VIFF 2024 Program Guide

Backing B.C.’s

Creative Vision

Premier Supporter of VIFF, Amp and Signals 2024

Creative BC supports film, tv, music, and interactive through leadership, collaboration, and investment. Access grants, film commission services, motion picture tax credits, and more.

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 hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓-speaking Musqueam people ʔiʔ ƛ̓əw tə šxʷʔaləqʷaʔ ct tə sqʷχʷaməx ʔiʔ tə səl̕ilwətaʔɬ məsteyəxʷ

Along with our relatives Squamish and TsleilWaututh

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 im-

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)

land.

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 culture 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 43rd festival!

Syex̱wáliya, Ann Whonnock

Spokesperson & Councilor

medium that helps convey stories that are important to our community and instill pride in our culture in the next generations.

I raise my hands in gratitude towards VIFF for their ongoing commitment to working closely with our Nation. VIFF  screens many  films that are  written, produced, and led by Indigenous peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh filmmakers, and by doing so, the festival helps bring these stories to life while bridging cultures with different audience members. VIFF also works closely with us to provide access to films and documentaries during the festival and throughout the year.

We look forward to continuing to strengthen our engagement with VIFF. Congratulations on launching your 43rd season of this incredible festival.

hay čxʷ q̓ə,

Chief Jen Thomas səlilwətaɬ ( Tsleil-Waututh Nation)

VIFF thanks the

(Musqueam), S

wxwú7mesh (Squamish), and s

ta

(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.

3,

Welcome to the Festival

A message from the Prime Minister of Canada

Dear Friends:

I am pleased to extend my warmest greetings to everyone taking part in the 2024 Vancouver International Film Festival.

This event provides a platform for local, national and international filmmakers to showcase their talent and share their perspectives and stories. I am certain that audiences will be entertained and inspired by the diverse selection of works being screened this year, while filmmakers and industry professionals will benefit greatly from the festival’s many professional development and networking

I would like to thank the organizers and volunteers for their hard work and dedication. You can take pride in your commitment to bringing the community together

Please accept my best wishes for a memorable festival.

Sincerely,

The Rt. Hon. Justin P. J. Trudeau, P.C., M.P. Prime Minister of Canada

A message from the Mayor of Vancouver

On behalf of the residents of Vancouver and my colleagues on City Council, I want to extend my warmest greetings to everyone attending the 2024 Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF).

Vancouver is fast emerging as a true creative powerhouse on the world stage, and VIFF is play ing a pivotal role in enriching our vibrant arts and cultural community. I commend VIFF for featuring an exciting array of international and local films that vividly depict the human experi ence, transcending borders, cultures, and languages.

I would like to extend my gratitude to the filmmakers, artists, organizers, and volun teers for participating in this year’s Vancouver International Film Festival, and for contributing to our city’s cultural and artistic landscape.

Enjoy the Festival!

Sincerely,

Mayor Ken Sim Mayor of Vancouver

A message from the Premier of British Columbia

As Premier of British Columbia, it is my pleasure to welcome everyone to the 2024 Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF).

As one of North America’s largest and most prestigious film festivals, VIFF attracts audiences from across British Columbia and around the world to celebrate the art of storytelling through film. This festival is revered for its superior programming and dedication to cinematic excellence, and I am certain that VIFF 2024 will uphold this tradition of high quality entertainment. The event also promises a wide range of exhibits, workshops and talks from industry professionals, offering filmgoers insights into the creative process and emerging filmmakers inspiration to refine their craft.

This is one of the most highly anticipated events in Vancouver’s cultural calendar, and our government is proud to provide our support through the BC Fairs, Festivals and Events Fund. Thank you to all the organizers, volunteers, filmmakers, sponsors and everyone else whose hard work made this world-class event possible.

I wish you all the best for an unforgettable viewing experience full of discovery, entertainment and inspiration. Enjoy the films!

Honourable David Eby, KC Premier of British Columbia

A message from the Executive Director and Board Chair of VIFF

On behalf of the board and staff of VIFF, welcome to another edition of the Vancouver International Film Festival! We are very excited about this year’s festival and the future of VIFF.

Cinema offers us an opportunity to engage with challenging art and ideas that help make sense of the world around us. VIFF brings the best international and Canadian cinema, celebrating the filmmakers behind the work. VIFF serves as an important platform for industry professionals to share knowledge and nurture a thriving film community in Vancouver.

Putting together a festival of this calibre requires a dedicated staff and hundreds of volunteers, who always go above and beyond. We are deeply grateful to them all!

This is a difficult financial climate for arts organizations, but we remain hopeful thanks to the incredible support we receive from our many donors and partners.

Thank you to our patrons for making VIFF such an important part of the cultural calendar of Vancouver and the Pacific Northwest, and for your commitment to groundbreaking cinema in the city.

Kyle

Fostner, Executive Director • Am Johal, Chair

A message from the Minister of Canadian Heritage

Film is a powerful artistic medium in telling our many stories and building a better, more inclusive society.

For more than four decades, the Vancouver International Film Festival has championed new and established voices from the province, across Canada and around the world. This celebration of film is a true showcase of our country’s cultural diversity. The stories you will find here will challenge, enlighten

Our government is the largest supporter of the arts across the country, because we know arts and culture help us create bridges among communities, encourage inclusion, and build national pride. We are thrilled to support this year’s wonderful gathering.

As Minister of Canadian Heritage, I’d like to thank everyone involved in bringing this year’s film festival to life.

Enjoy the shows!

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 43rd Vancouver International Film Festival!

Motion picture is a powerful vehicle for sharing diverse stories and building bridges. The VIFF is a global leader in showcasing the diversity, creativity and resilience of our communities. Festivals like VIFF celebrate remarkable individuals both in front of and behind the camera.

Heartfelt thanks to all the talented writers, film crews, producers and many others for their ongoing contributions to B.C.’s motion picture industry. Your efforts truly enrich our cultural landscape and bolster our economy.

I also want to highlight the invaluable VIFF AMP and Catalyst programs, which support the future of B.C.’s creative community. These initiatives help aspiring artists and creators build their careers and realize their potential, ensuring a vibrant and

Our government proudly supports VIFF through Creative BC, the BC Arts Council and the Fairs, Festivals and Events Fund. I can’t wait to see the new stories and perspectives in this year’s lineup. Enjoy the festival!

Sincerely,

Honourable Lana Popham Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport

A message from the Executive Director and CEO of Telefilm Canada

Telefilm Canada is proud to promote and celebrate stories that reflect the diversity of voices and communities of our country. That is why we are happy to partner with the Vancouver International Film Festival to champion Canadian and Indigenous creators and their work!

Investing in films and reinforcing the importance of cinema is at the center of our mission. Festivals such as the Vancouver International Film Festival play an invaluable role in boosting the visibility of Canadian and Indigenous films, supporting the growth of the audiovisual sector so that Canadian stories continue to touch hearts

We thank you for encouraging our storytellers and we invite you to watch Canadian and Indigenous films in festivals, in theatres or on your screens.

Julie Roy Executive Director and CEO Telefilm Canada

A message from the Chief Executive Officer of Creative BC

On behalf of everyone at Creative BC, we extend our heartfelt congratulations on the 43rd dynamic edition of the Vancouver International Film Festival! VIFF stands as one of the world’s most esteemed festivals, and we are thrilled to once again be a premier supporter of this annual event.

At Creative BC, we strive to elevate a diverse and dynamic creative sector through leadership, collaboration, and investment. We are proud to support VIFF, which has brought us together annually since its inception in 1982. The festival anchors a rich film culture in B.C., providing an opportunity for local talent to connect with national and international creators through its industry and special programming, to facilitate the exchange of ideas, knowledge, and community.

VIFF has consistently played a vital role in our community, fostering connections through innovative partnerships and programming. It showcases vibrant storytelling, uplifts diverse voices, and celebrates emerging talent, all of which entertain locally and bolster our province’s global reputation as a premier creative destination and leader in the motion picture industry.

Our deepest congratulations to the entire VIFF team and volunteers! We look forward to joining you at the theatre to celebrate the best in domestic and international film in 2024!

Prem Gill CEO, Creative BC

Silver Media Partners

Artist & Industry Supporters

ACFC WEST, LOCAL 2020 UNIFOR

Venue Information

The Cinematheque (CINE) 1131 Howe

PARKING: Metered street

ENTRANCE: Ramp at street level

WHEELCHAIR: 2 spaces

WASHROOMS: Fully accessible, gender neutral

Centre

• Vancity Theatre (VCT) • Lochmaddy Studio Theatre (LOC)

PARKING: Metered street

ENTRANCE: Street level

WHEELCHAIR: 3-4 spaces

WASHROOMS: Fully accessible, universal washroom available

The Vancouver Playhouse (PLAY)

600 Hamilton

PARKING: Metered street and underground paid ENTRANCE: Street level

WHEELCHAIR: 4-5 spaces

WASHROOMS: Gendered washrooms, downstairs. Fully accessible universal washroom, first floor

SFU's Goldcorp Centre for the Arts (SFU)

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

International Village 88 W Pender

• Cinema 8 (IN08)

• Cinema 9 (IN09)

• Cinema 10 (IN10)

PARKING: Parking passes available

ENTRANCE: Street level, elevator to theatre

WHEELCHAIR: 2-4 per theatre

WASHROOMS: Fully accessible, gendered

Age Restrictions & Membership

The majority of our films have not been classified by Consumer Protection BC. By law, anyone wishing to watch these films at the festival must be a 18+ and member of the VIFF society. Your VIFF Society Membership is included in the cost of your ticket. Due to liquor licensing, you must be 19+ to attend screenings at Fifth Avenue and unclassified screenings at the Rio.

PARKING: Metered street

ENTRANCE: Street level on 5th. Stairs or elevator to theatre level.

WHEELCHAIR: 3-4 spaces

WASHROOMS: Fully accessible, gendered on 2nd level

PARKING: Metered street

ENTRANCE: Street level

WHEELCHAIR: 4-6 spaces

WASHROOMS: Limited accessibility, gendered

Check out the Rated for Youth titles or learn about our high school program by visiting viff.org

Festival Tickets and Information

Indigenous Tickets

VIFF offers a limited number of complimentary tickets per screening to anyone who self-identifies as Indigenous. Please contact the infoline or visit our box office 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 in-person 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.

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.

How do Festival Passes Work?

• The Festival Pass offers you the freedom to see a wide range of films during the festival.

• A generous allotment of seats is held for passholders at every VIFF screening up to 20 minutes before showtime, or until this passholder allotment is filled. Should you arrive after this 20-minute mark and/or the passholder allotment has been filled, you will be asked to join the end of the Standby line.

• VIFF passholders should all be age 18+.

• Fifth Avenue Theatre and The Rio are 19+ venues. Classified screenings at The Rio permit youth audiences.

• This pass is yours! It cannot be transferred to, or used by, anyone else.

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

Accessibility

Wheelchair Positions: We encourage patrons requiring wheelchair positions to call ahead to reserve. The adjacent companion seat is also available to reserve.

Support Companions: Support persons who accompany patrons with disabilities are eligible to receive a complimentary ticket. Contact the Infoline to book ahead or book in-person at the Box Office.

Accessible tickets: We offer a limited number of discounted tickets to each film for folks who face financial barriers and may not be able otherwise to attend a film. Discounted tickets are available on our website or at the Box Office while quantities last.

Check out viff.org/accessibility for detailed venue accessibility. Screenings can be filtered by access needs including captioning, descriptive video, and relaxed screenings. For further info email accessibility@viff.org

viff.org/plus

Films

VIFF’s 43rd edition features our most expansive lineup of the last five years. This exemplary collection of international films showcases enthralling cinematic storytelling from more than 70 nations. Despite their disparate points of origin, you’ll discover unifying themes in many of the selections. This is a year in which filmmakers seem eager to explore notions of community and connection, examine our relationships with both technology and nature, and embark on transformative journeys across space and time.

Vancouver audiences will be the first viewers in Canada to lay eyes on more than 70 of our feature film selections, including a trove of significant premieres over our closing weekend. And, with more than 50 of our features marking their director’s debuts, VIFF confirms our commitment to platforming the rising talents who are taking world cinema by storm.

Be they electrifying or edifying, each of this year’s selections commands your attention and offers myriad rewards. We can’t wait for you to experience them.

Curtis Woloschuk Director of Programming

Ari’s Theme

Ari Kinarthy’s existence is marked by worry and vigilance around his health, as he struggles with spinal muscular atrophy which has progressively weakened his muscles and left him vulnerable to infection and sickness. Yet he was born with the soul of an artist and a passion for music and remains curious and eager to collaborate with other musicians despite his limited physical strength. Anticipating the end of his life, Ari has an ambitious goal: to create music that will capture his experiences and memories and to leave a legacy through which people will remember him.

This documentary is a rare gem, borne of profound contemplation and insight. Intimate, honest, and inspir-

ing, Ari eloquently narrates his own story and shares his artistic process. Ari’s Theme is visually captivating, incorporating animation, dramatic recreations, and imaginative dream sequences. Thoroughly engaging and beautifully made, this film demonstrates what a determined soul can achieve. It will make you weep and smile, all the while appreciating life’s tender workings and the constant movement of time.

For the opening night presentation, eight members of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra will live score key passages within the film and lend Ari's compositions even greater resonance. This screening promises to be a singular live performance and cinema experience.

Filmography Wizard Mode (2016)

Feat Ari Kinarthy, Allan Slade BMT MTA, Johannes Winkler, Leah Kinarthy, Elior Kinarthy Prod Nathan Drillot, Jeff Lee Petry Scr Nathan Drillot, Jeff Lee Petry, Ari Kinarthy Cam Nathan Drillot, Jeff Lee Petry Anim Scott Lougheed Ed Benjamin Schuetze, Graham Fortin Mus Ari Kinarthy Prod Co Out There Productions Dist/Print Salazar Films

NATHAN DRILLOT, JEFF LEE PETRY, CANADA, 2024, 98 MIN.

Closing Gala

Undefeated in the courtroom, Rita (Zoe Saldana), a Mexico City defence attorney, is enlisted to tend to the affairs of a notorious drug lord (Karla Sofía Gascón) who has grown contrite and is now completing gender affirmation surgery. Rechristened Emilia Pérez and determined to right a litany of past misdeeds, she relies on Rita to reintegrate her in the lives of her wife Jessi (Selena Gomez) and young children. However, in Emilia’s past, there is more than one score to settle; there will be blood, ballads, and dance numbers.

Several decades into his distinguished career, Jacques Audiard (A Prophet; Rust and Bone) has delivered the most outré entry in his oeuvre with this maximalist mu-

sical that’s punctuated by gunplay and buoyed by unabashed melodrama. Gascón is absolutely mesmerising to behold as a woman striving for actualization and redemption. And everyone in the ensemble is singing from the same hymn sheet, staging a cinematic spectacle that needs to be seen and heard to be believed.

“Imagine a world in which Stephen Sondheim made Sicario.” DAVID FEAR, ROLLING STONE

Jury Prize, Best Actress Award: Official Competition, Cannes 2024

Cast Zoe Saldana, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, Edgar Ramírez, Mark Ivanir Exec Pauline Lamy Prod Pascal Caucheteux, Jacques Audiard, Valérie Schermann, Anthony Vaccarello, Ardavan Safaee, Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne Scr Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Nicolas Livecchi, Léa Mysius Cam Paul Guilhaume Ed Juliette Welfling Prod Des Emmanuelle Duplay Mus Clément Ducol, Camille Prod Co Why Not Productions, PAGE 114, Saint Laurent Productions, Pathé, France 2 Cinéma Dist/PrintNetflix

Selected Filmography See How They Fall (1994); A Self-Made Hero (1996); A Prophet (2009); Rust and Bone (2012); Dheepan (2015); Paris, 13th District (2021)

JACQUES AUDIARD, FRANCE, 2024, 132 MIN.

Special Presentations

Special Presentations

Anora

SEAN BAKER, USA, 2024, 138 MIN.

FRI SEP 27 8:45 PM

TUE OCT 1 9:15 PM

Sex and money: they make the world go round and Sean Baker's movies spin. Usually, there's more of the former than the latter, in Tangerine, The Florida Project Rocket. And here again, Ani (Mikey Madison), a stripper, will trade what she has— which is sex—for what she needs—which is money. Enter Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), the guileless son of a Russian oligarch, who's not just an easy mark, he's richer than even Ani can dream of. These two meet and it's fireworks and fairytales—cue a Vegas wedding—at least until his parents get wind of it. At which point, watch out, because Mr. Baker is just getting warmed up.

Greta Gerwig's Cannes jury bestowed the Palme d'Or on this breathless modern Cin derella story, and it's hard to remember a more entertaining winner. As always with Baker's films, Anora comes on fast and funny but it's unmistakably situated in the real world, a place where power typically trumps romance, but where you should never underestimate the survival skills of a woman with nothing to lose.

Palme d’Or, Cannes 2024

Cast Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Karren Karagulian, Yura Borisov, Vache Tovmasyan Clay Pecorin, Glen Basner, Alison Cohen, Milan Popelka Prod Sean Baker, Alex Coco, Samantha Quan Sean Baker Cam Drew Daniels Ed Sean Baker Prod Des Stephen Phelps Prod Co Cre Film tion Pictures

Selected Filmography Take Out (2004); Tangerine (2015); The Florida Project (2017); Red Rocket (2021)

Filmography Red Road (2006); Fish Tank (2009); Wuthering Heights (2011); American Honey (2016); Cow (2021)

Special Presentations

ANN MARIE FLEMING, CANADA, 2024, 110 MIN.

FRI SEP 27 5:30 PM PLAY

WED OCT 2 6:00 PM FA

For a work set in the future, Ann Marie Fleming’s film is remarkably folksy. She takes us to a time when humanity has survived the global environmental crisis, but only at a steep price. As the film opens, Kiah (Keira Jang) is preparing for the first day of a new job, while her mother Ellie (Sandra Oh) is readying herself for a new journey of her own. Over the next two days, Kiah and her co-worker Daniel (Joel Oulette) perform their duties as official witnesses; together, they’re helping fulfill a global mandate to protect all life…

Can I Get a Witness? is a film in which the important facts emerge gradually; as it builds to its powerful conclusion, the pace is leisurely and the style is deceptively casual. Fleming has a great ear for dialogue, and she directs with a strong attention to the nuances of human interaction. Jang and Oulette give subtle and convincing performances, and Oh is wonderful as always.

Cast Keira Jang, Joel Oulette, Sandra Oh Exec Haydn Wazelle, Sandra Oh, Ann Marie Fleming Prod Ruth Vincent, Raymond Massey, Ann Marie Fleming Scr Ann Marie Fleming Cam C. Kim Miles Ed Justin Li Prod Des Cheryl Marion Mus Brent Belke Prod Co Sleepy Dog Films Dist/Print Mongrel Media Inc.

Selected Filmography The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam (2003); The French Guy (2005); Window Horses (2016)

from faith running afoul of corruption that keeps us riveted.

Cast Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Carlos Diehz, Lucian Msamati, Brían F. O’Byrne Exec Steven Rales, Glen Basner, Alison Cohen, Milan Popelka, Ben Browning, Len Blavatnik, Danny Cohen, Zoe Edwards, Harry Dixon, Paul Randle, Tomas Alfredson, Edward Berger, Ralph Fiennes, Peter Straughan, Robyn Slovo, Mario Gianani, Lorenzo Gangarossa Prod Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell, Michael A. Jackman, Robert Harris, Alice Dawson Cam Stéphane Fontaine Scr Peter Straughan Ed Nick Emerson Prod Des Suzie Davies Mus Volker Bertelmann Prod Co FilmNation Entertainment, House Productions, Indian Paintbrush Dist/Print Elevation Pictures

Selected Filmography Jack (2014); All My Loving (2019); All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

Special Presentations

The End

JOSHUA OPPENHEIMER, DENMARK/GERMANY/IRELAND/ITALY/UK/SWEDEN, 2024, 148 MIN.

FRI OCT 4 9:00 PM PLAY

SUN O CT 6 9:00 PM PLAY

Where to start? More than two decades after the environmental collapse, an eccentric family flies the flag for the human race from deep within their salt mine bunker. A former industrialist (Michael Shannon) busies himself collaborating on a book with his son (George MacKay), a young man who knows no world beyond the bunker, and who may be the last of his kind... Meanwhile, the boy’s mother (Tilda Swinton) devotes herself to the preservation of the priceless art on their walls. But when a young Black woman (Moses Ingram) turns up out of the blue, the family’s carefully manicured secrets and lies crack open.

Director Joshua Oppenheimer made one of the most ambitious and acclaimed nonfiction films, The Act of Killing (2012), an account of the genocide in Indonesia in which he famously persuaded the killers to reenact their crimes on camera in gaudy cinematic vignettes. So it makes a certain sense that his first dramatic feature should be an apocalyptic drama that is also a melancholy musical (music by Josh Schmidt and Marius de Vries). It’s a big swing.

Cast Michael Shannon, Tilda Swinton, Moses Ingram, George MacKay, Tim McInnerny Exec Jeff Deutchman, Tom Quinn, Emily Thomas, Elissa Federoff, Efe Çakarel, Michael Weber, Jason Ropell, John Keville, Macdara Kelleher, Andrea Romeo, Alberto Fanni, Joakim Rang Strand, Marcus Clausen, Waël Kabbani, Greg Moga, David Unger, Sandra Whipham, Charlotte Cook, Jens von Bahr, Sam Mendes, Ramin Bahrani, James Marsh, Werner Herzog, Raffaele Fabrizio, Caterina Fabrizio, Alessandro Del Vigna, Dana Høegh, Christian Bruun, Melinda Quintin, Michael Quintin, Spencer Myers, Amy Gardner, Jean Doumanian, Ilya Katsnelson, Kaarle Aho, Celine Haddad, Greg Martin Prod Signe Byrge Sørensen, Joshua Oppenheimer, Tilda Swinton, Viola Fügen, Conor Barry, Flaminio Zadra, Tracy O’Riordan, Ann Lundberg Scr Rasmus Heisterberg, Joshua Oppenheimer Cam Mikhail Krichman Ed Niels Pagh Andersen Prod Des Jette Lehmann Mus Josh Schmidt, Marius de Vries Prod Co Final Cut for Real, The Match Factory, Wild Atlantic Pictures, Dorje Film, Moonspun Films, Anagram Sweden Dist/Print Elevation Pictures

Selected Filmography The Act of Killing (2012); The Look of Silence (2014)

The Girl With the Needle

Pigen med nålen MAGNUS VON HORN, DENMARK/POLAND/SWEDEN, 2024, 115 MIN.

SUN SEP 29

WED OCT 2

With her husband missing in action, Karoline (Vic Carmen Sonne), a young seam stress, struggles to survive in post-WWI Copenhagen. An affair with the owner of the clothing factory she works at brings temporary relief from her poverty, but leads to still worse complications. Left with few other options, she turns to a charismatic candy shop owner, Dagmar (Trine Dyrholm), who offers special services to women in need. But as it turns out, the woman’s placid façade hides deeper layers of disquiet.

Inspired by the real-life story of one of Denmark’s most infamous serial killers, The Girl with the Needle renders this true-crime story as an expressionist fairytale, with a nightmarish atmosphere reminiscent of Tod Browning and Carl Theodor Dreyer. Featuring lustrous black-and-white cinematography, an ominous soundscape, and bolstered by fearless performances by Sonne and Dryholm, it is a chilling, unforgettable look at the horrors that people are capable of—as well as the social conditions that make them possible.

Cast Vic Carmen Sonne, Trine Dyrholm, Besir Zeciri, Avo Knox Martin, Joachim Fjelstrup Prod Malene Blenkov, Mariusz Włodarski Scr Magnus von Horn, Line Langebek Cam Michał Dymek Ed Agnieszka Glińska Prod Des Jagna Dobesz Prod Co Nordisk Film Production Dist/Print Mubi

Filmography The Here After (2015); Sweat (2020)

Ainda Estou Aqui

WALTER SALLES, BRAZIL/FRANCE, 2024, 136 MIN.

THU OCT 3 5:30 PM PLAY

SAT OCT 5 9:00 PM

At a time when power brokers uncomfortably close to home are musing aloud about the merits of authoritarianism, filmmaker Walter Salles is here to remind us of Brazil’s experience of the military dictatorship in the early 1970s. Initially, life seems relatively normal in the happy upper middle class household of former congressman Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello). His main concern is that his teenage daughters steer clear of politics. So, wife Eunice (Fernanda Torres) is bewildered when her husband is picked up by armed men one morning. It is the beginning of a long, dark nightmare for her and the family.

Salles (Central Station; Motorcycle Diaries; On the Road) hasn’t made a film for over a decade, and it’s clear that the 2015 memoir by Paiva’s son, Marcelo, resonated with him deeply. He was 15 in 1971, when the bulk of the film is set, and the period detail feels completely lived in and authentic. Likewise the consuming energies of a loving family. But the second half of the movie belongs to Fernanda Torres, magnificent as the matriarch who must shoulder the weight of her husband’s disappearance.

Cast Fernanda Torres, Selton Mello, Fernanda Montenegro Exec Guilherme Terra, Thierry de Clermont-Ton nerre, Lourenço Sant’anna, Renata Brandão, Juliana Capelini, David Taghioff, Masha Magonova Teixeira, Maria Carlota Bruno, Martine De Clermont-Tonnerre Scr Murilo Hauser, Heitor Lorega Teijido Ed Alfonso Goncalves Prod Des Carlos Conti Mus Warren Ellis Prod Co VideoFilmes, RT Features, Mact Productions, Conspiração Dist/Print Mongrel Media Inc.

Selected Filmography Central Station (1998); Behind the Sun (2001); cycle Diaries (2004); On the Road (2012); Jia Zhangke, A Guy from Fenyang

We Love our VIFF Volunteer Community!

Special Presentations

My Favourite Cake

Keyke Mahboobe Man

MARYAM MOGHADDAM, BEHTASH SANAEEHA, IRAN/FRANCE/SWEDEN/GERMANY, 2024, 96 MIN.

Nightbitch

MARIELLE HELLER, USA, 2024, 98 MIN. SUN OCT 6 6:15 PM RIO

WED OCT 2 6:15 PM PLAY

SAT OCT 5 4:00 PM FAV3

Mahin (Lily Farhadpour), a 70-year-old widow, has been living alone in Tehran since her husband died and her daughter moved abroad, her solitary existence marked mainly by lunches with female friends. At one of these gatherings, the conversation turns to the question of late-in-life romance, and Mahin subsequently finds herself breaking her daily routine with the express intention of meeting a man. An encounter with a like-minded cab driver (Esmail Mehrabi) quickly blossoms into much more than she could have anticipated.

Co-directed by Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha, My Favourite Cake is a gentle, humorous meditation on love, loss, and loneliness. But befitting its real-life context—both filmmakers were prevented from leaving Iran to attend the film’s Berlinale premiere—the film is also filled with moments of everyday political resistance. Sweet but never saccharine, it is a film that finds delight in the most fleeting and transitory of moments.

FIPRESCI Prize, Berlin 2024

Cast Lily Farhadpour, Esmail Mehrabi Prod Gholamreza Mousavi, Behtash Sanaeeha, Étienne de Ricaud, Peter Krupenin, Christopher Zitterbart Scr Behtash Sanaeeha, Maryam Moghaddam Cam Mohammad Haddadi Ed Ata Mehrad, Behtash Sanaeeha, Ricardo Saraiva Prod Des Maryam Moghaddam, Amir Hivand Mus Henrik Nagy Prod Co Filmsazan Javan, Caracteres Productions, Hobab, Watchmen Productions Dist/Print Totem Films

Selected Filmography (Maryam Moghaddam) Ballad of a White Cow (2021)

Selected Filmography (Behtash Sanaeeha) Risk of Acid Rain (2015); Ballad of a White Cow (2021)

“Mother’s not quite herself today...” That Norman Bates line from Psycho gets a new spin in this bracingly strange movie based on Rachel Yoder’s acclaimed 2021 novel. Mother (Amy Adams) used to be an artist in the big city. Now she’s just another mom in the suburbs. Her husband (Scoot McNairy) still travels widely for work, leaving Mother to feed, clothe, and amuse their toddler 24/7. Of course, she’s dog-tired. But that can’t explain the fuzziness around her neck and her tailbone... her newly acute sense of smell... or her sudden popularity with the canines in the neighbourhood... ?

Adams (who also produced) entrusted the reins to writer-director Marielle Heller (Diary of a Teenage Girl; Can You Ever Forgive Me?). A mom herself, Heller took on the assignment and ran with it. “It’s a comedy for women and a horror film for men,” she proclaims. Either way, it’s a must-see, not least for Amy Adams’ fearlessly feral performance.

Cast Amy Adams, Scoot McNairy, Arleigh Patrick Snowden, Emmett James Snowden, Zoë Chao, Mary Holland Exec Megan Ellison, Allison Rose Carter, Havilah Brewster, Adam Paulsen, Sammy Scher, Rachel Yoder Prod Anne Carey, Marielle Heller, Sue Naegle, Christina Oh, Amy Adams, Stacy O’Neil Scr Marielle Heller Cam Brandon Trost Ed Anne McCabe Prod Des Karen Murphy Mus Nate Heller Prod Co Searchlight Pictures, Annapurna Pictures, Archer Gray, Defiant By Nature, Bond Group Entertainment Dist/Print Allied Global Marketing

Filmography The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015); Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018); A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)

Special Presentations

The Piano Lesson

MALCOLM WASHINGTON, USA, 2024, 125 MIN.

MON SEP 30 6:00 PM PLAY

The third film in Denzel Washington’s long-term project to bring the plays of August Wilson to the screen (after Fences and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), The Piano Lesson is directed by Denzel’s son Malcolm, and features a stellar turn by Malcolm’s older brother, John David Washington. We are in Pittsburgh, 1936. Boy Willie (John David Washington) shows up unannounced at the home of his widowed sister, Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler). He brings with him a friend—Lymon (Ray Fisher)—a truckload of watermelons, and a plan to capitalize on the ornately carved piano that sits, neglected, in the living room. Berniece, however, is having none of it.

Aside from a prologue set in 1911 and a handful of brief flashbacks to slavery times, the action is predominantly restricted to the family parlour; the stage origins are obvious. But that’s no drawback when the dialogue is so richly marbled with resonant ideas, flavourful character, and emotional conflict. Wilson is grappling with the legacy of trauma, here, with different ways of coping with grief and exorcizing the past. It’s a riveting piece, superbly performed.

Rumours

GUY MADDIN, EVAN JOHNSON, GALEN JOHNSON, CANADA/GERMANY, 2024, 103 MIN.

World leaders assemble in Germany for their annual G7 summit tasked with drafting a provisional statement on the current (unspecified) crisis. Isolated from the media in a remote gazebo, they slowly set to work, distracted only by the personal anguish of Canada’s PM (Roy Dupuis), a handsome man beset with personal and political scandals. Yet as the evening draws in they realize there is something far greater amiss. Mysterious dark figures (Protestors? Terrorists? Goblins?) loom in the shadows. Panicked, the leaders of the free world stumble into the woods looking for safety.

This fantastic political satire scores big points for cheek, beginning with an opening caption thanking the G7 for their assistance. The casting is a hoot: Cate Blanchett as a horny German Chancellor... Denis Ménochet as the pretentious French President... Charles Dance as a befuddled, napping American Commander in Chief, who muses about setting up his own assassination. But this is a Canadian movie (the first feature in seven years from the Guy Maddin/Johnson brothers combo), so it’s fitting that our own Prime Minister should get the last word and the biggest catcalls.

Cast Cate Blanchett, Roy Dupuis, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Charles Dance, Takehiro Hira, Denis Ménochet Exec Ari Aster, Cate Blanchett, Phyllis Laing, Jörg Schulze, Joe Neurauter, Simon Ofenloch, Devan Towers, Jennifer Beasley, Tyler Campellone, Lina Flint, Mary Aloe, Gillian Hormel, Andrew Karpen, Kent Sanderson, Adrian Love, Michael O'Leary, Stefan Kapelari, Moritz Peters, Blair Ward, Anders Erdén, Lauren Case, Eric Harbert, Del Mondor, Shannon Ward, Michael Werry, George Heuser, Jacob Phillips, Stephen Griffiths, Christopher Payne, Sean Krajewski, Ronnie Exley, Lawrence Minicone, Jeremy Ross, Stephen Lamm, Dave Bishop, George Hamilton, James Pugh, Janina Vilsmaier, Judit Stalter, Gábor Sipos, Gábor Rajna, Fred Benenson, Morwin Schmookler, George Rush Prod Liz Jarvis, Philipp Kreuzer, Lars Knudsen Scr Evan Johnson Cam Stefan Ciupek Ed John Gurdebeke, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson Mus Kristian Eidnes Andersen Dist/Print Elevation Pictures

Selected Filmography (Guy Maddin) The Saddest Music in the World (2003); Brand Upon the Brain! (2006); My Winnipeg (2007); The Forbidden Room (2015)

Selected Filmography (Evan Johnson) The Forbidden Room (2015); The Rabbit Hunters (2020)

Selected Filmography (Galen Johnson) Bring Me the Head of Tim Horton (2015); The Green Fog (2017); The Rabbit Hunters (2020)

Cast Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Ray Fisher, Michael Potts, Erykah Badu, Skylar Aleece Smith

Exec Jennifer Roth, Constanza Romero Wilson, Katia Washington Prod Denzel Washington, Todd Black Scr Virgil Williams, Malcolm Washington Cam Michael Gioulakis Ed Leslie Jones Prod Des David J. Bomba Mus Alexandre Desplat Prod Co Netflix, Mundy Lane Entertainment, Escape Artists Dist/Print Netflix

Special Presentations

The Seed of the Sacred Fig

MOHAMMAD RASOULOF, IRAN/FRANCE/GERMANY, 2024, 167 MIN.

THU OCT 3

PM

SAT OCT 5 8:30 PM

Misagh Zare is Iman, a newly promoted “investigator” for the Iranian government in the early days of the Women, Life, Freedom rebellion. Iman’s handgun goes missing, and it could only have been taken by one of his family members. His wife Najmeh (Soheila Golestani) proclaims innocence, as do his daughters Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami) and Sana (Setareh Maleki). As the strife in the streets ratchets up, so do Iman’s anger and paranoia. With every passing moment, the women in his life grow more afraid— and yet none of them will confess…

The latest form Mohammad Rasoulof (There Is No Evil; A Man of Integrity) is a gripping metaphorical drama that triumphs on multiple levels: as a mystery, it’s tense and absorbing; as a portrait of family division, it’s moving; and as an act of political protest, it’s urgent and powerful. A subversive to his core, Rasoulof has paid a price for his art: sentenced to eight years in prison plus flogging, he now lives as an exile in Europe.

Special Prize, FIPRESCI Prize, Cannes 2024

Cast Misagh Zare, Soheila Golestani, Mahsa Rostami, Setareh Maleki, Niousha Akhshi, Reza Akhlaghi Prod Mohammad Rasoulof, Amin Sadraei, Jean-Christophe Simon, Mani Tilgner, Rozita Hendijanian Scr Mohammad Rasoulof Cam Pooyan Aghababaei Ed Andrew Bird Prod Des Amir Panahifar Mus Karzan Mahmood Prod Co Run Way Pictures Dist/Print Elevation Pictures

Selected Filmography The Twilight (2002); Manuscripts Don’t Burn (2013); A Man of Integrity (2017); There Is No Evil (2020)

The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal

In celebration of The Tragically Hip’s 40th anniversary, the quintessential Canadian band receives a deserved tribute in a docuseries helmed by Mike Downie, brother of the band’s late frontman Gord Downie. VIFF is honoured to have Mike and The Tragically Hip—Rob Baker, Johnny Fay, Paul Langlois, and Gord Sinclair—join us for this special evening as we share the first two episodes of this definitive series, a love story between a band and the country they call home.

Drawing from archival and personal footage and featuring previously unseen performances, unreleased music, and unprecedented access to The Hip, No Dress Rehearsal is far from hagiographic. Instead, the series candidly and compellingly documents four decades of hits and misses, friendship and frustration, triumph and tragedy. Generous and unguarded, The Hip proves themselves to truly be a band of brothers. And they’re every bit as captivating onscreen as they were onstage.

Feat Gord Downie, Gord Sinclair, Rob Baker, Paul Langlois, Johnny Fay Exec Jake Gold Prod Bryn Hughes, Kim Creelman, Dave Wells, Kalin Moon, Mike Downie, Rob Baker, Johnny Fay, Paul Langlois, Gord Sinclair Cam Chris Romeike Ed Peter Denes Mus The Tragically Hip Prod Co Fully and Complete Productions Inc. Print Amazon Dist The Taro Group

Caught by the Tides

Feng Liu Yi Dai

JIA ZHANGKE, CHINA, 2024, 111 MIN.

SAT SEP 28 1:00 PM IN10

SUN SEP 29 8:45 PM FAV3

THU OCT 3 2:30 PM PLAY

In the early 2000s, lovers Qiaoqiao and Bin bide their time in a ragtag song-and-dance troupe in the city of Datong. When Bin leaves town and Qiaoqiao goes in search of him, however, the two are swept up in the long drift of the 21st century. Anchored by a luminous performance by longtime partner and artistic collaborator Zhao Tao, Jia Zhangke’s magisterial film boldly charts two decades of China’s rapid transformations through a reflexive look at his own era-defining filmography.

Featuring new work from international titans such as Jia Zhangke, Miguel Gomes, and Hong Sangsoo, Showcase also highlights rising stars like Mati Diop, who picked up the top prize at Berlin this year, and Constance Tsang, who’s served notice that she’s one to watch. Other highlights include a selection of Canadian films that have already made big waves internationally before debuting on home soil and several of the year’s outstanding documentaries. With many of these films hinging on journeys, either across national borders or through time, we’re reminded of cinema’s transcendent power.

Dahomey

MATI DIOP, FRANCE/SENEGAL/BENIN, 2024, 68 MIN.

SUN SEP 29 8:45 PM SFU SAT OCT 5 3:45 PM PLAY

The return of 26 cultural stolen artifacts to the Republic of Benin prompts a vigorous debate about the nature of restitution and recovering their culture’s stolen soul. Infused with a dreamlike atmosphere and blending reality with the fantastical, Berlin Golden Bear-winner Dahomey interweaves the metaphysical perspective of the stolen artifacts and incendiary insights from contemporary students, providing a poetic scaffolding for the film to envision a new postcolonial horizon.

Feat Gildas Adannou, Habib Ahandessi, Joséa Guedje Prod Eve Robin, Judith Lou Lévy, Mati Diop

Flow

GINTS ZILBALODIS, LATVIA/FRANCE/BELGIUM, 2024, 84 MIN.

SUN SEP 29 12:30 PM PLAY SUN O CT 6 12:00 PM PLAY

In a future without humans, a solitary black cat survives a tsunami and finds refuge on a sailboat with an excitable Labrador, a drowsy capybara, a materialistic lemur, and a gallant secretary bird. As he navigates a mystical, flooded world with his quirky new companions, the cat must overcome both his fear of water and of other animals. Having made a splash at Cannes 2024, this wordless, atmospheric animated feature, complete with an orchestral score, provides an enthralling adventure for all ages.

Prod Matīss Kaža, Gints Zilbalodis, Ron Dyens, Gregory Zalcman

Cast Zhao Tao, Li Zhubin Prod Casper Liang Jiayan, Shozo Ichiyama

Showcase

Black Dog

Gou Zhen

GUAN

FRI SEP 27 9:00 PM SFU

MON SEP 30 12:00 PM PLAY

Guan Hu’s deeply felt film witnesses the growing bond between two discontented souls. As the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics approach, ex-con Lang (Eddie Peng) returns to his hometown, which has been slated for demolition. Among the abandoned buildings roam hundreds of dogs; one of them becomes Lang’s adversary and then, eventually, his dear companion. Graced with panoramic imagery and a strong lead performance, this is a quietly powerful affirmation of hope.

Cast Eddie Peng, Tong Liya, Jia Zhangke, Zhang Yi, Zhou You Prod Zhu Wenjiu

MARGHERITA VICARIO, ITALY/SWITZERLAND, 2024, 106 MIN.

FRI SEP 27 2:45 PM PLAY MON SEP 30 5:45 PM FAV3

Canadian Premiere. This cheeky, delightfully inventive film brings contemporary pop music to 17th century Italy. It gives us the young women of Sant’Ignazio, a Catholic orphanage run by the villainous Father Perlina (Paolo Rossi). He has taught his female charges music and is prepping them for a visit from the Pope; little does he know they’re making their own tunes in secret… Gloria! offers the pleasures of fine acting, catchy storytelling, and a delectable soundtrack.

Cast Galatéa Bellugi, Carlotta Gamba, Veronica Lucchesi, Maria Vittoria Dallasta, Sara Mafodda Prod Valeria Jamonte, Manuela Melissano, Carlo CrestoDina, Paolo del Brocco

Blue Sun Palace

CONSTANCE TSANG, USA, 2024, 117 MIN.

FRI OCT 4 6:15 PM VCT SUN OCT 6 8:30 PM CINE

North American Premiere. In the heart of New York’s largest Chinatown, three working-class immigrants eke out a meager living. Amy and Didi  work their days in a seedy massage parlor, while middle-aged Cheung toils as a construction worker. Together, the three share an easy intimacy—until tragedy strikes, leaving a painful absence in its wake. Boldly directed by writer-director Constance Tsang, this is an absorbing exploration of the liminal spaces of its subjects, and their attempts to find comfort amid grief, guilt, and loss.

Cast Lee Kang Sheng, Ke-Xi Wu, Haipeng Xu Prod Sally Sujin Oh, Eli Raskin, Tony Yang

Grand Tour

MIGUEL GOMES, PORTUGAL/ITALY/FRANCE, 2024, 129 MIN.

THU SEP 26 8:30 PM SFU MON SEP 30 2:45 PM PLAY

1918. When a British civil servant stationed in Burma gets cold feet about his upcoming wedding, he promptly hops on a boat to Singapore—just the first stop in an unforgettable Asian “grand tour”. More bemused than angry, his fiancée resolves to follow him. In black and white and colour, mixing fiction and documentary, the latest from Miguel Gomes (Tabu) is at once a magisterial continental travelogue, a probing examination of colonialism and a time-warping journey into the history of cinema itself.

Cast Crista Alfaiate, Gonçalo Waddington, Cláudio da Silva, Lang Khê Tran Prod Filipa Reis

A Different Man

AARON SCHIMBERG, USA, 2024, 112 MIN. THU SEP 26 6:15 PM RIO SAT SEP 28 12:00 PM PLAY

After years of loneliness, Edward (Sebastian Stan), a facially disfigured man, is cured by an experimental therapy and assumes a new identity. When he happens upon rehearsals for a play based on his past life, he decides to audition incognito… With its sharp plotting, evocative performances, and haunting imagery, Aaron Shimberg’s film embraces both the ironies of comedy and the derangements of horror.

Cast Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, Adam Pearson Prod Christine Vachon, Vanessa McDonnell, Gabriel Mayers

Happyend

NEO SORA, JAPAN/USA, 2024, 113 MIN. SAT SEP 28 3:00 PM PLAY THU OCT 3 9:00 PM FAV3

Best friends and natural rabble-rousers Kou and Yuta are in their graduating year at high school when one night they pull a major prank on their principal. The knockon effect is the installation of a high-tech surveillance system—another sign of the country’s lurch towards authoritarianism. Set in “the near future,” the first dramatic film from Neo Sora (Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus) fuses teen comedy, political protest, and a thumping techno score to raucous, creative, and quite moving effect.

Cast Hayato Kurihara, HIDAKA, Yuta Hayashi, Shina Peng, Arazi, Kilala Inori Prod Albert Tholen, Aiko Masubuchi, Eric Nyari, Alex C. Lo, Anthony Chen

Dying

Sterben

MATTHIAS GLASNER, GERMANY, 2024, 180 MIN. FRI OCT 4 8:15 PM FAV3 SUN OCT 6 12:00 PM IN10

North American Premiere. With death looming for both elders of the Lunies clan, their estranged children are forced to reunite. As their lives converge, ageold enmities resurface. By turns morbid, darkly comic, and unexpectedly invigorating, Matthias Glasner crafts a saga about the inescapable vicissitudes of family: those people we can’t seem to live with, but also can’t seem to do without.

Cast Lars Eidinger, Corinna Harfouch, Lilith Stangenberg, Ronald Zehrfeld, Robert Gwisdek, Anna Bederke Prod Jan Krüger, Ulf Israel, Matthias Glasner

Matt and Mara

KAZIK RADWANSKI, CANADA, 2024, 80 MIN. SAT SEP 28 8:45 PM SFU SUN SEP 29 3:30 PM IN10

Kazik Radwanski’s propulsive, naturalistic film explores the fraught relationship between two writers. When Matt (Matt Johnson) and Mara (Deragh Campbell) reconnect in her hometown of Toronto, they enter into a negotiation between attraction and difference that is both strongly relatable and riveting to observe. Campbell and Johnson give deeply committed performances, and Radwanski directs with a terrific sense of rhythm and a feel for the small, telling detail.

Cast Deragh Campbell, Matt Johnson, Mounir Al Shami, Emma Healey, Avery Nayman, Marlowe Granados Prod Dan Montgomery, Candice Napoleone

HU, CHINA, 2024, 110 MIN.

Gloria!

No Other Land

BASEL ADRA, HAMDAN BALLAL, YUVAL ABRAHAM, RACHEL SZOR, PALESTINE/NORWAY, 2024, 96 MIN.

SAT SEP 28 3:30 PM SFU

TUE O CT 1 6:30 PM FAV3

For Basel Adra, a young Palestinian activist from Masafer Yatta on the southern West Bank, the mass expulsion of his community has been a lifelong reality. Faced with the systematic demolition of homes and schools, carried out to make room for an Israeli military training ground, residents confront a painful choice: either move away or endure and rebuild. Filmed vérité-style by a Palestinian–Israeli collective over five years, No Other Land is an heartbreaking look at the realities of Israeli occupation.

Prod Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning

Shepherds

Bergers

SOPHIE DERASPE, CANADA/FRANCE, 2024, 113 MIN.

THU OCT 3 6:00 PM FAV3

FRI OCT 4 3:00 PM SFU

Mathyas abruptly quits his marketing job in Montreal, abandoning his urban life for the south of France with the romantic notion of becoming a shepherd—all without knowing a thing about the ancient profession. What he finds is very different: the brutal life-and-death realities of sheep farming, the viciousness and cruelty of isolated men, for instance. Set against the breathtaking French Alps, Sophie Deraspe’s film is an elemental epic of personal growth that asks how best to live in order to feel free.

Paying For It

SOOK-YIN LEE, CANADA, 2024, 85 MIN.

MON SEP 30 9:00 PM RIO

TUE O CT 1 8:45 PM FAV3

Sook-Yin Lee adapts a graphic novel by her ex-boyfriend, cartoonist Chester Brown, about the end of their relationship and Brown’s decision to start paying for sex. Paying For It has an amiable, mellow tone but is bracing in its willingness to explore sexuality in all its complexity. Dan Beirne plays Brown as a calm, curious adventurer who’s unembarrassed by the messy truths of adult life, while Emily Lê shines as Lee stand-in Sonny and Andrea Werhun gives a wonderful turn as an ingratiating sex worker.

Cast Daniel Beirne, Emily Lê, Andrea Werhun, Noah Lamanna Prod Matt Code, Sonya Di Rienzo, Aeschylus Poulos

Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat

JOHAN GRIMONPREZ, BELGIUM/FRANCE/ NETHERLANDS, 2024, 150 MIN.

THU SEP 26 3:30 PM VCT WED OCT 2 8:30 PM FAV3 FRI OCT 4 2:30 PM PLAY

Canadian Premiere. On January 17, 1961, Patrice Lumumba, the first democratically elected Congolese prime minister, is assassinated. Recounting this political murder, this riveting essay film traces the complex intersections of American jazz and Cold War geopolitics. Pulsing with anti-colonialist fervor, it spotlights a dark chapter of history that has lost none of its urgency or import today.

Feat Marie Daulne, In Koli Jean Bofane, Patrick Cruise O’Brien Prod Daan Milius, Rémi Grellety

Showcase

Secret Mall Apartment

JEREMY WORKMAN, USA, 2024, 91 MIN.

THU SEP 26 4:00 PM IN09 SUN SEP 29 6:30 PM FAV3

THU OCT 3 6:45 PM RIO

In 2003, Michael Townsend and several of his friends created one of the most original guerilla art projects of the 21st century: they built and furnished a hidden 750 sq. foot apartment inside the Providence Mall in Rhode Island, remaining undetected for four years. Secret Mall Apartment strikes a balancing act between the absurdity of its story and surprisingly profound questions about gentrification, the nature of social art, and what truly makes a home.

Featuring Michael Townsend Prod Jeremy Workman

A Traveler’s Needs

Yeohaengjaui pilyo

HONG SANGSOO, SOUTH KOREA, 2024, 90 MIN.

SAT OCT 5 6:15 PM SFU SUN OCT 6 2:30 PM PLAY

Canadian Premiere. In her third film with VIFF mainstay Hong Sangsoo, Isabelle Huppert plays a Frenchwoman abroad in South Korea. Language tutoring is her trade, and the writer-director wrings humour and a curious wisdom from her unconventional methods. As usual, Hong succeeds by mixing the quotidian and the bizarre, and his handling of actors is as subtle as ever. Deceptively small-scale and delicately profound, this is a lovely little work of art.

Cast Isabelle Huppert, Lee Hyeyoung, Kwon Haehyo, Cho Yunhee, Ha Seongguk Prod Hong Sangsoo

Sharp Corner

JASON BUXTON, CANADA/IRELAND, 2024, 110 MIN. FRI SEP 27 9:00 PM FAV3 SAT SEP 28 3:30 PM IN10

When Josh (Ben Foster), Rachel (Cobie Smulders), and their young son Max (William Kosovic) move into a secluded home, they discover something the realtor hadn’t flagged: the road in front of their property contains a dangerous curve. A deadly accident happens on their first night in the house, and things get worse from there… This acutely calibrated thriller is less about physical danger than emotional pathology, and Jason Buxton directs it with a terrific feel for social tension and escalating menace.

Cast Ben Foster, Cobie

Gavin

Universal Language

Une langue universelle

MATTHEW RANKIN, CANADA, 2024, 89 MIN. SAT SEP 28 6:15 PM FAV3 SUN SEP 29 8:30 PM IN10

In a wintery, Farsi-speaking city that’s equal measures Winnipeg and Tehran, schoolchildren are tormented by cash encased in ice, a tour guide shepherds visitors to bizarre attractions, and Matthew Rankin (the film’s director) returns after enduring soul-crushing bureaucratic life in Quebec. As these storylines become comically entangled, the concepts of space, time, and identity grow increasingly opaque. Visually inventive and wantonly absurd, Rankin's poetic fable reminds us that Winnipeg is a wonderland.

Cast Rojina Esmaeili, Saba Vahedyousefi, Pirouz Nemati, Mani Soleymanlou, Matthew Rankin, Ila Firouzabadi Prod Sylvain Corbeil

Smulders,

Drea, William Kosovic Prod Paul Barkin, Marc Tetreault, Jason Levangie, Jason Buxton, Susan Mullen

Cast Félix-Antoine Duval, Solène Rigot Prod Kim McCraw, Luc Déry, Élaine Hébert, Caroline Bonmarchand, Xenia Sulyma

Shepherds

Panorama

This year’s Panorama selection is the most expansive yet, with cinema from more than two dozen nations waiting to be discovered. Two-thirds of these films will be Canadian premieres. And what rich storytelling they’ll offer, as viewers experience fraught homecomings, races against time, reckonings with the past, and transforma tive epiphanies. While these often take the form of immersive dramas, they also lend themselves to incisive comedies and haunting fables. All human life is here!

Carnival Is Over

Os Enforcados

FERNANDO COIMBRA, BRAZIL/PORTUGAL, 2024, 123 MIN.

WED OCT 2 3:00 PM PLAY

SUN O CT 6 9:00 PM FAV3

When Valerio and Regina try to escape the illegal gambling business owned by his uncle, the couple is swept into the Rio de Janeiro’s violent criminal underworld, leaving behind a bloody wake of bodies and betrayal. From the director of A Wolf at the Door, Fernando Coimbra’s blood-soaked crime thriller marries the Coen Brothers’ sensibilities to Shakespeare, shaping a withering social critique wrapped in a bleakly comic tragedy where no one is left unscathed.

Cast Leandra Leal, Irandhir Santos, Thiago Thomé, Pêpê Rapazote, Ernani Moraes, Augusto Madeira Prod Caio Gullane, Fabiano Gullane, André Novis, Fernando Coimbra, Luís Galvão Teles, Gonçalo Galvão Teles

Misericordia

Miséricorde

ALAIN GUIRAUDIE, FRANCE/SPAIN/PORTUGAL, 2024, 103 MIN.

FRI SEP 27 8:45 PM IN09

MON SEP 30 3:30 PM SFU

Returning to beautiful Saint-Martial for the funeral of his former boss, Jérémie (Félix Kysyl) arouses widow Martine (Catherine Frot), her son Vincent (Jean-Baptiste Durand), and other local characters—each in a different way. Edgy, eccentric, and unapologetically queer, Alain Guiraudie’s film straddles the line between comedy and thriller. As it moves from the bedroom to the woods to the confession booth, Misericordia provides a fresh, darkly amusing take on human desire.

Cast Félix Kysyl, Catherine Frot Prod Charles Gillibert

Pierce

Cì xīn qiè gŭ NELICIA LOW, SINGAPORE/TAIWAN/POLAND, 2024, 107 MIN. WED OCT 2 8:30 PM SFU FRI OCT 4 8:45 PM SFU

In Nelicia Low’s hypnotic, suspenseful drama, Zijie is a teenage fencing enthusiast with an agonizing uncertainty hanging over him. His big brother Zihan has just been released from detention after serving time for murder, and claims he was wrongly convicted. Who to believe: the charismatic older sibling or their mother, who insists he is a killer? The uncertainty creates a thrilling atmosphere of danger, and the two leads give superb performances.

Cast Liu Hsiu-Fu, Tsao Yu-Ning, Ding Ning Prod

Sam Chua Weishi, Jeremy Chua, Patrick Mao Huang, Izabela Igel, John M. Lo

Solids by the Seashore Fly Me to the Moon

Everybody Loves Touda Love Lies

Ghost Trail Samia

Souleymane's Story Reinas

Armand

HALFDAN ULLMANN TØNDEL, NORWAY/ NETHERLANDS/GERMANY/SWEDEN, 2024, 117 MIN.

SAT OCT 5 8:45 PM FAV3

SUN OCT 6 3:30 PM IN09

Canadian Premiere. When six-year-old Armand is accused of abusing another boy, his mother (The Worst Person in the World’s Renate Reinsve) is called in for a school meeting. Volatile confrontations between the concerned adults quickly follow. With the boys themselves never seen, it soon becomes clear that this sordid situation is about much more than just the children. Bracing and unpredictable, this is a lacerating drama from writer-director Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel (the grandson of Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullmann).

Cast Renate Reinsve, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Thea Lambrechts Vaulen, Endre Hellestveit, Øystein Røger, Vera Veljovic Prod Andrea Berentsen Ottmar

Eephus

CARSON LUND, USA/FRANCE, 2024, 98 MIN.

SAT OCT 5 8:30 PM IN10

SUN OCT 6 1:00 PM FAV3

Canadian Premiere. A small-town New England recreational baseball league gathers to play the final makeup game on their local diamond before its impending demolition. While the game ambles on, from morning to night, Carson Lund’s unassuming directorial debut subtly invokes a funny and profound ode to America’s favourite pastime. More than just a sports movie, Eephus is a bittersweet elegy for the dying of the light.

Cast Keith William Richards, Cliff Blake, Ray Hryb, Stephen Radochia, David Pridemore, Pete Minkarah Prod Michael Basta, David Entin, Carson Lund, Tyler Taormina

Black Tea

ABDERRAHMANE SISSAKO, FRANCE/MAURITANIA/ LUXEMBOURG/TAIWAN/CÔTE D’IVOIRE, 2024, 109 MIN.

FRI SEP 27 6:00 PM IN10

SUN SEP 29 1:30 PM VCT

North American Premiere. After abandoning her unfaithful groom at the altar, Aya (Nina Mélo) leaves the Ivory Coast for a dreamy new life at a tea shop in Guangzhou, China. As her alluring boss Cai (Chang Han) teaches her the ancient tea ceremony, a sensual and melancholic romance brews. Abderrahmane Sissako (Timbuktu) blends the dreams and desires of a vibrant ensemble cast of characters, exploring the African diaspora’s search for cross-cultural harmony in China.

Cast Nina Mélo, Chang Han, Wu Ke-Xi Prod David Gauquié, Julien Deris, Denis Freyd, Charles S. Cohen, Jean-Luc Ormières

Everybody Loves Touda

NABIL AYOUCH, FRANCE/MOROCCO/BELGIUM/ DENMARK/NETHERLANDS, 2024, 102 MIN.

SAT SEP 28 6:45 PM IN10

MON SEP 30 12:30 PM FAV3

North American Premiere. Irrepressible Touda (Nisrin Erradi) only dreams of being a Sheikha, a respected traditional Moroccan performer empowered by the lyrics of the fierce female poets who came before her. Inspired by their songs of resistance and emancipation, she performs every evening in provincial bars under the lustful gaze of men. All the while, she sets her sights on the bright lights of Casablanca…

Cast Nisrin Erradi, Joud Chamihy, Jalila Tlemsi, El Moustafa Boutankite, Lahcen Razzougui Prod Nabil Ayouch, Amine Benjelloun, Sebastian Schelenz, Katrin Pors, Mikkel Jersin, Eva Jakobsen, Marleen Slot, Elisa Fernanda Pirir

Brief History of a Family

Jia ting jian shi

LIN JIANJIE, CHINA/FRANCE/DENMARK/QATAR, 2024, 99 MIN.

THU SEP 26 6:15 PM FAV3 FRI OCT 4 8:45 PM IN09

Canadian Premiere. Lin Jianjie’s gripping, mysterious film begins with the meeting of Wei (Lin Muran), a high school slacker, and Shuo (Sun Xilun), his more diligent schoolmate. As the story progresses, we see Wei’s parents meeting Shuo and then slowly coming to value him over their own son… Making his feature debut, Lin proves himself a sure hand with both image and narrative. Dark, delicate, and beautiful, this is a terrific domestic thriller from a director with a very bright future in cinema.

Cast Zu Feng, Guo Keyu, Sun Xilun, Lin Muran Prod Lou Ying, Zheng Yue, Wang Yiwen

Fly Me to the Moon

SASHA CHUK, HONG KONG, 2023, 111 MIN.

SAT SEP 28 6:15 PM IN09

TUE O CT 1 10:30 AM IN08

Spanning three decades, Sasha Chuk’s drama tells the story of the Lams, a Hong Kong family of immigrants from the Mainland. Kang-ren Wu is superb as Kok Man, the drug-addicted patriarch, and each of his two daughters is played by three different actresses as the film progresses from 1997 to 2017. Chuk’s triumph as writer, director, and star (she plays daughter Yuen as an adult) is her ability to maintain an emotional continuity across three decades of pain, struggle, and love.

Cast Kang-ren Wu, Sasha Chuk, Angela Yuen, Wingyan Tse, Natalie Hsu Prod Stanley Kwan

Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point

TYLER TAORMINA, USA, 2024, 106 MIN.

SUN OCT 6 3:30 PM RIO

SUN OCT 6 8:30 PM IN10

Canadian Premiere. The eccentric Balsano family gathers in their ancestral Long Island home to celebrate Christmas Eve. With a sprawling cast of characters and the warm, nostalgic tone of old home videos, Tyler Taormina’s feature is an intricately detailed series of shared and private moments. A warmly humorous yuletide rhapsody that gives equal weight to each of its multitude of characters.

Cast

Ghost Trail

Les Fantômes

JONATHAN MILLET, FRANCE/GERMANY/BELGIUM, 2024, 105 MIN.

THU SEP 26 8:45 PM FAV3 MON SEP 30 12:45 PM IN09

North American Premiere. Hamad (Adam Bessa) zeroes in on Sammi (Tawfeek Barhom), a fellow Syrian refugee in Strasbourg. Could this be the notorious interrogator who tortured countless adversaries of the Assad regime? Proof remains elusive and Hamad’s wary of getting too close for fear that his prey will bolt. Jonathan Millet's crisp, menacing thriller keeps us guessing with its mix of psychology, politics, and espionage.

Cast Adam Bessa, Tawfeek Barhom, Julia Franz Richter, Hala Rajab, Shafiqa El Till, Sylvain Samson Prod Pauline Seigland

Matilda Fleming, Michael Cera, Elsie Fisher, Francesca Scorsese, Gregg Turkington, Sawyer Spielberg Prod Tyler Taormina, Eric Berger, Kevin Anton, Rob Rice, Michael Cera, David Entin, Calogero Carucci, Krista Minto, David Croley Broyles, Duncan Sullivan, David Sabot, Oliver Toy

Sleeping With a Tiger

Panorama

Hakki

HIKMET KEREM ÖZCAN, TURKEY, 2024, 95 MIN.

THU SEP 26 6:45 PM IN08

FRI SEP 27 10:45 AM IN08

Hakki has a simple life, but a good one. He takes pride in family, friends, and a home that has been passed down through generations. Then a stroke of good fortune alters Hakki's way of thinking. Cutting back the troublesome roots of a tree beside his house, he comes across buried treasure: an ancient figurine. This, he senses, will be a life-changing discovery. And so it proves in this acute psychological fable, a compelling tale bolstered by a commanding performance by Bülent Emin Yarar in the title role.

Cast Bülent Emin Yarar, Hülya Gülşen, Cem Zeynel Kılıç, Özgür Emre Yıldırım, Duygu Gökhan, Durukan Çelikkaya Prod Oyku Canli, Hikmet Kerem Özcan

Holy Cow

Vingt Dieux

LOUISE COURVOISIER, FRANCE, 2024, 90 MIN.

FRI OCT 4 6:00 PM IN10

SUN OCT 6 10:45 AM IN09

North American Premiere. Eighteenyear-old Totone has to grow up fast when his father dies, leaving him to look after his sister. A job on a dairy farm doesn’t last. Clutching at straws, he takes a notion to make his own cheese, and ropes in his mates to help. Louise Courvoisier’s debut feature earns its exclamatory title for its earthy naturalism; its candor around sex and bad behaviour. Yet what’s most striking about the film is its brighteyed optimism. Totone has a low opinion of himself, but we come to feel differently.

Cast Clément Faveau, Luna Garret, Mathis Bernard, Dimitry Baudry, Maïwène Barthelemy, Armand Sanc -

House of the Seasons

Jangson

OH JUNG-MIN, SOUTH KOREA, 2023, 121 MIN.

THU SEP 26 3:30 PM FAV3

MON SEP 30 9:15 PM IN09

TUE O CT 1 3:15 PM IN10

North American Premiere. In his feature debut, Oh Jung-min constructs a rich family tapestry and portrays its slow, poignant disentanglement. The Kim family hails from the countryside, though some members have left; Oh presents three occasions for reunion, each one leading to conflict, catharsis, and revelation. Distinguished by its complexity, its fine ensemble cast, and the beauty of its exteriors, House of the Seasons is a vivid and relatable domestic drama.

Cast Kang Seung Ho, Woo Sangjeon, Son Sook Prod Jeong Joeun, Jang Ji-won

Living in Two Worlds

Bokuga Ikiteru, Futatsu no Sekai MIPO O, JAPAN, 2024, 105 MIN.

THU SEP 26 8:30 PM CINE

MON SEP 30 10:30 AM IN09

North American Premiere. Mipo O’s stirring, elliptical film traces 28 years in the life of Dai (Yoshizawa Ryo), a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) from rural Japan. Blaming his mother for his social differences, he leaves his family for Tokyo as a young man, eventually landing a job as a magazine writer. The new friends he makes through a sign language group open him up to a diversity of deaf experiences. On a visit home for the first time in eight years, Dai sees his mother in a poignant new light. A heartfelt drama based on a true story.

Cast Ryo Yoshizawa, Akiko Oshidari, Akito Imai, Yusuke Santamaria Prod Hideyuki Yamakuni

Love Lies

HO MIU-KI, HONG KONG, 2024, 116 MIN.

THU SEP 26 8:45 PM IN09 SAT SEP 28 12:45 PM IN09

Canadian Premiere. Cynical yet highspirited, Ho Miu-Ki’s comedy stars HK veteran Sandra Ng as Veronica Yu, the middle-aged victim of a catfish con: she thinks she’s texting back and forth with a handsome, charming Frenchman, but her virtual beau is actually Joe Lee (Cheung Tin-Fu), a rookie scam artist with just enough of a conscience to feel conflicted about his crimes... The directorial debut of screenwriter Ho Miu-Ki, Love Lies is a classic rom-com in the Billy Wilder mould, rejigged for our virtual times.

Cast Sandra Ng, Cheung Tin-Fu, Stephy Tang, Chan Fai-Hung, Cheung Kam-Ching Prod Chan Hing-Kai, Janet Chun

Marco, the Invented Truth

Marco, la verdad inventada AITOR ARREGI, JON GARAÑO, SPAIN, 2024, 108 MIN.

THU SEP 26 8:30 PM IN10

TUE O CT 1 1:30 PM VCT

North American Premiere. An intricate web of lies unravels in Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño’s riveting biographical thriller about Enric Marco, a high-profile activist in Spain who claimed for three decades to be a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp, only to be exposed as an impostor in 2005. Propelled by a fantastic original score, Marco, the Invented Truth delivers a tense dramatization of a public figure’s fall from grace and the personal and national devastation wrought by his shocking entangling of truths and falsehoods.

Cast Eduard Fernández, Nathalie Poza Prod Ander Barinaga-Rementeria, Xabier Berzosa, Jaime Ortiz de Artiñano, Ander Sagardoy

Julie Keeps Quiet

SAT SEP 28 9:15 PM IN10

SUN OCT 6 6:30 PM FAV3

When her coach falls under investigation following a fellow trainee’s suicide, a young tennis ace is thrown into turmoil as she finds herself under acute pressure to speak out. Her reluctance to do so results in a struggle that she alone can resolve. Anchored by a steely performance from newcomer Tessa Van den Broeck, this is a provocative film about the cultures of abuse within the sports world, and the toll it takes on those caught within it.

Cast Tessa Van den Broeck,

Measures for a Funeral

SOFIA BOHDANOWICZ, CANADA/NORWAY/UK, 2024, 142 MIN.

MON SEP 30 8:15 PM FAV3

TUE OCT 1 5:30 PM IN09

When a young academic discovers a personal connection to legendary Canadian violinist Kathleen Parlow, she is compelled to dig deeper. Her investigations lead her on the trail of an elusive concerto, Opus 28, dedicated to Parlow and lost for over a century, but which she is determined to bring to light—no matter the cost to her personal life. At once a ghost story, detective yarn, and archival investigation, Sofia Bohdanowicz’s latest docu-fiction is a testament to the mysterious power of music to move us.

Cast Deragh Campbell, Melanie Scheiner, María Dueñas, Maxim Gaudette, Eileen Davies Prod Aonan Yang, Andreas Mendritzki, Sofia Bohdanowicz

Julie zwijgt

LEONARDO VAN DIJL, BELGIUM/SWEDEN, 2024, 100 MIN.

Grace Biot, Alyssa Lorette, Ruth Becquart, Koen De Bouw, Pierre Gervais Prod Gilles De Schryver, Gilles Coulier, Wouter Sap, Roxanne Sarkozi

Most People Die on Sundays

Los domingos mueren más personas

IAIR SAID, ARGENTINA/ITALY/SPAIN, 2024, 75 MIN.

WED OCT 2 1:45 PM IN08

FRI OCT 4 8:30 PM IN10

North American Premiere. Still reeling from a fresh breakup, thirtysomething David, a chubby gay Jewish man living in a state of arrested development, returns to his native Buenos Aires for his uncle’s funeral. There he confronts not just his Jewish heritage, but also the impending death of his comatose father and his aging mother. Structured as a series of mortifying misadventures, this is a darkly comic exploration of the lengths people will go to escape their origins, and the moments of grace they find along the way.

Cast Iair Said, Rita Cortese, Antonia Zegers, Juliana Gattas Prod Nicolás Avruj, Diego Lerman

The Mother and the Bear

JOHNNY MA, CANADA/CHILE, 2024, 100 MIN.

MON SEP 30 6:30 PM IN10 WED O CT 2 3:15 PM FAV3

When her adult daughter winds up comatose in hospital, Sara (Kim Ho-jung) flies to Winnipeg from her home in South Korea. Intimidated by the weather and stymied by the language, Sara is nonetheless confident enough to take control of her child’s smartphone and set about finding her a proper husband… Johnny Ma’s lively crowd-pleaser plays up cultural differences to hilarious effect, but at its centre is a touching take on motherdaughter angst. Kim gives a great comic performance as the frenetic matriarch.

Cast Kim Ho-jung, Won-Jae Lee, Jonathan Kim, Susan Hanson, Samantha Kendrick, Amara Pedroso Saquel Prod Juan de Dios Larraín, Niv Fichman

My Late Summer

Nakon ljeta

DANIS TANOVIĆ, CROATIA/BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA /ROMANIA/SLOVENIA/SERBIA, 2024, 98 MIN.

SAT OCT 5 5:45 PM IN10

SUN OCT 6 10:30 AM IN08

International Premiere. Danis Tanović (No Man’s Land) charms with this summer romance about a woman (Anja Matković) arriving on a small Croatian island to claim an inheritance from her estranged family. A handsome expat worms his way into her heart, setting her on a path of old family missteps. Matković lends the film a complex female backbone as it proves itself to be a profound study of inherited resentments.

Cast Anja Matković, Uliks Fehmiu, Goran Navojec, Mario Knezović, Snježana Sinovčić, Luka Juričić Prod Lana Matić, Boris T. Matić, Jelena Mitrović, Srdan Golubović, Jovan Marjanović, Mirsad Purivatra, Anamaria Antoci, Miha Černec, Jožko Rutar

The New Year That Never Came

Anul Nou care n-a fost

BOGDAN MUREŞANU, ROMANIA, 2024, 138 MIN.

FRI SEP 27 1:30 PM IN08

TUE O CT 1 8:45 PM IN08

North American Premiere. Six intertwined stories weave in and out of the absurdities of Nicolae Ceaușescu’s regime on the eve of the 1989 Romanian Revolution, outlining fear and austerity in sharp relief with a grim irony and hopeful glimpses of a better future. Bogdan Mureşanu’s polyphonic debut reflects the national unrest through the individual lens of interfamilial struggles and professional pressures of ordinary lives in this powerful probe of Romanian history.

Cast Adrian Văncică, Andrei Miercure, Iulian Postelnicu, Emilia Dobrin, Nicoleta Hâncu, Mihai Călin Prod Irina Enea, Bogdan Luca

Special Events in October

Music and Film

State-of-the-art projection. Immersive sound. Big, comfy seats. Experience VIFF all year long at our newly upgraded theatre.

Theremin Man Goes to the Movies

Oct 20

The Etiquette of Dying

Oct 27

Guitarist Ron Samworth’s brush with cancer a few years ago inspired a suite, which in turn inspired Melissa Hubert’s contemplative 51-minute animated film. After the screening Ron will lead a 4-piece band in an improvised performance. See Whats On: viff.org

In this unique live presentation "Theremin Man", Stephen Hamm, leads us through the early electronic instrument's origins, its eclectic Hollywood career, and his own personal history with this strange instrument—concluding with a live score improv.

When We Lost to the Germans

Panorama

On Becoming a Guinea Fowl

RUNGANO NYONI, ZAMBIA/UK/IRELAND, 2024, 95 MIN.

TUE OCT 1 9:15 PM IN09

SUN OCT 6 6:30 PM VCT

When Shula returns home to Zambia and finds her uncle’s dead body on the roadside by a brothel, the last thing she wants is to mourn him. But as her aunties shame her into helping with the funeral rites, she and her cousins Nsansa and Bupe must grapple with their family’s sanctification of a man who caused great harm in his lifetime. Writerdirector Rungano Nyoni (I Am Not a Witch) earned a Best Director prize in Un Certain Regard for her powerful, darkly comedic, absurdist sophomore feature.

Cast Susan Chardy, Elizabeth Chisela Prod Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Tim Cole

Sex

DAG JOHAN HAUGERUD, NORWAY, 2024, 125 MIN.

THU SEP 26 9:00 PM VCT

SAT SEP 28 3:15 PM IN09

Canadian Premiere. Two chimney sweeps living in Oslo, both happily partnered in heterosexual marriages, find their views on sexuality and gender challenged by a series of unexpected events. Both men confront heretofore unexplored aspects of their identities—which, as it turns out, are more fluid than they had previously thought. Playfully structured as a series of sharply scripted two-hander conversations, Sex is a dryly humorous and unexpectedly poignant exploration of normative societal expectations.

Cast Jan Gunnar Røise, Thorbjørn Harr, Siri Forberg, Birgitte Larsen Prod Yngve Sæther, Hege Hauff Hvattum

Reinas

KLAUDIA REYNICKE, PERU/SWITZERLAND/SPAIN, 2024, 104 MIN.

FRI SEP 27 6:15 PM IN09

SUN SEP 29 1:45 PM FAV3

THU OCT 3 10:30 AM IN08

Amidst socio-economic turmoil in 1992 Lima, Perú, Elena (Jimena Lindo) wants to move her daughters Lucia (Abril Gjurinovic) and Aurora (Luana Vega) to the USA for a safer life, but needs her ex-husband “El Loco” Carlos (Gonzalo Molina) to sign their travel permits. Given a brief window to reconnect with his daughters, Carlos tries to earn his way back into their lives. Klaudia Reynicke’s sensitive third feature weaves a poignant tale of sisterhood, summer heartbreaks, and tender goodbyes.

Cast Abril Gjurinovic, Luana Vega, Gonzalo Molina, Jimena Lindo, Susi Sánchez Prod Britta Rindelaub, Thomas Reichlin, Daniel Vega, Diego Vega, Valérie Delpierre

Rosinante

BARAN GÜNDÜZALP, TURKEY, 2023, 104 MIN.

THU OCT 3 3:45 PM IN09

SUN OCT 6 6:45 PM IN08

North American Premiere. When Salih loses his job, his middle-class life with his wife and six-year-old son is thrown into jeopardy. In the face of mounting bills and a string of job rejections, he joins an appbased motorcycle taxi driving service. But when his bike, named Rosinante, goes missing one day, the family starts to run out of options. Featuring a deft mix of domestic drama and absurdist comedy, and a plot that recalls Vittorio De Sica’s classic Bicycle Thieves, this is a touching exploration of contemporary urban life.

Cast Nilay Erdönmez, Fatih Sönmez, Can Demir Prod Deniz Yeşilgün, Baran Gündüzalp

Sleeping With a Tiger

Mit einem Tiger schlafen

ANJA SALOMONOWITZ, AUSTRIA, 2024, 107 MIN.

FRI SEP 27 9:00 PM IN08

SUN SEP 29 10:30 AM IN09

Canadian Premiere. In this highly original biopic, Birgit Minichmayr plays the Austrian painter Maria Lassnig at all ages of the artist’s life, traversing the decades with nary a change in appearance. Unbound by conventional narrative form, the film recounts how Lassnig asserted herself as a female artist in the maledominated art world of postwar Austria. Mixing disparate documentary and fiction materials, it is a radical depiction of Lassnig’s inner and outer life, one that captures the enduring enigma of her art.

Cast Birgit Minichmayr, Johanna Orsini, Lukas Watzl, Oskar Haag Prod Antonin Svoboda

Solids by the Seashore

PATIPARN BOONTARIG, THAILAND, 2023, 93 MIN.

FRI SEP 27 4:15 PM VCT

SUN OCT 6 6:00 PM IN10

Canadian Premiere. Patiparn Boontarig’s dreamy, poetic film is set in southern Thailand and tells the story of two culturally divergent women who slowly fall in love. The free-spirited artist Fon and the inhibited Muslim Shati come together through Fon’s gallery project: an exhibit documenting environmental misdeeds on the country’s beaches. Boontarig suffuses his film with brightness and mellow ambience while putting forth a sharp political critique—he’s as persuasive with his polemics as he is with his visual poetry.

Cast Ilada Pitsuwan, Rawipa Srisanguan Prod Chatchai Chaiyon, Mai Meksawan

Samia

YASEMIN ŞAMDERELI, ITALY/GERMANY/BELGIUM, 2024, 102 MIN.

THU SEP 26 6:00 PM IN10 MON SEP 30 3:00 PM FAV3

Samia, born and raised in Mogadishu during the Somali Civil War, has one thing on her mind: running. But as she gets older (and faster) the multiple forces conspiring against her loom ever larger. Yasemin Şamdereli's inspiring, empathetic tale of dedication and perseverance recounts the true story of the sprinter Samia Yusuf Omar (Ilham Mohamed Osman), who followed her dreams to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing despite a life of setbacks and tragedy.

Cast Ilham Mohamed Osman, Kaltuma Mohamed Abdi, Fathia Mohamed Absie Prod Simone Catania, Dietmar Güntsche, Anja-Karina Richter, Michele Fornasero, Francesca Portalupi, Martin Rohé

Souleymane’s Story

L’histoire de Souleymane BORIS LOJKINE, FRANCE, 2024, 94 MIN.

WED OCT 2 8:30 PM IN10

SAT OCT 5 6:30 PM FAV3

Exhausted by the grueling grind of the Parisian gig economy and hopping between homeless shelters, Guinean immigrant Souleymane races against time to prepare for his asylum application, struggling not to lose himself in his pursuit of freedom. Winning multiple awards at Cannes, Souleymane’s Story is a thrilling social realist drama centred around a virtuosic performance from non-professional actor Abou Sangare. An angry, tender film that refuses to simplify the heartrending humanity at its core.

Cast Abou

Sangare, Nina Meurisse, Alpha Oumar Sow, Emmanuel Yovanie, Younoussa Diallo, Ghislain Mahan Prod Bruno Nahon

Rosinante

The Sparrow in the Chimney

Der Spatz im Kamin

RAMON ZÜRCHER, SWITZERLAND, 2024, 117 MIN.

FRI SEP 27 3:15 PM FAV3

THU OCT 3 5:45 PM IN10

FRI OCT 4 3:30 PM CINE

North American Premiere. In a spacious ancestral home, preparations are afoot for an extravagant celebration. But as the house fills up, tensions mount and it becomes a veritable pressure cooker of familial strife. Ramon Zürcher delivers precise formal play and acute psychological mystery. An entropic symphony of domestic existence, this is a film whose luminous surfaces yield only deeper enigmas.

Cast Maren Eggert, Britta Hammelstein, Luise Heyer, Andreas Döhler, Milan Zerzawy, Lea Zoe Voss Prod Silvan Zürcher

When We Lost to the Germans

Toen we van de Duitsers verloren

GUIDO VAN DRIEL, NETHERLANDS, 2023, 84 MIN.

Super Happy Forever

KOHEI IGARASHI, JAPAN/FRANCE, 2024, 94 MIN.

FRI OCT 4 6:00 PM FAV3

SUN OCT 6 6:15 PM SFU

North American Premiere. Kohei Igarashi’s mysterious film follows Sano (Hiroshi Sano) as he returns to the seaside town where he met his wife Nagi (Nairu Yamamoto) five years ago. Nagi is now deceased, and it quickly becomes clear that the return to the town is part of Sano’s attempt to process his grief… Shot in long, deceptively casual takes, graced with enigmatic motifs, and structured around a lengthy flashback, Super Happy Forever is dark, disturbing, and ultimately relatable in its treatment of love and mourning.

Cast Hiroshi Sano, Yoshinori Miyata, Nairu Yamamoto, Hoang Nhu Quynh Prod Makoto Oki, Yusaku Emoto

To a Land Unknown

MAHDI FLEIFEL, UK/GERMANY/FRANCE/GREECE/ NETHERLANDS, 2024, 106 MIN.

FRI SEP 27 6:00 PM FAV3

SUN SEP 29 3:45 PM IN09

FRI OCT 4 4:00 PM RIO

In this outstanding crime drama, cousins Chatila and Reda, two Palestinian refugees stranded in Athens, dream of moving their family to Germany and escaping their dehumanizing circumstances. In dire need of funds to pay a black market kingpin for their fake passports, the cousins go down a slippery slope of moral compromise that takes them from purse-snatching and sex work to human smuggling and hostage-taking. A heartwrenching tale of desperation in exile.

Cast Mahmood Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Angeliki Papoulia, Mohammad Alsurafa, Monzer Reyahnah, Mouataz Alshaltouh Prod Geoff Arbourne

Who by Fire

Comme le feu

PHILIPPE LESAGE, CANADA/FRANCE, 2024, 162 MIN. THU OCT 3 8:30 PM SAT OCT 5 1:45 PM

THU SEP 26 9:00 PM IN08

SAT SEP 28 10:45 AM IN10

North American Premiere. After the Netherlands loses the 1974 World Cup to West Germany, young Jonas makes his way through his sleepy middle-class town and encounters a cast of characters who introduce him to the complexities of human nature. Guido van Driel's vivid coming-of-age story recalls Italian neorealist cinema, portraying an era in which children were left to their own devices for better or for worse.

Juda Goslinga Prod Floor Onrust

Seventeen-year-old Jeff, an aspiring film maker, is invited by his friend Max and his family to stay in the isolated lodge be longing to Blake, an award-winning film director. Acclaimed Quebecois director Philippe Lesage (The Demons returns with a tense, mesmerizing tour de force. Parallel, agonizing generational stories play out both in the seemingly infinite wilderness and across the dinner table; the slow-burn of mounting dread punctuated with electrifying moments of feral intensity.

Cast Noah Parker, Aurélia Arandi-Longpré, Arieh Worthalter, Paul Ahmarani, Sophie Desmarais, An toine Marchand-Gagnon Prod

Under the Volcano

DAMIAN KOCUR, POLAND, 2024, 102 MIN.

THU SEP 26 6:15 PM IN09

SAT SEP 28 11:15 AM VCT

WED OCT 2 12:45 PM IN10

Roman, Nastya, and their two children are enjoying their final days of vacation in Tenerife when nightmare becomes reality: Russia has invaded their home of Ukraine. Suddenly, they are stranded. While trying to distract their young son from the reality of war and deal with their teenage daughter’s newfound rebellious streak, Roman and Nastya’s marriage is put to the test. Palpably honest, this Polish-produced film offers a unique and valuable perspective on the Ukraine crisis.

Cast Sofia Berezowska, Roman Lutskyi, Anastasiia Karpienko, Fedir Pugachov Prod Mikolaj Lizut, Agnieszka Jastrzębska

Cast Rein Hoeke, Kylian de Pagter, Susanne Wolff, Sanne Vogel, Peter Blok,

PRESS PLAY ON MORE CANADIAN CONTENT

The CMPA helps Canadaʼs independent media producers get projects developed, produced, sold, and seen.

Red Path

Les enfants rouges

Introducing a new wave of gifted storytellers to Canadian audiences, the films in this series reflect the well of ingenuity and

Toxic

LOTFI ACHOUR, TUNISIA/FRANCE/BELGIUM/POLAND, 2024, 97 MIN.

SAT SEP 28 6:30 PM VCT

SUN SEP 29 8:45 PM CINE

North American Premiere. Inspired by recent terrorist atrocities in the Mghila Mountains of Northwest Tunisia, this chilling drama centers on Achraf, a 13-year-old boy who witnesses the brutal killing of his cousin and is forced to relay the message to the victim’s family. In his second feature, Burning Hope director Lotfi Achour demonstrates a sophisticated tonal register that permits moments of profound dignity in the midst of grief and despair, while Ali Helali is a revelation as Achraf.

Akiplėša SAULĖ BLIUVAITĖ, LITHUANIA, 2024, 99 MIN.

FRI SEP 27 6:15 PM CINE FRI OCT 4 3:30 PM VCT

North American Premiere. When her mother leaves, 13-year-old Marija is sent to live with her grandmother in a small industrial town in Lithuania. Eager to fit in and impress her new best friend, she reluctantly joins a shady local modeling school that drives girls to dangerous extremes as they try to fit an unattainable mold and pursue the promise of a glamorous life overseas. Saulė Bliuvaitė makes her mark with this no-holds-barred debut that artfully pulls back the curtain on the volatile nature of teenage girls’ inner lives.

Cast Ieva Rupeikaitė, Vesta

Cast Ali Helali, Yassine Samouni, Wided Dabebi, Jemii Lamari, Latifa Gafsi, Salha Nasraoui, Younes Naouar

Prod Anissa Daoud, Sébastien Hussenot, Lotfi Achour

Matulytė, Giedrius Savickas, Vilma Raubaitė, Eglė Gabrėnaitė Prod Giedrė Burokaitė

Presented by

Media Partner

Shambhala

78 Days

78 dana

EMILIJA GAŠIĆ, SERBIA, 2024, 82 MIN.

THU OCT 3 8:30 PM VCT

SAT OCT 5 1:30 PM CINE

North American Premiere. Emilija Gašić makes a vibrant debut with this endearing dramedy following three teenage sisters coming of age in the late 90s, in the war-afflicted Serbian countryside. Flirting with docu-fiction, Gašić expertly employs found footage techniques to capture the delightful cacophony of girlie mischief and sibling rivalry. Tonally and stylistically on point, this is an astute snapshot of a lovable family trying to keep its footing during a volatile time.

Cast Viktorija Vasiljević, Milica Gicić, Tamara Gajović, Pavle Čemerikić, Jelena Djokić, Goran Bogdan Prod Andrijana Sofranić Šućur, Miloš Ivanović, Djordje Ćirić

Me, Maryam, the Children and 26 Others

Familiar Touch

SARAH FRIEDLAND, USA, 2024, 90 MIN.

SAT OCT 5 8:30 PM VCT

SUN OCT 6 1:30 PM CINE

Canadian Premiere. Film artist and choreographer Sarah Friedland makes an elegant debut with this restrained drama about an elderly woman’s transition to assisted living. Filmed at an actual care home, the attention to mundane detail and peripheral workplace dynamics are particularly resonant, anchoring and contextualizing the character’s dementia-driven spiral. Kathleen Chalfant commands the screen with absolute poise in her thoughtfully mannered portrait of a woman trying to hold on to her dignity.

