VIFF Short Forum

The perspectives and approaches that are elevating short-form storytelling in Canada.

VIFF Short Forum

From Chile to Canada: Media Herstories

VIFF Short Forum 1

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 119 MIN.

SAT OCT 1 8:45 PM VCT MON OCT 3 3:00 PM VCT

Municipal Relaxation Module

MATTHEW RANKIN, CANADA, 2022, 6 MIN. Ken has a perfect spot for a city bench, and is calling the city to share his idea.

The Runner

AMAR CHEBIB, CANADA, 2022, 17 MIN. A man from the Lower Nicola First Nation attempts to run an ultramarathon.

Coin Slot

SCOTT JONES, CANADA, 2021, 17 MIN. A paraplegic writer navigates the many shades of trauma and healing.

Nanitic

CAROL NGUYEN, CANADA, 2022, 15 MIN. A day in the life of Mai and Trang, their aunt Útty, and Trang’s ailing grandmother.

Mariposa

JOHN GREYSON, BONGANI NDODANA-BREEN, CANADA, 2022, 6 MIN. An operatic cine-poem about Portia White, Phelokazi Ndlwana, and the Free Gender group.

From Chile to Canada: Media Herstories

SARAH SHAMASH, SONIA MEDEL, CANADA, 2022, 17 MIN. Latinx women reveal an intergenerational network of media art genealogies.

I Thought the World of You

KURT WALKER, CANADA, 2022, 17 MIN. The lore around Canadian musician Lewis and his 1983 album, L’Amour.

Rumination

ASHLEIGH VAILLANCOURT, CANADA, 2022, 4 MIN. At night, a woman’s mind wanders as she chops rewood.

Mother’s Skin

LEAH JOHNSTON, CANADA, 2022, 20 MIN. Six-year-old Molly and her mother discover a secret hidden underneath the oor grate.

Patty Vs. Patty

VIFF Short Forum 2

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 106 MIN.

SUN OCT 2 8:30 PM VCT TUE OCT 4 2:45 PM VCT

i see me watching

SIDNEY GORDON, CANADA, 2022, 8 MIN. A singular self has been split in two.

Scaring Women at Night

KARIMAH ZAKIA ISSA, CANADA, 2022, 11 MIN. Two strangers walk alone at night: while one becomes increasingly afraid, the other tries— unsuccessfully—to appear less threatening.

Blond Night

GABRIELLE DEMERS, CANADA, 2022, 17 MIN. An autistic man meets a sex worker ejected from a customer’s vehicle.

Adore

BETH WARRIAN, CANADA, 2022, 11 MIN. A queer Peruvian-Canadian woman gives her nephew a sequined dress.

First Months of Freedom

KRISS LI, CANADA, 2021, 10 MIN. Cat, a transgender woman in Tennessee, has completed parole. A portrait emerges of the challenges posed by her newfound freedom.

Tongue

KAHO YOSHIDA, CANADA, 2022, 2 MIN. Tired of her date’s racist and sexist comments, a woman decides to liberate his tongue.

Patty Vs. Patty

CHRIS STRIKES, CANADA, 2022, 19 MIN. In 1985, Jamaican bakers went head-to-head with the government over a name.

Minus Twenty

JACK PARKER, CANADA, 2022, 7 MIN. A day in the life of a cold storage facility worker.

Sikiitu

GABRIEL ALLARD GAGNON, CANADA, 2021, 21 MIN. In Ivujivik, Ali dreams of being a hip-hop superstar instead of going hunting with his dad.

Horse Brothers

VIFF Short Forum 3

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 99 MIN.

MON OCT 3 8:30 PM VCT WED OCT 5 3:30 PM VCT

Tidal

NIAMH WILSON, CHLOE VAN LANDSCHOOT, CANADA, 2022, 10 MIN. Examining the cyclical nature of workplace trauma and the relentlessness of health care work. The daily grind of a bedside nurse is embodied through movement, rhythm, and dance.

Chasing Birds

UNA LORENZEN, CANADA/ICELAND, 2022, 8 MIN. A hand-drawn animation of parallel universes in which strangers share the use of a long table as their worlds gradually merge.

Paco

KENT DONGUINES, CANADA, 2022, 15 MIN. While keeping a secret from his family overseas, Paco struggles to uphold his responsibilities and aspirations.

Hills and Mountains

SALAR PASHTOONYAR, CANADA, 2022, 8 MIN. Filmed on location in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, an Afghan woman recalls how the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan led to her forced displacement and marriage.

Dhulpa

KUNSANG KYIRONG, CANADA, 2022, 18 MIN. The stories of a Tibetan immigrant community working at a local laundry facility.

Square Peg

CHRISTIAN BUNEA, CANADA, 2022, 8 MIN. A freshman international student tries to print their essay before an exam.

Horse Brothers

MILOS MITROVIC, FABIAN VELASCO, CANADA, 2022, 8 MIN. A tale of sibling betrayal and revenge as told by a ranch horse (voiced by Guy Maddin).

Terror/Forming

RYLAN FRIDAY, CANADA, 2022, 24 MIN. Parker and his boyfriend Darren make a disturbing discovery on their way to Parker’s late kokum’s cabin.

Late Summer

VIFF Short Forum 4

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 105 MIN.

TUE OCT 4 9:00 PM VCT THU OCT 6 3:30 PM VCT

Red House

BARRY DOUPÉ, CANADA, 2022, 3 MIN. Created using the Amiga computer console and Deluxe Paint IV software, hand-drawn sequences undergo a continual metamorphosis.

My Thoughts Exactly

MIKE ARCHIBALD, CANADA, 2022, 18 MIN. Two strangers bring their love, frustration, and desire to the cruising trails within Stanley Park.

Tibi

JARRET TWOYOUNGMEN, CANADA, 2022, 14 MIN. The teaching of Îethka culture is documented through the making of a tipi under supervision of knowledge keepers.

Framing the Self

ANDREA CRISTINI, CANADA/ITALY, 2022, 12 MIN. An animated character improvises in a cinematic vacuum through the direction of their creator.

Sexy Highland Stream

NATHAN ADLER, CANADA, 2021, 5 MIN. This poem is a love letter to the beauty found in nature. Written and spoken in English and Anishinaabemowin.

Late Summer

RYAN STEEL, CANADA, 2022, 12 MIN. A young loner grows attached to his camp counsellor at a haunted summer camp.

The Ballad of Gus

BRIAN BARNHART, CANADA, 2022, 16 MIN. Encouraged by two father gures—one a drug dealer, the other an artist—Gus faces a pivotal moment in his life.

Rose

ROXANN WHITEBEAN, CANADA, 2022, 25 MIN. Indigenous teen Rose is pressured to give up her baby for adoption. Her family does all they can to intervene.

Supported by Community Broadcast Partner

Heartbeat of a Nation

VIFF Short Forum 5

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 112 MIN.

WED OCT 5 8:15 PM VCT SUN OCT 9 12:30 PM VCT

Reste

GINGER LE PÊCHEUR, CANADA, 2022, 8 MIN. Alone in a messy home, a young girl spends the day playing by herself.

Pro Pool

ALEC PRONOVOST, CANADA, 2022, 8 MIN. A recent graduate in Viking history begins a new job at a pool shop.

Agony

ARNAUD BEAUDOUX, CANADA, 2022, 13 MIN. Fifteen days on a commercial trawler: life and death on the high seas.

The Faraway Place

KENNY WELSH, CANADA, 2022, 14 MIN. A young woman and her father, both of whom have horns, ee from a violent cult on a mission to eradicate their kind.

I Empower as a Mother

INDER NIRWAN, DANI BARKER, CANADA, 2022, 11 MIN. Patricia Massy of Massy Arts Society and Indigenous Brilliance collective shares aspects of her life, work, and business, Massy Books.

Brasier

EMILIE MANNERING, CANADA, 2021, 19 MIN. After joining a high school soccer team made up of older girls, 11-year-old Pierre-Amelia is exposed to teenager sex talk.

The Passing

JACKSON HARVEY, CANADA, 2022, 6 MIN. A dairy farmer searches for one of his cows that has wandered o in a blizzard.

Rocket Fuel

JESSIE POSTHUMUS, CANADA, 2021, 12 MIN. Three siblings face obstacles on the way to the bottling depot.

Heartbeat of a Nation

ERIC JANVIER, CANADA, 2022, 21 MIN. The healing of a community and nation through the reclamation and passing down of traditional teachings within a Dene family.

N’xaxaitkw

VIFF Short Forum 6

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 104 MIN.

THU OCT 6 8:30 PM VCT SUN OCT 9 3:30 PM VCT

The Flying Sailor

AMANDA FORBIS, WENDY TILBY, CANADA, 2022, 8 MIN. Based on the true events of the Halifax Explosion in 1917, a sailor soars above the blast towards the great unknown.

Meeting With Robert Dole

FRANÇOIS HARVEY, CANADA, 2021, 16 MIN. Dialectical in form and content, this documentary explores the connection between schizophrenia and theology through the life of Robert Dole.

N’xaxaitkw

ASIA YOUNGMAN, CANADA, 2021, 17 MIN. New to town, Zaraya befriends her next-door neighbour, who invites her to go on a search for the legendary lake monster, N’xaxaitkw— known to settlers as Ogopogo.

I, Sun

JULIEN FALARDEAU, CANADA, 2022, 12 MIN. A sun worshipper’s commitment grows desperate when he catches a sun ower turning towards him.

Baba

MERAN ISMAILSOY, ANYA CHIRKOVA, CANADA, 2022, 14 MIN.

All hell breaks loose when a depressed father calls in his son to help mediate an argument with the landlord.

Grown in Darkness

DEVIN SHEARS, CANADA, 2021, 17 MIN. Emmanuel pays his longtime friend, Henry, a visit on his rhubarb farm during harvest. Through the next few days, the two examine the nature of their relationship.

La plage aux êtres

KENDRA MCLAUGHLIN, CANADA/FRANCE, 2021, 20 MIN. Time, memory, and grief are explored in this close look at the preservation of an unidenti ed creature.

Fireworks

Reel Youth Film Festival

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 76 MIN.

SAT OCT 1 3:15 PM IN08 SUN OCT 9 1:30 PM IN08

The Reel Youth Film Festival is a diverse collection of short lms made by emerging lmmakers around the world. Chosen by an international youth jury from 1300+ submissions and 100 countries. Whether it is a writer shing for her next idea, a Māori boy grieving his father’s absence, or a hilarious young Black man expressing frustration with pandemic lockdown, the Reel Youth Film Festival will show you the world through the eyes of its talented youth.

A l’unisson (Paper talk) Baile da Magia (Prom and Potions) Trailblazer The Hill We Climb Self The White Rose Solitude For My Father Lonely Souls Dear Karen Pasapalabra (Whisperer) Sound of Borders Patterns in Our Lives Fishing She Said, She Said CITSALP Power Through Fireworks Not Quite Quarantine

Zeb’s Spider

Shorts with Features

It’s What Each Person Needs

SOPHY ROMVARI, CANADA, 2022, 12 MIN.

An intimate and provocative portrait of Becca Willow Moss, a young woman who provides companionship for two very di erent communities through online chats and phone calls. Screens with Something You Said Last Night, p. 53

A Motorcycle Saved My Life

LORI LOZINSKI, CANADA, 2022, 13 MIN.

A personal meditation recounting how a motorcycle and the open road allowed the narrator to come to terms with her grief and set herself on the path to healing.

Screens with Unarchived, p. 55

Zeb’s Spider

ALICIA EISEN, SOPHIE JARVIS, CANADA, 2022, 10 MIN.

In this beautifully realized stop motion animation, a superstitious homebody becomes consumed with satisfying the ever-growing needs of an uninvited eight-legged guest.

Screens with Huesera, p. 63

Canadian Short Film Award

Presented by

• $2,000 cash award from VIFF • $5,000 equipment credit supplied by William F. White

International