Skip to main content
Soap Box film image; man in blue helmet

Soap Box

Boîte à savon

VIFF Short Forum

A group of young people gather to compete in the annual soapbox race on the slopes of the highest peak near their village. Hubert, 10, wants to win the race to impress Anouk, an opponent who makes his heart beat faster. Soap Box is a thrilling, wildly fun sports comedy that pays tribute to the transformative imagination of children.

 

Supported by

    

Community Partner

Director
Cast

Joey Bélanger, Valexia Boulianne, Lily-Rose Loyer, Rosemay Lefebvre, Elie Maréchal, Maguerite Laurence

Credits
Country of Origin

Canada

Year

2024

Language

In French with English subtitles

Film Contact
G

Open to youth!

17 min
Action Comedy Shorts

Credits & Director

Producer

Sonia Despars, André Kadi, Marc Biron

Screenwriter

Jimmy G. Pettigrew

Cinematography

Yannick Nolin

Editor

Jimmy G. Pettigrew

Original Music

Antoine Binette Mercier

Art Director

David Pleau

Jimmy G. Pettigrew headshot; Soap Box director

Jimmy G. Pettigrew

Jimmy G. Pettigrew graduated from film school and quickly began producing, writing, directing and editing silly short clips for the web. Since then, he’s been producing and directing short films and other fiction essays that mix live action, puppetry and animation. He mixes shadow and light, truth and lies, magic and pathos, cartoons and real people.

 

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

KAKU KAKU SHIKA JIKA fka Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist's Journey

Dir. Kazuaki Seki
126 min

Adapted from acclaimed manga artist Akiko Higashimura’s autobiographical manga is a funny and sharply observed coming-of-age story about the creative awakening of a master of manga.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

A Sad and Beautiful World

Dir. Cyril Aris
110 min

This Lebanese love story chronicles the romance between a level-headed businesswoman and a romantic restauranteur across several decades in wartorn Beirut. It's funny, charming, melancholy and you'll feel it all.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Blue Boy Trial

Dir. Kasho Iuzuka
106 min

Transgender filmmaker Kasho Iizuka revisits 1960s Japan and the sensational “Blue Boy Trial,” sparked by the arrest of a doctor performing sex reassignment surgeries. With trans actors in central roles, the film powerfully illuminates buried history, identity, dignity, and resilience.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Filipiñana

Dir. Rafael Manuel
100 min

A luxury golf course in the Philippines is the microcosm for Rafel Manuel's vastly assured feature debut, a striking composed comedy which mixes languid surrealism with pointed political satire.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Aruku - I Walk

Dir. Shiho Kataoka
105 min

This meditative documentary, captures the stories of four contemporary pilgrims on the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage as they follow in the footsteps of master Kūkai, the monk who shaped Japanese Buddhism. Each is burdened, in different ways, by exhaustion, solitude, or quiet disillusionment.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

How Dare You?

Dir. Mipo O
96 min

A bug-loving boy, a passionate classmate, and a troublemaker launch playful eco-protests against their town’s careless habits. As their missions escalate, they face real consequences in Director O’s witty, bittersweet Grand Jury Prize winner from the Toronto Japanese Film Festival.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema