Cosmological, geological, and speculative potentials provide hope in periods of doubt and hardship.
October 6 & 7: Q&A with the film teams
This short film program includes the following films:
Baigal Nuur – Lake Baikal
Alisi Telengut, QC (9 min)
North of the Mongolian border, the ancient Siberian Lake Baikal is reimagined through hand-made animation, featuring the voice of a Buryat woman speaking in her endangered Buryat-Mongolian language.
Gentle Hum of Spring
Simon Garez, SK (10 min)
As the spring thaw approaches in Saskatchewan, a young beekeeper struggles to maintain his bee colonies.
My Tomato Heart
Benoît Le Rouzès Ménard, QC (15 min)
Due to a serious heart condition, Madeleine is forced to retire from her beloved job at the neighbourhood grocery store. How will her last day end?
Take Care
Tony Massil, BC (19 min)
A recently divorced and deflated James moves in with his grandmother Patty, a fiercely independent octogenarian. Despite Patty’s declining physical abilities, she is reluctant to give up her autonomy.
Return to Ombabika
Ma-Nee Chacaby, Zoe Gordon, Shayne Ehman, ON (22 min)
Two spirit Oji-Cree elder, activist and artist Ma-Nee Chacaby journeys home to Ombabika, Ontario. She reflects on the land, her personal healing and the impacts of colonization.
Defining Human
Daniel Code, BC (15 min)
As Earth reaches its environmental breaking point, Mia, a talented black astronaut, must make a difficult decision: to stay with her ailing father, or leave for the unknown potentials of space exploration.
Soleil de Nuit
Fernando Lopez Escriva, Maria Camila Arias, QC (13 min)
During a training exercise in an abandoned open-pit mine, a crew of Canadian astronauts are interrupted by an Atikamekw elder, who asks them to deliver an important message to the spirit of his community on the moon.
Dickinsonia
Charline Dally, QC (17 min)
This speculative investigation of the titular 500-million-year-old ocean species is an invitation for embodied listening — to open one’s unconscious in order to find what is embedded deep within our memories.
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
That They May Face the Rising Sun
John and Kate have moved from London to a farm in Ireland, to the bemusement of the locals. This lyrical Irish reverie taps deep wells of feeling in the stuff of everyday life.
Secret Mall Apartment
The stranger-than-fiction true story of a group of artists who built and furnished a hidden apartment inside a mall, remaining undetected for years. This is an absurdly fun and surprisingly profound film about gentrification and art.
The Encampments
When pro-Palestine protests took hold of Columbia last year, the filmmakers were there from the beginning. This documentary charts the mounting tensions between students and the administration, as the protests were picked up across North America.
The Teacher
In this potent thriller, English teacher Basem witnesses the murder of a teenager by a Israeli settler. While the subsequent investigation rolls slowly towards a foregone conclusion, the teacher is caught up in a parallel kidnapping case...
Bob Trevino Likes It
When her toxic, narcissistic dad cuts her out of his life, Lily Trevino looks him up on Facebook and happens across his namesake, Bob (John Leguizamo), a gentle, genial contractor who lives nearby, and who proves an altogether better dad...
A Duke Ellington Tribute with the Mike Braverman Sextet
After a scintillating session of Duke standards performed by The Mike Braverman Sextet, enjoy a roundup of Ellingtonia on Film: his first short sound films from the late 20s and 30s, and clips from the scores he composed in the 50s and 60s.