Skip to main content
What We Do Next film image, director Stephen Belber

What We Do Next

This event has passed

Canadian Premiere

Councilwoman Sandy James (Karen Pittman) aspires to a more compassionate New York. But when a woman from her past, Elsa (Michelle Veintimilla), is released from prison, Sandy worries her detractors will uncover her involvement in Elsa’s crime. Sixteen years ago, Sandy and her then-fling, corporate lawyer Paul (Corey Stoll), loaned $500 to a teenage Elsa who sought protection from her abusive father—not realizing they were buying her a gun with which to kill him.

To protect Sandy’s career, she and Paul ask Elsa to lie to a journalist about the source of the funds. But one lie opens the door to blackmail, and when Elsa’s parole is violated, she asks Sandy and Paul to corroborate another lie—forcing them to walk the razor’s edge between their morals and the standard judicial process. Writer/director Stephen Belber’s heart-wrenching dramatic three-hander provides incisive commentary on gun control, racial and class biases, the nature of trauma, and the failures of the U.S. justice system to protect the most vulnerable.

 

Q&A Sept 30 & Oct 2

Director
Cast

Corey Stoll, Karen Pittman, Michelle Veintimilla

Credits
Country of Origin

USA

Year

2022

Language

English

Film Contact
Content Warning

Domestic Violence, Sexual Violence, Child Abuse, Self Harm, Incest

18+

At International Village

19+

At The Rio

77 min
Award Winners Drama

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

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

A Bug's Life

Dir. John Lasseter
95 min

There's a world going on underground! Pixar's second feature shrinks Seven Samurai to ant-like proportions, with heroic Flick enlisting the services of a touring flea circus to defend the colony against the marauding grasshoppers. Rated: G

Image: © Disney Pixar 1998

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Ennio

Dir. Giuseppe Tornatore
150 min

Cinema Paradiso director Giuseppe Tornatore proves the perfect filmmaker to craft this loving tribute to one of the all-time greats: composer Ennio Morricone (1928-2020).

Image: Courtesy of Music Box Films

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Toy Story

Dir. John Lasseter
81 min

In the first computer generated animation feature film, space ranger Buzz Lightyear discovers he’s not an intergalactic ambassador, just a children’s plaything (but there’s nothing wrong with that). Rated: G

Image: © Disney Pixar 1995

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

7 Beats per Minute

Dir. Yuqi Kang
100 min

While attempting a world record freedive in 2018, Jessea Lu lost consciousness and stopped breathing for four minutes. Years later, Jessea returns to the site of her near-death experience, ready to dive again and become reborn.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Wild Bunch (Director's Cut)

Dir. Sam Peckinpah
145 min

The Mexico/Texas borderlands, 1913: Pike (William Holden) leads his gang of aging outlaws on a foray south for one last hurrah. Peckinpah's masterpiece, a savage lament for men who believe in nothing but find respect by dying in vain.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Armand

Dir. Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel
117 min

When six-year-old Armand is accused of abusing another boy, his mother is called in for a school meeting. Bracing and bold, this is a lacerating drama from writer-director Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel (the grandson of Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullmann).

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Credits

Executive Producer

Brian Tanke, Stephen Belber, Matt Bronson

Producer

Chris Mangano, Merry-Kay Poe, Max Neace

Screenwriter

Stephen Belber

Cinematography

Garrette Rose

Editor

Justin Chan

Production Design

Christelle Matou

Original Music

Paul Brill

Director

Stephen Belber headshot, What We Do Next director

Stephen Belber

Stephen Belber’s plays have been produced on Broadway and in over 25 countries. They include Tape (2000), Match (2004), The Power of Duff (2012), and The Muscles In Our Toes (2014). He was an associate writer for Tape (2001) and a writer for The Laramie Project (2002). He also wrote and directed Management (2008), and Match (2014), which starred Jennifer Aniston and Patrick Stewart, respectively. His television credits include Rescue Me, Law & Order SVU, and pilots for F/X, FTVS, and HBO.

Filmography: Management (2008); Match (2014)