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
Various
Various
2023-2024
Various with English subtitles
Animal cruelty
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
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary, and Special Jury Prize Winner, Sundance, 2025, this exposé shot by a Russian primary teacher shows how the Putin propaganda machine works to militarize children.
Sirât
A desperate father (Sergi Lopez) searchers for his missing daughter through the spiritual wasteland of the Moroccan desert. An unforgettable sensory powerhouse, Sîrat will have you riveted and rattled for hours after the end credits have rolled.
Sun Ra: Do the Impossible
Whether he was a man, a musician, or an emissary from Saturn (as he claimed), Sun Ra was one of the unique visionaries of the 20th century. Christine Turner’s documentary explores the legacy of this iconoclastic who turned his life into a work of art.
Montreal, ma belle
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.
The Painted Life of E.J. Hughes
A beautiful portrait of E.J. Hughes, who quietly helped reshape the artistic landscape of British Columbia in the 20th century. This extraordinary documentary explores Hughes’s legacy not only as an artist, but as a devoted, humble human being.
A Poet
When embittered poet Oscar Restrepo takes a job at a local high school, he meets Yurlady, a talented student from a poor background. Seeking to help her cultivate her art, he draws her into the poetry world — to disastrous and comedic results.