Skip to main content
Freak film image; blurry colourful shot of a woman

Freak

MODES

North American Premiere

Confronted via home video by her partner to reveal her deepest, darkest fantasy, Laine is left questioning the limits of their relationship.

 

Community Partner

Director
Cast

Nancy McArthur, Oliver Demers

Credits
Country of Origin

USA

Year

2024

Language

English

Film Contact
Links
18+
14 min
Drama Experimental & Avant Garde LGBTQIA2S+ Shorts Women Directors

Credits & Director

Producer

Claire Barnett, Natalie Remplakowski

Screenwriter

Claire Barnett

Cinematography

Claire Barnett

Editor

Claire Barnett

Claire Barnett headshot; Freak director

Claire Barnett

Claire Barnett is a writer-director from Little Rock, Arkansas based in Brooklyn, New York. She received her BFA in Film from the University of Central Arkansas in 2021 and is now a thesis student at NYU Tisch, Graduate Film. Claire’s films have been exhibited in festivals across the United States, including Slamdance Film Festival (2023) and New Orleans Film Festival (2022). Her short film Freak (2024) premiered at the 77th Locarno International Film Festival.

 

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

Oscar® Shorts 2025: Animation

90 min

Magic candies, first kisses, and three brothers seeking hair transplants... the animated shorts package is a treasure trove of delights.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Chez Jolie Coiffure

Dir. Rosine Mbakam
70 min

Having immigrated to Belgium from Cameroon, Sabine manages Chez Jolie Coiffure. Her salon patrons, many of them undocumented immigrants, are not only be made to feel beautiful but can also escape the daily difficulties and harsh realities of their lives.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

No Other Land

Dir. Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham & Rachel Szor
96 min

Deemed by many critics one of the essential films of 2024, a multiple festival award winner and a nominee for the Academy Award for Best Documentary, No Other Land is a reminder that mass expulsion is by no means a new reality for Palestinians.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Mami Wata + Drexciya

Dir. C.J. "Fiery" Obasi
119 min

Fiery Obasi's tremendous, dreamy fable, shot in inky, lustrous black and white, is an elemental tale of magic, devotion, and generational unease set in a traditional Nigerian village.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Nickel Boys

Dir. RaMell Ross
140 min

To tell the story of two friends serving time at a brutal racist Florida reform school, director RaMell Ross puts us inside their heads. It's a radical masterstroke in a powerful film, nominated for Best Picture.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Atlantics

Dir. Mati Diop
106 min

In Dakar, Ada loves Souleiman but has been promised to another man. One night, Souleiman and his co-workers leave the country by sea. Several days later, a fire ruins Ada's wedding and a mysterious fever starts to spread. It seems Souleiman has returned.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre