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Short Fuse

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We are excited for VIFF audiences to experience this special program of innovative and eye-opening animated and experimental shorts from across Canada. These works were each selected for the ways they inspire new approaches to the moving image on screen, for their visually evocative storytelling, and in many cases for how they re-imagine compelling perspectives, histories, memories and formative life experiences. Together they offer a mesmerizing collection for the next generation of filmmakers.

 

October 7: Q&A with the film teams

 

This short film program includes the following films:

Two One Two
Shira Avni, QC (5 min)

Created by award winning filmmaker Shira Avni this deeply intimate, handcrafted experimental animated documentary explores neurodiversity, the loving bond between mother and child, and the process of (un)becoming a two-headed monster.

 


Sub Terra
Jeffrey Zablotny, ON (9 min)

A routine tree inspection unexpectedly gives way to a journey into the deep. Set in a hidden subterranean world, a mysterious perspective is created with constantly shifting, blending animation, photogrammetry, motion capture, and live-action material.

 


Swallow Flying to the South
Mochi Lin, BC (18 min)

During the Cultural Revolution in 1976, 5-year-old Swallow is abandoned at a public boarding preschool in central Beijing. When the persimmons are ripe, Swallow masters how to cry, but doesn’t forget how to fly. Inspired by the filmmaker’s mother’s story.

 


You Feel Soft
Cameron Kletke, BC (3 min)

An exploration of love and touch by Cameron Kletke, employing different forms of graphite that bring the screen to textural life.

 


Return to Hairy Hill
Daniel Gies, QC (18 min)

Over ten years in the making, Return to Hairy Hill is an atmospheric, fictional tale of family folklore, inspired by a collection of memories about a story passed down through filmmaker Daniel Gies’ family.

 


Where Rabbits Come From
Colin Ludvic Racicot, QC (15 min)

In a dystopian world, a widowed father rabbit challenges absolute authority by trying to infuse an ounce of wonder into his daughter’s life after the mysterious disappearance of her mother. A story of resilience, love and hope in the face of darkness.

 


Two Apples
Bahram Javahery, BC/Yukon (10 min)

When a young woman leaves her homeland in search of a different future, she brings with her a single memento from her past: a ripe apple studded with fragrant cloves. A true labour of love, a tender film delivered in a richly innovative animation style.

 


In the Wake of the Cedar Tree
Towustasin, BC (24 min)

Eclectically stylized, Haida poet & videographer Towustasin creates an experimental documentary short that incorporates animation, spoken word, intimate interviews and poetic narratives to explore trauma, hope, healing and connection to land.

Director

Various

Country of Origin

Various

Year

Various

Series

VIFF Short Forum

Language

Various with English subtitles

G
102 min
Shorts

Book Tickets

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

Super Happy Forever

Dir. Kohei Igarashi
94 min

This beguiling film depicts a man’s return to the Japanese seaside town where he met his now-deceased wife five years earlier. He tries to relive the past, and in the film's final section -- a flashback to 2018 -- the audience is afforded that privilege.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Inedia

Dir. Liz Cairns
107 min

Liz Cairns makes a mesmerizing feature debut that sees a young woman suffering from mysterious food allergies join a remote island community practicing alternative healing methods. She soon realizes that not everything is as it seems.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
Drop Dead City
Drop Dead City film image; someone holding a newspaper up in front of a brick wall

Drop Dead City

Dir. Michael Rohatyn & Peter Yost
108 min

New York, 1975. The city is minutes away from bankruptcy and President Gerald Ford wants no part of it. Sanitation workers are on strike and cops are telling tourists it's not safe to visit. The town is going up in flames and they can't pay the firemen.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Hustler

Dir. Robert Rossen
135 min

Prime Paul Newman as Fast Eddie Felson, a hungry pool shark who knows he's the sharpest guy in the room. Jackie Gleason and George C Scott have other ideas.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Boxcutter

Dir. Reza Dahya
88 min

The first feature from former Toronto Flow OTA Live host and producer Reza Dahya is a boisterous, sometimes bruising day-in-the-life of wannabe rapper Rome (Ashton James), set on meeting megastar Richie Hill (Rich Kidd).

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Hud

Dir. Martin Ritt
112 min

Landmark modern western with Brandon de Wilde from Shane worshipping the wrong hero, Paul Newman’s eponymous heel. According to Paul Schrader, this movie marks the birth of the cynical (anti-)hero in American cinema.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre