Skip to main content
A Very Straight Neck film image; someone lying unconscious on the ground

A Very Straight Neck

North American Premiere

After waking from a haunting dream with horrible neck pain, a woman struggles to maintain her routine in a crumbling world.

Director
Cast

Sakura Ando, Kodachi Kitagata

Credits
Country of Origin

Japan

Year

2025

Language

In Japanese with English subtitles

18+
11 min
Cinemas of Asia Comedy Drama Human Rights & Social Justice Shorts
Nowness China

Credits & Director

Producer

Lawrence Xiao

Screenwriter

Neo Sora

Cinematography

Kaori Oda

Editor

Manaka Nagai

Neo Sora headshot

Neo Sora

Neo Sora is a filmmaker, artist, and translator living in Tokyo and New York. As a filmmaker, Neo has directed, shot, and produced short narrative films, documentaries, music videos, fashion spots, and a concert film. Filmmaker Magazine named Neo one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film, and he was a fellow at the 2022 Sundance Screenwriters and Directors Lab. His first fiction feature, Happyend (2024), premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and played in festivals around the world.

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

Mistress Dispeller

Dir. Elizabeth Lo
94 min

Sensing her husband has strayed, a Chinese woman hires a mistress dispeller to insinuate herself between the lovers and sow enough doubt to break up the liaison. A documentary.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Left-Handed Girl

Dir. Shih-Ching Tsou
109 min

Co-written and edited by Sean Baker (Anora), Shi-Ching Tsou's heartwarming solo feature debut follows a single mom in Taipei who is too consumed with her noodle stand to keep tabs on her five-year-old daughter's burgeoning shoplifting habit.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Measures for a Funeral

Dir. Sofia Bohdanowicz
142 min

When a young academic discovers a personal link to Canadian violinist Kathleen Parlow, she is compelled to dig deeper. Her investigations lead her on the trail of an elusive concerto, lost for over a century, but which she is determined to bring to light.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Jay Kelly

Dir. Noah Baumbach
130 min

In Noah Baumbach's wise and witty comedy, George Clooney plays Jay Kelly, a world-famous movie star touring Europe with his friend and manager, Ron (Adam Sandler). Faced with nagging dissatisfaction, Jay starts to ask himself some tough questions.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

He Ran All the Way

Dir. John Berry
78 min

John Berry's gripping, poignant thriller stars John Garfield in his final film performance. He plays Nick Robey, a small-time hood on the run from a stick-up gone wrong. The last gasp of "Red" Hollywood, this fine film deserves to be better known.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Meadowlarks

Dir. Tasha Hubbard
91 min

Fifty years after being separated during the Sixties Scoop, four Cree siblings reunite for the first time on a long weekend trip to Banff. Tasha Hubbard’s sensitive drama relates an emotional and life-affirming story of kinship and belonging.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema