Shorts from Belgium, Canada, France, South Korea, Taiwan, and USA.
Oct 1 & 2: Q&A with filmmakers
This short film program includes the following films:
Stuffed
Louise Labrousse, France (11 min)
A woman decides to treat herself to a bowl of noodles in the bath.
Strawberry Shortcake
Deborah Devyn Chuang, Taiwan (21 min)
A teenage girl falls into a Freudian phantasy with her mother.
The Painting
Michèle Lemieux, Canada (11 min)
Using pinscreen animation, an instance of institutionalized incest in art history is examined through the portrait of Queen Mariana of Austria, who was 14 when she married her uncle.
Zanatany, When Soulless Shrouds Whisper
Hachimiya Ahamada, Belgium/France/Qatar (27 min)
Tensions rise in the community, days before the little known 1976 Majunga massacre.
Shadow
Kamell Allaway, USA (12 min)
A young mother’s shadow takes on a life of its own, terrorizing her and her daughter.
Hatch
Alireza Kazemipour & Panta Mosleh, Canada (11 min)
A group of Afghan refugees hide inside a water tanker as they attempt to cross the border to safety.
Time to Dilate
Kim Nayoung, South Korea (22 min)
Two lovers, Myung-ki and Do, break up because of a secret Myung-ki’s been hiding. When they meet again, this secret cannot be ignored.
Supported by
Community Partner
Various
Various
2023-2024
Various with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Blue Boy Trial
Transgender filmmaker Kasho Iizuka revisits 1960s Japan and the sensational “Blue Boy Trial,” sparked by the arrest of a doctor performing sex reassignment surgeries. With trans actors in central roles, the film powerfully illuminates buried history, identity, dignity, and resilience.
A Sad and Beautiful World
This Lebanese love story chronicles the romance between a level-headed businesswoman and a romantic restauranteur across several decades in wartorn Beirut. It's funny, charming, melancholy and you'll feel it all.
Aruku - I Walk
This meditative documentary, captures the stories of four contemporary pilgrims on the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage as they follow in the footsteps of master Kūkai, the monk who shaped Japanese Buddhism. Each is burdened, in different ways, by exhaustion, solitude, or quiet disillusionment.
How Dare You?
A bug-loving boy, a passionate classmate, and a troublemaker launch playful eco-protests against their town’s careless habits. As their missions escalate, they face real consequences in Director O’s witty, bittersweet Grand Jury Prize winner from the Toronto Japanese Film Festival.
One Last Love Letter
In 2024, Nazuna writes to the young man she secretly loved as a teenager. Her letter reaches his grieving father, revealing memories of Shinsuke, an aspiring boxer killed in the 2000 Naka-Meguro train disaster, and opening a tender exchange.