The Vancouver International Film Festival Program Guide 2023

F IÈRE DE PROM OU VOIR ET DE FAIRE

RAYONNE R L ES TA LENT S CA NA DIEN S

ET LEU R S HIS TOI R ES A U PAYS

C OMME À L’ÉT RA NGE R. TÉLÉFILM

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A UDI OVISUE LLE C ANA D IENNE .

A PRO UD C HA MPIO N O F CA NA DI AN

TA LENT AND ST OR IE S , AT HO ME

A ND AB RO AD . TELEFIL M I S AT

TH E HE ART OF TH E CA NA DI AN

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TELEFILM.CA

Welcome to the Festival

Musqueam Indian Band

ʔa: si:y̓ém̓ nə siyéy̓ə

Friends and Relatives:

ʔəm̓i ce:p kʷətxʷiləm ʔi ʔə tə n̓a šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmaʔɬ təməxʷ, tə šxʷʔam̓əts tə shən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓qən

Welcome to the ancestral territory of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓speaking Musqueam people

səl̕ilwətaʔɬ məsteyəxʷ

Along with our relatives Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh

Musqueam has used storytelling as a way to share our teachings for thousands of years—it is an intrinsic part of who we are as Indigenous people. We are also innovators, continually adapting and utilizing new technologies to build upon ancestral knowledge that has sustained us for millennia.

Through film and other media, Indigenous peoples are finding new ways to share our stories, experiences, struggles and successes. Film provides an essential platform to amplify Indigenous voices—voices that have been silenced for far too long—and helps to ensure that new generations of Indigenous filmmakers will be inspired to continue creatively telling these important stories.

Musqueam acknowledges that the Vancouver International Film Festival works hard to bring diverse local, national and international stories to our beautiful territory, while also featuring many Indigenous films during the festival and all year round.

We look forward to continuing to build our relationship with VIFF and inspiring new Musqueam filmmakers.

Chief Wayne Sparrow (yəχʷyaχʷələq)

Nilh ta s7ulh temíxw tta Sḵwx̱wú7meshulh Úxwmixw iy tta Xwmets’kwiy̓emulh Úxwmixw iy tta Selílwetulh Úxwumixw

This is the land of our Squamish People, and the Musqueam People, and Tsleil-Waututh People.

For many generations, Squamish People have created a cul ture of oral literature to teach our history, values, and advice to the next generation. Our storytelling traditions are how we inspire ourselves and our children to be a good person, to treat family, land, and water with respect, and work together as a people. We celebrate all storytelling traditions, including new ways of telling stories through film and cinema.

Squamish Nation recognizes the Vancouver International Film Festival’s work to bring diverse local, national, and international stories to our beautiful territory, while also featuring Indigenous films during the festival and all year round.

Congratulations, VIFF, on your 42nd festival!

Syex̱wáliya, Ann Whonnock Spokesperson & Councilor

many  films that are  written, produced, and led by Indigenous peoples and by doing so, the festival helps bring these stories to life while bridging cultures with different audiences. I raise my hands in thanks to VIFF for their ongoing commitment to collaborating with Tsleil-Waututh Nation. VIFF works closely with us to provide access to films and documentaries during the festival and throughout the year, which contributes to teaching our next generation about the importance of these stories.

We look forward to continuing to strengthen our engagement with VIFF. Congratulations on launching your 42nd season of this wonderful festival.

hay čxʷ q̓ə, Chief Jen Thomas səlilwətaɬ ( Tsleil-Waututh Nation)

VIFF thanks the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations for their continued stewardship of the unceded and occupied land on which our work takes place. As an organization founded and predominantly directed by settlers and immigrants, we understand our responsibility to seek out and build authentic relationships with Indigenous communities, and to allow this ongoing dialogue to influence our practices. As part of this process, we remain committed to supporting and collaborating with Indigenous artists, filmmakers, curators, and audiences.

Welcome to the Festival

A message from the Prime Minister of Canada

Dear Friends:

I am pleased to extend my warmest greetings to everyone attending the 2023 Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF).

Now in its 42nd year, this much-anticipated event offers a wonderful opportunity to experience some of the best cinema from both Canada and around the world. I am certain that audiences will be entertained and engaged by the diverse selection of films being screened over the next eleven days, while filmmakers and industry professionals will benefit greatly from the festival’s many professional development and networking opportunities.

I would like to commend The Greater Vancouver International Film Festival Society for coordinating this celebration of artistic excellence. With so many talented contributors, this year’s edition of the VIFF is, once again, sure to be a resounding success. A special thank you to all of

Please accept my best wishes for a memorable experience.

ssage fr Mayor of Vancouver

On behalf of the citizens of Vancouver and my colleagues on City Council, I want to extend my congratulations to the organizers of the 42nd An nual Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF).

ourages understanding of the world’s cultures through the art of cinema. This year’s VIFF program will showcase a vibrant blend of international selections, which celebrates the complexity of the human condition. It is through the arts that we have the power to create a mean ingful change in our world.

congratulations to the filmmakers, artists, organizers, and volunteers for another

A message from the Premier of British Columbia

As Premier of British Columbia, it is my great pleasure to welcome everyone attending the 2023 Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF).

Since its founding in 1982, the Vancouver International Film Festival has grown to become one of the largest and most prestigious film festivals in North America, attracting audiences from across British Columbia and around the world for a showcase of cinematic excellence. As a platform for global filmmakers, VIFF facilitates cross-cultural exchange, fosters artistic expression and encourages a deeper appreciation for

It takes an immense effort to coordinate an event of this scale, and I would like to acknowledge the hard work of the organizers, volunteers and sponsors for making it happen. I would also like to commend the many visionary filmmakers and everyone involved in the productions for their contributions to the festival. This year’s programme is sure to inspire audiences through powerful performances and dynamic storytelling from diverse perspectives.

Please accept my best wishes for a festival full of excitement and entertainment. Enjoy the films!

Honourable David Eby Premier of British Columbia

A message from the Executive Director and Board Chair of VIFF

We have been deeply encouraged by the number of film fans who have returned to the VIFF Center so far this year. After a few years of challenge, it’s been rewarding to see how quickly our community reaffirmed their love of cinema, and we’re expecting an even greater response from our dedicated festival audience.

We are excited to bring the best of international cinema to entertain and challenge you, and hopefully, remain with you. We remain steadfast in our commitment to promoting and supporting local film creators, and this year there is a plethora of great Pacific Northwest stories

Part of that commitment includes creating opportunities for established Industry professionals to share their experience and knowledge with the next generation of film makers. Our Industry, Amp, Labs, and Catalyst Mentorship programs will welcome over 400 of the regions emerging film professionals into the creative

One year ago, we began the work of building a culture of Philanthropy at VIFF, and already we have been so overwhelmed by the generosity of our patrons and donors. Your support is important in helping VIFF to be a major contributor to the cultural fabric of our community.

We want to thank our many donors and partners, VIFF’s remarkable staff, and the hundreds of

Kyle Fostner (Executive Director) • Lucille Pacey (Board Chair)

Mayor Ken Sim Mayor of Vancouver

A message from the Minister of Canadian Heritage

Welcome to the 42nd Vancouver International Film Festival!

Movies bring people together in a shared celebration of our culture and diversity and allow us to make discoveries that educate, enlighten and entertain. Our government is committed to giving Canadians the opportunity to enjoy the arts in their communities, which is why we are proud to support VIFF. Once again this year, the Festival is providing an unparalleled showcase for the film industry, while offering film lovers

VIFF has put together a bold and captivating collection of Canadian and international films that are sure to delight audiences. We want our creators to have the largest stage possible on which to shine, and this festival gives BC and Canadian creators an outstanding opportunity to have their works featured alongside those of top filmmakers at one of this country’s leading film festivals.

As Minister of Canadian Heritage, I would like to thank all the organizers, volunteers and filmmakers who helped bring this year’s VIFF to life. I hope everyone taking part in the festival enjoys discovering these films and celebrating voices and stories from Canada and around the world!

Honourable Pascale St-Onge Minister of Canadian Heritage

A message from the Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport

On behalf of Premier David Eby and the Government of British Columbia, welcome to the 2023 Vancouver International Film Festival.

Film has the power to tell new and different stories, to create connections, build bridges among people and inspire us all. Every year, the Vancouver International Film Festival celebrates the work, talent and diversity of filmmakers and their teams from around the world. This year’s lineup of screenings, talks, conferences and events continue to promote and showcase amazing projects and programs that not only entertain but also educate audiences through the art of film. For all these reasons, the Province is pleased to support this world-class event through Creative BC, the BC Arts Council and the Tourism Events Program.

Congratulations to those who were involved in this year’s featured films and projects, and special thanks to the organizers, staff and volunteers for staging this year’s festival.

A message from the Executive Director and CEO of Telefilm Canada

Showcasing and celebrating the works of Canadian creators is at the heart of what we do at Telefilm. That is why we are proud to partner with the Vancouver International Film Festival, to further boost our support for Canadian creatives at home and around the world.

In this ever-evolving cultural landscape, festivals continue to play an important role in the screen-based industry, growing the talent pool, as well as allowing audiences to celebrate and connect with distinctive Canadian films and the

We encourage you to keep supporting Canadian talent in theatres and on digital platforms!

A message from the Chief Executive Officer of Creative BC

Congratulations from all of us at Creative BC on  42 dynamic editions  of the Vancouver International Film Festival! VIFF is one of the world’s most prominent festivals and we are pleased to be a premier supporter of this exciting festival once again.

Creative BC works to elevate a diverse and dynamic creative sector through leadership, collaboration, and investment and we are proud to support VIFF as it continues to bring us together each year. The festival anchors a culture of film in B.C., connecting the local ecosystem nationally and internationally with diverse creators has always played a vital role in our community to keep us connected through innovative partnerships and programming. VIFF, highlights vibrant storytelling, uplifts diverse voices, and celebrates emerging talent. All of this combines to entertain locally and strengthen  our province’s global reputation as a premier creative destination and a leader in motion picture. and volunteers at VIFF! We’ll see you at the theatre–together let’s celebrate the best in domestic and international film for 2023!

Prem Gill CEO, Creative BC

Premier Partner

Signature Partners

Public Supporters

Premier Supporters

Festival Partners

Gold Media Partners

Silver Media Partners

Consulate and Cultural Funders

CONSUL AT GÉNÉRAL DE FR ANCE À VANCOUVER

Consulate General of Italy Vancouver

Technical Sponsors & Official Suppliers

Donors

Leanne Averbach

Nurit Barkan-Ascher

Angela Bell

John Bell, Honorary Consul, Cote D’Ivoire

Paul Bennett & Catherine Olsen

Catherine Borrie

M.J. Boscacci

Colin Browne

Melina Buckley & JJ Camp

John Chandler

Peter Cheng & Vincent Wheeler

Maret Christiansen

Glenn Cohen

Jesse Le Coulliard

Walter Daroshin & Tina Thorndycraft

Rhys Davies

Lynne Davis

Jimena Diaz Jirash

Jacqueline Dupuis

William Ehrcke

Robert Farringer & Victor Or

Rodrigo Ferrat

Mike Fisher

Lester Fong

Kyle Fostner

Mark Gatha

Mike & Kathy Gallagher

Linda Gorrie

Stefan Habel

Matthew Hall

Riley Hanlan

Pavol Hell

David & Dana Hewitt

Your Gift, Their Stories: Donate. Empower. Transform.

Your donation isn’t just a gift; it’s a catalyst that empowers artists and inspires the creation of powerful narratives that touch hearts, challenge perceptions, and spur transformation. Embrace the magic of giving.

Rohini Hira

John Hooge

Lowell Ing

Selwyn Jacob

Am Johal

Reet Kana

Elizabeth Kao

Collin Koo & Kevin Smith

Matt Kunau

Ingrid Lae

Fiona Tinwei Lam

Velia Laval

Edward Low

Anndraya Luui

Jane Macdonald

Shyla Magbuo

Eileen Mate

Mahmoud Merali

Ian & Rene Merkel

Miriam Moses

Lucille & Russ Pacey

Connie Parker

Faye Parlow

Edward Pascal

in memory of Kathy Evans

Anil Patade

Margot Pratt

J. Allan Quinn & Takanobu Iida

Sirish Rao

Jane Reid

Gladys Reinarz

Bob Rennie

Farnaz Riahi

Martin Roland

Kennedy Duncan Foundation

Harrison Rose

Hotze Rullmann

Jacquie Ruygrok

Selma Savage

Steven Savitt

Leonard Schein

Manoj Shankar

Ken & Patricia Shields

Linda Siegel

Lisa Snider

Nancy Stern

Holly Sykes

Fernando Vargas

Terry Whitehead

Felix Yee

Sally Yukawa

Michelle Yung

viff.org/donate

Venue Information

The Cinematheque

1131 Howe

PARKING: Metered street

ENTRANCE: Street level

WHEELCHAIR: 4 spaces

WASHROOMS: Fully accessible, gender neutral

The VIFF Centre 1181 Seymour

• Vancity Theatre

• Studio Theatre

PARKING: Metered street

ENTRANCE: Street level

WHEELCHAIR: 2-4 spaces

WASHROOMS: Fully accessible, universal washroom available

The Vancouver Playhouse

600 Hamilton

PARKING: Metered street and underground paid

ENTRANCE: Street level

WHEELCHAIR: 4-5 spaces

WASHROOMS: Universal washroom available

Downtown Vancouver

SFU's Goldcorp Centre for the Arts

149 W Hastings

• Djavad Mowafaghian

Cinema

PARKING: Metered street

ENTRANCE: Ramp from courtyard, street level from Hastings, elevator to theatre

WHEELCHAIR: 4-6+ spaces

WASHROOMS: Fully accessible, universal washroom available

88 W Pender

• Cinema 8

• Cinema 9

• Cinema 10

PARKING: Parking passes available

ENTRANCE: Street level, elevator to theatre

WHEELCHAIR: 2-4 per theatre

Park Theatre

W

18th W 19th

3440 Cambie

PARKING: Metered street

ENTRANCE: Stairs at street level

Accessible access – staff assistance required

WHEELCHAIR: 3 spaces

East Vancouver NGrandview

E Broadway

E 10th

Rio Theatre 1660 E Broadway

PARKING: Metered street

ENTRANCE: Street level

WHEELCHAIR: 4-6 spaces

WASHROOMS: Limited accessibility, gendered

Join the Conversation. facebook.com/VIFFest twitter.com/VIFFest instagram.com/VIFFest

Seymour Granville Howe

Hornby Burrard

WHastings

Robson

Smithe Nelson Helmcken

Cambie

Beatty

Hamilton Taylor Keefer

Davie Richards

Homer

Cordova

International Village

Festival Tickets and Information

* Age Restrictions & Membership

Because the majority of our films have not been classified, you must be age 18+ to attend most films at VIFF. Due to liquor licensing, unclassified screenings at The Rio Theatre are strictly 19+ and the door staff will ask for ID.

VIFF presents many films that have not been classified by Consumer Protection BC. By law, anyone wishing to watch these films at the festival must be a member of the VIFF society. Your VIFF Society Membership is included in the cost of your ticket—there is no need to buy an additional membership as your ticket will indicate your membership upon entry.

Every year, a selection of films is classified so that film lovers younger than 18 can experience the festival. Check out the Rated for Youth titles or learn about our high school program by visiting viff.org

Accessibility

Need an easily accessible seat for yourself and/or a companion? Please contact our Infoline direct to book.

Indigenous Tickets

VIFF offers a limited number of complimentary tickets per screening to anyone who self-identifies as Indigenous. Please contact the Infoline direct to book.

Box Office

• We recommend that you purchase tickets online (viff.org) in advance when possible.

• In the case that the advance tickets are not entirely sold out, the remaining tickets will be available for purchase inperson at the Box Office before each screening.

• Each venue serves as a box office where you can buy tickets for any available film screening in the festival.

• Box offices open 30 minutes prior to the first screening of the day. The Vancouver Playhouse and International Village will open 45 minutes before.

Infoline

We’re here to help! Our Festival Infoline is staffed 7 days a week from 12pm-6pm.

PHONE 604-683-3456

EMAIL feedback@viff.org

How Do Ticket Packs Work?

Planning on seeing multiple films during VIFF? Want to take all your friends to see a film? Ticket packs are your chance to save and watch more!

• Ticket packs work like credits on your viff.org account.

• There are no restrictions on the number of tickets from your pack that can be used per screening. For example: if you buy a 6-ticket pack, you can use all 6 tickets for a single screening or individual tickets across multiple screenings.

• Ticket Packs are not valid for year-round screenings.

• Ticket Packs cannot be used to attend Industry events.

Check out our accessibility page for full information about access to VIFF Venues. You can filter screenings based on access needs including captioning, descriptive video, and relaxed screenings.

Relaxed Screenings Presented by

For further info or feedback email accessibility@viff.org

ALL-ELECTRIC ESCALADE IQ

CADILLAC-ESTIMATED UP TO 724 KM OF RANGE WITH A FULL CHARGE *

OCT 15 Anoushka Shankar

OCT 7 Hiromi’s Sonicwonder

NOV 19 Abdullah Ibrahim

APR 7 Oumou Sangaré

APR 15 Rhiannon Giddens

APR 19 Aaron Diehl

Preproduction models shown. Production models will vary. Anticipated availability in late 2024. *GM-estimated range on a full charge is based on current capability of analytical projection consistent with SAE J1634 revision 2017 – MCT. Range subject to change prior to production. Actual range may vary based on several factors, including temperature, terrain, battery age, loading, and how you use and maintain your vehicle. Performance targets, estimates and capability specifications based on computer-aided analysis and simulation using virtual engineering tools. Official estimates not yet available.

For our 42nd edition, our programmers have assembled a complement of films that will capture your imagination, challenge your perspectives, and broaden your understanding. In an increasingly ephemeral world, cinema retains its capacity to offer indelible experiences.

With a record number of films to consider for this year’s festival, we were fortunate to assemble our largest programming team in years. Determining this lineup relied on both their expertise and lived experiences, and we’re grateful for their passion and dedication. While Leading Lights and Focus, our two newest series, are shaped by the distinct perspectives of their guest curators, much of our feature film lineup resulted from a more collaborative process that we’re eager to further develop in future years.

It’s our hope that this program resonates with more audiences and communities than ever before. And it’s our belief that these films exist in dialogue with one another as they urgently and inventively explore their themes and concerns. There’s undeniably a cumulative power to a festival, as each new selection invites you to reflect on those that preceded it and gain further enrichment. Ultimately, you may emerge from these eleven days seeing the outside world with newfound clarity.

Enjoy your festival experience, wherever it leads you.

Curtis Woloschuk Director of Programming

Opening Gala

Fallen Leaves

Aki Kaurismäki is a genre unto himself. If you’ve seen Le Havre or The Other Side of Hope then you know what to expect, and if you haven’t, they’re charming, deadpan comedies about working class people, often melancholic or just alcoholic, but goodhearted and kind to dogs (there’s always a dog). In Fallen Leaves, Ansi (Alma Pöysti) meets Holappa (Jussi Vatanen), and these two lonely souls feel they are meant for each other, but Fate seems to have other ideas... From this simple love story, Kaurismäki crafts a poignant and pertinent comedy which picked up the Jury Prize at Cannes.

“Actually-funny and not just arthouse-funny [...] Fallen Leaves is another of Kaurismäki’s beguiling and delightful cinephile comedies, featuring foot-tapping rock’n’roll. It’s romantic and sweet-natured, in a deadpan style that in no way undermines or ironises the emotions involved and with some sharp things to say about contemporary politics. Fallen Leaves is a film with a big heart, as absurd and cartoony as it may be, it fills you with a feel-good glow.” PETER BRADSHAW, THE GUARDIAN Jury Prize, Cannes 2023

Presented by

THU SEP 28 7:00 PM PAR MON OCT 2 12:45 PM PLAY

Selected Filmography Shadows in Paradise (1986); Drifting Clouds (1996); The Man Without a Past (2002); Le Havre (2011); The Other Side of Hope (2017)

Cast Alma Pöysti, Jussi Vatanen, Janne Hyytiäinen, Nuppu Koivu Prod Aki Kaurismäki, Misha Jaari, Mark Lwoff, Reinhard Brundig Scr Aki Kaurismäki Cam Timo Salminen Ed Samu Heikkilä Prod Des Ville Grönroos Prod Co Sputnik Oy, Bufo Print Mubi

Kuolleet Lehdet AKI KAURISMÄKI, FINLAND/GERMANY, 2023, 81 MIN.

The Pot-au-Feu

Canadian Premiere. 1885: “The Napoleon of the culinary arts,” Dodin Bouffaunt (Benoit Magimel) is the most renowned gourmand in France, although he would be the first to credit his beloved cook, Eugénie (Juliette Binoche), who makes even his most whimsical conceits sing. Their partnership runs deep; it’s practical, intimate, intuitive, romantic… He’s asked her to marry him many times, she always demurs. But they’re both getting older, perhaps it is time to try again… Thirty years after his debut feature The Scent of Green Papaya won the Camera d’or at Cannes, Tran Anh Hùng won the

Best Director prize at this year’s festival with another delectable movie destined to join Babette’s Feast, Chocolat and Big Night on those lists of great foodie films. The Pot-au-Feu is so beautifully composed you can almost taste it: the mise-enscene evokes Impressionist paintings, but the camera is agile and alive to the energy and dynamics of the kitchen. And for all its attention to process, the film reveals that this is itself a sublime consummation.

Best Director, Cannes 2023

SAT OCT 7 6:00 PM

SUN OCT 8 3:15 PM

SUN OCT 8 9:15 PM

PLAY

PLAY

PLAY

Filmography The Scent of Green Papaya (1993); Cyclo (1995); The Vertical Ray of the Sun (2000); Norwegian Wood (2010)

La Passion de Dodin Bouffant TRAN ANH HÙNG, FRANCE, 2023, 134 MIN.

Cast Juliette Binoche, Benoit Magimel, Emmanuel Salinger, Patrick D’assumçao, Galatea Bellugi Exec Christine De Jekel Prod Olivier Delbosc Scr Anh Hung Tran Cam Johnathan Ricqueboug Ed Mario Battistel Prod Des Toma Baqueni Print Mongrel Media

Special Presentations

Highly anticipated films screening in our marquee venue. There are “highly anticipated films” and then there are the first new features from Hayao Miyazaki, Catherine Breillat, and Jonathan Glazer in a decade. Those are but three of the standouts in a Special Presentations lineup that also delivers the latest from VIFF stalwarts, the finest imports from Cannes, profiles of Canadian icons, and panic on the streets of Vancouver. This series both reacquaints you with beloved puppets from your childhood and leaves you questioning whether we’re all just pawns of fate.

Anatomy of a Fall

Anatomie d’une chute

JUSTINE TRIET, FRANCE, 2023, 151 MIN.

SAT SEP 30 6:00 PM PLAY

TUE O CT 3 9:00 PM PLAY

Justine Triet became only the third woman to win the top prize at Cannes, the Palme d’Or, for this engrossing psychological mystery thriller. In Anatomy of a Fall, when Samuel is found dead outside his alpine cabin it’s clear he plunged from the attic window. But did he jump, or was he pushed? The physical evidence is inconclusive, but the widow, Sandra looks eminently suspicious to the French authorities: she’s a prickly German novelist, and there is a recording of a violent argument she had with Samuel just the day before his death. The only other witness who might shed some light on the case is the couple’s visually impaired ten-year-old son. But as the trial proceeds, his faith in his mom’s innocence is shaken. Triet (who cowrote the screenplay with her life partner, Arthur Harari) proves there is still life in the courtroom drama. The film follows twin tracks: the nitty gritty interpretation of the evidence (which as the title suggests, hinges on the fall itself), and concurrently an anatomy of Sandra and Samuel’s marriage, which, in his absence, largely becomes an interrogation of her moral character. Layered and complex, this is compelling drama with a knockout performance from Sandra Hüller (Toni Erdmann). Palme d’Or, Cannes 2023

Cast Sandra Hüller, Swann Arlaud, Milo Machado Graner, Antoine Reinartz, Samuel Theis Prod Marie-Ange Luciani, David Thion Scr Justine Triet, Arthur Harari Cam Simon Beaufils Ed Laurent Sénéchal Prod Des Emmanuelle Duplay Prod Co Les Films Pelléas, Les Films de Pierre, Dist/Print Elevation Pictures

Filmography Age of Panic (2013); Victoria (2016); Sibyl (2019)

Presented by

Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and My Neighbour Totoro... Who co-founded the legend ary Studio Ghibli... He’s back with the story of a young boy, Mahito, growing up in Japan during WWII, who meets a talking heron and must venture into a fantasy world in order to save his new stepmother. Released in Japan without promotional fanfare this summer under the title How Do You Live, Miyazaki’s movie instantly became Ghibli’s biggest ever box office smash. Commentators were quick to point out that the film has several parallels with the filmmaker’s story: like Mahito, Miyazaki was born in 1941, his father worked in an airplane factory, and the family moved to the countryside after the fire bombing of Tokyo. Meanwhile the supernatural elements echo and reflect his recurring obsessions in configurations that will surprise and delight fans new and old. At 82, Miyazaki himself is still defiantly young at heart.

Dist/Print GKids

Filmography My Neighbour Totoro (1988); Princess Mononoke (1997); Spirited Away (2001); Ponyo (2008); The Wind Rises (2013)

Special Presentations

couver Canucks lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, there was panic in the streets, shat tered glass on the sidewalks, and smoke and pepper spray in the air as rioters left police cars ablaze and laid waste to blocks of downtown. As thousands of smartphone photos were posted online in the wake of the mayhem, social media platforms became the equivalent of old-fashioned “Wanted” posters. It turned out that concerned citizens’ handheld devices had unwittingly turned them into Big Brother.

In this absorbing documentary, Kathleen S. Jayme (The Grizzlie Truth) and Asia Youngman revisit the events of that chaotic night through interviews with the likes of Roberto Luongo, Jon Ronson, and Alexandra Samuel, and track down several of the then-young offenders who became the poster children for the riots and paid mightily for their misdeeds. In doing so, they make the compelling argument that mob mentalities flourish as readily and destructively online as they do in the streets.

Exec Asia Youngman, Kathleen S. Jayme, Marsha Cooke, John Dahl, Rob King, Brian Lockhart, Burke Magnus Prod Michael Tanko Grand, James Brown, Gentry Kirby, Mike Johnston Cam Kaayla Whachell Ed Greg Ng, Katie Chipperfield Prod Des Ryan MacInnes Mus Taylor Swindells, Jordan Klassen Art Dir Matt Carson Prod Co Visceral Village Productions, Five One Films, Grand Scheme, Christie Street Creative, Crossover Films, Dist/Print ESPN Films

Filmography (Kathleen S. Jayme) Finding Big Country (2018); The Grizzlie Truth (2022)

Special Presentations

the dead. Rohrwacher’s story (she wrote the original screenplay) could be called oblique and whimsical, but her movie is rooted in the rude, earthy tradition of Pasolini, the Tavianis and Roberto Rossellini (whose daughter Isabella has an extended cameo here as the mother of Arthur’s beloved, missing Beniamina); that is to say, it’s a vivid and authentic film of the land and the people who live on it, not to mention those who came before and are buried underneath.

Best Screenplay, Grand Prize of the Jury Cannes 2023

Cast Josh O’Connor, Isabella Rossellini, Alba Rohrwacher, Carol Duarte, Vincenzo Nemolato Exec Eli Bush, Jeff Deutchman, Alexandra Henochsberg, Alessio Lazzareschi, Manuela Melissano, Pierre-Francois Piet Prod Carlo Cresto-Dina Scr Alice Rohrwacher Cam Hélène Louvart Ed Nelly Quettier Prod Des Emita Frigato Dist/Print Elevation Pictures

Filmography Corpo Celeste (2011); The Wonders (2014); Happy as Lazarro (2018)

Presented by

in direct contradiction to her morals. Last Summer is Catherine Breillat’s triumphant return to the festival circuit after a decade-long absence—and she does not disappoint. Although the film is nominally a remake of the 2019 Danish drama Queen of Hearts, the French provocateur asserts her directorial personality from frame one. Never one to shy away from discomfiting material, Breillat explores every facet of the thorny power dynamics between Anne and Théo, denying the viewer any clean lines of identification. In Last Summer, as in the rest of Breillat’s boundary-pushing oeuvre, the real transgression lies in the filmmaker’s refusal to look away.

Cast Léa Drucker, Samuel Kircher, Olivier Rabourdin, Clotilde Courau, Angela Chen, Serena Hu Exec René Ezra, Caroline Blanco, Clifford Werber Prod Saïd Ben Saïd Scr Catherine Breillat, Pascal Bonitzer Cam Jeanne Lapoirie Ed François Quiqueré Lma Prod Des Sébastien Danos Prod Co SBS Print FilmsWeLike

Filmography A Real Young Girl (1976); 36 Fillette (1988); Romance (1999); Fat Girl (2001); The Last Mistress (2007)

Special Presentations

Cast Sakura Ando, Eita Nagayama, Soya Kurokawa, Hinata Hiiragi, Mitsuki Takahata Exec Minami Ichikawa, Toru Oota, Tom Yoda, Hajime Ushioda, Hirokazu Kore-eda Prod Minami Ichikawa, Genki Kawamura, Ryo Ota, Kiyoshi Taguchi, Hajime Ushioda, Kenji Yamada, Tatsumi Yoda Scr Yûji Sakamoto Cam Ryuto Kondo Ed Hirokazu Kore-eda Prod Des Keiko Mitsumatsu Mus Ryuichi Sakamoto Prod Co AOI Pro. Inc Print Photon Films

Filmography Maborosi (1995); Still Walking (2008); Like Father, Like Son (2013); Shoplifters (2018); Broker (2022)

Feat Michael J. Fox, The Barenaked Ladies, Peter Mansbridge Exec Mark J.W. Bishop, Matthew Hornburg, Aeschylus Poulos, Robert McCallum, Sonya Di Rienzo, Matthew Wexler, Justin Schoenrock, Greg Floyd, Donna Luke Prod Mark Bishop, Aeschylus Poulos, Robert McCallum, Matt Hornburg Scr Robet McCallum, Jordan C. Morris Cam John M. Tran Ed Nathan Shields, David New Prod Des Rudin Causi Mus Jonathan Goldsmith Prod Co marblemedia, Hawkeye Pictures

Filmography Nintendo Quest (2015); Missing Mom (2016); Power of Grayskull: The Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2017); Kittie: Origins/Evolutions (2017)

We

A CREATIVE AGENCY FOR BRANDS AT A POINT OF CHANGE

HUR JIN-HO, SOUTH KOREA, 2023, 116 MIN.

MON OCT 2 9:00 PM

WED O CT 4 3:30 PM

PLAY

PAR

Two siblings, a successful but unprincipled lawyer (Sul Kyung-gu) and his conscientious pediatrician brother (Jang Dong-gun), lead prosperous lives and get along well despite their divergent moral beliefs. But things come to a head during one of their regular monthly dinners with their wives, where they learn of a disturbing situation involving both their teenage kids. As the consequences of this dreadful discovery spiral out of control, the families are confronted with an unimaginable choice. Adapted from Dutch author Herman Koch’s controversial bestselling novel The Dinner, A Normal Family transposes the story action to the cultural specifics of present-day South Korea, but maintains the original’s darkly suspenseful core. No stranger to thorny material, having helmed a 2012 adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons, Korean director Hur Jin-ho directs this drama of privilege and moral decay with clockwork precision. Tense and absorbing, this thriller puts a sinister, unforgettable twist on the notion that blood ties are the ties that bind.

Cast Sul Kyung-gu, Jang Dong-gun, Kim Hee-ae, Claudia Kim Prod Kim Won-kuk Cam Go Rak-sun Ed Kim Hyung-joo Prod Des Mo so-ra Mus Cho Sung-woo Prod Co Hive Media Corp, Mindmark Inc. Print Finecut Co. LTD

Filmography Christmas In August (1998); A Good Rain Knows (2009); Dangerous Liaisons (2012); The Last Princess (2016); Forbidden Dream (2019)

are ZAK. Let’s make something together.

Special Presentations

Priscilla

SOFIA COPPOLA, USA/ITALY, 2023, 113 MIN.

SAT OCT 7 9:30 PM PLAY

Canadian Premiere. Not so much a companion piece to Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis! as its polar opposite, Sofia Coppola’s portrait of the King’s child bride cuts out the razzmatazz to give us an empathetic, gentle, intimate love story... albeit a love story that will end in heartbreak.

Priscilla Beaulieu (Cailee Spaeny) is just 14 when she meets Presley (Jacob Elordi, Euphoria) on a US military base in Germany, 1959. Courteous, respectful and a little sad, he sweeps her off her feet. He’s Elvis, after all. Next thing she knows she’s living in Graceland with the King of Rockn-Roll and his daddy Vernon, still finishing her schooling, still a virgin. Her fairy tale romance is eventually consummated, but it’s not before she’s reading about her new husband’s on-set fling with Ann-Margret. And while her domestic situation might be the object of envy for most, Priscilla begins to understand it comes with zero autonomy; she’s a kept woman, a trophy wife, “caught in a trap,” you might say.

Coppola is smart—and generous—enough to show that Elvis was also trapped in his own way, and Priscilla is above all rueful, the bittersweet tale of a teen princess who outgrew her King.

Filmography The Virgin Suicides (1999); Lost in Translation (2003); Marie Antoinette (2006); The Beguiled (2017); On The Rocks (2020)

Cast Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, Dagmara Dominczyk Prod Sofia Coppola, Lorenzo Mieli, Youree Henley Scr Sofia Coppola Cam Philippe Le Sourd Ed Sarah Flack Prod Des Tamara Deverell Mus Phoenix & Randall Poster Dist/Print Elevation Pictures

Special Presentations

Presented by

Special Presentations

Swan Song

CHELSEA MCMULLAN, CANADA, 2023, 99 MIN.

SUN OCT 1 3:00 PM PLAY

WED O CT 4 6:30 PM PAR

In a 50-year career as dancer and artistic director with the National Ballet of Canada, legendary dance icon Karen Kain tackled Swan Lake for her first directing role and farewell project. For Kain, the making of this ballet is a labor of love, as it launched her career to superstardom when she made her acclaimed debut in the feature role of Odette/Odile in 1971. Swan Song captures the creative process, the determination and vision in re-staging this classical ballet, which was complicated by a two-year pandemic-related delay.

Featuring ballet stars past, present and future, the documentary provides an intimate glimpse into the grueling physical and emotional sacrifice required to create this sumptuous, lush reimagining. Directed by Chelsea McMullan (My Prairie Home; Crystal Pite: Angels’ Atlas, winner of VIFF’s 2022 Showcase Audience Award), Swan Song is an immersive, thrilling glimpse behind the curtain.

Feat Karen Kain Exec Sean O’Neill, Chelsea McMullan, Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, Anna Godas, Oli Harbottle, Neve Campbell Prod Sean O’Neill Scr Chelsea McMullan & Sean O’Neill Cam Tess Girard, Shady Hanna Ed Brendan Mills Mus Katie Stelmanis Prod

The Zone of Interest

JONATHAN GLAZER, USA/UK/POLAND, 2022, 105 MIN.

SAT SEP 30

9:30 PM

PLAY

When Under the Skin director Jonathan Glazer makes a film—this is only his fourth feature in 23 years—it’s always essential viewing. And so it proves with this free adaptation of the 2014 novel by the late Martin Amis. Indeed, when it premiered in Cannes earlier this year The Times called it “a landmark movie, hugely important,” while The Hollywood Reporter described “a devastating Holocaust drama like no other.” Sandra Hüller (who also stars in Anatomy of a Fall at VIFF this year) plays Hedwig Höss, mother of five, wife to Rudolph (Christian Friedel). They live in an idyllic villa, a river running alongside the bucolic garden, literally a stone’s throw from Rudolph’s place of work—he’s Camp Commandant at Auschwitz. Hedwig’s concerns are domestic, and most of the film takes place within the home; Glazer opted to use ten fixed cameras within this space, operated by remote control, to remove authorial judgment from the mise-en-scene. Of course that choice in itself implies a kind of judgment, and The Zone of Interest offers an account of moral solipsism which is both chilling and unforgettable, all the more so for its scrupulous restraint.

Grand Prize of the Festival, FIPRESCI, Best Composer, Cannes 2023

Filmography Sexy Beast (2000); Birth (2004); Under the Skin (2013)

Co Visitor Media Print Blue Ice Docs Selected Filmography My Prairie Home (2013); Crystal Pite: Angels’ Atlas (2022); Ever Deadly (2022)

Cast Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller, Johann Karthaus, Louis Noah Witte Max Beck Exec Reno Antoniades, Len Blavatnik, Danny Cohen, Tessa Ross, Ollie Madden, Daniel Battsek, David Kimbangi Prod James Wilson, Ewa Puszcynska Scr Jonathan Glazer Cam Łukasz Żal Ed Paul Watts Prod Des Chris Oddy Mus Mica Levi Dist/Print Elevation Pictures

I Am Sirat

DEEPA MEHTA, SIRAT TANEJA, CANADA, 2023, 87 MIN.

FRI SEP 29 6:15 PM VCT

SAT OCT 7 9:00 PM SFU

A collaboration between filmmaker Deepa Mehta and Sirat Taneja, I Am Sirat is a personal documentary about Sirat, a trans woman in India, who lives a dual life. While supported by a queer network of friends in Delhi and on Instagram, Sirat reverts to the closet at home as she’s forced to maintain a son’s familial and cultural responsibilities to keep up appearances while living with her mother. An empowering portrait of a trans woman wrestling with cultural limitations while sharing her story with the world.

Prod David Hamilton

Showcase

Exceptional films by revered directors, major award winners, and work that’s very much of the moment.

The roll call for this year’s Showcase series is a testament to 2023’s abundance of cinematic riches. Leading filmmakers Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Agnieszka Holland, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, and Deepa Mehta all have new features that evidence these established artists’ desire to continue challenging both themselves and the form. Running the gamut from absurdist comedies to close quarters dramas, historical biopics to inventive documentaries, Showcase houses a wealth of gems.

Evil Does Not Exist

Aku Wa Sonzai Shinai

RYÛSUKE HAMAGUCHI, JAPAN, 2023, 105 MIN.

FRI SEP 29 9:00 PM PAR

TUE OCT 3 9:15 PM PAR

After the international success of the Oscar-winning Drive My Car, writer-director Ryusuke Hamaguchi turned away from the noise and quietly made this small-scale independent film, a work of simplicity and grace about a rural community and the developers who want to built a “glamping” retreat. His hero, Takumi, is a taciturn woodsman whose natural authority the developers seek to co-opt, but things don’t quite work out that way. This is a measured, patient movie that asks us to watch, absorb, and reflect.

Grand Jury Prize, Venice 2023

Cast Hitoshi Omika, Ryo Nishikawa, Ryuji Kosaka, Ayaka Shibutani, Hazuki Kikuchi Prod Satoshi Takata

Green Border

Zielona Granica

AGNIESZKA HOLLAND, POLAND/CZECH REPUBLIC/FRANCE/BELGIUM, 2023, 147 MIN.

FRI SEP 29 3:00 PM PAR

SUN O CT 1 5:00 PM PAR

In her seventies, Agnieszka Holland has made a ferocious, emotionally charged film about the brutal (and illegal) treatment of refugees arriving over the Polish land border from Belarus. This drama—shot in stark black and white—approaches the story from several different vantage points, including the refugees’ perspective and the guards’, but you will never doubt where Holland’s moral conscience lies. This is a timely, vehement denunciation of resurgent fascism and utterly compelling cinema.

Cast Jalal Altawil, Maja Ostaszewska, Tomasz Włosok, Behi Djanati Atai, Mohamad Al Rashi, Dalia Naous Prod Fred Bernstein, Agnieszka Holland, Marcin Wierzchoslawski

Ece Bağci, Erdem Şenocak Prod Alexandre MalletGuy, Janine Jackowski, Jonas Dornbach, Maren Ade, Nadir Öperli, Kristina Börjeson, Anthony Muir, Sébastien Beffa

Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World

Nu aștepta prea mult de la sfârșitul lumii RADU JUDE, ROMANIA/LUXEMBOURG/FRANCE/ CROATIA, 2023, 163 MIN.

FRI OCT 6 9:15 PM IV10

SUN OCT 8 9:00 PM CINE

Radu Jude takes two days in the life of a stressed Romanian p.a., Angela, and gives us an urgent, pissed off, sourly funny polemic on the state of late capitalism. Tasked with filming accident victims for a work safety video, Angela also posts vulgar TikTok videos as her alter-ego, Bobita, a misogynist Andrew Tate clone. For anyone serious about political cinema Jude is a force to be reckoned with.

Cast Ilinca Manolache, Ovidiu Pîrșan, Nina Hoss, Dorina Lazăr, Katia Pascariu Prod Ada Solomon, Adrian Sitaru

ich, Dominic Savage, Elliot Page

Four Daughters

Les Filles d’Olfa

KAOUTHER BEN HANIA, TUNISIA/FRANCE/GERMANY/ SAUDI ARABIA, 2023, 110 MIN.

MON OCT 2 6:30 PM PAR

SUN O CT 8 8:45 PM SFU

In April 2016 Olfa Hamrouni raised the alarm. Her two oldest daughters, both still teenagers, had fled Tunisia to fight for ISIS. This rupture remains the defining tragedy of Olfa’s life and it’s the subject of this invigorating and inventive hybrid docu-drama from Academy Award-nominee Kaouther Ben Hania (The Man Who Sold His Skin; Beauty and the Dogs). Mixing dramatic reenactment with interviews, and introducing the actors to the real-life family, this Brechtian approach is stimulating and cathartic.

Golden Eye, Cannes 2023

Feat Eya Chikhaoui, Tayssir Chikhaoui, Olfa Hamrouni, Nour Karoui Prod Nadim Cheikhrouha

Nelja Pienta Aikuista

SELMA VILHUNEN, FINLAND/SWEDEN, 2023, 122 MIN.

SAT SEP 30 6:00 PM SFU

MON OCT 2 12:45 PM PAR

Canadian Premiere. Upon learning that her vicar husband has been concealing a love affair for the last year, Juulia—a compassionate parliamentarian—proposes an open marriage free of secrets. Juulia presents him and his girlfriend with a polyamory guidebook as a new bible for their combined relationship. Soon, Juulia is drawn to a new lover as well— though no guidebook can prepare these four imperfect adults for life’s chaotic twists. A tender tale of love, and compromise from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Selma Vilhunen.

Cast Alma Pöysti, Eero Milonoff, Oona Airola, Pietu Wikström Prod Venla Hellstedt, Elli Toivoniemi

fino Prod Ezequiel Borovinsky

How to Have Sex

MOLLY MANNING WALKER, UK/GREECE, 2023, 98 MIN.

WED OCT 4 9:15 PM PAR

SUN O CT 8 6:15 PM RIO

Sixteen-year-old Tara and her two best friends arrive to a Greek party town ready to let their hair down. But while Tara is indeed down for some summer fun, her boundaries keep getting trampled on by those closest to her.

Mia McKenna-Bruce turns in a devastating performance as kind-hearted but impressionable Tara in Molly Manning Walker’s sobering feature debut that interrogates the culture of consent, for which she took home Un Certain Regard Prize in Cannes earlier this year.

Un Certain Regard Prize, Cannes 2023

Cast Mia McKenna-Bruce, Lara Peake, Samuel Bottomley, Shaun Thomas, Enva Lewis, Laura Ambler Prod Ivana Mackinnon, Emily Leo, Konstantinos Kontovrakis

www.outfrontmedia.ca

The Vancouver International Film Festival is emblematic of what our industry can achieve when it unites toward a common goal.

Congratulations to the filmmakers, organizers, volunteers, and sponsors.

Proud media partner of VIFF 2023

ACFC WEST, LOCAL 2020 UNIFOR

Cast Virginie Efira, Melvil Poupaud, Dominique Reymond, Romane Bohringer, Virginie Ledonyen Prod Alice Girard & Edouard Weil

The Royal Hotel

KITTY GREEN, AUSTRALIA/UK, 2023, 105 MIN.

THU SEP 28 9:15 PM PAR

THU OCT 5 6:00 PM RIO

Hanna (Julia Garner) and Liv (Jessica Henwick) are backpacking across Australia. Running low on funds, they decide tending bar in an Outback hotel could be a lark. Booze culture in a place like this can be wild, but these confident young women are in for a rude awakening... Former documentarian Kitty Green’s unsettling follow-up to the acclaimed #MeToo drama The Assistant is based on a true story— or, more accurately, many true stories. It’s a harrowing, all-too plausible cautionary tale.

Cast Jessica Henwick, Julia Garner, Hugo Weaving, Bree Bain, Toby Wallace Prod Emile Sherman, Liz Watts, Iain Canning, Kath Shelper

The Teachers’ Lounge

Lehrerzimmer

İLKER ÇATAK, GERMANY, 2023, 94 MIN.

FRI SEP 29 6:30 PM PAR

SUN O CT 1 12:30 PM PLAY

THU O CT 5 3:30 PM SFU

One of the buzziest titles at Berlin this year, this gripping high school drama shows an idealistic young math teacher (the extraordinary Leonie Benesch) seeking to rectify a miscarriage of justice, only to make matters unfathomably worse. New to the school, Ms Nowak is reluctantly drawn into the interrogation of two Grade 6 class reps after a series of thefts. They implicate a Turkish classmate, but she’s unconvinced. An ethics master class, the film vividly taps the social angst of our school days.

C.I.C.A.E. Award, Berlin 2023

Cast Leonie Benesch, Micheal Klammer, Rafael Stachoviak, Anne-Kathrin Gummich, Eva Lobau Prod Ingo Fliess

Cast Paolo Pierobon, Fausto Russo Alesi Barbara Ronchi, Enea Sala, Leonardo Maltese Prod Beppe Caschetto, Simone Gattoni

They Shot the Piano Player

Dispararon Al Pianista

FERNANDO TRUEBA, JAVIER MARISCAL, SPAIN/ FRANCE, 2023, 103 MIN.

FRI SEP 29 3:15 PM PLAY

MON OCT 2 9:15 PM PAR

WED OCT 4 3:15 PM PLAY

Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal (Chico & Rita) return with another animated docu-fiction, this time the story of Francisco Tenório Jr, a brilliant Brazilian pianist murdered in 1976. Jeff Goldblum voices the American writer who becomes obsessed with finding everything about Tenório: His part in the Bossa Nova explosion; why he was killed; and by whom?

Cast Jeff Goldblum, Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Joao Gilberto, Vinicius de Moraes Prod Cristina Huete, Serge Lalou, Sophie Cabon, Bruno Felix, Janneke Van Der Kerkhof, Femke Wolling, Humberto Santana

Tótem

LILA AVILÉS, MEXICO/DENMARK/FRANCE, 2023, 95 MIN.

SUN OCT 1 2:30 PM PAR

WED OCT 4 6:00 PM SFU

During the chaotic preparations leading up to the birthday party of her terminally ill father, a seven-year-old girl finds herself caught in an adult world which she struggles to comprehend. But as night approaches, she gets a dim but growing sense that her world is about to change irrevocably. Layered with emotional and political resonance, this sophomore feature by rising Mexican director Lila Avilés is truly one-of-a-kind: a Buñuelian class study keyed to the interior life of a child.

Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, Berlin 2023; Best Director, Beijing 2023

Cast Naíma Sentíes, Montserrat Marañon, Marisol Gasé, Saori Gurza, Mateo García Elizondo Prod Tatiana Graullera, Lila Avilés, Louise Riousse

Panorama

An array of remarkable narrative films from every corner of the globe.

A sprawling collection of films befitting its name, Panorama takes us from the seediest recesses of the dark web to a yurt district in Mongolia. Likewise, it sees some characters embracing traditions, while others seek out new ways of living, sometimes at the fringes of society (or even reality itself). A quarter of the selections hail from Asia, upholding VIFF’s commitment to showcasing the vibrant cinemas of that region. But there’s also the opportunity to experience work originating from Macedonia, Sudan, and Georgia and marvel at the breadth of international cinema.

Robot Dreams

PABLO BERGER, SPAIN/FRANCE, 2023, 101 MIN.

MON OCT 2

SAT O CT 7

6:00 PM

3:45 PM

Only the River Flows

Hébiān de Cuòwù

WEI SHUJUN, CHINA, 2023, 101 MIN.

RIO

IN09

Living a solitary existence in Manhattan, Dog is tired of being alone, and builds his own friend: Robot. Their friendship blooms while exploring 1980s New York. Brimming with the heartfelt experience of love, loss, and friendship, this adaptation of Sara Varon’s acclaimed graphic novel showcases the beauty of 2D animation and the power of dialogue-free cinema in an enchanting, illustrated world. Filled with laughter and tears, Robot Dreams is a delightful, bittersweet journey for all ages.

Prod Ignasi Estapé, Sandra Tapia, Ibon Cormenzana, Pablo Berger, Angel Durández

THU SEP 28

SUN OCT 8

8:30 PM

3:45 PM IN09

IN09 SAT SEP 30

9:15 PM IN10

North American Premiere. The latest by the highly touted Chinese filmmaker Wei Shujun, Only the River Flows uses neo-noir and tropes and a pitch black sense of humour to critique the culture of shame and secrecy prevalent in the country in the 90s. The film pits a detective on the edge (Yilong Zhu) against a serial killer terrorizing a small hamlet. The policeman is not only trying to outwit the murderer, but also must deal with uncooperative villagers, inept colleagues, and his own unraveling mind.

Cast Zhu Yilong, Chloe Maayan, Hou Tianlai, Tong Linkai Prod Tang Xiaohui, Huang Xufeng, Li Chan, Shen Yang

19B

AHMAD ABDALLA, EGYPT, 2022, 95 MIN.

FRI OCT 6 1:00 PM IN09

SUN OCT 8 6:30 PM SFU

Canadian Premiere. In Cairo, a lonesome old property guard spends his days caring for stray animals and tending to a run-down villa long-since vacated by its affluent owners. But his peaceful, orderly little world is overturned when an opportunistic ex-convict bullies his way into occupying the property, forcing the old man to confront his fears and sorrows. This compelling sixth feature from acclaimed writer-director Ahmad Abdalla (Décor) provides a keen reflection on class issues and isolation in modern Egypt.

Cast Sayed Ragab, Ahmed Khaled Saleh and Nahed El Sebai, Fadwa Abed, Magdy Atwan, Maher Khamis

All Ears

LIU JIAYIN, CHINA, 2023, 112 MIN.

FRI OCT 6 6:15 PM IN09

SUN OCT 8 12:30 PM IN08

International Premiere. How do you want to be remembered after death? The latest from Oxhide director Jiayin Liu tackles this heavy subject with a light touch and a sense of humor. A failed scriptwriter leverages his knowledge of storytelling into a job writing obituaries. The position, it turns out, is more demanding than crafting a narrative. The wordsmith must spin the deceased’s flaws into virtues, choose between contrasting testimonies, and ultimately make sense of a life... a challenging but unexpectedly fulfilling task.

Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry

ELENA NAVERIANI, GEORGIA/SWITZERLAND, 2023, 110 MIN.

FRI OCT 6 3:15 PM IN09

SUN OCT 8 9:00 PM IN09

North American Premiere. Etero, a 48-yearold woman living in a small village in Georgia, never wanted a husband. But her choice to live alone is the cause of much gossip among her fellow villagers. Unexpectedly, she finds herself passionately falling for a man, and is suddenly faced with the decision to pursue a relationship or continue a life of independence. Etero must grapple with her feelings and decide how to find her own path to happiness.

Cast Eka Chavleishvili, Temiko Chinchinadze, Pikria Nikabadze, Anka Khurtsidze, Tamar Mdinaradze Prod Thomas Reichlin, Britta Rindelaub, Ketie Daniela

The Braid

LAETITIA COLOMBANI, ITALY/CANADA/INDIA, 2023, 120 MIN.

SUN OCT 1 11:30 AM PAR

TUE OCT 3 8:45 PM IN09

World Premiere. Laetitia Colombani’s assured adaptation of her own best-selling novel weaves together three stories of female perseverance across three continents, in India, Italy, and Canada. Smita, Giulia and Sarah never meet and represent three very different levels of affluence and privilege, but in tracking their struggles Colombani finds echoes and parallels as well as the obvious contrasts. What counts is setting your own goals, she implies. This is an attractive, strongly acted movie with a big emotional pay-off.

Cast Mia Maelzer, Sajda Pathan, Nehpal Gautam, Danish Iqbal, Jyoti Dalit Prod Olivier Delbosc, Marc Missonnier, Richard Lalonde, Nicola Giuliano, Francesa Cima, Carlotta Calori, Viola Prestieri, Deborah Benattar

Days of Happiness

Les jours heureux

CHLOÉ ROBICHAUD, CANADA, 2023, 119 MIN.

FRI OCT 6 9:00 PM IN08

SAT O CT 7 1:15 PM IN10

Emma is a young conductor and rising star on the Montreal scene. Days of Happiness chronicles her complex relationship with her father and agent, who has had a devious hold on her since childhood. The chance at a top position with a prestigious orchestra only raises the stakes. She will have to give way to her true emotions and make choices, both for her music and for herself, if she is to navigate her career and her romantic relationship with Naëlle, a newly separated cellist and mother of a young boy.

The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed

JOANNA ARNOW, USA, 2023, 87 MIN.

FRI OCT 6 8:45 PM IN09

SAT O CT 7 1:00 PM RIO

While coping with the usual workaday demands of life in New York City, a thirtysomething Jewish woman with a taste for BDSM sex struggles to maintain a series of casual relationships with various “masters.” Witty, wry, and sexually frank, the film is the accomplished debut feature of American writer-director Joanna Arnow, who also gives a fearless performance in the lead role. This perceptive, off-kilter comedy finds humour in the uncomfortable, even absurd ways that our bodies move through the world.

Gamodi

FELIX KALMENSON, CANADA/GEORGIA, 2023, 98 MIN.

TUE OCT 3 8:15 PM VCT

THU OCT 5 8:45 PM CINE

World Premiere. Inside an unfinished apartment tower in Tblisi, Georgia, a legendary drag queen (Matt Shally) and teenage drifter (Maqzime Rauch) live in purgatorial languor. While intermittent television reports apprise them of developments from the outside world, it’s increasingly unclear whether they’re still inhabiting this plane of existence. Informed by the material and spiritual, Felix Kalmenson’s poetic fable employs stunning chiaroscuro and exacting compositions to conjure a legitimately dreamlike milieu.

Goodbye Julia

ايلوج اعادو

MOHAMED KORDOFANI, SUDAN, 2023, 127 MIN.

WED OCT 4 9:00 PM IN09

FRI OCT 6 3:15 PM VCT

In the lead-up to South Sudan’s secession, Mona, a retired singer from the North, finds herself wracked with guilt by her connection to the murder of a Southerner. In a bid at making amends, she hires the victim’s unknowing widow as her maid. Winner of the Un Certain Regard Freedom Prize at Cannes, this artfully composed drama weaves an engaging tale of deceit and friendship, as well as an awakening to the social inequities that would motivate an entire nation to vote almost unanimously for its separation.

Cast Hu Ge, Leo Wu, Qi Xi, Na Renhua, Gan Yunchen Prod Mao Chuxiao, Liang Tongyu

Cast Matt Shally, Maqsime Rauch, Luka Chachxiani Prod Felix Kalmenson, Ketevan Kipiani, Alexandre Jordania

Cast Eiman Yousif, Siran Riak, Nazar Goma, Ger Duany, Stephanos James Peter Prod Amjad Abu Alala, Mohamed Omda, Ali Alarabi

Cast Sophie Desmarais, Sylvain Marcel, Nour Belkhiria, Maude Guérin, Vincent Leclerc Prod Pierre Even

Cast Joanna Arnow, Scott Cohen, Babak Tafti Prod Graham Swon, Pierce Varous

BAS DEVOS, BELGIUM, 2023, 82 MIN.

THU SEP 28 6:15 PM VCT

SUN O CT 1 4:15 PM CINE

WED OCT 4 6:15 PM VCT

In Brussels, a Romanian construction worker about to leave on vacation crosses paths with a Belgian-Chinese biologist writing a dissertation on moss. Such is the slender but fruitful starting point of Belgian filmmaker Bas Devos’ sensuous fourth feature, a film so attuned to the rhythms and textures of the everyday that even its characters’ names are an afterthought. A luminous exploration of the visible world, Here is a film about two people united by their mutual delight in their surroundings.

Cast Stefan Gota, Liyo Gong, Cedric Luvuezo, Teodor Corban, Saadia Bentaïeb Prod Marc Goyens

Housekeeping for Beginners

Domakinstvo za Pocetnici GORAN STOLEVSKI, MACEDONIA/POLAND/CROATIA/ SERBIA/KOSOVO, 2023, 107 MIN.

SAT SEP 30 9:00 PM IN09

WED OCT 4 3:30 PM IN08

North American Premiere. Dita (Anamaria Marinca) never wanted to be a mother, but fate compels her to raise her girlfriend’s two daughters, tiny troublemaker Mia and rebellious teen Vanesa. A battle of wills ensues as the three continue to butt heads in the midst of an extended makeshift family—a recipe for chaos, laughter and heartache, all jumbled up together. This rambunctious “dramedy” is the third feature in two years from Goran Stolevski, a rising star on the international film scene.

Cast Anamaria Marinca, Alina Serban, Samson Selim, Mia Mustafi, Vladimir Tintor

If Only I Could Hibernate

ZOLJARGAL PUREVDASH, MONGOLIA/FRANCE/ SWITZERLAND/QATAR, 2023, 98 MIN.

THU SEP 28 8:15 PM IN08

SAT SEP 30 12:45 PM IN08

North American Premiere. Zoljargal Purevdash’s lively feature is set in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar, and it tells a story of perseverance under a truly daunting predicament. Batsooj Uurtsaikh plays Ulzii, a teen with a gift for physics who is encouraged to enter a national competition. The payoff for victory is sweet, but the odds against it are high: on top of his studies, Ulzii has to struggle for coal, medicine, and food. It’s a tall order indeed, and it makes for compelling, suspenseful, and poignant cinema.

Cast Battsooj Uurtsaikh, Nominjiguur Tsend, Tuguldur Batsaikhan, Batmandakh Batchuluun, Ganchimeg Sandagdorj Prod Frédéric Corvez, Maéva Savinien, Zoljargal Purevdash

In Broad Daylight 白日之下

LAWRENCE KAN, HONG KONG, 2023, 106 MIN.

THU OCT 5 9:00 PM VCT

SAT OCT 7 1:30 PM VCT

Canadian Premiere. Based on actual events, Lawrence Kan’s gripping film stars Jennifer Yu as a hard-bitten journalist investigating abuse in a Hong Kong care home. In Broad Daylight is a work of righteous anger, and it’s laudable not only for its compassion but for the way it refuses to sidestep hard questions. It’s a film without cop-outs or easy answers, and on top of a solid cast, vivid characters, strong dramatic momentum, and powerful empathy, it offers a resounding moral challenge to us all.

Irena’s Vow

LOUISE ARCHAMBAULT, CANADA/POLAND, 2023, 121 MIN.

SUN OCT 1 6:30 PM IN10

SUN OCT 8 1:00 PM IN10

In her early 20s, Irene Gut Opdyke was hired by Wehrmacht Major Eduard Rügemer to work as the housekeeper in the Polish villa he had requisitioned. Risking her life, Irene hid 12 Jews in the cellar... and when Rügemer found out, she bought his complicity by agreeing to become his mistress. Opdyke later won the Nations Medal for her immense courage, and her story became a Broadway play by Dan Gordon in 2008, and now a film, directed by Louise Archambault (And the Birds Rained Down; Gabrielle) and starring Sophie Nélisse (Yellowjackets).

Let the River Flow

OLE GIAEVER, NORWAY/SWEDEN/FINLAND, 2023, 118 MIN.

FRI SEP 29 3:30 PM IN09

SUN OCT 8 6:15 PM IN09

Canadian Premiere. Ester, a young Sámi woman, tries to conceal her ethnicity to avoid being ostracized in 1970s Norway without betraying her family roots, but struggles to navigate her shifting cultural identity when she protests a local dam with Sámi activists. Let the River Flow challenges Norway’s legacy of racism through a nuanced account of real events that inspired the film, distilled through the lens of Ester’s journey of self-realization and embrace of her Indigenous roots.

Cast Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen, Gard Emil, Sofia Jannok, Beaska Niillas, Marie Kvernmo Prod Maria Ekerhovd

Measures of Men

Der vermessene Mensch

LARS KRAUME, GERMANY, 2022, 116 MIN.

FRI OCT 6 9:15 PM IN08

SAT O CT 7 12:30 PM STU

International Premiere. In this historical drama, Lars Kraume shines a light on German bigotry against Africans, and the way it served to legitimize mass slaughter. Through the fictional story of ethnologist Alexander Hoffmann (Leonard Scheicher), Kraume’s film takes us from turn-of-the-century Berlin to what has been called the 20th century’s first genocide: Germany’s violence against the Herero and Nama peoples. Unwavering in its portrayal of racism and ideas that undergird it, this is a powerful, grimly compelling film.

Cast Leonard Scheicher, Girley Charlene Jazama, Peter Simonischek, Corinna Kirchhoff, Anton Paulus Prod Thomas Kufus

The Oceans Are the Real Continents

TOMMASO SANTAMBROGIO, CUBA/ITALY, 2023, 119 MIN.

TUE OCT 3 6:30 PM IN10

THU OCT 5 12:45 PM IN09

International Premiere. Set in San Antonio De Los Baños, a sleepy town in inland Cuba, and shot in langurous black and white tableaux, The Oceans Are the Real Continents traces the stories of three generations of townspeople. Edith and Alex are an artsy couple in their 30s; Milagros, a lonely elder making a post-retired wage by selling manì (peanuts). Finally, Frank and Alain are two little boys who dream of emigrating to the United States and playing baseball for the Yankees.

Cast Alexander Diego, Edith Ybarra Clara, Frank Ernesto Lam, Alain Alain Alfonso González, Milagros Llanes Martínez Prod Marica Stocchi, Gianluca Arcopinto

Cast David Chiang, Jennifer Yu, Bowie Lam, Leung Chung Hang, Chan Charm Man Peter Prod Derek yee

Cast Sophie Nélisse, Dougray Scott, Andrzej Seweryn, and Maciek Nawrocki. Prod Nicholas Tabarrok, Beata Pisula, Tim Ringuette, Berry Meyerowitz, Jeff Sackman

Red Rooms

Les Chambres Rouges

PASCAL PLANTE, CANADA, 2023, 118 MIN.

MON OCT 2 9:00 PM IN10

WED OCT 4 6:00 PM RIO

In this unsettling and enthralling drama from the director of Nadia, Butterfly, Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy) becomes obsessed with the trial of Ludwig Chevalier (Maxwell McCabeLokos), a loner accused of the torture and murder of three teenage girls. Even more disturbingly, these atrocities were streamed online in the Dark Web’s “red rooms”. As Kelly-Anne’s obsession grows, her personal life and career unravel as she plunges into the seediest recesses of the Dark Web to secure a key piece of evidence.

Cast Juliette Gariépy, Laurie Babin, Elisabeth Locas, Natalie Tannous, Pierre Chagnon Prod Dominique Dussault

The Settlers

Los Colonos

FELIPE GALVEZ, CHILE/ARGENTINA/FRANCE/ DENMARK/UK, 2023, 97 MIN.

FRI OCT 6 6:00 PM IN08

SUN OCT 8 1:30 PM VCT

In this nihilistic Chilean south western, a notorious cattle rancher dispatches a trio of hired guns (a Brit, an American cowboy, and a local mestizo) to scout and scourge Teirra del Fuego. Their odyssey brings fraught encounters with other colonists and bloody skirmishes with any indigenous peoples they cross. This is a searing critique of white supremacist foundational myths with stunning, elemental cinematography.

Cast Alfredo Castro, Mark Stanley, Benjamin Westfall, Camilo Arancibia Prod Giancarlo Nasi, Benjamin Domenech, Santiago Gallelli, Matías Roveda, Emily Morgan, Thierry Lenouvel, Stefano Centini, Katrin Pors, Eva Jakobsen, Mikkel Jersin, Kristina Börjeson, Anthony Muir, Ingmar Trost, Fernando Bascuñán

Snow in Midsummer

Wu Yuè Xuě KEAT AUN CHONG, MALAYSIA/TAIWAN/SINGAPORE, 2023, 116 MIN.

THU SEP 28 3:15 PM IN08

WED OCT 4 9:00 PM CINE

North American Premiere. Haunting, mysterious, and mournful, Chong Keat Aun’s film explores the legacy of May 13, 1969, when mob violence in Kuala Lumpur led to many killings—mostly of Chinese Malaysians. The first part depicts the riots and their effect on one family; the second part, set in 2018, involves a woman’s mysterious quest. When the connections between the two parts emerge, the film becomes truly powerful. Snow in Midsummer is an act of protest and a poignant exploration of grief, and much more besides.

Cast Wan Fang, Pearlly Chua, Rexen Cheng, Pauline Tan, Peter Yu, Alvin Wong Prod Kew Soon wog, Gene Yao, Wai Thong Chow, Jennifer Jao

Suddenly

MELISA ÖNEL, TURKEY, 2022, 113 MIN.

TUE OCT 3 9:00 PM IN08

THU OCT 5 3:45 PM IN08

North American Premiere. In her 40s, Reyhan inexplicably loses her sense of smell. Impetuously, she decides to disappear from her old life and find a new one without obligations, possessions, or aspirations. She secretly moves into her late grandmother’s flat in Istanbul and takes a random job in a cheap hotel. In doing so, Reyhan uncovers a greater understanding of what she wants from life and where her happiness truly lies.

Cast Defne Kayalar, Öner Erkan, Şerif Erol, Ayşenil Şamlioğlu, Dilan Çiçek Deniz Prod Alara Hamamcioglu, Melisa Önel, Paul Zischler, Jelena Angelovski

bara Sarasola Day, Federico Eibuszyc

first learns of her mother’s terminal breast cancer while being interviewed live on TV. When she visits her mother and father in the hospice, she’s forced to confront and process her childhood and relationship with her parents as memory and reality begin to blur in a surreal nightmare. A dark fable of gaslighting, feminism, and generational trauma.

Cast Frederikke Dahl Hansen, Jens Albinus, Sarah Boberg, Gitte (die Gitte) Hænning Prod Regner Grasten, Tove Grasten

Undercurrent

RIKIYA IMAIZUMI, JAPAN, 2023, 144 MIN.

THU SEP 28 9:00 PM IN10

SAT SEP 30 12:30 PM IN09

International Premiere. As Rikiya Imaizumi’s film begins, Kanae (Yoko Maki) is reopening the bathhouse she shut down when her husband Satoru (Eita Nagayama) vanished without a trace. When Hori (Arata Iura) shows up looking for work, an uneasy companionship begins to form. Gradually, it emerges that Kanae has two burdens: a mystery she can’t solve and a secret she doesn’t dare reveal. Undercurrent is a slow-burn stunner and its leisurely pace is the perfect set-up for a series of powerful, deeply unsettling revelations.

Cast Yoko Maki, Arata Iura, Noriko Eguchi, Eita Nagayama, Lily Franky Prod Kentaro Koike, Masahiro Handa Akihiro Hiraishi

conversion therapy, she helps her boyfriend steal expensive wristwatches from wealthy motorists. As Suellen prioritizes the judgment of others over her son’s happiness, filmmaker Carolina Markowicz expertly demonstrates how a society will turn a blind eye to hypocrisy in order to uphold the intolerant status quo.

Cast Maeve Jinkings, Kauan Alvarenga, Thomás Aquino, Aline Marta Maia, Isac Graça Prod Karen Castanho, Vega Luís, Urbano, Bianca Villar, Fernando Fraiha, Sandro Aguilar, Carolina Markowicz

Wild Swans

Gorai Phakhri

RAJNI BASUMATARY, INDIA, 2023, 95 MIN.

FRI SEP 29 6:45 PM STU

SAT SEP 30 3:30 PM VCT

World Premiere. Set in a small village on the India/Bhutan border, this Boro-language film tells the story of a group of women who live alongside each other, who know each other’s business, who are sometimes in conflict and sometimes get along, but who always support each other when one of them is threatened, despite the confines of traditional roles and patriarchy. Written and directed by Rajni Basumatary, Wild Swans is warm and touching, featuring a glimpse into a culture and community that is rarely seen in cinema.

Cast Helina Daimary, Sangeena Brahma, Mithinga Narzary, Anjali Daimari Prod Jani Viswanath, Rajni Basumatary

speak Chinese into a job as a tour guide. But she’s seen as an outsider by South Koreans and treated with suspicion, and in her own experience, there’s little she can rely on. This is a gentle, low-key movie with a wonderful performance from Sul Lee at its centre.

Cast Sul Lee, Oh Gyeung-hwa, Park Se-hyun

but it’s his daughter Miyako (Mayu Hotta) who really loves the craft. The stage is set for tradition to collide with modern mores… Like the artisans that are his subject, Tsuruoka has crafted a modest but beautiful work; sit back, relax, and let it warm your heart.

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Three Cheers to Our Amazing Volunteers!

Nothing can stop these fine folks from donating their time and talents to make VIFF a reality. From behind the scenes

Prod Keun-shik Joh

Cast Mayu Hotta, Ryota Bando, Toshiya Miyata, Reiko Kataoka, Kaoru Kobayashi Prod Natsuko Mori, Hitoshi Endo, Tatsuya Matsuoka, Koichiro Fukuoka

Rising international talents bringing their singular visions to the screen.

Introducing a new wave of gifted storytellers to Canadian audiences, the films in this series reflect the well of ingenuity and cinematic prowess emerging from all corners of the world. Form, style and genre either blur, bend or extend in these works, weaving regional flourishes and breathing fresh air into familiar narratives. Or inventing entirely new ones. This is the place to surrender expectations and discover a hidden gem.

Vanguard

Presented by

Octopus Skin

La Piel Pulpo

ANA CRISTINA BARRAGÁN, ECUADOR, 2022, 99 MIN.

SUN OCT 1 6:30 PM

CINE

WED OCT 4 3:45 PM VCT

Canadian Premiere. An achingly tender drama about three teenage siblings living with an emotionally stunted mother on a remote island off the coast of Ecuador. Attuned to the rhythms and creatures of the sea, they live by their own rules and conventions, cocooned and deeply mistrustful of the world outside their bubble. But dark secrets loom over the fragile clan and the pull of city life soon becomes impossible to ignore for the eldest, Iris, threatening the particularly close bond with her twin brother Ariel.

Cast Isadora Chávez, Juan Francisco Vinueza, Hazel Powell, Cristina Marchán, Paulet Arévalo Prod Isabella Parra

SAT SEP 30 4:00 PM CINE

MON OCT 2 6:15 PM CINE

FRI OCT 5 8:45 PM STU

North American Premiere. Suddenly questioning her desire to have a child on her own, 37-year-old Milagro impulsively embarks on a road trip with her best friend Jonathan, who is working through his own commitment issues. Adding a mermaid to the mix, their journey turns into a whirlwind of roadside drama, song, dance, steamy trysts, and unexpected selfdiscoveries. Right out of the gate, María Gisèle Royo and Julia de Castro deliver a cinephile’s joyride full of wit and sensual delights, with the makings of a new cult favourite.

Cast Omar Ayuso, Julia De Castro, Chacha Huang, Manuel De Blas, Gonzalo García Pelayo Prod María Gisèle Royo, Julia De Castro

SONJA BAKSA, VANGUARD CURATOR

Cast Dimitra Vlagopoulou, Flomaria Papadaki, Ahilleas Hariskos, Voodoo Jürgens, Ilias Hatzigeorgiou Prod Maria Drandaki, Maria Kontogianni

The Sea and Its Waves

La Mer et ses Vagues

LIANA KASSIR, RENAUD PACHOT, LEBANON/FRANCE, 2023, 83 MIN.

TUE OCT 3 6:15 PM CINE

THU OCT 5 3:30 PM VCT

North American Premiere. Liana and Renaud’s haunting feature debut is a loving ode to Beirut. Unfolding like a film poem, The Sea and Its Waves follows a brother and sister as they make their way through an almost deserted city awaiting passage to Europe. Bathed in moonlight and flickering city lights, the story is captured through cryptic exchanges with locals roaming the streets, each infused with a lyrical cadence that seduces with its prophetic allure, while also capturing a sense of deep collective wounding.

Cast Roger Assaf, Hanane Hajj-Ali, Mays Mustafa, Mohammed Ammari, Sasseen Kawzali Prod Mathieu Mullier-Griffiths, Alexandre Singer

a remote country home.

Cast Léonie Dahan-Lamort, Lilith Grasmug, Cyril Metzger, Maxime Rohart, Fred Blin Prod MarcBenoît Créancier

Tomorrow Is a Long Time

Míng tian bi zuo tian chang jiu JOW ZHI WEI, SINGAPORE/TAIWAN/FRANCE/ PORTUGAL, 2023, 105 MIN.

WED OCT 4 6:15 PM CINE

FRI OCT 6 3:30 PM STU

North American Premiere. Young Meng is trying to find common ground with his emotionally distant father while coming to terms with the loss of his mother. The father’s inability to connect and provide comfort to his teenage son, coupled with the grueling nature of his job as an exterminator create a chasm between the two. Meanwhile, Meng is targeted by school bullies, forcing him to learn how to fend for himself. A stirring coming-of-age drama grounded in the complex father-son dynamic, carried by the magnetic newcomer Edward Tan.

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Cast Jeanne Balibar, Thomas Sarbacher, Pierre-Antoine Dubey, Véronique Mermoud, Adrien Savigny Prod Gabriela Bussmann, Yan Decoppet, Camile Genaud

Feat Rocío Stellato, Vladimir Durán, Camila Toker, Roberto Liebenthal, Irene Bosch, Federico Sack Prod Eugenia Campos Guevara

Cast Leon Dai, Edward Tan, Julius Foo, Jay Victor, Lekheraj Sekhar Prod Fran Borgia, Jeremy Chua, Stefano Centini, Xavier Rocher, Ico Costa

SEPTEMBER 23, 2023 to JANUARY 29, 2024

GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BYJANET & CHRIS BOWELL

ANNE FERREIRA

JANE IRWIN & ROSS HILL

Karin Bubaš,Woman with Hollowed Tree (detail), 2016 archival pigment print, 60 × 60 inches

The next wave of Canadian and Indigenous storytellers.

A scintillating collection of cinema that includes debut features from past VIFF award winners and the Vancouver bows for films that launched at major international festivals. Two of our own world premieres harness the province’s cinematic potential to stunning effect, while a third investigates our city’s cultural erasure of Black communities. Throw a full-blown musical and some shapeshifting animation into the mix, and this year’s Northern Lights series proves to be truly prismatic.

Media Partners

Northern Lights

Presented by

FRI SEP 29 9:00 PM RIO

SUN OCT 1 9:00 PM SFU

Decamping to a couples’ retreat, Judith (Ally Maki) and Steve (Luke Roberts) leave their daughters to their own devices. In turn, 11-year-old Stephanie (Nyha Breitkreuz) ditches six-year-old Emmy (Remy Marthaller) in favour of a pack of unruly teens. Drawing from her own childhood experiences, Meredith Hama-Brown demonstrates a profound talent for eliciting unspeakably nuanced, frequently heartbreaking performances in this deftly orchestrated, deeply moving portrait of a family at the brink of implosion.

Cast Ally Maki, Luke Roberts, Sarah Gadon, Chris Pang, Nyha Breitkreuz, Remi Marthaller Prod Tyler Hagan, Sara Blake

FRI SEP 29 6:00 PM RIO

TUE OCT 3 3:45 PM IN10

World Premiere. Twelve-year-old Rell “Goat” Barrel (Shayelin Martin) and her mom (Caitlyn Sponheimer) are scheming and scrounging their way through another Penticton summer. Goat wiles away her days skateboarding, shoplifting, and talking a big game about becoming a world-class surfer... Despite having never actually surfed or even seen the ocean. Channeling summer lethargy and adolescent rebellion, Sponheimer’s tale about trying to slip the shackles of circumstance charmingly subverts expectations at practically every turn.

Cast Shayelin Martin, Leandro Guedes, Dyllón Burnside, Caitlyn Sponheimer, Brittany Drisdelle Prod Mike Johnston, Caitlyn Sponheimer

Northern Lights

A thrilling portrait of a young Siksika woman and the deep bonds between her family as she prepares for one of the most dangerous horse races in the world… on bareback. Logan Red Crow is an Indian Relay rider who vaults from horse to horse in exhilarating races. She is a champion in the making. Besides her skill and sheer grit, Logan has a loving family, an elite group of horses, and a home on her ancestral lands in Blackfoot Territory. Those are invaluable, but this rider will need more for victory.

Prod Mike Wavrecan

(Maddie Ziegler) is distressed to learn she has a rare reproductive condition which means she will never conceive and penetrative sex will require a course of interventions. Shying away from those who might help, Lindy tries to figure it out on her own. Molly McGlynn’s second feature resonates with debates around sex and gender conformity. Her very personal stake in this story makes itself felt in both the film’s raw, intimate details and its copious humour.

Cast Maddie Ziegler, Emily Hampshire, Djouliet Amara, D’pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Ki Griffin Prod Jennifer Weiss

makes an impulsive decision to spend the summer in Tofino only to find herself out of her depth with the local beach culture. That is, until she falls for the charming local lifeguard (Robbie Amell), a flirtation which throws her carefully planned future into question. Adapted from Kate Marchant’s hit novel, Float features luminous lead turns from Bang and Amell. Helmed with remarkable assurance by rising director Sherren Lee, this is a film that finds new depths in a classic story.

Cast Andrea Bang, Robbie Amell, Sarah Desjardins, Andrew Bachelor Prod Jeff Chan, Robbie Amell, Aron Levitz, Aaron Au, Shawn Williamson, Chris Paré, Matthew Kariatsumari

seminal Indigenous classic Smoke Signals, disheveled former child actor Cody Lightning decides to create a sequel to relive his fame. This edgy meta-mockumentary follows him on the chaotic uphill journey to do whatever it takes to make it big again; and ropes in original cast members Adam Beach, Simon Baker and Gary Farmer to help him out. Surprisingly dark and raunchy, it’s proof positive that healing comes through laughter.

Cast Cody Lightning, Hannah Cheesman, Simon Baker, Adam Beach, Gary Farmer, Irene Bedard, Colin Mochrie Prod Joshua M. Jackson, Sara Corry, Kyle Thomas, Blake McWilliam

I Don’t Know Who You Are

M. H. MURRAY, CANADA, 103 MIN.

SAT SEP 30 8:15 PM IN08

MON OCT 2 3:15 PM IN08

A gay Toronto musician is sexually assaulted one night and is in a panicked race against time to pay for HIV-preventive PrEP treatment, all the while trying to navigate the legal system and deal with the emotional aftermath of the trauma. I Don’t Know Who You Are is a film that feels at once urgent and frantic but is balanced with a rare sense of interiority and a quiet power. A striking and compelling film about the reverberations of sexual violence, this is a must-watch.

Cast Mark Clennon Prod M. H. Murray

I Used to Be Funny

ALLY PANKIW, CANADA, 2023, 105 MIN.

TUE OCT 3 8:45 PM RIO

THU OCT 5 9:15 PM IN10

Sam Cowell (Rachel Sennott) used to spend her nights working the comedy clubs of Toronto and her days as an au pair for Brooke (Olga Petsa). Now Sam hides from the world, tormented by PTSD and grappling with the news of Brooke’s disappearance. Told across split timelines, the film unfolds in step with Sam as she processes her trauma. Anchored by an outstanding performance from Sennott, who perfectly balances the film’s dramatic weight and wry humor.

Cast Rachel Sennott, Olga Petsa, Jason Jones, Sabrina Jalees, Caleb Hearon Prod James Weyman, Jason Aita, Breann Smordin

In Flames

Blazh

ZARRAR KAHN, CANADA/PAKISTAN, 2022, 98 MIN.

FRI SEP 29 8:45 PM IN08

SUN OCT 1 12:00 PM IN08

In the wake of her beloved grandfather’s death, Mariam (Ramesha Nawal) and her mother, Fariha (Bakhtawar Mazhar), can barely begin mourning before the human vultures swoop in, intent on wresting their family home from them. In turn, when Mariam’s secret romance with a fellow medical student (Omar Javaid) meets an untimely end, she’s plagued by malevolent forces that pursue her through the streets of Karachi, Pakistan. Mariam and Fariha must rely on one another to survive.

Cast Ramesha Nawal, Omar Javaid, Bakhtawar Mazhar, Adnan Shah Tipu, Mohammad Ali Hashmi Prod Anam Abbas, Hamza Bangash, Associate produced by Carol Ann Noronha

Les Filles du Roi

COREY PAYETTE, CANADA, 2023, 102 MIN.

THU OCT 5 8:45 PM SFU

SUN OCT 8 12:30 PM RIO

Canadian Premiere. 1665. Louis XIV has a gift for the colonies: surplus women to bring succor and support to French settlers in the New World. Among them, Marie-Jeanne, who shockingly befriends an Indigenous trader and his sister. A full-blown micro-budget musical, adapted from their own stage production by Urban Ink’s Corey Payette with co-writer Julie McIsaac, this shuttles expeditiously between song and speech; French, English and Mohawk. What carries it is Payette’s knack for crafting rousing melodies. It sings, and it stings.

Cast Kaitlyn Yott, Julie McIsaac, Raes Calvert, Chelsea Rose, Patrick Sonier Prod Garrett VanDusen

Northern Lights

PIER-PHILIPPE CHEVIGNY, CANADA/FRANCE/ GUATEMALA, 2023, 97 MIN.

FRI SEP 29 6:00 PM IN08

SAT SEP 30 3:15 PM IN08

Witnessing the brutal treatment of migrant workers while working at a corn plant in the Richelieu Valley in Quebec, French-to-Spanish translator Ariane (Ariane Castellanos) is forced to choose between risking her job and sticking up for her fellow workers. Drawing from neo-realist traditions, beautifully photographed and elegantly constructed, Richelieu is an assured, emotionally resonant first feature which paints an undeniable portrait of a crisis unfolding across North America.

Cast Ariane Castellanos, Marc-André Grondin, Nelson Coronado, Eve Duranceau, Luis Oliva Prod Geneviève Gosselin-G. Milena Poylo, Gilles Sacuto, Alice Bloch, Jean-Francois Bigot, Camille Raulo

Someone Lives Here

ZACHARY RUSSELL, CANADA, 2022, 75 MIN.

FRI OCT 6 6:15 PM VCT

SUN O CT 8 3:30 PM IN08

In the summer of 2021, Khaleel Seivwright, a carpenter, decided to build tiny homes for Toronto’s homeless population. Soon afterwards, the city told him that he wasn’t allowed to build them, citing safety issues, despite a lack of available shelter beds. Someone Lives Here, which won the Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary at Hot Docs 2023, is deftly told by first-time documentarian Zack Russell, who captures this Kafkaesque story in a humane and empathetic way.

Prod Zack Russell, Andrew Ferguson, Matt King, Marianna Khoury

Union Street

JAMILA POMEROY, CANADA, 2022, 79 MIN.

MON OCT 2 8:45 PM SFU

WED OCT 4 6:30 PM STU

SAT OCT 7 3:30 PM RIO

World Premiere. Interspersing interviews with archival footage, Union Street documents the history of Vancouver’s Hogan’s Alley, the Black neighbourhood which was destroyed by the construction of the Georgia viaduct. This history speaks to systemic racial injustice towards Vancouver’s Black community which continues to this day. This beautifully shot portrait commemorates legacies, but also celebrates a new generation of Black Vancouverites working to rebuild community, reclaim cultural space and facilitate Black joy.

Prod Mack Stannard

When Adam Changes

Adam change lentement

JOËL VAUDREUIL, CANADA, 2023, 96 MIN.

THU OCT 5 9:30 PM IN08

SAT O CT 7 8:30 PM CINE

Most teenagers are impressionable, but then there’s Adam, who’s body morphs in response to mockery. Called fat, his waist grows. Mocked for his “long torso” and he literally stretches. Adam’s physical changes are in some ways the least of his problems as he grapples with the death of his monsterous grandmother, an array of bullies, and an impossible crush. Director Joël Vaudreuil crafts a delightfully absurd and deeply sincere reflection of teenage life in 90s Quebec.

Cast Simon Lacroix Prod David Pierrat

viff.org

Audience Awards

VIFF’s Audience Awards allow you to take your festival experience to the next level by championing your favourite films. At the end of the festival, we’ll announce Audience Award winners for every one of our series. So be sure to vote after every screening.

Three different types of financing. Three different funds. All from one source.

rogersgroupoffunds.com

Awards

Best BC Film Award

Presented by

Best Canadian Documentary Award

Presented by

Best Canadian Film Award

$10,000 award from Creative BC

$15,000 in post-production services credit provided by Company 3

Best Canadian Short Film Award

Presented by

$2,000 award presented by VIFF

$15,000 award presented by the Rogers Group of Funds

Emerging Canadian Director Award

Presented by

$3,000 award presented by the Directors Guild of Canada

Presented by $15,000 award presented by the Directors Guild of Canada

Vanguard Award

Presented by $5,000 award presented by Lochmaddy Foundation

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Your donation isn’t just a gift; it’s a catalyst that empowers artists and inspires the creation of powerful narratives that touch hearts, challenge perceptions, and spur transformation. Embrace the magic of giving.

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A celebrated Canadian filmmaker curates a selection of international films that influenced their artistic journey.

Leading Lights

It’s such an exciting honour for me to introduce the new Leading Lights program at the 2023 Vancouver International Film Festival. I grew up in Vancouver and have been attending this festival since I was a teenager. I had the privilege of premiering my first film here in 2019 and then again with my last film, Riceboy Sleeps, just this past year. All of this to say that this festival has a special place in my heart. I’m so thrilled to take part in it again this year in the new role of guest curator.

I was invited to share four films that have had a profound impact and influence on my life and artistic career. These four films were not difficult to select and if you’ve been around me at all it’s likely that you’ve heard me raving about them: Peppermint Candy by Lee Chang-dong; Dust in the Wind by Hou Hsiao-hsien; Joint Security Area by Park Chan-wook; and A Woman Under the Influence by John Cassavetes.

These films encompass everything I love about cinema: its ability to entertain, educate, inspire, evoke thought, and spark conversations. Over the years, I have revisited them again and again, each time discovering new moments and gaining a greater appreciation for their masterful filmmaking. The protagonists in all of these films show sides of humanity that don’t simply boil down to right or wrong, or black and white, but exist somewhere in the gray area. They’re flawed human beings struggling to overcome challenges in extraordinary circumstances—is that not the basis of great cinema? I hope those of you who join us for these special screenings are moved and stirred in the way that I am when I view them. Please enjoy.

Anthony Shim

2023 Leading Lights Curator

Supported by

Dust in the Wind

HOU HSIAO-HSIEN, TAIWAN, 1986, 110 MIN.

FRI SEP 29 9:00 PM CINE

SAT O CT 7 10:45 AM VCT

At the end of the 1960s, high-school sweethearts Wan and Huen leave their little mining town in search of greater opportunities in Taipei, where the vicissitudes of life take their toll on the relationship. The first of Hou’s collaborations with screenwriter Wu Nienjen, this is a nostalgic love story, beautifully shot by Mark Lee Ping-Bin. (In the Mood for Love) “The stunning cinematography paints a dreamy, nostalgic rural Taiwan that is an absolute marvel to look at.”

Cast Wang Chien-wen, Shu-fen Hsin, Tien-lu Li, Lawrence Ko, Li-yin Yang Prod Hsu Hsin Chih,

Joint Security Area

PARK CHAN-WOOK, SOUTH KOREA, 2000, 109 MIN.

SAT SEP 30 9:15 PM CINE

SUN OCT 8 11:00 AM VCT

Park Chan-wook was among the first Korean filmmakers to make an impact in the West But before that, he enjoyed a smash hit at home with this compelling drama. Gunfire in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea leaves two North Korean soldiers dead while a South Korean soldier flees to safety. With the peace between the two nations on a knife-edge, Major Sophie Jean must determine what happened. “The direction is masterful, and the climax is as devastating as it is thrilling.”

Cast Lee Yeong-ae, Lee Byung-hun, Song Kangho, Kim Tae-Woo, shin Ha-kyun Prod Eun Soo Lee, Myeong-chan Park

Peppermint Candy

LEE CHANG-DONG, SOUTH KOREA/JAPAN, 1999, 129 MIN.

TUE OCT 3 8:45 PM CINE

SAT O CT 7 1:15 PM CINE

Backtracking from his suicide as a broken and depressed man, the film recounts the life of Yong-ho, from his tragic demise to his innocent youth, in reverse order. In between, he is a student, a soldier, a police officer and eventually an investor who loses a small fortune in the stock market. The second film by Lee Chang-dong (Burning) this is recognized as one of the key texts in contemporary Korean cinema. “An essential watch for anyone interested in Korea.”

Cast Sol Kyung-gu, Moon So-ri, Kim Yeo-jin, Sebeom Park, Suh Jung Prod Jae-Young Jeon, GyeNnam Myeong, Makoto Ueda

A Woman Under the Influence

JOHN CASSAVETES, USA, 1974, 155 MIN.

MON OCT 2 8:30 PM CINE

SUN OCT 8 12:45 PM CINE

John Cassavetes’ greatest success is built on a fearless, tour-de-force performance from Gena Rowlands as Mabel Longhetti, a working class wife and mom who sometimes struggles to keep it all together. Peter Falk is her husband, a proud man who loves Mabel, but is also ashamed of her. Love, as the song goes, will tear you apart. “When I think of this film, it’s all about Gena Rowlands; it’s one of the greatest on-screen performances ever in my opinion.”

Cast Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk, Fred Draper, Lady Rowlands, Katherine Cassavetes Prod Sam Shaw

A guest programmer embarks on a thematic exploration using cinema as their guide.

Focus: Women, Life and Freedom

One year after Mahsa Amini was murdered by Iran’s morality police, “Women Life Freedom”, the largest women-led revolution in recent history, continues its urgent battle for women’s rights and justice. While varied in form, content, style, and aesthetic, the five films selected for Focus: Women, Life and Freedom each centre on women and explore the impacts of patriarchy and misogyny—from overt injustices to multi-generational legacies across borders and genders—both in the world and in Iran in the wake of 1979’s revolution.

Through this program, I wanted to shine a light on the broad impacts of patriarchy and

Numb

AMIR TOODEHROOSTA, IRAN, 2022, 91 MIN.

SAT OCT 7 9:00 PM IN09

SUN OCT 8 4:15 PM SFU

North American Premiere. Under Iranian law, boys and girls attend school separately from elementary school onwards—but kindergartens are mixed gender. Numb follows several boys and girls in their last year of pre-school, as they learn to navigate gender through imitating the world of adults with make-believe games. Protagonist 6-year-old Roham’s innocent love for his fellow kindegartner Rana and his curiosity about her shy and reticent personality unravels dark and horrifying secrets of Rana’s life.

Cast Shabnam Dadkhah, Ayhan Shaygan, Nora Hanifeh Zadeh, Rayan Razmi, Kiana Mehdi Abadi Prod Amir Toodehroosta

Joonam

SIERRA URICH, USA, 2023, 100 MIN.

misogyny, and the experience of these impacts through a notion of time that is both linear and abstract. Loss is always about the future—a loss of possibilities for us, our parents, children, friends, homeland… We may experience such losses suddenly: A law denying women human rights. A disappeared loved one. A relocation to a new country. (How long does it take to say goodbye?) But these losses continue to exist out of time, both as memory and as a future we can no longer imagine.

Regardless of gender, the tragedy and violence of patriarchy and misogyny is a collective experience of grief and rage. Within that collective

Seven Winters in Tehran

Sieben Winter in Teheran

STEFFI NIEDERZOLL, GERMANY/FRANCE, 2023, 97 MIN.

FRI SEP 29 6:15 PM IN09

MON OCT 2 4:00 PM SFU

This compelling, urgent true crime documentary carefully lays out the story of 19-year-old architecture student Reyhaneh Jabbari, who, in 2007, stabbed a man in self-defence after he tried to rape her. Jabbari was arrested and sentenced to death. Over the next seven years Jabbari’s supporters scramble to save her. Drawing on footage smuggled out of the country, the film includes interviews with Jabbari’s family and former prison inmates, who bravely criticize Iran’s patriarchal, prejudiced judicial system.

Prod Knut Losen

grief and rage, there is also a chance for rebirth and a possibility for a new consciousness. Through beautiful cinematography, heartfelt acting, and thought-provoking stories, these films and filmmakers highlight the resilience, joy, triumphs, love, and beauty that exist in humanity even in the darkest of times. They invite us to laugh together, to think together, and to collectively imagine a future where we can live free of injustices and with more compassion.

Fay Nass

2023 Focus Curator

SAT SEP 30 4:00 PM IN10

SUN OCT 1 1:00 PM IN10

Canadian Premiere. Joonam (a ubiquitous Persian term of endearment, literally, “My life/ my dear”) is a beautiful, intimate film about home and exile. Sierra Urich embarks on a personal quest to make sense of her mixedrace Iranian identity. While Sierra struggles with Farsi, her grandmother Behjat speaks in broken English. By translating, Sierra’s mother Mitra becomes the bridge between the two generations, and represents that age group who paid the highest price of the revolution. Simple and complex, this is delightful doc.

Prod Keith Wilson, Sierra Urich

Terrestrial Verses

Ayeh Haye Zamini

ALI ASGARI, ALIREZA KHATAMI, IRAN, 2023, 77 MIN.

FRI SEP 29 9:00 PM IN09

SUN OCT 1 4:00 PM IN09

Canadian Premiere. Placing the audience in the position of various authority figures interrogating everyday Iranians, Terrestrial Verses gives us nine vignettes, all linked by the impact of patriarchy. The film’s title is a reference to the famous Iranian female poet Forough Farrokhzad, who challenged oppression in her personal life and her poetry. In the context of the Women, Life, Freedom movement, this is an urgent and poignant film... The only Iranian film in the official selection at Cannes this year.

Cast Bahram Ark, Arghavan Shabani, Servin Zabetian, Sadaf Asgari, Faezeh Rad Prod Ali Asgari, Milad Khosravi

Valley of Exile

ANNA FAHR, CANADA/SYRIA/LEBANON, 2023, 106 MIN.

SAT SEP 30 9:15 PM IN10

SUN OCT 1 9:00 PM IN08

Canadian Premiere. In the early days of the Syrian war, sisters Rima and Nour suddenly find themselves in a refugee camp in Lebanon after fleeing conflict and facing an uncertain future. Shot in an actual refugee settlement, director Anna Fahr has created a wonderfully nuanced film that is immediate and full of heart. Valley of Exile is a deeply felt exploration of the bonds of family within the extremes of war and separation, and is a bold testament to the strength and resilience of refugee women.

Saifan, Anna Fahr

Cast Maria Hassan, Hala Hosni, Michel Hourani, Najwa Kondakji, Joy Hallak, Sajed Amer Prod Lara Abou

Insights

Documentaries that change the way we see the world. Journeys, expeditions, and roads less travelled are at the heart of many Insights titles. Two outstanding environmental documentaries explore the oceans’ depths and world’s soils and emerge with possible solutions. We see the hard-won successes of South Asian Canadians staking their claim in our national sport. The impacts of colonialism are investigated, but examples of resilience and healing are also offered. The concepts of compassion and care are also present in profiles of addiction expert Gabor Maté and a unique psychiatric centre floating on the Seine.

WaaPaKe

JULES ARITA KOOSTACHIN, CANADA, 2023, 80 MIN.

SUN OCT 1 6:30 PM

Common Ground

JOSH & REBECCA TICKELL, USA, 2023, 105 MIN.

SFU

WED OCT 4 3:45 PM IN09

World Premiere. WaaPaKe is a story of resilience, love and transformation. Explored through an Indigenous lens, stories of residential school Survivor-Warriors and their families offer an understanding of intergenerational trauma and healing. “WaaPaKe” means tomorrow in Swampy Cree, signifying moving forward in a good way and towards healing with each other and the community around them. Courageous, and vulnerable, WaaPaKe reflects where we are in Truth and Reconciliation in Canada following the unmarked graves.

Prod Teri Snelgrove

SAT SEP 30 3:30 PM

SUN O CT 1 6:30 PM

PAR

STU

WED OCT 4 6:15 PM IN09

Canadian Premiere. An impassioned plea to care for the very thing that feeds us, balances the climate, and sustains life on earth: soil. An eye-opening invective against the harmful methods of American agriculture, Common Ground exposes the hidden agendas of agricultural giants, corporations, and government lobbyists, while unveiling the powerful potential of regenerative farming—how saving the soil can help save us along with it.

Cast Laura Dern, Jason Momoa, Woody Harrelson, Ian Somerhalder, Donald Glover, Ray Archuleta Prod Rebecca Tickell, Josh Tickell, Eric Dillon

Media Partner

side the countries and companies that hope to gain access to the lucrative deposits of precious metals lining the ocean floor kilometers beneath the surface. Intertwining these questions, Deep Rising leaves us wondering if we’re simply going to repeat history, or find a new future without exploitation.

The Mission

JESSE MOSS, AMANDA MCBAINE, USA/INDIA, 2023, 102 MIN.

SAT SEP 30 6:30 PM IN10

MON OCT 2 12:45 PM IN09

Canadian Premiere. In 2018, American missionary John Chau (26) traveled illegally to one of the most hard-to-reach places on Earth—North Sentinel Island, in the Bay of Bengal—determined to convert one of the world’s most isolated populations. This misguided mission would quickly see him killed. Through animated reenactments, intriguing interviews, and archival footage, The Mission examines the troubling legacy of romanticized colonial-era exploration narratives, and the persistent dangers of religious fanaticism.

Prod Jonathan Chinn, Simon Chinn, Jesse Moss, Amanda McBaine, Will Cohen

Insights

for Indigenous rights, sent an expedition of 30 people into the heart of the Amazon rainforest, to make first contact, provide medical services, locate and reunite separated family members with the Korubo, an isolated Indigenous group. Director Bruno Jorge crafts an immersive ethnographic journey that breaks apart monolithic assumptions in favour of an honest perspective of the Korubo that defies easy classification. A powerful, essential film.

Prod Bruno Jorge

clusive farmer Hannu sets up trail cameras to track the elusive wild cats he calls his friends. Hannu’s footage soon sees the night open up to all manner of delightful wildlife encounters, inspiring him, in turn, to perform primal, moonlit rituals of his own, blurring the distinctions between man and beast. This quirky doc has a unique, mesmerizing quality.

On the Adamant

NICOLAS PHILIBERT, FRANCE, 2023, 109 MIN.

THU OCT 5 1:00 PM VCT

SAT OCT 7 8:30 PM VCT

Moored on the Seine in central Paris, not far from the city’s cultural landmarks, is a huge, floating barge known as The Adamant, an institutional psychotherapy day centre. Winner of the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlinale, the latest from veteran documentarian Nicolas Philibert maintains an intimate but respectful distance from its human subjects, always allowing them to speak on their own terms. Tender and perceptive, it is a moving testament to the vital importance of human expression.

Prod Miléna Poylo & Gilles Sacuto, Céline Loiseau

Physician, Heal Thyself

ASHER PENN, CANADA, 2023, 78 MIN.

THU OCT 5 6:00 PM SFU

FRI OCT 6 3:30 PM RIO

World Premiere. In Asher Penn’s Physician, Heal Thyself one of the world’s foremost experts on addiction, trauma and childhood development, Dr Gabor Maté, shares not only his theories, but also his personal story: his difficult early childhood in Hungary, immigrating to Canada, his experience as a journalist for the Ubyssey, and his early reputation as a contrarian—before his long years of therapeutic practice in and around Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

Feat Gabor Mate Prod Asher Penn, Shannon Walsh, Mark Achbar

they strive to make it to the NHL. Arjun Bawa and Kayden Sadhra-Kang hope to emulate their trailblazing father, Robin Bawa, whilst seasoned defenseman Arvin Atwal transfers to Slovakia. Meanwhile, we trace the uplifting journey of Surrey’s own Arsh Bains to signing with the Vancouver Canucks. The life-changing power of diverse representation in sports makes for a compelling, passionate film.

Feat Harbz Bains, Arshdeep Bains, Arvin Athwal, Robin Bawa, Harnarayan Singh Prod Baljit Sangra, Nilesh Patel

Winter Chants

Dung mei loi

TSANG TSUI SHAN, HONG KONG, 2023, 102 MIN.

THU SEP 28 6:30 PM CINE

FRI OCT 6 12:45 PM VCT

North American Premiere. This moving doc zooms in on Ho Chung Village, which lies in the hilly rural area of Hong Kong. Once a decade, its citizens hold the Peace and Light Festival as a tribute to their village, its departed souls, and the gods that preside over them all. Director Tsung Tsui Chan, herself a resident of Ho Chung, begins to film preparations for the festival just as the pandemic takes hold… As a record of a place and its people, Winter Chants is fascinating, and as a portrait of civic communion, it’s quite poignant.

Prod Teresa Kwong, Ken Hui

Feat Jason Momoa Prod Matthieu Rytz, Jason Momoa

Prod Pasi Hakkio, Niina Virtanen

Spectrum

A collection of innovative nonfiction filmmaking. Nonfiction filmmaking once again proves itself every bit as wildly inventive as its narrative brethren in Spectrum selections that unleash barrages of recontextualized film clips, witness nostalgia trips metamorphosizing into heist films, and send unlikely friends on an odyssey through a typhoon-ravaged landscape. Aesthetic daring assumes many forms here, with more reflective films leaving us privy to intimate conversations or immersing us in sensory experiences defined by sound and its absence.

Asog

SEÁN DEVLIN, CANADA/PHILIPPINES, 2023, 99 MIN.

SAT SEP 30 9:00 PM

SUN OCT 1 3:00 PM

Orlando, My Political Biography

Orlando, ma biographie politique

PAUL B. PRECIADO, FRANCE, 2023, 98 MIN.

SFU

RIO

Canadian Premiere. Ten years after Super Typhoon Hiayan, many Filipinos are still crawling from the wreckage. But Jaya, a non-binary teacher and former comedian, is an indomitable soul who can dance amidst the devastation. En route to a beauty pageant, they encounter Arnel and establish an unlikely friendship. Dizzying and deeply felt, Asog skips between the comic, sorrowful, and political. Recognizing the unprecedented climate chaos we’re facing, Seán Devlin responds with a hybrid film quite unlike anything we’ve ever seen.

Cast Jaya, Arnel Pablo, Ricky Gacho Jr. Prod Amanda Ernst, Seán Devlin

THU SEP 28 9:00 PM

CINE

SUN OCT 8 8:30 PM VCT

Taking inspiration from Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, French writer and theorist Paul B. Preciado uses the transgressive novel as a framework to investigate the very real contemporary struggles of trans and non-binary people, casting 26 Orlandos of multiple ages, identities, and nationalities. Exuberant, joyful and deeply thoughtful, this poetic cinematic essay is a thoughtprovoking, and deeply felt work of art. Special Jury Prize, Encounters, Berlin. “The first trans masterpiece.” B RUBY RICH

Feat Oscar-Roza Miller, Janis Sahraoui, Liz Christin, Elios Levy, Victor Marzouk Prod Yaël Fogiel, Laetitia Gonzalez, Annie Ohayon-Dekel, Farid Rezkhallah

Mighty Afrin: In the Time of Floods

ANGELOS RALLIS, GREECE/FRANCE/GERMANY, 2023, 92 MIN.

FRI SEP 29 3:45 PM IN08

SAT SEP 30 6:00 PM IN08

North American Premiere. From the floodplains of the Brahmaputra River to the harsh city streets of Bangladesh’s capital city Dhaka, Angelos Rallis’s stunning hybrid-documentary captures the catastrophic effects of climate change upon the country’s people and landscape. The tale of twelve-year-old orphan Afrin and her personal odyssey becomes an allegory for the plight of millions of climate refugees across Bangladesh. A profound blend between intimate, verité documentary and the power of epic mythmaking.

Prod Maria del Mar Rodriguez, Angelos Rallis

The Mother of All Lies

Kadib Abyad

ASMAE EL MOUDIR, MOROCCO/QATAR/SAUDI ARABIA/EGYPT, 2023, 96 MIN.

THU SEP 28 4:00 PM IN10

TUE OCT 3 9:30 PM IN10

Winner of Un Certain Regard’s Best Director award, this fascinating non-fiction film unearths powerful revelations after decades of silence, denial and deceit.As her parents and her formidable grandmother prepare to leave the Casablanca home they have lived in for decades, filmmaker Asmae El Moudir takes the opportunity to probe the past, constructing a model of the street she remembers as a child to help unravel repressed truths buried deep within her own family, and concerning the oppressive recent history of Morocco itself.

Prod Asmae El Moudir

Smoke Sauna Sisterhood

ANNA HINTS, ESTONIA/FRANCE/ICELAND, 2023, 89 MIN.

SUN OCT 1 9:15 PM CINE

SAT O CT 7 6:30 PM CINE

Within the confines of a smoke sauna deep in an Estonian forest, groups of women gather to cleanse themselves in both body and soul, sharing in traditional sauna-based rituals, while also revealing their hurts and longings, joys and pains. In this Sundance-winning documentary, filmmaker Anna Hints boldly combines an intimate documentary approach with sensuous lyrical expressionism. Less an act of individual portraiture than a kind of collective diary, the film sees a hotbox become a place of healing.

Prod Marianne Ostrat

The Tuba Thieves

ALISON O’DANIEL, USA, 2023, 91 MIN.

SAT SEP 30 1:15 PM VCT

MON O CT 2 6:00 PM VCT

Drawing on her experience as a d/Deaf/Hard of Hearing person, director Alison O’Daniel transcends assumptions of sound, silence, and language in this groundbreaking hybrid doc framed around a string of unsolved tuba thefts in L.A. The result is part historical documentary, part poetic video essay, with interwoven narrative vignettes. Reimagining closed captions, it expresses stories and ways of hearing through text placement, font size, colour, and punctuation in ways both playful and profound.

Feat Nyeisha “Nyke” Prince, Russell Harvard, Geovanny Marroquin, Warren “WAWA” Snipe, Ajia Jones Prod Rachel Neder

A kaleidoscope of ground-breaking artists, great performances, and cultural icons

This year’s documentaries explore a variety of art forms, profiling practitioners both aspiring and iconic. While some have proven to be trailblazers, others have found themselves waylaid while in pursuit of their dreams. In each case, the filmmakers have determined the ideal aesthetic complement for their subject, including the riveting use of 3D to offer a greater appreciation of Anselm Kiefer’s textured canvases. The passion fueling each of these artists is palpable, making for inspirational viewing.

Portraits

Presented by

Anselm

Das rauschen der zeit

WIM WENDERS, GERMANY, 2023, 93 MIN.

FRI OCT 6 6:30 PM IN10

SUN OCT 8 4:00 PM IN10

Canadian Premiere. In this stunning documentary, acclaimed director Wim Wenders presents the work of contemporary German artist Anselm Kiefer, who for decades has rattled history and shown a mirror to post Second World War complacency and forgetfulness. Gorgeous cinematography captures the inner and outer landscape of the artist, while past and present narratives blur the boundaries between cinema and visual art. An absorbing, tremendously cinematic experience. Presented in 3D.

Feat Anselm Kiefer, Daniel Kiefer, Anton Wenders Prod Karsten Brünig

Invisible Beauty

BETHANN HARDISON, FRÉDÉRIC TCHENG, USA, 2023, 115 MIN.

SUN OCT 1 6:15 PM IN09

SAT O CT 7 1:00 PM IN09

Since her breakout as one of the most high-profile Black models in the 1970s, fashion world titan Bethann Hardison has advocated tirelessly for diversity both on and off the runway. Codirected by Hardison and Frédéric Tcheng, this riveting, elegantly constructed documentary traces the pioneer’s attempts to revolutionize not just the fashion world, but our very image of beauty. Invisible Beauty is an essential reminder that diversity is not just a slogan, but the result of life-long struggle.

Feat Iman, Fran Lebowitz, Tracee Ellis Ross, Whoopi Goldberg, Zendaya Prod Lisa Cortés

Media Partner

Portraits

This is where the wild ones come out to play.

Fittingly, this menagerie of Altered States oddities boasts no less than seven titles that hinge on uncanny transfigurations. Tempering the series’ more feral fare is a complement of soulful sci-fi offerings that employ Morocco, Hungary, and Czechia as departure points for their thoughtful explorations of speculative realms. Throw some teen angst, playful sacrilege, and righteous wrath into the mix, and it all makes for a delirious cocktail best served up in a dark room with strangers.

Altered States

Altered States

SUN OCT 1 9:00 PM RIO

SAT O CT 7 8:30 PM IN08

With her affluent husband and his family away on a day trip, Itto (Oumaïma Barid) intends to savour some solitude in their opulent home. But when an ominous meteorological event blows in, Morocco is plunged into a state of emergency. Forced to evacuate, the heavily pregnant Itto witnesses increasingly strange phenomenon. In charting this alienated woman’s odyssey through an increasingly otherworldly and apocalyptic milieu, Sofia Alaoui fashions an arresting and unique debut film.

Cast Oumaïma Barid, Mehdi Dehbi, Fouad Oughaou Prod Margaux Lorier, Toufik Ayadi, Christophe Barral

Wandering Saint

Crónicas de una Santa Errante

TOMAS GOMEZ BUSTILLO, ARGENTINA/USA, 2023, 85 MIN.

FRI OCT 6 4:00 PM CINE

SUN OCT 8 6:30 PM CINE

International Premiere. Boasting absurdist humour and one of the most audacious storytelling gambits you’ll see, Tomás Gómez Bustillo’s bewitching satire is the story of a devout senior with an ill-advised scheme to stage a miracle and thus enshrine her reputation as a living saint. With graceful visuals and a heady concoction of anarchic mischief and astute perception, this magical realist marvel is charming as hell.

Cast Monica Villa, Ana Silvia Mackenzie, Noemi Susana Ron, Silvia Porro, Horacio Anibal Marassi Prod Gewan Brown, Amanda Freedman

SAT SEP 30 6:15 PM IN09

MON OCT 2 3:30 PM IN09

An outcast hockey player, Heather (Bobbi Salvor Menuez) is a closeted lesbian living with her alcoholic mom—and she’s inherited a familial curse that transforms her into a bloodthirsty lycanthrope. Falling for figure skater Jonny (Amandla Stenberg), Heather invites further persecution from the prejudiced townsfolk. But there’s a full moon rising... Jacqueline Castel’s My Animal is a full-blooded creature feature that weds the classic werewolf mythos with its own sapphic sensibility.

Cast Bobbi Salvör Menuez, Amandla Stenberg, Stephen McHattie, Heidi von Palleske, Cory Lipman, Scott Thompson Prod Andrew Bronfman, Michael Solomon

SERBIA, 2023, 111 MIN.

THU SEP 28 9:00 PM RIO

SAT O CT 7 6:15 PM RIO

Central Europe, 2041. With violent crime on the rise, all citizens have been granted the right to be revived from unnatural deaths through a new technology called Restore Point. When one of the head Restore Point scientists is murdered and tenuously revived through an unstable, outdated backup of his consciousness, indefatigable detective Em Trochinowska teams up with him to pursue her prime suspect: a hacker with ties to a Luddite terrorist group with whom she has a personal score to settle.

Cast Andrea Mohylová, Matěj Hádek, Václav Neužil, Milan Ondrík, Karel Dobrý Prod Jan Kallista, Pavel Berčík, Silvie Michajlova, Karla Stojáková, Ondřej Zima

The Sacrifice Game

JENN WEXLER, USA, 2023, 99 MIN.

MON OCT 2 3:30 PM RIO

FRI OCT 6 9:15 PM RIO

1971. Samantha and Clara, two quiet students are stuck at their elite boarding school for the Christmas holidays, along with a teacher, her boyfriend, and, soon enough, a murderous gang of occult killers, led by an OTT Mena Massoud (Aladdin), who mean to call up a long-dormant demon... Jenn Wexler’s second feature has a couple of major, mind-bending twists up its sleeve which we can’t even begin to hint at... Let’s just say a subversive strain runs rampant in the movie’s wicked second half.

Cast Mena Massoud, Olivia Scott Welch, Chloë Levine, Madison Baines, Georgia Acken, Derek Johns, Laurent Pitre

Tiger Stripes

AMANDA NELL EU, MALAYSIA/TAIWAN/FRANCE/ GERMANY, 2023, 95 MIN.

THU SEP 28 6:00 PM IN08

SAT O CT 7 9:00 PM RIO

Winner of the prestigious Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Prix, Tiger Stripes is a coming-ofage body horror film set in a strict Malaysian girls’ school. Rebellious 12-year-old Zaffan’s body starts to change before everyone else’s. Given the total lack of education around her physical development, these changes begin to scare her as she becomes convinced that she is evolving into a horrific and dangerous monster. An exciting debut feature from Amanda Nell Eu.

Cast Zafreen Zairizal, Deena Ezral, Piqa, Shaheizy Sam, Jun Lojong Prod Foo Fei Ling, Mao Huang, Fran Borgia,Juliette Lepoutre, Pierre Menahem, Jonas Weydemann, Ellen Havenith, Yulia Evina Bhara

The Wait

La Espera

F. JAVIER GUTIERREZ, SPAIN, 2023, 99 MIN.

SAT OCT 7 9:15 PM IN10

SUN OCT 8 3:30 PM RIO

Canadian Premiere. On the brink of destitution, a gamekeeper on a remote ranch in southern Spain takes a bribe from a hunting party. When this inevitably leads to tragedy, Eladio’s world falls apart, as unnatural forces extract a terrible price. Vividly set in the dusty, sweat-soaked badlands of southern Spain, The Wait brings tragedy, horror, psychological drama and western together to create a freshly textured take on a Faustian folk tale.

Cast Víctor Clavijo,

White Plastic Sky

Műanyag égbolt

TIBOR BÁNÓCZKI, SAROLTA SZABÓ, HUNGARY/ SLOVAKIA, 2023, 110 MIN.

FRI SEP 29 4:00 PM VCT

THU OCT 5 8:45 PM RIO

One hundred years in the future, humanity is facing the consequences of the environmental degradation they’ve wrought: at the age of 50, every citizen is voluntarily transformed into a tree so that they might supply oxygen to a withering world. When Stefan learns that his wife plans to metamorphize before her time, he embarks on a daring rescue mission. Employing mind-bending rotoscoped animation to render a richly detailed dystopia, White Plastic Sky is a spectacle to behold, and a warning to be heeded.

Cast Tamás Keresztes, Zsófia Szamosi, Géza Hegedűs D., Judit Schell, István Znamenák Prod József Fülöp, Orsolya Sipos, Juraj

Ruth Díaz, Moisés Ruiz, Manuel Morón, Antonio Estrada Prod Adrián Guerra, Antonio P. Pérez, F. Javier Gutiérrez

Krasnohorsky

VIFF Short Forum 1

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 120 MIN.

FRI SEP 29 9:00 PM VCT

SUN O CT 1 2:45 PM IN08

Our Grandmother the Inlet

JAIME LEIGH GIANOPOULOS, KAYAH GEORGE, CANADA, 2023, 9 MIN.

VIFF Short Forum 2

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 122 MIN.

Sisters

VIFF Short Forum

PM VCT

MARISA HOICKA, CANADA, 2022, 3 MIN.

A young Tsleil-Waututh woman reflects on her relationship to water, culture, and land as kin and relatives.

Unspeakable Heap

KARA DITTE HANSEN, CANADA/USA/DENMARK, 2023, 14 MIN.

Sinking house, decommissioned landfill, retired wrestler—an accumulation of histories.

Master of the House

DYLAN MARANDA, CANADA, 2023, 17 MIN.

A young sommelier struggles to balance friendship and ambition the night an acclaimed restaurant critic dines at his work.

The Company We Keep

WOJTEK JAKUBIEC, CANADA, 2023, 6 MIN. An intimate portrait of an artist and her dog.

Modern Goose

KARSTEN WALL, CANADA, 2023, 20 MIN.

The adaptive behaviours of Canadian geese are examined as city co-habitants affected by human intervention and climate change.

Outside Center

ELI JEAN TAHCHI, CANADA/GERMANY, 2023, 21 MIN.

A man navigates life, love, and identity via his gay rugby league in Munich, Germany.

Arranged according to flows of energy, mood, and spirit, the Short Forum showcases works by filmmakers from across the country. Each short is strategically placed to highlight the comparative contrasts and tones of its neighbouring films, together creating a diverse but unified continuity over the course of five inimitable programs. Recurring themes of family, migration, and community move through a selection of 42 powerful and compelling works categorised under the expansive framework of ‘Canadian’ filmmaking.

Death Mask

JOHN GREYSON, CANADA, 2023, 10 MIN. This experimental opera reenacts the lesser known history of a love affair between Li Shiu Tong and Magnus Hirschfeld in Nazy Germany.

All the Days of May

MIRYAM CHARLES, CANADA, 2023, 7 MIN.

After making a documentary on her daughter’s death, a mother reflects on life.

Mothers and Monsters

EDITH JORISCH, CANADA, 2023, 16 MIN.

A banquet hosted by and for new mothers is disrupted by a series of strange disturbances.

Mid-century advertisements, public service announcements, and product demonstrations are stitched together to create an unsettling narrative of two sisters.

Four Mile Creek

RYAN MCKENNA, CANADA, 2023, 21 MIN.

Aurore Cormier was a settler child who died from smallpox at the turn of the 20th century, near what is now known as Thunder Bay. 100 years later, her relatives search for her grave.

Cloud Striker

A.W. HOPKINS, CANADA, 2022, 17 MIN.

Chief Cloud Striker is on a quest to find his son Elijah, who has been forcibly taken from home and placed in residential school.

Conviction

BRUCE THOMAS MILLER, CANADA, 2022, 13 MIN. Following release from prison, Joseph is faced with the challenges of reintegration into society.

Black Box Investigations

PAIGE SMITH, CANADA, 2023, 3 MIN. Form and function are deconstructed through the artist’s interventions with the camera.

Autre Chose (Something Else)

ÉTIENNE LACELLE, CANADA, 2023, 26 MIN.

Following a traumatic motorcycle accident, a young man rebuilds his bike to take one last ride deep into the Canadian wilderness.

The Great Kind Mystery

ELLA MORTON, CANADA, 2023, 17 MIN. Inuk and Mi’kmaw artist Amy Hull reflects on her hometown of Daniel’s Harbour, Newfoundland via the Mi’kmaq language.

Element

WILL NIAVA, CANADA/CÔTE D’IVOIRE, 2023, 22 MIN. Struggling to make a living in Abidjan, a group of young men decide to step up their hustle and cast a spell to make some real money.

Our Grandmother the Inlet

The Great Kind Mystery

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

CASEY WEI, VIFF SHORT FORUM PROGRAMMER

Supported by

Community Partner

VIFF Short Forum

VIFF Short Forum 3

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 120 MIN.

MON OCT 2 8:15 PM VCT

TUE OCT 3 3:00 PM IN08

Between You and Me

CAMERON KLETKE, CANADA, 2023, 4 MIN.

An animated journey through a young woman’s diary entries, notes, and drawings.

Dream Tricks: Over a Six Stair

ADAM SEWARD, CANADA, 2022, 16 MIN.

Annie, a trans femme skateboarder and bassist, attempts a Varial Heelflip over a six-step jump.

Ancestral Threads

SEAN STILLER, CANADA, 2023, 12 MIN.

Founder Joleen Mitton of Vancouver’s Indigenous fashion weeks takes us backstage.

Redlights

EVA THOMAS, CANADA, 2023, 14 MIN.

A quiet evening takes a dramatic turn when Amber, an Indigenous woman, is suddenly picked up by police outside a pub.

Yun

YUEZHANG QIN, CANADA, 2022, 4 MIN.

A young woman is followed by a cloud.

Cassandra

BEA SANTOS, CANADA, 2023, 15 MIN. In the tradition of great tragedies, the family of the titular character ignores her claims of clairvoyance.

Donna

KEENAN MACWILLIAM, CANADA/USA, 2023, 18 MIN. On a search for her birth mother, the filmmaker investigates identity, family, and memory through performance.

Making Babies

ÉRIC K. BOULIANNE, CANADA, 2023, 20 MIN. When a loving couple decides to have a baby, their bond is tested.

Katshinau

JULIEN G. MARCOTTE, JANI BELLEFLEUR-KALTUSH, CANADA, 2023, 17 MIN.

Marie, an Indigenous slave to a local surgeon, encounters a young girl whom she presumes to be her child.

VIFF Short Forum 4

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 121 MIN.

THU OCT 5 6:00 PM VCT

FRI O CT 6 3:00 PM IN08

Les Lavandieres

LAURA KAMUGISHA, CANADA, 2023, 5 MIN. In this visual essay strung along a clothesline, a narrator named Lavender tells the story of her mother, Jeanne, a Rwandese immigrant filled with hope.

Her

Name is Like a Sigh

SOLARA THANH-BINH DANG, CANADA, 17 MIN. Ha, an overworked Vietnamese nail salon proprietor, reevaluates her life in a mid-life crisis prompted by a new customer.

Nigiqtuq (The South Wind)

LINDSAY MCINTYRE, CANADA, 2023, 17 MIN.

An Inuit mother and daughter must negotiate the pressures of assimilation after relocating to a new life in the South in the 1930s.

Hair or No Hair

JANESSA ST. PIERRE, CANADA, 2023, 16 MIN. Bel, a young Black woman who has been hiding her alopecia under wigs for years, is one day exposed publicly.

Cristo Negro

PAUL STAVROPOULOS, BRENDAN MILLS, CANADA/ PANAMA, 2022, 18 MIN.

History, religion, and colonialism collide with spiritual awakening, miracles, and poverty in Portobelo, Panama, where locals worship a Black Jesus Christ.

Sun, Moon and Four Peaks

KEVIN JIN KWAN KIM, CANADA, 2023, 15 MIN. Two brothers, Minseo and Junho, are reunited in Vancouver after many years apart following their parents divorce in Korea.

Portrait of the Con Artist as a Young Man

RYAN LEEDU, CANADA, 2022, 8 MIN.

An aspiring con-artist works on his craft.

Silkworm

AMIR HONARMAND, CANADA/IRAN, 2022, 25 MIN. Not long after Amin, an Iranian boy living in poverty, is gifted a stolen iPhone, the owner gets in touch.

VIFF Short Forum 5

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 120 MIN.

FRI OCT 6 9:00 PM VCT

SAT OCT 7 3:00 PM IN08

Baigal Nuur - Lake Baikal

ALISI TELENGUT, CANADA/GERMANY, 2023, 9 MIN.

The ancient Siberian Lake Baikal is reimagined through handmade animation. Narrated in endangered Buryat-Mongolian.

Gentle Hum of Spring

SIMON GAREZ, CANADA, 2022, 10 MIN.

As the snow thaws, a young beekeeper struggles to maintain his bee colonies.

My Tomato Heart

BENOÎT LE ROUZÈS MÉNARD, CANADA, 2023, 15 MIN. Due to a serious heart condition, Madeleine is forced to retire from her job at the grocery store. How will her last day end?

Take Care

TONY MASSIL, CANADA, 2022, 19 MIN.

A recently divorced James moves in with his fiercely independent grandmother Patty.

Return to Ombabika

MA-NEE CHACABY, ZOE GORDON, SHAYNE EHMAN, CANADA, 22 MIN.

Two-spirit Oji-Cree elder, activist and artist Ma-Nee Chacaby journeys home to Ombabika, Ontario. She reflects on the land, her personal healing and the impacts of colonization.

Defining Human

DANIEL CODE, CANADA/KENYA, 2023, 15 MIN.

As Earth reaches its environmental breaking point, Mia, a talented Black astronaut, must make a difficult decision.

Soleil de Nuit

FERNANDO LOPEZ ESCRIVA, MARIA CAMILA ARIAS, CANADA, 2023, 13 MIN.

An Atikamekw elder disrupts a space-training exercise to ask the astronauts to deliver a message to the spirits of his community on the moon.

Dickinsonia

CHARLINE DALLY, CANADA/FRANCE, 2022, 17 MIN. This speculative investigation of an ocean species is an invitation for embodied listening —to open one’s unconscious in order to find what is embedded deep within our memories.

Short Fuse

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 102 MIN.

SAT OCT 7 6:00 PM IN08

Two One Two

SHIRA AVNI, CANADA, 2023, 5 MIN.

Combining shimmering clay on glass animation with personal archives, an intimate love letter to motherhood, symbiotic relationships, and two-headed monsters.

Sub Terra

JEFFREY ZABLOTNY, CANADA/GERMANY, 2022, 9 MIN.

A mysterious journey into the soil is created by blending animation, photogrammetry, motion capture, and live-action material.

Swallow Flying To The South

MOCHI LIN, CANADA, 2022, 18 MIN.

In this tale of survival, Young Swallow is abandoned at a public boarding school in Beijing.

You Feel Soft

CAMERON KLETKE, CANADA, 2022, 3 MIN.

An exploration of love employing forms of graphite that bring the screen to textural life.

Return to Hairy Hill

DANIEL GIES, CANADA, 2023, 18 MIN.

When her mother flies away, Ethel cares for her siblings. Will she resign herself to fate or try her luck in the wide world?

Where Rabbits Come From

COLIN LUDVIC RACICOT, CANADA, 2023, 15 MIN.

In a grey dystopia, a father rabbit challenges the authorities by bringing a bit of wonder into his daughter’s life after the mysterious disappearance of her mother.

Two Apples

BAHRAM JAVAHERY, CANADA, 2023, 10 MIN.

Leaving her homeland, a young woman brings with her a single memento: a ripe apple studded with cloves. A tender film delivered with richly innovative animation.

In the Wake of the Cedar Tree TOWUSTASIN, CANADA, 2019, 24 MIN.

An experimental documentary incorporating animation, spoken word, intimate interviews and poetic narratives to explore the Haida’s connection to their ancestral land.

Return to Hairy Hill

Dream Trick: Over a Six Stair Silkworm

Soleil du Nuit

International Shorts

In only minutes, these films immerse you in fully realized narratives that leave a mark.

Short films often enjoy much greater latitude in terms of style, structure and approach than many feature films. They are also one of the last bastions of true directorial vision, unencumbered by external forces that impose limits on a filmmaker’s control. The shorts in these five programs offer excellent examples of masterful storytelling, originality, and highly skilled filmmaking within the condensed time limitations of this wonderfully imaginative art form.

Conflicts of the Heart

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 106 MIN.

MON OCT 2 6:00 PM IN08

WED OCT 4 12:45 PM IN08

Beyond the Sea

HIPPOLYTE LEIBOVICI, BELGIUM/FRANCE, 2023, 25 MIN. When an older drag queen is about to go onto stage for the last time, her estranged son unexpectedly shows up and threatens to derail the evening.

An Ordinary Day

JU-YEON GIM, SOUTH KOREA, 2023, 20 MIN. On a day when a comet is about to strike the Earth, two young women who do not know each other well, one blind and one with paraplegia, decide to spend their last hours together.

Almost Fall

MARGOT POUPPEVILLE, FRANCE, 2022, 23 MIN. Love for the same woman tore a sister and brother apart. Now, in old age, they reconnect. But is reconciliation possible?

Headdress

TAIETSARÓN:SERE ‘TAI’ LECLAIRE, USA, 2022, 10 MIN. When a Queer Indigenous person sees a non-Indigenous person wearing a ceremonial headdress, they retreat into their mind to find the perfect response.

Youssou & Malek

SIMON FRENAY, FRANCE, 2022, 28 MIN. Two teenage boys are in love with each other and the utopian world they live in. However, tomorrow heartbreak looms as one is leaving for university.

Family Adventures

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 113 MIN.

TUE OCT 3 6:00 PM IN08

THU OCT 5 12:45 PM IN08

Basri and Salma in a Never-Ending Comedy

KHOZY RIZAL, INDONESIA, 2023, 15 MIN.

A husband and wife who run a carnival ride have been married for five years but are still childless... a fact their family constantly reminds them of.

Southern Afternoon

TIAN LAN, CHINA, 2022, 16 MIN.

A Uyghur father living in southern China accidentally finds an ornate letter to his teen daughter. He assumes it’s from a boyfriend but he can’t read Mandarin.

The Family Circus

ANDREW FITZGERALD, USA, 2022, 18 MIN.

A Vietnamese-American family’s plan to cover up a drunk driving accident begins to unravel when their emotional baggage spills out in front of the police.

Where the Time Goes

JUSTIN TYLER CLOSE, USA/CANADA, 2023, 15 MIN.

As two brothers navigate the challenges of their parents’ failed marriage, their deep bond helps them support each other and their mother.

Lovebugs

TEDDY ALVAREZ-NISSEN, USA, 2023, 13 MIN. From his cozy library inside the walls of a suburban home, an intellectual snail tells of his life’s love, loss and change.

Just the Two of Us

CLARA LEMAIRE ANSPACH, FRANCE, 2022, 20 MIN.

A woman’s mother, in the hospital seriously ill with cancer, asks her to take her on a trip to the south of France. She reluctantly agrees.

In Too Deep

CHRIS OVERTON, UNITED KINGDOM, 2023, 16 MIN. As a couple grieve the death of their young daughter, the father’s obsession with memories becomes dangerous.

SANDY GOW, INTERNATIONAL SHORTS PROGRAMMER

Community Partner

Not Your Everyday Drama

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 107 MIN.

WED OCT 4 6:00 PM IN08

FRI OCT 6 12:15 PM IN08

Cuarto de Hora

NEMO ARANCIBIA, CHILE/FRANCE, 2023, 15 MIN.

Passing by a serious car accident, a woman becomes a French translator for a young Haitian man as he is taken to hospital by ambulance.

Confessions

STEPHANIE KAZNOCHA, USA, 2023, 12 MIN.

After the death of a friend, two elderly nuns contemplate what the future holds and embark on a journey of self-discovery.

Fairplay

ZOEL AESCHBACHER, SWITZERLAND/FRANCE, 2022, 18 MIN.

Three males from different generations engage in dangerous, competitive and high risk situations in search of recognition.

Big Bang

CARLOS SEGUNDO, BRAZIL, 2022, 14 MIN.

In Uberlandia, Brazil, a little person earns his living fixing ovens, which he easily fits into thanks to his small frame.

A Lien

SAM CUTLER-KREUTZ, DAVID CUTLER-KREUTZ, USA, 2022, 15 MIN.

On the day of their green card interview, a young couple confronts a twisted and dangerous immigration process.

Just a Rehearsal

HUGO SANZ, SPAIN, 2022, 9 MIN.

As two sisters hide inside a wardrobe playing games, it becomes apparent that a serious threat has appeared outside.

Jeong-Dong

CHOI WOO GENE, SOUTH KOREA, 2023, 24 MIN.

Soon after moving into a cheap rental floor of a big house, a man starts to have strange experiences. His friends come to help investigate.

International Shorts

viff.org/rent-our-venue

Nothing Comes Easy

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 108 MIN.

THU OCT 5 6:45 PM IN08

SAT O CT 7 12:15 PM IN08

Far From the Tree

EMMA MARKOVÁ, CZECH REPUBLIC, 2023, 23 MIN. A woman and her teen daughter live in a small dead-end city but are trying to break out of their miserable circumstances.

Cut

SAMUEL LUCAS ALLEN, AUSTRALIA, 2023, 19 MIN. A teenage boy caught in a web of lies is pulled in different directions as he tries to juggle anti-Semitism, his queerness and an orthodox Jewish father.

Night Shift

SANTIAGO LAGO, ARGENTINA, 2022, 27 MIN. The narcoleptic night shift clerk at a sex hotel faces an unusually busy night in which housekeeping finds a gun in Room 6.

Spasm

SAHRA ASADOLLAHI, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN, 2023, 27 MIN.

Having never acted in film before, a woman goes for an audition that becomes a test of more than just her acting ability.

Mira

EVA LOUISE HALL, USA, 2023, 12 MIN.

A struggling accordionist busker gets more than she bargained for when her desire to get noticed attracts the attention of a mysterious and enticing competitor.

Relational Baggage

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 110 MIN.

SUN OCT 1 6:00 PM IN08

TUE OCT 3 12:15 PM IN08

Hedgehog

D. MITRY, USA, 2022, 17 MIN.

As the war starts in Ukraine, a young girl is taken to stay with her grandmother. In the shack outside, she discovers a badly wounded Russian soldier.

Nowhere

GARIN HOVANNISIAN, ARMENIA/USA, 2023, 12 MIN. A teacher and a young barista are too prudent to acknowledge their mutual attraction. But after dark a world emerges where their shadows come alive.

Hide Your Crazy

AUSTIN KASE, USA, 2023, 14 MIN.

A young man’s surprise birthday dinner for his girlfriend is not met with the response he was expecting, leading to the most frightful night of their lives.

Big Day

CHUNG CHIEH CHIANG, TAIWAN, 2022, 23 MIN.

An older couple take a walk to file their di vorce papers. On the way, they reflect on how their lives came to this.

Snif & Snüf

MICHAEL J RUOCCO, USA, 2023, 5 MIN.

Two characters discover an interesting new object that teaches them a lot about them selves and what it means to share.

Sushi

IVÁN MORALES, SPAIN, 2023, 22 MIN.

A young man goes out for dinner with a com munity policeman who has never had sushi before. The mystery of their connection is slowly revealed.

Pisko the Crab Child Is in Love

MAKOTO NAGAHISA, JAPAN, 2023, 17 MIN.

A young woman whose father was a crab takes us on a whirlwind tour of her struggle to find love and acceptance.

The perfect venue for your next event.

• Film Screenings

International short works that explore how far the form of cinema is capable of bending.

MODES is a place for video art, the experimental, the avant-garde, and new interpretations of screen-based work. Concerned with play of form and prioritizing substance of content, while still embracing art for art’s sake, this series is intended as a disruption of norms and respectfully challenges the viewer to submit to the artist. Balancing representation of gender creative and minoritized voices, this year’s collection of work calls forward questions regarding the nature of our material world and what change looks like over time.

MODES

come to pass in her grandmother’s lifetime.

Let’s Talk

SIMON LIU, HONG KONG, 2023, 11 MIN. Directives for “a new era” are found on murals and public slogans in Hong Kong. Old feelings arise, conjuring distant voices from the concrete.

Mother Land

KANTARAMA GAHIGIRI, RWANDA/SWITZERLAND, 2023, 10 MIN.

Confronting and trenchant, an almost supernatural presence atop a mountain of tech waste, she unearths the truth.

This Is Not Here

CHARLOTTE MUNGOMERY, AUSTRALIA/PERU/SPAIN, 2022, 10 MIN.

Propeller fans in dialogue propound a pointed parody on wellness.

Square the Circle

HANNA HOVITIE, FINLAND, 2023, 18 MIN.

A cyclical comedy, framed within a round edge rather than the screen’s desired quadrilateral aspect asks: How does one function as a circle in a square world?

and desires. Overexposed narrative clips from post-revolution Iranian cinema accompany a sparse audio landscape to contextualize abstractions of what must be inferred between the silent narration. Premiering in Cannes, at Quinzaine des Cineastes, Maryam Tafakory’s poignant, affecting work was nominated for both the Queer Palm and Golden Eye Award for Best Documentary.

Loving in between

JYOTI MISTRY, SOUTH AFRICA/AUSTRIA, 2023, 19 MIN.

High energy music, repurposed archival footage from the Eye Film Museum, and minimal animation encapsulate a portrait of social norms, religious persuasions, cultural taboos and political interventions that dictate and punctuate how and who we love. Yet, emancipation is found in the erotic.

Aqueronte

MANUEL MUÑOZ RIVAS, SPAIN, 2023, 27 MIN.

Passengers settle in for a reflective and contemplative voyage aboard a liminal ferry ride from one river port to another. Destination unknown. The journey seems to expand, as the impending and distant shore is postponed. Observations are sharp, yet the magnitude of space becomes blurred.

Square the Circle

Mast-del

Media

Partner Community Partner

VIFF Ignite High School Program

Presented by

Each year, VIFF welcomes hundreds of secondary students to experience exceptional international cinema at the festival. From stories of Indigenous activism to films that capture historic events as they’re unfolding, great world cinema challenges our perspectives, promotes inquiry, develops critical thinking skills, and ignites imaginations. Be they set in the Philippines, Norway, Canada, or deep in the soil below, this year’s selected films present stories that connect youth with powerful forces and experiences shaping our contemporary world and identities.

Film Educational Resources

These films offer bold approaches to pressing social and environmental concerns and personal journeys, and offer thoughtprovoking connections to subjects across the BC curriculum. Prior to the screenings, teachers will receive film resource guides.

Written with the curriculum in mind, these guides facilitate engaged discussion and are designed to open up in-depth exploration that connects the cinema and the classroom.

Exclusive Dialogue with Filmmakers and Subject Experts

Many of the in-cinema screenings will be followed by a Q and A session, offering students the rare opportunity to ask questions with the directors, producers or subject experts connected to the films.

How to Book

Free for schools, all Ignite films will be screened in-cinema with select titles streamed online. Capacity for all films is limited. Find film summaries, schedule, and booking information at viff.org/ignite

We’re excited to complement and enhance our film program with a carefully curated selection of live events. Be it inventive performances, insightful talks, or innovative exhibitions, these events unearth new discoveries as we explore the world of film and film culture. Not to be found anywhere else and incapable of being repeated, these celebrations of creativity are not to be missed.

VIFF Live

VIFF Live is a series of performances and experiences that push the boundaries of traditional film festival programming, intersecting cinema culture with music, comedy, podcasting, and performance in unique, cinema-infused live shows.

32 Sounds

by Sam Green

An immersive documentary and profound sensory experience from filmmaker Sam Green that explores the elemtenal phenomenon of sound.

Sam Green (director, writer, editor) is a New York-based documentary filmmaker. Previous “live documentaries” include A Thousand Thoughts (with the Kronos Quartet), The Measure of All Things and The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller (featuring the indie rock band Yo La Tengo).

Machine Folklore

by Software2050 & NAXSFUTURE

Thursday, Oct 5 7:00-8:30pm

Vancouver Playhouse Tickets: $38.00

What does humanity look like to AI? Using a masterful combination of music and moving image, two of Taiwan’s foremost art collectives explore the future of digital culture, aesthetics, and the metaverse in a hypnotic performance.

NAXSFUTURE is a new media art studio committed to experimental creations and services including web-based online experiences, VR, game art and audio-visual performances.

Sunday, Oct 1 7:00-8:00pm 9:00-10:00pm

Roundhouse Community Centre Tickets: $22.00

“VIFF Live 2023 is for you the audience. Very much a live—together in the same room— moment. You’ll witness the interplay of image, voice, spoken and recorded text, narrative, sound and scored music, theatrical lighting, and headphones. All to bring about an experiential rediscovery of the moving image — in full dance, mind you, with a host of new partners. Enjoy the experience!” NORMAN ARMOUR, VIFF LIVE GUEST CURATOR

“32 Sounds is the greatest documentary you’ve ever heard.” ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE

Community Partners

The Ironworks Series

New to the Festival for 2023, The Ironworks Series invites four established resident artists to perform their innovative works in the exploratory and experimental framework of Gastown’s iconic Ironworks venue. Don’t miss this remarkable series of boundary-defying performances

Friday, Oct 6

Oct 5-7

The Ironworks $15

Saturday, Oct 7

Experimental Performance

by Cris Derksen

10-11pm

Juno-nominated Cris Derksen is an inter nationally respected Indigenous cellist and composer. Originally from Treaty 8 in Northern Alberta, she comes from North Tall Cree Reserve on her father’s side and Mennonite homesteaders on her mother’s. Derksen will introduce audiences to the unforgettable virtuosity that has led to her break out solo career, while also collaborating with some of Canada’s Finest; Tanya Tagaq, Buffy Sainte Marie, Naomi Klein, and Leanne Simpson.

Experimental Performance

by Sammy Chien

7-8pm

Artistic Director of Chimerik 似不像, Sammy Chien 簡上翔 is an interdisciplinary artist pioneering ways of integrating new media into performance. Chien uses the technologies of real-time performance software to produce deep connections between image, sound, and movement. Presenting samplings from ongoing research and a new work-in-progress exemplary of a practice that draws upon a composite of art forms, disciplines, and lived experiences.

The World Made Itself and Infinitely Yours

by Miwa Matreyek

9-10pm

Miwa Matreyek is an animator, designer, and performer originally based in Los Angeles, now based on the unceded traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm e (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səlílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, also known as Vancouver BC. Matreyek will perform The World Made Itself and Infinitely Yours, works that weave surreal and poetic narratives of conflict between humans, nature, and the climate crisis.

One ticket will grant admission to both performances at The Ironworks on Saturday, Oct 7.

VIFF Talks

VIFF Talks connects fans of film culture with the brilliant minds behind the work they love. The 2023 lineup features expertly moderated conversations with a wide range of experts from creators to showrunners, directors, writers, producers, and craftspeople celebrated for their outstanding contributions to groundbreaking film and television.

Welcome to Barbie Land

with Sarah Greenwood & Katie Spencer

Friday, Sept 29 – 9:15pm International Village 10

The creative duo Sarah Greenwood (Production Designer) & Katie Spencer (Set Decorator) have been close collaborators for 25 years, and were recently tapped by Greta Gerwig to create Barbie Land in the record-beating and hottest film of the year—Barbie. This conversation explores the creative collaboration required to pull off a director’s vision, designing sets for modern utopias versus period pieces, and a special glimpse behind-the-scenes of Barbie

Building the Closet of Oppenheimer with

Costume Designer Ellen Mirojnick

Saturday, Sep 30 – 6:30 pm Annex Theatre

In Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, costume designer Ellen Mirojnick channels the iconic style of the “father of the atomic bomb”. With 45 years of experience, she’s worked on films like Fatal Attraction, Showgirls, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, The Greatest Showman, and Bridgerton. Discover her insights on designing for drama and period pieces, emphasizing research and creative collaboration.

“We are beyond excited to host an inspiring group of key creatives from some of the most beloved films, television, and audio series. I’m looking forward to giving our audiences a behind-the-scenes look at epic films like Barbie, Oppenheimer, and Dune—and even an opportunity to ask questions!”

KINGA BINKOWSKA, VIFF TALKS CURATOR

Tickets

$22.00

Scan QR code to purchase tickets:

Canadaland Presents: The Backbench Live!

With Host Mattea Roach (Live Taping)

Tuesday, Oct 3 – 6:30pm The Rio

Explore the impact of government policy on art and culture with Backbench host Mattea Roach and special guests in this live podcast taping. Delve into the contentious Bill C-11, its potential to disrupt the status quo, challenges facing Canadian filmmaking, and the struggle of independent art venues against industry giants. Join the urgent, thoughtful, and entertaining conversation shaping our cultural landscape.

Creating Epic Sound Art: From Dune to Mad Max Fury Road

with Mark Mangini, Sound Designer Saturday, Oct 7 – 6:30pm Vancity Theatre

Mark Mangini has made his life’s work fabricating sonic realities of the most epic films you can imagine. Known for films including Blade Runner 2049, several Star Trek instalments, The Fifth Element, and Gremlins, Mark is a sixtime Oscar-nominated Sound Designer, and two-time Academy Award winner for Dune and Mad Max: Fury Road. Join us as Mark shares the secrets behind creating the most memorable sound art of these monumental films.

Signals

October 1-7 • Bentall Centre • 555 Burrard St.

A new exhibition that explores the potential of creative technology and its role in shaping our shared futures. This addition to VIFF showcases ground-breaking interactive and immersive work from local and international artists that question our connections to each other, our world, and the role technology plays.

home in the enchanted world of Azoria. You’ll forge new bonds with residents, discover fae magic, and trek across mysterious realms.

Meneath by Terril Calder charts the challenging journey of a precocious Métis Baby Girl; this stop-motion installation unearths hidden Indigenous values and illuminates the bias of our colonial systems.

Tadǫetła ; Walk In A Circle was created by re-imagining materials from the North as an embodiment of human characteristics and walk cycles within a 3D environment to bring out their spirit.

YOUR STORY. YOUR TRUTH. OUR SUPPORT.

Creative Development

The value of any festival can be measured in its relationship with and impact on the vibrant, vital artists it showcases and champions. Given the strength of this region’s industry and community, we recognize VIFF’s responsibility to help nurture the careers and creative practices of our local directors, producers, writers, cinematographers, editors, and all other key creatives who collaborate on great film and television.

We are very proud of these programs that accelerate filmmakers’s development by providing space where they can learn from top-tier professionals, refine or rethink their craft, and make the invaluable connections that can change the course of their lives.

VIFF All Year

VIFF Industry Days

Some of the key panels include:

Co-production Forum

The landscape of independent co-productions is changing quickly, demanding constant adaptation from producers and filmmakers. With a rising number of bilateral treaties, the Canadian film industry offers industry professionals opportunities for local filmmakers to co-create and co-fund projects.

Producing in BC

Discover insights from seasoned BC-based producers as they provide candid and practical advice on bringing local film projects to fruition. Gain knowledge about navigating the industry, understanding funding structures, and the realities of set work in the province.

Comedy Voices in Canada

Meet some of the most sought-after and accomplished comedy creators in Canada who will provide an insider's look at today’s funniest shows and films. Conversations will focus on topics like genre navigation, maintaining relevance and inclusivity, and crafting characters that make us laugh out loud.

The Art of the Portrait in Documentary

Portrait film remains one of the most popular forms of documentary film. Learn from some of the most skilled documentary filmmakers working on how to capture the authentic essence of a person, whether they are a prominent and well-documented figure or an unsung yet noteworthy person.

"Lights, Camera, Climate Action" - Exploring the Power of Film to Spark Environmental Change

In an era of pressing environmental challenges, storytelling is crucial in shaping our response to the climate crisis. Reel Green™, in collaboration with VIFF and Creative BC, presents a panel discussion on the intersection of climate consciousness and filmmaking. Award-winning filmmakers discuss their impact-driven work, and why climate representation in media isn't just creative but an ethical obligation.

"The continuously evolving VIFF Industry Days presents itself this year through a comprehensive program of more than twenty dynamic events, showcasing the insights of over 50 experts, funders, and filmmakers who will graciously impart their knowledge and expertise. I’m looking forward to meeting and mingling with our industry peers over breakfast, lunches, and cocktails, and to exploring the highly anticipated Swapcard platform designed to make networking easier than ever.”

KINGA BINKOWSKA, VIFF INDUSTRY CURATOR

VIFF Amp: Music in Film Summit

Oct 3-7, 2023

VIFF Amp’s Music in Film Summit nurtures, educates and champions emerging and newly established music professionals (composers, songwriters, music entrepreneurs), with a strong focus on elevating those from marginalized or underrepresented communities. The program provides creative insights, mentorship, and unique career development opportu-

Success Stories: La-Nai Gabriel

La-Nai Gabriel (she/they) is a composer, arranger, and producer. In 2022, La Nai attended VIFF Amp as a part of the Music Publishers of Canada curated selection of attendees from their emerging women and BIPOC creators initiative. La-Nai connected with the Core Music Agency at VIFF Amp and a month later, was brought onto the Core composer roster. La-Nai is currently working as a composer on two notable projects which are to be announced.

"After seven years with VIFF Amp, I’m amazed by the global talent in our program, including mentors and emerging artists. In 2023, we’re expanding with the Composer Filmmaker Accelerator to provide greater learning and to connect Vancouver’s music creative community with global tastemakers."

"VIFF Amp is designed not only to build skills and offer mentorship but also to connect storytellers and industry so that meaningful creative careers can grow and thrive. This year's program adds new elements and continues to advocate for equity in the industry and the value of music and sound in visual media."

ROB CALDER, VIFF AMP CURATOR

Composer Filmmaker Accelerator

VIFF Amp’s inaugural and most advanced program, the Composer Filmmaker Accelerator pairs 12 composers with four established filmmakers. Working collaboratively in groups of three composers for each filmmaker, they will write and record original compositions for scenes from a finished film. These compositions will be recorded in the Warehouse Studio, performed by a 20 piece orchestra provided by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and then performed live at the Annex Theatre on October 7th.

Miriam Cutler Program Curator

The Composer Filmmaker Accelerator is curated by three-time Emmy-nominated, award-winning film and television composer Miriam Cutler, who has previously mentored with Sundance, the International Documentary Association, Film Independent, and more.

Scan QR Code for more info:

Highlights this year: Town Hall

The Amp Town Hall hosts a conversation about the opportunities and challenges in an evolving music-in-media ecosystem, exploring advocacy, funding, mentorship, and the future of equity in entertainment with experts and advocates for emerging talent.

Music BC's SOUNDOFF

Presented by Music BC, SOUNDOFF is a platform for Vancouver’s most promising local musicians to perform their music for, and to connect with, top-tier international music supervisors in an expansive yet intimate gathering.

Scoring Masterclass: Animated Explorations

A deep dive into scoring for animation. How musicians enhance score highlighting three local composers, with a curated live ensemble performance of works by our featured composers.

Funded by

Supported by

Community Broadcast Partner

TONY SCUDELLARI, VIFF AMP CURATOR

VIFF Labs Catalyst

VIFF Labs is an intimate, invitation-only series that empowers emerging local filmmakers through meaningful, direct dialogues with global talent.

"As the curator of VIFF Labs, it remains a privilege to extend invitations to industry experts to participate in the Festival in this capacity. Our five Labs cover a range of diverse and relevant topics, aimed to spark meaningful conversation and ideas between international talent and Vancouver’s local filmmaking community."

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VIFF Catalyst is an intimate cohort-based program that provides 15 emerging and dedicated filmmakers with the tools to elevate their projects. Through a cohort-based approach, the program seeks to create peer-to-peer and peer-to-mentor conversations and facilitate an environment free of barriers and hierarchies. Catalyst participants leave the program with a new network of collaborators and a stronger connection to the local film community.

Highlights this year:

Experimenting with Horror in Skinamarink with Kyle Edward Ball

The Art of the Poster with Akiko Stehrenberger

The Power of Documenting Communities with Karen Cho & Jamila Pomeroy

Inside the Joke: Comedy Writing

with Cody Lightning & Sam Miller

Fictionalizing Non-Fiction in the Climate Crisis

with Daniel Goldhaber

“As an alumnus of the program myself, I know firsthand the confidence and opportunities Catalyst offers and the difference that makes for emerging film makers. Getting to learn with and from a cohort of diverse voices is invaluable.”

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Kunsang Kyirong • Awarded Telefilm Talent to Watch funding to produce 100 Sunset, her first feature film

Presented by

Presented by

Supported by

KEN TSUI, VIFF LABS CURATOR

LAURA ARBOLEDA, VIFF CATALYST PROGRAMMER

Staff List

Board of Directors

Chair

Lucille Pacey

Vice Chair

Matthew Hall

Am Johal

Treasurer Farnaz Riahi

Secretary Catherine Olsen

Board Members

Brian Chan, Kevin Eastwood, Ross

Gentleman, Doreen Manuel, Brian McBay, Sirish Rao, Jennifer Roe Emery

VIFF Advisory Board

Colin Browne, Kevin Campbell, Walter Daroshin, Kyle Fostner, Matthew Hall, David Hewitt, Lucille Pacey, Terry Whitehead, Chair Emeritus, Michael

Francis, David Hewitt

Festival Founder

Leonard Schein

Executive

Executive Director

Kyle Fostner

Programming

Director of Programming

Curtis Woloschuk

Program Manager & Senior Programmer

PoChu AuYeung

International Feature Film Programmer & Festival

Director Emeritus

Alan Franey

Programmer & Program Lead

Sonja Baksa

International Shorts Programmer & Database Administrator

Sandy Gow

VIFF Short Forum

Programmer

Casey Wei

MODES Curator

T Bannister

Catalyst Programmer

Laura Arboleda

Associate Programmer & Catalyst Coordinator

Tristin Greyeyes

Ignite Programmer

Jessa Alston-O’Connor

Guest Programmer: Leading Lights

Anthony Shim

Guest Programmer: Focus

Fay Nass

Feature Film Coordinator & Programming Consultant

John Hollands

Short Film Coordinator & Programming Consultant

Mariam Barry

Year-Round Programmer

Tom Charity

Year-Round Program Coordinator

Jeraldine Chong

Cinema Salon Programmer

Melanie Friesen

Programming Consultants

Cole Forrest, Melanie Friesen, Pavol Hell, Selwyn Jacobs, Rami Katz, Jack

Vermee, Onjana Yawnghwe

Screening Committee

Tania Alekson, Julia Aoki, Sarah Bakke, Hanna Banian, William Banks, Allyson

Beaupere, Taylor Bishop, Michelle

Bjornson, Matthew Broughton, Susan

Buie, Michel Castagné, Jennifer Chen, Elysse Cloma, Lauren Crawford, John

Dippong, Philip Dovey, Mena El Shazly, Andrée Faucher, Darren Gay, Sandi Hall, Josh Hamm, David House, JaeWoo Kang, Ray Lai, Jin Lee, Meredeth Mackay, Abigail Markowitz, Stephen Morgan, Annie Rae Huston, Glen Schaefer, Janos

Sitar, Barney Sprague, Lori Strong, Ruby

Strong, Amanda Thomson, Duygu Unal, Mary Ungerleider, Lynn Vasey , Christian

Vistan, Joel Warhaft, Donna Welstein

Keith Yoshida

Industry & Events

Industry & Events Manager

Lauren Sailer

Amp & Live Coordinator

Gabrielle Rutman

Industry, Talks, & Labs Coordinator

David Dryden

Amp Curator

Rob Calder

Amp Curator

Tony Scudellari

Amp Composer Filmmaker

Accelerator Curator

Miriam Cutler

Live Curator

Norman Armour

Labs Curator

Ken Tsui

Industry and Talks Programmer

Kinga Binkowska

Technical Producer

Robert Wilson, Here & Now

Productions

Sponsorship

Director of Corporate Partnerships

Colin Jarvis

Partnerships Manager

Epiphany Cooper

Government Relations Manager

Marla Penner

Partnerships Coordinator

Caterina Capizzano

Partnerships Activations Coordinator

Laura O’Neal

Philanthropy

Director of Philanthropy

Shahriar Pedram

Philanthropy Coordinator

Emma Leck

Marketing

Director of Marketing

Lainé Slater

Marketing Manager

Jamie Wright

Marketing Content and Communications Manager

Troy Pickersgill

Digital Communications Coordinator

Samara Malkin

Email Marketing Coordinator

Shelbie Jarvis

Community Outreach Coordinator

Hannâ Banian

Video Content Creator

Julian La Brooy

Video Content Creator

Candelario Andrade

Senior Graphic Designer

Steve Chow

Graphic Designers

Lee Abbott, Vinay Giridhar

Creative Agency

ZAK: Zia Somjee, Arvin Paelmo, Kristian Hay

Production Support

PostPro: Randy Egan, Kylie Kumar, Cory Clarkson, Matthew Hayaashi, Jordan Taylor, Julia Hostetler

Social Media Content Support

Loose Lips Media: Brittany Tiplady, Kristi Alexandra, Angela Vannatter

Publicity & Digital Marketing

Murray Paterson Marketing GroupMedia Relations/Publicity

Laura Murray, Ines Min , Ariane Bell Vila, Angela Poon, Deborah Hui, Doris Pfister Murphy, Angela Vannatter

Murray Paterson Marketing GroupDigital Marketing

Brian Patterson, Sijia Cheng

Festival Publications

Content Coordinators

Avery Nowicki, Brie Koniczek

Contributing Writers

Mike Archibald, Mikaela Asfour, Sonja Baksa, T Bannister, Jorge Ignacio Castillo, Tom Charity, Lawrence Garcia, Sandy Gow, Josh Hamm, John Hollands, Rami Katz, Chris MaGee, Avery Nowicki, Eve O’Dea, Casey Wei, Curtis Woloschuk, Onjana Yawnghwe

Graphic Designer Steve Chow

Business Office

Director of Finance

Linda Gorrie

Senior Accountant

Jason Kang

Business Administrative Coordinator

Ruthie Tabata

VIFF Centre Operations

VIFF Centre Senior Operations Manager

Sean Wilson

VIFF Centre Rental Logistics Manager

J Bradford

VIFF Centre Projection Manager

Ron Lacheur

VIFF Centre Technical Manager

Shana Schiopu

VIFF Centre IT & Office Coordinator

Sam Jira

VIFF Centre Technicians

Jurgen Beerwald, Bruno Benedetto, Ryan Ermacora, Tory Ip, Sandy Gow

VIFF Centre Maintenance

Shawn Brazeau, Ruben Fiodelmondo, Howie Rabey

Database Administrator

Sandy Gow

VIFF Centre Venue Managers

Prudence Baker, Zoe BT, Aliya Breen, Adam Karolewski, Lilah Orkin, Arash

Taheri, Madeline Wahl, Noor ul ain Zaib

VIFF Centre Cashiers

Lora Haber, Savannah Kemp, Austin Neaves, James Narvey, Joy McDerment

VIFF Centre Concession Attendants

Mia Mateo, Rilee German-Martin, Andrew Taillon, Dennis Tokarsky, Janice Walter

HR & Festival Operations

Senior Operations Manager

Brie Koniczek

Venue Operations

Festival Venue Operations Manager

Alex Clinton

Festival Venue Operations Manager

Amanda Swan

Venue Supervisors

Jonathan Stonehouse, Sunny Tse, Tamika Tallio

Festival Technical Support

Ray Zhang

Venue Managers

Jenny Tennant , River Kero, Ellen Kibble, Rodney Stewart , Wayne Stewart , David C Jones, Karl Chen, Alex Carmona, Paul Denis, Elizabeth Glancy, Parv Sachdeva, Amanda Hansen, Ian Caplar,

Darren Gay, Sara Le Vay, Alina Quarin, Zach Starko, Morgan Marwick, Juan Saa, Jo Scott, Kate Kologryva, Josh Sunderman, Julie Iuvancigh

Box Office

Graham Wong, Stephen Tweedale, Aya Alvarez, Jasmine Wang, Allan Bishop, Wendy Louie, John Mendes, Gregory Samek, Isabelle Bottin, Robert Tanikawa, Meghan Trahar, Vanessa U, Syed Mustafa, Divine Lwamba, Sabine Shwirtz-Zlnser, Riaan Smit, Wade Nott

Ticketing & Customer Service

Ticketing and Box Office Manager

Daphne Andrews

Guest Ticketing Coordinator

Nate Johnson

Festival Customer Service Coordinator

Jada Goodridge

Technical Crew

Technical Crew Jesse August, Jurgen Beerwald, Bruno Benedetto, Rich Eiboff, Ryan Ermacora, Tim Fernandes, Marshall Freund, Tory Ip, Dave Jones, Matt Kunau, Ron Lacheur, Ingrid Lae, Thierry Latremoille, James Neves, Ciara O’Donnell, Dave Page, Orlando Ruiz, Graeme Scott

Print Logistics

Print Logistics Manager

Eirinn McHattie

Print Logistics Coordinator

Gregory Adams

Volunteer Program

Volunteer Engagement Manager

Christian Díaz Durán

Festival Volunteer and HR Coordinator

Sonika Bhandari

Volunteer Assistants

Laima Bulle

Louisa Schmidt

Hospitality

Gala and Hospitality Manager

Sheila Galati

Guest Services Manager

Jenny Lee Craig

Transportation Coordinator

Diva MacDonald

Films and Programs

Countries of Production and of Interest

K K. Boulianne, Éric 65 Kahn, Zarrar....................................... 47 Kalmenson, Felix 33 Kaltenback, Iris 37 Kamugisha, Laura 65 Kan, Lawrence 35 Kapadia, Asif ..................................... 29 Kase, Austin 67 Kassir,

Philibert, Nicolas 57

Piatek, Jakub ..................................... 61

Plante, Pascal 37

Pomeroy, Jamila 49

Pouppeville, Margot 66

Preciado, Paul B. 58

Prouvost, Laure 68

Purevdash, Zoljargal 35

Qin, Yuezhang .................................. 65

Rallis, Angelos 59

Rappaz, Maxime 41

Redmon, David 59

Rizal, Khozy ....................................... 66

Robichaud, Chloé 33

Rohrwacher, Alice 22

Russell, Zachary............................... 49

Rytz, Matthieu 57

Sabin, Ashley 59

Sangra, Baljit 57

Santambrogio, Tommaso ............. 35

Santos, Bea 65

Sanz, Hugo 67

Savage, Dominic 29

Schmid, Viktoria 68

Segundo, Carlos 67

Seward, Adam 65

MOVIES MOVE MINDS.

Proud to support the storytellers behind the camera who open our minds, inspiring us all to think bigger, together. That’s Enriched Thinking.®