Shorts from Canada, Hong Kong, Estonia, India, Japan, Mexico, and Spain.
Oct 4 & 5: Q&A with filmmakers
This short film program includes the following films:
Discoteque
Masashi Yamamoto, USA (5 min)
Two friends embark on a galactic journey towards the disco ball moon.
Sauna Day
Anna Hints & Tushar Prakash, Estonia (13 min)
An intimate portrait of Southern Estonian men enjoying a smoke sauna together after a hard day of work.
The Widow’s Son Turns Storyteller
Shikher Pal, India (11 min)
In the city of Kanpur, fables emanate from an ancient mound.
Save My Soul
Kam Fai Leung, Hong Kong (15 min)
What transpires when a mute and a blind man cross paths…
Almost the Dust
Léa Soler, Mexico (22 min)
From the upper branches of a tree, a land defender on a hunger strike is visited by people from his village.
The Moving Garden
Inês Lima, Portugal (19 min)
A group of hikers embark on a guided tour of the Arrábida Natural Park but observe a disturbing transformation.
Retracing Their Steps
Manuel Orhy Piron, Canada (21 min)
Boxes from the Montreal Archive Center reveal forgotten tales from the queer community.
Supported by
Community Partner
Various
Various
2023-2024
Various with English subtitles
Self harm
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
Innocence
Lucile Hadžihalilović's first feature is a suggestive, subversive fairy tale set in a private school for young girls, the kind of film David Lynch might have made, if he'd been born a French woman in the early 1960s.
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 Ice Tower
In Lucile Hadžihalilović's spellbinding fantasy drama, an orphan (Clara Pacini) becomes enthralled by a movie star (Marion Cotillard) playing the Snow Queen in a fairy tale film adaptation. Winner of the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution.
La Grazia
A contemplative, mournful but richly imagined movie about a retiring Italian President (Toni Servillo from The Great Beauty) facing two thorny ethical decisions that may define his legacy.
Image: © Andrea Pirrello
Where to Land
Hal Hartley's first new film in a decade is a melancholy farce about mortality and what we'll call "late middle-age". Bill Sage is a semi-retired filmmaker who isn't dying faster than the rest of us but who behaves like he might be.
La venue de l'avenir
Four cousins are tapped to investigate an abandoned house that is their joint inheritance. As they explore, they learn their story of their ancestor Adele (Suzanne Lindon) and her foray into Paris in the age of Impressionism.


