Skip to main content
Fishmonger film image; house on cliff during lightning storm

Fishmonger

VIFF Short Forum

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

Director
Cast

Dominic Burgess, Donnla Hughes, Penny O’Brien

Credits
Country of Origin

USA

Year

2024

Language

English

Film Contact
Links
18+
26 min
Action Award Winners Comedy Horror & Thriller Romance Shorts

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 headshot; Fishmonger director

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

The Love That Remains

Dir. Hlynur Pálmason
109 min

Anna and Magnús have separated, leaving her to raise their three children as he spends long stretches at sea, working as a fisherman. As the seasons pass, their emotions ebb and flow. A richly conceived story with unexpected delight and humour.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Song Sung Blue

Dir. Craig Brewer
133 min

Lightning and Thunder (Hugh Jackman and Oscar nominee Kate Hudson), are Milwaukee husband and wife Neil Diamond tribute act who experience soaring success and devastating heartbreak in their musical journey together. Based on a true story.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Montreal, ma belle

Dir. Xiaodan He
118 min

In this Valentine to discovering love later in life, the ever-elegant Joan Chen plays Feng Xia, a 53-year-old Chinese immigrant and mother in Montreal whose world is turned upside down when she meets and falls in love with a young Quebecoise.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Dir. David Borenstein & Pavel Talankin
90 min

Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary, and Special Jury Prize Winner, Sundance, 2025, this exposé shot by a Russian primary teacher shows how the Putin propaganda machine works to militarize children.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Sirât

Dir. Óliver Laxe
115 min

A desperate father (Sergi Lopez) searchers for his missing daughter through the spiritual wasteland of the Moroccan desert. An unforgettable sensory powerhouse, Sîrat will have you riveted and rattled for hours after the end credits have rolled.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Sun Ra: Do the Impossible

Dir. Christine Turner
84 min

Whether he was a man, a musician, or an emissary from Saturn (as he claimed), Sun Ra was one of the unique visionaries of the 20th century. Christine Turner’s documentary explores the legacy of this iconoclastic who turned his life into a work of art.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre