A pathetic fishmonger must survive a sex pact with an ancient fish creature in order to save his mother’s soul.
Supported by
Community Partner
Dominic Burgess, Donnla Hughes, Penny O’Brien
USA
2024
English
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Producer
Valerie Steinberg, Jordan Willcox, Neil Ferron
Screenwriter
Neil Ferron, Alexandra Dennis-Renner
Cinematography
Jack McDonald
Editor
Augustine So
Production Design
Xiyu Lin
Original Music
John Graney
Neil Ferron
Neil Ferron is an LA-based writer/director from Seattle. His first feature screenplay, Fishmonger (2024), a supernatural dark comedy about tentacle sex and vulnerability, won the Grand Prize of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition (2021). His AFI thesis, a short film version of Fishmonger, received a Cannes Lions Young Directors Award (2023) before its world premiere at Fantastic Fest and its European premiere at Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia. Neil’s work has been described as “wonderfully surreal” (Sub Pop), “shocking, horrific, and funny” (Rolling Stone), and a “Ph.D testing of what ‘works’ on the human consciousness” (Seattle Weekly). Neil is a recent graduate of the AFI Conservatory. He holds a Masters in Theatre & Performance from Trinity College Dublin thanks to a George J. Mitchell Scholarship.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Derrick Gee's Radio Hour
Fresh from sold-out tours across Europe and Australia, experience the Canadian premiere of cult music tastemaker Derrick Gee's eclectic Radio Hour, where his on-stage living room welcomes community conversations, special guests, and shared listening.
Short Forum 7: War at Home
Truly, no one is safe until everyone is safe.
Crocodile
In Crocodile, a group of young, self-taught filmmakers turn Kaduna's streets, homes, and residents into the raw materials of sci-fi cinema. This Tribeca Viewpoints winner examines filmmaking as a means to overcome a city's constraints.
Prosecution
When a young German prosecutor of Korean origin is attacked, she suspects a racist conspiracy and pursues the truth in defiance of her superiors. Prosecution is a film for our moment: a thriller that confronts the far-right head-on.
A Distant Call
In the South Sulawesi province of Indonesia, Eka, one of the few remaining bissu — spiritual leaders who embody the aspects of all genders — struggles to reconcile their identity with community expectations and their own devout Muslim faith.
Lust
Ralitza Petrova follows her Golden Leopard-winning debut with an emotionally textured drama about a middle-aged prison psychologist whose carefully managed routine unravels when she must travel to Bulgaria to settle her late, estranged father’s affairs.
Image: © Aporia Filmworks_Screening Emotions