International Premiere
An Iranian-American actor auditions for a supporting role in a major film.
Elee Kademi, Nancy Kimball, Jake Fallon, Courtney Renee Stallings, Lee Emmerich, Charlotte Soehner
USA
2025
In English and Persian with English subtitles
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Aaron Champagne, Armon Mahdavi, Nancy Kimball, Gurv Sidhu
Screenwriter
Armon Mahdavi
Cinematography
Aaron Champagne
Editor
Armon Mahdavi
Production Design
Diana Penglase
Original Music
Zach “Monk” Goggans
Armon Mahdavi
Armon Mahdavi is a writer and filmmaker from San Francisco, now living in New York. His films have played at venues like the Museum of the Moving Image, the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, and Spectacle Theater in Brooklyn. His short stories have been published in Gulf Coast, Triangle House Review, and others. He is currently a Hawthornden fellow at Brooklyn College, pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in fiction.
Missing VIFF? Check Out What's Playing at the VIFF Centre
American Doctor
One of the most powerful documentaries of the year, this puts us smack in the open wound that is Gaza, filtered through the eyes of three American surgeons (of Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian backgrounds) compelled to do their utmost to alleviate harm.
The History of Concrete
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.
La Bola Negra
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.
A. Rimbaud
Patrick Wang (The Bread Factory) presents the life of French poet Arthur Rimbaud in this staggeringly adventurous and deeply considered movie, a three-hour, one-man show quite unlike anything we have seen before. "Poetic, audacious and singular."
The 39 Steps
In our new film studies series, FRAMEWORK, film scholar Michael van den Bos explores the work of Alfred Hitchcock, across four monochrome masterworks. This week: The 39 Steps (1935), a witty and fast-moving spy thriller from Hitchcock's English period.