Set in 2004, Yasamin (Rose Deghan) is an Iranian teenager who has recently immigrated to Canada with her family. Desperate to fit in, she practices her English by studying sitcoms and succeeds in befriending three popular girls at school — mean girls with permanent smiles and soulless eyes. When her new friends convince Yasamin she needs to dye her hair blonde to be accepted, she takes their advice, but gets more than she bargained for when her new hair colour awakens a demon lurking inside her.
Vancouver-based artist Ava Maria Safai’s first feature is a humorous coming-of-age horror story that reimagines the immigrant high school experience as an internal conflict akin to demonic possession. Rose Deghan’s enchanting performance perfectly balances the darkly humourous and lighthearted tonal shifts of Safai’s screenplay — think Heathers meets Carrie. Foreigner is a charming and entertaining thrill ride, and a vengeful power fantasy that should prove satisfying for anyone who’s been told to go back to where they came from.
Oct 6 & 11: Q&A
Supported by
Media Partner
Rose Dehgan, Chloë Macleod
Canada
2025
In English and Farsi with English subtitles
Violence, frightening scenes
Open to youth
Book Tickets
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Nic Altobelli
Producer
Nicco Graham, Ava Maria Safai
Screenwriter
Ava Maria Safai
Cinematography
Saarthak Taneja
Editor
Ava Maria Safai
Production Design
Hannah Grace Nicholls
Original Music
Finka Wood
Ava Maria Safai
Ava Maria Safai is a Canadian-Iranian filmmaker from Vancouver, known for blending sharp genre instincts with heartfelt storytelling. Her short film ZIP (2023) made history at Crazy8s and screened at Oscar-qualifying festivals like Uppsala and CINEQUEST, earning her a Leo Award. She is the artistic director of The Harlequin Theatre Society. Foreigner is her debut feature film.
Filmography: Inhuman/e (2021)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Kindergarten
In this charming Quebecois documentary, we are invited to look closely at the interactions of children between the ages of 1 and 5, a period in which they are just beginning to learn about social interactions. And yet how much they resemble ourselves!
How to Divorce During the War
Screenwriter Vytus is left reeling when on successive days his wife demands a divorce and Russia invades Ukraine. Blazevicius' masterful feature emerges as an engrossing satire about virtue signaling, nationalism, good intentions, and survival modes.
Chronovisor
A device so sensitive it can pick up emanations from history, the Chronovisor caused a ripple in scientific circles in the latter half of the 20th century, although most dismissed it as a hoax. But why would anyone want to suppress a hoax?
A Sad and Beautiful World
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.
Tokyo Taxi
An overworked taxi driver takes 85-year-old Madame Sumire on a final journey through Tokyo, revisiting the places that shaped her life. Yoji Yamada’s 91st film is a moving, heartwarming love letter to Tokyo, nominated for nine Japanese Academy Awards.