. This crowd-pleaser plays up cultural differences to hilarious effect and offers a touching take on mother-daughter tension.
Forastera
In this mysterious and subtle coming of age drama, teenager Cata is soaking up the sun, smoking furtive cigarettes, and enjoying a summer break with her grandparents and her younger sis in Mallorca. That is, until Cata's beloved abuela collapses...

