Skip to main content
Ana, En Passant film image; animated woman taking a picture with a polaroid camera

Ana, En Passant

This event has passed

International Premiere

Fernanda Salgado makes her elegant feature debut with this lyrical animated drama about Ana, a young Black woman returning to her late grandmother’s native town in Brazil. Trying to make sense of distant memories, family ties, and her own restless spirit, Ana encounters Alice, who now occupies her grandmother’s apartment, and the two strike up a close friendship. As Ana and Alice grow closer, Ana discovers a version of herself longing to feel rooted.

Salgado creates a dreamy world saturated with feminine essence and ancestral wisdom. As she explores the kinship between her characters, she considers the notion of different life paths and alternate realities, where past and present converge in a single quest for identity and belonging. Salgado masterfully blends 2D animation, rotoscoping, collage, and stop motion to craft a singular dramatic piece that reflects a seamless command of tone, technique, and layered storytelling. Playful, profound, and encased in visual softness, Ana, En Passant is a gentle ode to cultural yearning.

 

Oct 10 & 11: Filmmaker Q&A

 

Media Partner

Community Partner

Director
Credits
Country of Origin

Brazil/Portugal

Year

2026

Language

In Portuguese and French with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+
90 min
Animation Black Cinema Drama Family Relations Women Directors
Apiario Creative Studio

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits & Director

Executive Producer

Fernanda Vidigal, Alessandra Casado

Producer

Fernanda Salgado, Victor Dias, Diogo Carvalho, Nuno Beato, Emmanuel Quillet, Martine Vidalenc

Screenwriter

Fernanda Salgado

Cinematography

Safira Moreira

Editor

Paula Santos

ANIM

Camila Kater

Original Music

Metá Metá

Fernanda Salgado headshot

Fernanda Salgado

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

American Doctor

Dir. Poh Si Teng
93 min

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.

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 - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
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 VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
A. Rimbaud
A. Rimbaud film image; man lighting a pipe

A. Rimbaud

Dir. Patrick Wang
175 min

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."

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Shrek Cabaret

180 min

Dig out your greenest glad rags to celebrate Shrek. Before the movie, enjoy the ale of your choice at the Shrek Cabaret: expect songs, gags, acrobat princesses, a juggling Pinocchio, maybe even a talking ass... uh, donkey. It's a fairy tale come true!

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The 39 Steps

Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
86 min

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.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre