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Muljil: Diving film image; person riding a moped down a deserted street

5: The absurd & spiritual

VIFF Short Forum

Image: Muljil: Diving

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Shorts from: Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Finland, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Poland, Portugal.

 

Oct 7 & 8: Q&A

 

This short film program includes the following films:

The Light of Immortality
Mikołaj Janik, Poland (25 min)

A man’s obsession with collecting vintage lamps slowly unravels the shadow of what is real and what is not, as his family, for decades, has quietly supported and adapted to his ever-growing fantasy.

 


Tears Burn to Ash
Natalie Murao, Canada (15 min)

An encounter with a doppelganger in Japan cracks open the edges of reality, as a return to the homeland becomes a search through memory, absence, and the ghosts of identity.

 


My Dad is an Astronaut
Bianca Rose Cheung, Canada (14 min)

Through dreamy textures and thermal imaging, the film hums with quiet longing, lost signals, and the strange intimacy of distance.

 


Mother of Dawn
Clara Trevisan, Belgium/Brazil/Finland/Portugal (9 min)

In the dead of night, a hungry creature searches for food — until something breaks the cycle.

 


Bleat!
Ananth Subramaniam, Malaysia/Philippines/France (16 min)

An elderly couple faces a dilemma when their male goat, destined for ceremonial slaughter, turns out to be pregnant.

 


Muljil: Diving
Young Eun Yoo (Yooye), South Korea (26 min)

Yang Young-sam, a 77-year-old haenyeo (female freediver) battling dementia, prepares for a final ritual goodbye.

 

Supported by

Community Partner

         

Director

Various

Country of Origin

Various

Year

2024 & 2025

Language

Various

Content Warning

Animal cruelty, graphic violence

18+
105 min
Animation BC Spotlight Cinemas of Asia Documentary Drama Experimental & Avant Garde Family Relations LGBTQIA2S+ Shorts Women Directors

Book Tickets

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

Rear Window

Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
110 min

James Stewart is the man who sees too much. "Jeff" Jeffries is a sports photographer waylaid by a broken leg, doomed to spend the summer in a wheelchair in his New York apartment. That's how he comes to witness a murder in the dead of night (or does he?).

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Vivaldi and Me

Dir. Damiano Michieletto
111 min

Venice, 1716. Composer Antonio Vivaldi teaches at an orphanage for abandoned girls, and establishes a deep rapport with violinist Cecelia — but their collaboration is threatened by her impending arranged marriage.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Whispers in the Woods

Dir. Vincent Munier
94 min

A luxuriant, healing immersion in nature with ravishing wildlife photography, this is the cinematic equivalent of "forest bathing," a trip deep into the Vosges, France, with photographer Vincent Munier (The Velvet Queen), his father and his son.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Three Colours: Red

Dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski
99 min

Irène Jacob plays Valentine, a runway model living in Geneva, who crosses paths with a retired judge (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who's a bit of an eavesdropper. Initially repelled, she becomes intrigued by this man, as do we... Kieslowski's sublime adieu.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Four Weddings and a Funeral

Dir. Mike Newell
118 min

Four Weddings begins with an onslaught of fucks. It's the first signal that this rom-com will break from tradition, despite the ritualized structural conceit described in the title. The witty screenplay is by Richard Curtis — it's still his best.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Camp

Dir. Avalon Fast
111 min

Reeling from two devastating tragedies, Emily (Zola Grimmer) takes refuge at a summer camp for troubled youth, where she has been offered a position as counsellor. She finds friendship, but also something more unexpected, something truly troubling...

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre