Shorts from Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Lebanon, Palestine, Slovenia, and Ukraine.
Oct 2 & 3: Q&A with filmmakers
This short film program includes the following films:
Gate 3 to 14
Karen Abou Jaoudeh, Lebanon (7 min)
Following the Beirut disaster of August 2020, two filmmakers assist with search and rescue efforts.
If the Sun Drowned into an Ocean of Clouds
Wissam Charaf, France/Lebanon (20 min)
Along a waterfront construction site, a security guard must prevent passersby from accessing the seaside.
Bright White Light
Henna Välkky & Eesu Lehtola, Finland (14 min)
Five near-death experiences are recalled through audio interviews and experimental visuals.
Dark Matter
Leo Berkeley, Australia (11 min)
Now in the later stages of multiple sclerosis, the director ponders existence, disability, and quantum mechanics.
Explosions Near the Museum
Roman Khimei & Yarema Malashchuk, Ukraine (14 min)
The camera moves through the Kherson Museum of Local Lore, which held Southern Ukraine’s largest and oldest collection of antiquities until it was looted by Russian occupational forces in 2022.
Three Birds
Zarja Menart, Slovenia/Croatia (8 min)
A sad girl seeks guidance from a wise bird woman.
Losing Your Home
Emmanuel Rioux, Canada (20 min)
Two women battle eviction notices from their respective homes.
Palestine Islands
Nour Ben Salem & Julien Menanteau, France/Jordan (23 min)
Living as a refugee at Balata camp in the northern West Bank, Maha choreographs a scenario to fulfill the unrealized goal of Palestinian sovereignty for her ailing blind grandfather.
Supported by
Community Partner
Various
Various
2023-2024
Various with English subtitles
Self harm, dug & alcohol abuse
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
It Was Just an Accident
Having offered some late-night assistance to a stranger in the wake of an auto accident, a mechanic grows convinced that he recognizes the supposed stranger’s voice as that of his torturer during a grueling prison spell.
L'Étranger
Recreating 1940s Algeria in vivid, high contrast black and white cinematography, L'Etranger is erotic, enigmatic and brutal in equal measures, a masterful screen version of Albert Camus's insoluble classic of existential alienation.
Sentimental Value
A once-revered director crashes back into his family’s lives, eager to recruit his daughter for a film role. When she declines, he finds a new muse in an eager but unpolished Hollywood star, sending his botched reconciliation spiraling into chaos.
The Chronology of Water
Kristen Stewart's fearless directorial debut is based on the best-selling memoir by Lidia Yuknavitch (Imogen Poots), a chronicle of her abusive childhood, traumatized adulthood, and escapes through swimming, drugs, sex, and ultimately writing.