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VIFF Short Forum: Program 2

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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

Director

Various

Country of Origin

Canada

Year

2022-2023

Series

VIFF Short Forum

Language

Various with English subtitles

18+
122 min
Shorts

Book Tickets

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Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Dir. David Borenstein & Pavel Talankin
90 min

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.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Painted Life of E.J. Hughes

Dir. Jenn Strom
82 min

A beautiful portrait of E.J. Hughes, who quietly helped reshape the artistic landscape of British Columbia in the 20th century. This extraordinary documentary explores Hughes’s legacy not only as an artist, but as a devoted, humble human being.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

All That's Left of You

Dir. Cherien Dabis
145 min

Jordan's submission for the Academy Awards, All That's Left of You makes the most of its epic format to chronicle seven decades of Palestinian history while tracking the psychological impact of cycles of exile and oppression on three generations.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Voice of Hind Rajab

Dir. Kaouther Ben Hania
89 min

Mixing documentary and reenactment, this film powerfully evokes the desperate attempts of the Red Crescent to rescue a six year old child trapped in a car under Israeli military fire. Oscar nominee: Best International Film

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

2026 Oscar® Shorts (Documentary)

Dir. Various
157 min

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.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
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The Secret Agent

Dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho
158 min

Having run afoul of an influential bureaucrat in Brazil’s military dictatorship circa 1977, Marcelo decamps to Recife to live under an assumed name — but he’ll soon come to understand precisely how rampant the country’s corruption has become.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema