International Premiere
Since running away from home at 16, genre-defying pop artist Patrick Wolf has pursued music while building a home for the outcasts and ostracized. Constantly reinventing himself and his art, Wolf chased success to counteract the abuse and bigotry he faced as a queer public figure. But his success would come at a cost, leading him down a path of substance use and self-doubt that would ultimately leave him unable to make music for over a decade.
Narrated by Tilda Swinton — whose film Orlando had a transformative effect upon Wolf in his youth — director Christian Cargill contrasts the chaotic wilderness of Wolf’s early career with his current cultivation of a more contemplative life. Archival footage bridges seamlessly into beautifully animated scenes that capture Wolf’s present routine, giving the audience with a unique perspective on Wolf’s inner landscape. WOLF is a tender portrait of an artist recovering in the wake of grief and addiction, and a glimpse into the profound ability to rediscover oneself and prevail against odds.
Content Considerations: Substance and alcohol abuse, grief
Oct 10 & 11: Filmmaker Q&A
Presented by
Media Partner
Patrick Wolf, Tilda Swinton
UK
2026
English
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Hannah Bush Bailey, Tilda Swinton
Producer
Christian Cargill, Lucy Draper
Screenwriter
Christian Cargill
Cinematography
Christian Cargill
ANIM
Efa Blosse Mason, Karina Geddes
Editor
Kevin Corry
Original Music
Owen Pallett
Christian Cargill
Christian Cargill is a documentary director and Camerimage-nominated cinematographer with a sensitive, energetic, and playful style. His self-made debut Heart Valley had its world premiere at Tribeca Festival in 2022, where it won the award for Best Documentary Short. The short later went on to win the BAFTA Cymru Award for Short Film before being released through The New Yorker and BBC. His Oscar-qualifying second short Recomposing Earth (2024) premiered at Barbican Hall before an award-winning festival run. In 2022, Cargill founded the production company Dalmatian Film, and in 2023 he was nominated for a Grierson Award.
Filmography: Heart Valley (2022); Recomposing Earth (2024); Howls to the Harbour (2025)
Missing VIFF? Check Out What's Playing at the VIFF Centre
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The Haunting
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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.
