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We Deserve an Empire film image; lake in purple lighting at night with canoe

VIFF Short Forum 7

VIFF Short Forum

Image: We Deserve an Empire

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Shorts from Armenia, Canada, Tibet, Colombia, Japan, and Turkey.

 

Oct 3 & 4: Q&A with filmmakers

 

This short film program includes the following films:

Grizzly Bear Country
Mave Ky, Canada (6 min)

Masculinity and male friendships are explored through three friends who go on a backcountry hiking trip in the Alberta Rockies.

 


Magic Candies
Daisuke Nishio, Japan (21 min)

Somewhat of a loner, Dong-Dong is content playing marbles on his own. One day, he goes to buy new marbles but leaves the shop with a bag of magic candies instead. Based on the Korean picture book, Magic Candies by Heena Baek.

 


The Egg
Vahan Grigoryan, Armenia (12 min)

A struggling actor decides to steal an egg at the grocery store.

 


Morî
Yakup Tekintangaç, Turkey (20 min)

When a new teacher starts at school, Morî is convinced that he is her long-lost father.

 


The Boys and the Donkey
Tsering Yangjyab, China (21 min)

In the Tibetan Plateau, four friends roughhouse with a neighbour’s donkey, leading to a nasty scratch on one of their faces. They resolve to punish the beast.

 


Culture Shock
Barry Bilinsky, Canada (15 min)

While Joey struggles to fit in at Culture Camp—where she is sent after defacing a mural—the mural artist’s sister is there also, looking for the vandal.

 


We Deserve an Empire
Mauricio Maldonado, Colombia (23 min)

Scrap metal thieves prepare to excavate an abandoned mine for gold.

 

Supported by

    

Community Partner

Director

Various

Country of Origin

Various

Year

2023-2024

Language

Various with English subtitles

Content Warning

Animal cruelty

18+
118 min
Animation BC Spotlight Cinemas of Asia Drama Experimental & Avant Garde Indigenous Cinema LGBTQIA2S+ Q&As at VIFF Shorts

Book Tickets

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

Tough Old Broads

Dir. Stacey Tenenbaum
90 min

Tough Old Broads is a feature documentary that follows three trailblazing women as they continue to make waves well into their 70s. Because you can't keep a good woman down.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Voice of Hind Rajab

Dir. Kaouther Ben Hania
89 min

Mixing documentary and reenactment, this film powerfully evokes the desperate attempts of the Red Crescent to rescue a six year old child trapped in a car under Israeli military fire. Oscar nominee: Best International Film

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Chronology of Water

Dir. Kristen Stewart
128 min

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.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

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

2026 Oscar® Shorts (Animated)

Dir. Various
83 min

The nominees for Best Animated Short Film include The Girl Who Cried Pearls, a fable from Canadian filmmakers Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, narrated by Colm Feore.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Spring After Spring

Dir. Jon Chiang
78 min

Three daughters strive to live up to the standards set by their mother Marie Mimi Ho, and keep Vancouver Chinatown's Spring Parade going through thick and thin, in this enormously affectionate local documentary by Jon Chiang.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre