Canadian Premiere
Leaving home for university, Abbie (Willow Shields) thrives as she experiences independence and self-actualization. However, she’s tormented by the knowledge that her brother Kayden (Jonathan Simao), who has autism and is non-verbal, is reeling in her absence and pushing her parents (Lochlyn Munro and Elizabeth Mitchell) to their limits. While home for the holidays, Abbie faces the impossible decision between returning to Karly (Ava Capri), the woman she’s fallen for, or providing Kayden the support he seemingly desperately needs.
Drawing from her own experiences growing up with a sibling with ASD, Connie Cocchia creates a clear-eyed depiction of autism’s impacts on an individual and their family. Rather than crafting a scrappy underdog story about an overachieving member of the autism community with savant qualities, When Time Got Louder offers a deeply moving story about good people simply trying to do their best—and just how hard that can be.
Q&A Oct 8 & Oct 9
Presented by
Media Partner
Willow Shields, Lochlyn Munro, Elizabeth Mitchell, Jonathan Simao, Ava Capri
Canada
2021
English
Bullying, coarse language, violence
Open to youth!
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Tree of Life
The Tree of Life follows Jack as he reflects on his 1950s Texas childhood and the death of his younger brother. Deeply spiritual and poetic, Malick’s film moves through grief, memory, time, and space. And there are dinosaurs.
Sometimes, I Imagine Them All at a Party
Fourteen years ago, Daniela Magnani Hüller survived an attempted femicide by a schoolmate. Now a filmmaker, she revisits the events surrounding that fateful incident, creating a moving collage of interviews, personal recollections, and archival material.
Image: © Bildersturm
Queen at Sea
An academic is pitted against her stepfather in a moral crisis over the care of her mother, who lives with dementia. Winner of the Silver Bear Jury Prize and Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance at the 2026 Berlinale.
Image: © Seafaring
The Story of Documentary Film – The 2000s
The Story of Documentary Film – The 2000s enters a decade shaped by 9/11, war, fear, and politics. Through films such as The Cove and Grizzly Man, these chapters trace the documentary medium's encounter with modernity as it begins to unravel.
Image: © Iraq in Fragments, 2006, dir. James Longley, USA, Daylight Factory Typecast-Pictures
Credits
Executive Producer
Roy Cocchia, Frank Giustra, Austin Kolodney, Navid Soofi
Producer
Connie Cocchia, Ken Frith, Jason Bourque
Screenwriter
Connie Cocchia
Cinematography
Nelson Talbot, Graham Talbot
Editor
Asim Nuraney
Production Design
Heather Coutts
Original Music
Chris Hyson
Director
Connie Cocchia
Connie Cocchia is an LGBTQ+ director, writer, and producer who began her film career in Los Angeles, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Film and Television at the University of Southern California. While in Los Angeles, she worked in physical production at Lionsgate and in development at Langley Park Pictures on the Warner Brothers lot. She won the Best First-time Director Award at the California Film Awards for her short Awake (2013). Returning to Vancouver, Cocchia received a Master of Fine Arts in Film Production from the University of British Columbia and founded her production company Cocchia Productions.