North American Premiere
Systemic issues of state surveillance and migrant labour exploitation collide when the sudden disappearance of an elderly woman sends her caregiver, Lin, on a relentless search.
Aoyang Li, Yun Li, Yusha Chen, Zhaohong Zhang
China
2025
In Mandarin with English subtitles
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Angela Ying Bai, Yue Huang, Yaohui Xiao, Xiaojing Qi, Lei Wang, Chris Yang, Roy Ling, Star Li
Producer
Hanxiong Bo
Screenwriter
Hanxiong Bo
Cinematography
Jiahao Zhang
Editor
Xinzhu Liu
Production Design
Lian Liu
Original Music
Ryan Somerville
Hanxiong Bo
Hanxiong Bo, born and raised in Beijing, premiered his film Drifting (2019) at the 67th San Sebastian International Film Festival, garnering global acclaim and leading to an acquisition by Arte. He earned his BFA in film and Media Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and his MFA in film directing from the University of California, Los Angeles. Bo was selected for the 2024 Locarno Filmmakers Academy, and is preparing for his debut feature film.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Kneeling Goddess
In which wealthy industrialist Arturo de Cordova purchases the titular nude sculpture of his lover (María Félix) as an anniversary gift for his innocent, adoring wife. Soon enough the wife is dead, though untangling just how and why is part of the fun.
The Blue Trail
77-year-old Tereza makes a break for the Brazilian jungle in this trippy septuagenarian fantasy, the latest from Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro is a quirky picaresque, lushly photographed and filled with mordant humour.
Two Prosecutors
In the midst of Stalin’s purges, a naïve prosecutor sets out to investigate a prisoner’s innocence, unaware of the labyrinthine bureaucracy awaiting him. A Kafkaesque procedural thriller about the pursuit of justice in the face of corruption.
Image: © SBS Productions
Crepúsculo
A brain surgeon (Arturo de Córdova) begins to doubt his own sanity when the woman he's in love with (Gloria Marin) marries his brother — and he starts fantasizing about murder.
Victims of Sin
This movie is a hot scramble of piety and passion, sentimentality and sleaze. Ninón Sevilla plays Violeta, a rumba sensation who oversteps when she rescues a newborn from the trash. This gets her fired and wins the enmity of the pimp who fathered the kid.