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Palestine Islands film image; two people in a deserted sandy street

VIFF Short Forum 6

VIFF Short Forum

Image: Palestine Islands

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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

Director

Various

Country of Origin

Various

Year

2023-2024

Language

Various with English subtitles

Content Warning

Self harm, dug & alcohol abuse

18+
117 min
Animation Art, Music & Photography Award Winners Comedy Documentary Drama Experimental & Avant Garde Human Rights & Social Justice Shorts Women Directors

Book Tickets

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Missing VIFF? Check Out What's Playing at the VIFF Centre

Akashi
Akashi film image; woman looking out from the back window of a car

Akashi

Dir. Mayumi Yoshida
105 min

In Mayumi Yoshida’s tender drama, struggling artist Kana journeys to Tokyo to attend her grandmother’s funeral. While there, she reconnects with her childhood love and stumbles across a family secret that prompts her to reconsider her place in the world.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
The History of Concrete
The History of Concrete film image; man smoothing just-poured concrete sidewalk

The History of Concrete

Dir. John Wilson
101 min

After attending a workshop on pitching saccharine Hallmark movies, John Wilson tries to apply all the same best practices to his documentary about concrete. Frequently absurd and endlessly entertaining detours, asides, and digressions ensue.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Sunless

Dir. Chris Marker
103 min

Chris Marker's dazzling and discursive essay film ranges across Japan, Africa, San Francisco, Iceland, politics, philosophy, ritual, movies and memory. It's a film for the permanently curious.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
NAZA
Naza film image; two people sitting in a foggy night with skyscrapers in the background

NAZA

Dir. Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor
80 min

NAZA is a codeword euphemistically used by Israeli intelligence to indicate the number of civilians it expects will be killed in an airstrike. This chilling documentary exposes the policy and process of state-sanctioned mass killings.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

I Am Not a Witch

Dir. Rungano Nyoni
93 min

Rungano Nyoni's acclaimed debut feature is a visually striking satire about a 9-year-old orphan accused of witchcraft in contemporary Zambia. Screening in the latest African Cinema Now! series, The Witch at the Edge of the Screen.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
Queen at Sea
Queen at Sea film image; two people staring at one another

Queen at Sea

Dir. Lance Hammer
121 min

An academic is pitted against her stepfather in a moral crisis over the care of her mother, who lives with dementia. Winner of the Silver Bear Jury Prize and Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance at the 2026 Berlinale.

Image: © Seafaring

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