The femme experience as told through various disciplines and genres, each a distinctly inimitable perspective.
October 2 & 3: Q&A with the film teams
This short film program includes the following films:
Between You and Me
Cameron Kletke, BC (4 min)
An animated journey through a young woman’s diary entries, notes, and drawings.
Dream Tricks: Over a Six Stair
Adam Seward, ON (16 min)
This documentary follows the daily life of Annie, a trans femme skateboarder and bassist in the band Dilly Dally, as she attempts a Varial Heelflip over a six-step jump.
Ancestral Threads
Sean Stiller, BC (12 min)
Using fashion as medicine for Vancouver’s Indigenous community, founder Joleen Mitton takes us behind-the-scenes at Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week. Featuring interviews with Musqueam weaver and artist Debra Sparrow and Dene fashion designer D’arcy Moses.
Redlights
Eva Thomas, ON (14 min)
An evening out takes a dramatic turn for two Indigenous women, Tina and Amber, when Amber is suddenly taken into police custody outside a pub.
Yun
Yuezhang Qin, BC (4 min)
A cloud accompanies a young woman through daily life.
Cassandra
Bea Santos, ON (15 min)
In the tradition of great tragedies, Cassandra follows the title character, an eccentric middle-aged artist whose family ignores her claims of clairvoyance.
Donna
Keenan MacWilliam, ON (18 min)
In an autobiographical search for the filmmaker’s birth mother, questions surrounding identity, family, and memory are embodied through performance.
Making Babies
Éric K. Boulianne, QC (20 min)
When a couple in a loving and long standing relationship decides to have a baby, their bond is tested.
Katshinau
Julien G. Marcotte, Jani Bellefleur-Kaltush, QC (17 min)
Set in the 18th century just before the British conquest of New France, Marie, an Indigenous slave to a local surgeon, encounters a young girl whom she presumes to be her child.
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
Shadow of a Doubt
In our latest film studies series, FRAMEWORK, Michael van den Bos explores the work of Alfred Hitchcock across four monochrome masterworks. This week: smalltown US thriller Shadow of a Doubt (1943), one of the director's personal favourites.
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.
The History of Concrete
After attending a workshop on pitching saccharine Hallmark movies, John Wilson tries to apply all the same best practices to his documentary about concrete. Frequently absurd and endlessly entertaining detours, asides, and digressions ensue.
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).

