North American Premiere
Night after night, a family of four is tormented by an unseen presence inside their home — or so it seems. As the parents struggle to connect with their increasingly withdrawn son, they eagerly await the return of their eldest daughter from university. But her homecoming quickly turns confrontational when she urges the family to abandon the house and escape the nightly terrors they have seemingly learned to live with.
Director Cristian Ponce transforms the aesthetics of a late-night television special into an analogue nightmare, where abrupt commercial breaks and cavernous negative space make every shadow a possible threat. Rather than reveal what lurks in the darkness, Ponce exploits the anticipation of seeing it. As cameras, crew members, and other traces of production begin creeping into view, the distinction between spectator and spectre becomes increasingly unstable. Eerie — and playful — Family Fears Another Night of Terror transforms the mechanics of filmmaking into its own source of horror, asking what happens when watching becomes a form of haunting.
Content Considerations: Graphic violence, strobe effects
Oct 4 & 5: Filmmaker Q&A
Supported by
Media Partner
Nadia Lozano, Diego Velázquez, Max Federico Aleman, Mora Magnarelli, Jeanette Bulzgis
Argentina
2026
In Spanish with English subtitles
At International Village
At Fifth Ave
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Producer
Juan Protto Blanc
Screenwriter
Cristian Ponce
Cinematography
Franco Cerana
Editor
Hernán Biasotti, Cristian Ponce
Production Design
Laura Roldán
Original Music
Julián Di Pietro
Cristian Ponce
Cristian Ponce is a screenwriter and director. In 2019, he released the animated horror series The Kirlian Frequency on Netflix. In 2020, he released his first feature film, History of the Occult, which earned widespread critical and audience acclaim. In 2024, he directed Abraço de Mãe, produced in Brazil for Netflix, and the following year he directed the feature film adaptation of The Kirlian Frequency.
Filmography: History of the Occult (2020); A Mother’s Embrace (2024); The Kirlian Frequency (2025)
Missing VIFF? Check Out What's Playing at the VIFF Centre
The Secret in Their Eyes
This month's Talking Pictures screening is a multi-layered, poignant thriller interweaving the personal lives of a prosecution investigator (Ricardo Darin) and a judge, with a manhunt spanning twenty-five years. Stay for cookies, coffee and a chat after!
The Haunting
Directed by Robert Wise in 1963, The Haunting is a classic exercise in the suggestive power of cinema, adapted from Shirley Jackson's 1959 best-seller, The Haunting of Hill House, a provocative blend of supernatural and psychological horror.
Once Upon a Time in Harlem
Once Upon a Time in Harlem splices together footage shot by William Greaves in 1972 of a group of Harlem Renaissance luminaries in conversation at Duke Ellington’s townhouse. The film is a living archive of memory, disagreement, style, and Black genius.
Possible Love
Lee Chang-dong’s first film since Burning (2018) is a sardonic, slow-burning satire about two couples: a documentary filmmaker married to a wealthy businessman, and a working-class family struggling to make ends meet after the husband has been laid off.
