Skip to main content

VIFF+ Members’ Early Bird Day is on now! Save up to 30% off Festival Ticket Packs and Passes

 

Union Street film image; two men sitting on white stands in front of clothes rack

Union Street

This event has passed

World Premiere

Interspersing interviews with archival footage, Union Street documents the history of Vancouver’s Hogan’s Alley, the formerly Black neighbourhood which was destroyed by the construction of the Georgia viaduct in the 1970s. This local history speaks to systemic racial injustice towards Vancouver’s Black community that has continued to this day. Revelatory conversations are had in the film surrounding the erasure of Black history in Canada, and the proliferation of hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan which had chapters in Vancouver. Histories of now-closed Black-owned businesses in Hogan’s Alley such as Vie’s Chicken and Steakhouse have inspired a new generation of Black business owners in the neighbourhood, and the Black Lives Matter movement has reinvigorated discussion surrounding the destruction, as well as the history and memory of Hogan’s Alley. Beautifully filmed, this visual portrait speaks to the legacies of the past, as well as the present moment.

 

October 2 & 7: Q&A with director Jamila Pomeroy & crew

 

Presented by

Media Partner

          

Community Partner

 


About Relaxed Screenings

The October 4 screening of Union Street is a relaxed screening.

Relaxed screenings are open to ANYONE who would benefit from a less restrictive and sensory-friendly experience including (but not limited to) people living with dementia; Autistic people; people with learning difficulties; people with a sensory or communication disorder; parents with young babies; and anyone who feels they would benefit from a more supportive and inclusive experience.

How much are tickets? That’s up to you! Pay what you can for tickets to relaxed screenings. We do not want the cost of tickets to hinder your ability to attend. Click on “Book Tickets” and select the amount ($0, $7, $15, $20) you can pay per ticket.

At a relaxed screening you can expect:

  • The lights to be up so it is not too dark
  • The film sound levels to be lowered
  • No trailers before the film
  • Fewer tickets sold so folks can choose where they want to sit
  • Audience noise and movement during the show
  • Freedom to enter and exit the cinema
  • A chill out space
  • Sound reduction headphones
  • Extra staff and volunteers on site to answer questions

 

Relaxed Screenings Presented by

Director
Credits
Country of Origin

Canada

Year

2022

Series

Northern Lights

Language

In English and Swahili with English subtitles

Film Contact
Content Warning

Depictions of Racism, Coarse Language

PG
79 min
Black Cinema Documentary Human Rights & Social Justice Women Directors

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits

Executive Producer

Jamila Pomeroy, Mack Stannard

Producer

Mack Stannard

Screenwriter

Jamila Pomeroy

Cinematography

Liam Mitchell

Editor

Coline Debray

Original Music

Amine Bouzaher

Director

Jamila Pomeroy headshot

Jamila Pomeroy

Jamila Pomeroy is a Kenyan-Canadian WGC screenwriter and TWUC internationally-published writer with experience spanning print, new media and film. Her work often champions historically underrepresented people and narratives, while generating both accessible, intellectually-charged and comedic storylines. She has created scripted and factual work for networks and publications like CBC, BBC, Telus Originals, Network Entertainment, Quibi, and Showtime. Union Street is her first feature-length documentary as a director.

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

VIFF+ Members' Early Bird Day Screening: Late Fame

Dir. Kent Jones
96 min

Join us at the VIFF Centre on August 6 for a free VIFF+ members-only screening of Late Fame! Catch up with your fellow cinema fans and hear from VIFF's Director of Programming. Not a member? You can join now!

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World

Dir. Sasha Waters
91 min

Sasha Waters' documentary takes us through the life of America's best-selling late twentieth century poet, a private woman who shared her innermost thoughts and made them indispensable.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Sheep in the Box

Dir. Hirokazu Koreeda
126 min

Shoplifters director Koreeda probes the complexities of grief, love and human connection in the age of AI in this thoughtful, moving drama.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Secrets & Lies

Dir. Mike Leigh
142 min

Mike Leigh's bittersweet tearjerker won the Palme d'Or in 1996. When a 27 year old adopted child reaches out to her birth mother they're both in for a shock.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Crash

Dir. David Cronenberg
100 min

Sex drive, David Cronenberg-style. The car-crash fetishists who orbit Cronenberg's metrosexual Toronto (they include James Spader, Holly Hunter, and Deborah Unger) obsessively seek a fusion of metal and flesh... Fender bender as the ultimate orgasm.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Set It Off

Dir. F. Gary Gray
120 min

If you love boosters, you'll love Set It Off, in which four Black women (Jada Pinkett, Vivica A. Fox, Queen Latifah, Kimberly Elise) repurpose their office-cleaning operation to clean out a bank.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre