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Rezbotanik film image; person dragging their hands across their face

MODES 2

MODES

Image: Rezbotanik

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Intimate and unapologetic stories of women and queer lives are uncovered through provocative and deeply personal accounts that examine memory, identity, and dignity.

 

Oct 3 & 11: Q&A

 

This short film program includes the following films:

Rezbotanik
Pedro Gonçalves Ribeiro, Portugal/Brazil/Spain (19 min)

After a night partying, Rezmorah sobers up in the botanical gardens of Lisbon, pondering what the plants can teach us about queerness.

 


Abortion Party
Julia Mellen, Spain (14 min)

Director Julia Mellen animates and celebrates the termination of her pregnancy with an unexpected array of guests.

 


It Must Be Because I Decided to Leave
Zhuoyun Chen, China/USA (19 min)

A young woman’s drifting consciousness traces the mystery of an elusive red car.

 


Daria’s Night Flower
Maryam Tafakory, Iran/UK/France (16 min)

Daria has written her first manuscript about falling in love with a mysterious girl called Blue. The night flowers in her garden hide the secrets of a country that has turned love stories into routine crime scenes.

 


Goodbye, Fishies
Jonathan Zhang, Australia (12 min)

Personal stories reinterpreted by the actors and director, depict a Thai mother consumed with deep regret for missing her grandmother’s last moments.

 


Lloyd Wong, Unfinished
Lesley Loksi Chan, Canada (29 min)

Thirty years after his passing, filmmaker Lesley Chan re-examines Lloyd Wong’s uncompleted video art project about living with HIV.

 

Community Partner

     

Director

Various

Country of Origin

Various

Year

2024 & 2025

Language

Various

18+
109 min
Animation Art, Music & Photography Comedy Documentary Experimental & Avant Garde Family Relations Human Rights & Social Justice LGBTQIA2S+ Shorts Women Directors

Book Tickets

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Missing VIFF? Check Out What's Playing at the VIFF Centre

NAZA
Naza film image; two people sitting in a foggy night with skyscrapers in the background

NAZA

Dir. Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor
80 min

NAZA is a codeword euphemistically used by Israeli intelligence to indicate the number of civilians it expects will be killed in an airstrike. This chilling documentary exposes the policy and process of state-sanctioned mass killings.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
The History of Concrete
The History of Concrete film image; man smoothing just-poured concrete sidewalk

The History of Concrete

Dir. John Wilson
101 min

After attending a workshop on pitching saccharine Hallmark movies, John Wilson tries to apply all the same best practices to his documentary about concrete. Frequently absurd and endlessly entertaining detours, asides, and digressions ensue.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
La Bola Negra
La Bola Negra film image; man playing a trumpet

La Bola Negra

Dir. Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo
155 min

A big, old-school historical melodrama gets a thrillingly modern, queer makeover from Spanish duo Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, who artfully juggle three gay protagonists across stories set in 1932, 1937, and 2017. Winner: Best Director, Cannes. Screening on 35mm.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Shadow of a Doubt

Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
108 min

In our latest film studies series, FRAMEWORK, Michael van den Bos explores the work of Alfred Hitchcock across four monochrome masterworks. This week: smalltown US thriller Shadow of a Doubt (1943), one of the director's personal favourites.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Best Years of Our Lives

Dir. William Wyler
170 min

One of the finest films to come out of WWII, The Best Years of Our Lives sympathetically conveys the difficulties returning veterans faced in readjusting to life at home. It won 7 of the top Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director and Actor.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Ray Gunn (Special Advance Screening with Brad Bird)

Dir. Brad Bird
119 min

In an alternate future as seen from 1939, a private eye (Sam Rockwell) is drawn into a case involving aliens, murder, and a multimedia star (Scarlett Johansson). Followed by a moderated discussion with director Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille).

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema