From the indoctrination of youth to increasing surveillance, populist ethno-nationalist and fascist ideologies continue to take root, yet dissent remains at the fore.
Oct 2: Q&A
This short film program includes the following films:
Anatomy of a Lost Sound
Zuko Garagić, Bosnia/Herzegovina/Czech Republic/USA (20 min)
A cast of non-actors depict a Czech paramilitary youth camp while an incendiary recording metastasizes antisemitic rhetoric across Europe.
The Uniformed
Timon Ott, Germany (17 min)
After committing to 17 years of service, an 18-year-old discovers that things are not as uniform in the military as he thought.
Monument
Jeremy Drummond, USA (18 min)
Treated and multilayered Super 8 images are juxtaposed, illuminating tensions that bridge protest and reclamation with the perils of nationalism.
Sixty-Seven Milliseconds
Fleuryfontaine, France (15 min)
Blending chronophotography and CGI, French surveillance footage raises questions about policing and institutional violence.
Blind, Into the Eye
Atefeh Kheirabadi & Mehrad Sepahnia, Iran/Germany (20 min)
Ammunition fired deliberately at Iranian protesters points to a particularly insidious form of state repression.
happiness
Fırat Yücel, Netherlands/Turkey (18 min)
As the unfolding genocide in Gaza is streamed around the world, resistence persists for a group of activists and immigrants in Amsterdam sabotaged by insomnia.
Community Partner
Various
Various
2025
Various
Child abuse, racism, police violence
Book Tickets
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.