Cast Kathleen Chalfant, Carolyn Michelle Smith, Andy McQueen, H. Jon Benjamin Prod Alexandra Byer, Sarah Friedland, Matthew Thurm

Hanami

DENISE FERNANDES, SWITZERLAND/PORTUGAL/CAPE VERDE, 2024, 96 MIN.

THU SEP 26 6:30 PM VCT

SAT SEP 28 4:00 PM CINE

International Premiere. Set on a remote volcanic island in Cape Verde, this mesmerizing debut traces a young woman’s journey into adulthood, guided by the community of women that surround her. Denise Fernandes reveals a sublime visual sensibility as she explores a sense of belonging and the perimeters of the mother-daughter bond. An exquisitely textured, lyrical piece of filmmaking, peppered with moments of magic realism.

Cast Sanaya Andrade, Daílma Mendes, Alice da Luz, Nha Nha Rodrigues, João Galinha, Yuta Nakano Prod

Man, Maryam, Bacheha va 26 Nafare Digar FARSHAD HASHEMI, IRAN/GERMANY, 2024, 101 MIN.

SUN SEP 29 4:00 PM VCT

MON SEP 30 8:45 PM CINE

North American Premiere. When a woman rents out her home for a film shoot, she’s not prepared for the overwhelming sense of intrusion that will accompany the movie crew. But reality and fiction blur as the production ramps up and she’s immersed in the on-set camaraderie. Farshad Hashemi crafts a quietly affecting drama that interrogates the notion of art imitating life, delivering a poetic meditation on loneliness and the power of storytelling.

Cast Mahboube Gholami, Farshad Hashemi, Ebrahim Azizi, Zahra Aghapour, Navid Aghaei, Arash Deghan Shad

Shambhala

MIN BAHADUR BHAM, NEPAL/FRANCE/NORWAY/ TURKEY/HONG KONG/TAIWAN/USA/QATAR, 2024, 150 MIN.

WED OCT 2 8:30 PM VC THU OCT 3 12:30 PM FA

North American Premiere. Min Bahadur Bham’s Himalayan odyssey is at once a love story, a tale of empowerment, and an ethnographic record. Pema's newlywed bliss turns sour when her husband leaves for a remote trade deal, the paternity of the child she is carrying is questioned, and she must clear her name. The direc tor applies a gentle touch and thoughtful contemporary lens to highlight the beauty and cultural complexity of his native land.

Cast Thinley Lhamo, Sonam Topden, Tenzin Dalha, Karma Wangyal Gurung, Karma Shakya, Loten Nam ling Prod Min Bahadur Bham

I Saw Three Black Lights

Yo vi tres luces negras

SANTIAGO LOZANO ÁLVAREZ, COLOMBIA/MEXICO/ FRANCE/GERMANY, 2024, 87 MIN.

FRI SEP 27 6:30 PM VCT

FRI OCT 4 9:00 PM VCT

Canadian Premiere. In this quietly profound drama, a wise old man embarks on a final journey into the Colombian jungle to settle a spiritual debt and reconnect with his late son. As one of the last healers practicing traditional burial rites, the journey is his ultimate bow to the sacred line of ancestral clairvoyance and secrets of the shamanic trade. A cinematic love letter to disappearing traditions, immersing us in the rainforest’s alluring rhythms and sounds.

Prod Farzad Pak, Farshad Hashemi

Red Path

Northern Lights

Boasting seven world premieres, Northern Lights cements its status as the festival circuit’s premier platform for emerging Canadian and Indigenous filmmakers. That said, many of this year’s directors are already known quantities to Vancouver’s knowledgeable cinephiles, having garnered accolades at past editions of VIFF. The films presented here prove enrapturing: outsiders navigate strange lands, families face crucibles, the isolated yearn for connection and community, and unlikely guardians defend what they hold sacred.

Inedia

LIZ CAIRNS, CANADA, 2024, 107 MIN.

FRI SEP 27 6:00 PM

29 12:45 PM IN09

World Premiere. Liz Cairns (The Horses, VIFF 2021) returns with a mesmerizing feature debut that sees a young woman (Amy Forsyth) suffering from mysterious food allergies join a remote island community practicing alternative healing methods. Inedia is a profound study of psychological disturbance that deftly taps into the complex inner workings of fringe communities preying on the fragile. Cairns lends the film a touch of ethereal mystique that perfectly articulates the hermetic nature of the character’s distress.

YOO, CANADA, 2024, 111 MIN. SAT SEP 28 8:30 PM RIO MON SEP 30 3:00 PM IN09

World Premiere. Korean widower Sonny has been hired to eradicate the feral dogs plaguing a small town in rural Canada. Like his teenage son and young daughter, he’s still coming to terms with his grief. Jerome Yoo’s gorgeous, brilliantly structured first feature is a lyrical and gut-wrenching tale of immigrant survival and resilience in Canada. Dreamlike, surreal, and filled with raw emotion, Mongrels is a remarkable study of family, loss, and hope in the midst of profound uprooting.

Cast Sein Jin, Jae-Hyun Kim, Da-Nu Nam, Candyce Weir, Jedd Sharp, Morgan Derera Prod Nach Dudsdeemaytha, Tesh Guttikonda

Cast Amy Forsyth, Susanne Wuest, Hilda Martin Prod Tyler Hagan, Jennifer Chiu

JEROME

Media Partners

Presented by

There, There

Preface to a History

7 Beats per Minute

YUQI KANG, CANADA, 2024, 100 MIN.

MON SEP 30 6:15 PM IN09

WED O CT 2 3:15 PM IN10

While attempting a world record freedive in the Bahamas in 2018, Jessea Lu lost consciousness and stopped breathing for four minutes, forcing her to confront parts of her life and past she had long buried. Years later, Jessea returns to the site of her near-death experience, ready to dive again and become reborn. An amateur freediver herself, filmmaker Yuqi Kang gives us sublime images of the ocean depths and fascinating insights on the nature of the sport, the compulsions and trauma that drive Jessea.

Feat Jessea

Northern Lights

Bonjour Tristesse

DURGA CHEW-BOSE, CANADA/GERMANY, 2024, 110 MIN.

SAT SEP 28 9:00 PM FAV3

MON SEP 30 3:30 PM IN10

In a masterful directorial debut, Durga Chew-Bose adapts Françoise Sagan’s classic French novel. Teen Cécile (Lily McInerney) is summering by the sea with her father Raymond (Claes Bang) and his girlfriend Elsa (Naïlia Harzoune). It’s a happy trio until Anne (Chloë Sevigny) arrives; soon Raymond is with her, and an infuriated Cécile is hatching a plan to break the new couple up. This is a story of a gradual awakening, full of small revelations and subtle shifts that Chew-Bose captures with the utmost grace.

Cast Lily McInerny, Claes Bang, Chloë Sevigny, Naïlia Harzoune, Aliocha Schneider Prod Katie Bird Nolan, Lindsay Tapscott, Christina Piovesan, Noah Segal

Cat’s Cry

Mačji krik

SANJA ŽIVKOVIĆ, CANADA/SERBIA/CROATIA, 2024, 94 MIN.

TUE OCT 1 6:30 PM VCT THU OCT 3 12:45 PM IN10

World Premiere. Sanja Živković (Easy Land) returns with this deeply moving drama about a grandfather fighting for custody of his newborn granddaughter who has been diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder and abandoned by her mother. Živković directs with the utmost care and respect, leaning on her sharp storytelling instincts and infusing the story with a nuanced reading of the cultural framework.

Cast Jasmin Geljo, Andrijana Đorđević, Sanja Mikitišin, Marija Škaričić, Denis Murić, Sergej Trifunović Prod Vladimir Paskaljević, Petar Paskaljević, Munire Armstrong, Irena Skorić

The Heirloom

BEN PETRIE, CANADA, 2024, 87 MIN.

SAT SEP 28 6:30 PM CINE

SUN SEP 29 1:00 PM IN10

Canadian Premiere. A struggling filmmaker (writer-director Ben Petrie) is inspired when he and his girlfriend (Petrie’s real-life partner, Grace Glowicki) adopt a traumatized rescue dog during the COVID lockdown (Milly). Unprepared for the dog’s anxiety and health issues, the couple’s relationship strains beneath the weight of responsibility, and he decides to shoot a movie about it. Petrie’s hilarious debut feature is a perfect mix of quarantine comedy, dog movie, and boldy meta autofiction.

Cast Grace Glowicki, Ben Petrie Prod Ben Petrie, Grace Glowicki, Justin Elchakieh

Inay (Mama)

THEA LOO, CANADA/PHILIPPINES, 2024, 56 MIN. WED OCT 2 7:00 PM IN08 FRI OCT 4 4:00 PM IN09

Canadian Premiere. From the 1990s, the Live-In Caregiver Program attracted thousands of Filipino women to Canada as migrant workers, enabling them to send money back home and gain permanent residency. Director Thea Loo and cinematographer Jeremiah Reyes, a married couple, explore the psychological impact on the children who were left behind by their mothers due to economic necessity. Deeply personal, Inay reveals the hidden pain behind the lives of women who sacrificed themselves to take care of Canada’s children and elderly.

Feat Thea Loo, Jeremiah Reyes, Shirley Lagman, Rowena

Living Together

HALIMA ELKHATABI, CANADA, 2024, 75 MIN.

TUE OCT 1 6:00 PM IN10 THU O CT 3 3:45 PM FAV3

With affordable housing in short supply, young adults are increasingly struggling to find a place to call home. Halima Elkhatabi’s fly-on-the-wall documentary invites us to 15 apartments in Montreal, where a diverse assortment of potential roommates interview each other to determine their compatibility. The ensuing conversations are an intricate and at times humorous dance of self-disclosures and boundary-testing, reflecting a delightful snapshot of the cultural zeitgeist.

Prod Nathalie Cloutier

Cherub

DEVIN SHEARS, CANADA, 2024, 74 MIN. THU OCT 3 6:30 PM CINE FRI OCT 4 3:45 PM IN08

World Premiere. An ambient, deeply sympathetic character study about Harvey (Benjamin Turnbull) an overweight loner who stumbles upon a gay magazine called Cherub, “For big men and their admirers.” Desperate to feel seen, he submits a photo to the Cherub of the Month contest. Featuring a deeply human performance from Turnbull, richly textured cinematography, and a script completely free of dialogue, Devin Shears’ debut feature is a heartwarming crowd-pleaser about the healing power of being admired.

Lucky Star

GILLIAN MCKERCHER, CANADA, 2024, 85 MIN. THU OCT 3 6:30 PM IN08 SAT OCT 5 12:30 PM IN09

Lucky once had a streak of fortune as wide as the sky. A tattooed former gambler, he has since settled down with a mortgage, a wife and two daughters. When Lucky falls for a tax scam, he scrambles to recover his losses and goes all in at the card table, risking his livelihood and marriage in the process. Director Gillian McKercher helms a tense and gripping narrative about Asian-Canadian familial bonds, deceit and sacrifice, exploring the high-stakes choices a person can make, for the better—or for worse.

Cast Benjamin Turnbull Prod Mithila Majithia, Devin Shears

Lu Prod Ina Fichman, Sherien Barsoum

Loo, Patrick Loo, Elvira Gangte Prod Thea Loo, Natalie Murao

Cohabiter

Cast Terry Chen, Olivia Cheng, Conni Miu, Andrew Phung Prod Guillaume Carlier, Amanda Verhagen, Matt Drake, Nicola Waugh

Northern Lights

Preface to a History

7 Beats per Minute

Seeds

Shook

World Premiere. Vlad is a musician—at least in theory. His partner, Sophy, is a young architect and a step or three ahead of him. Even so, she’s struggling and he’s trapped in his own head. Their relationship seems to be petering out; a sojourn on Pender Island may be their last chance. This 60-minute experimental feature applies minimalist dramatic techniques with rich, fulsome cinematography and a sophisticated sound mix to explore the destabilising modern dichotomy between our interior and external selves.

KANIEHTIIO HORN, CANADA, 2024, 87 MIN. SUN SEP 29 6:15 PM RIO TUE O CT 1 8:30 PM IN10

Ziggy (writer-director Kaniehtiio Horn) is a young Kahnawake Mohawk woman and a social media influencer who has just signed a contract to produce content for a large seed and fertilizer corporation. She’s house-sitting for her cousin on the rez when a violent man breaks in to steal her aunt’s heirloom seeds. Ziggy is forced to fight back and protect her people’s land and legacy. Seeds is a bloody and fun home invasion comedy, in the slap stick spirit of Edgar Wright but with an anti-colonial edge.

Cast Kaniehtiio Horn, Graham Greene, Dallas Gold tooth, Patrick Garrow, Meegwan Fairbrother, Dylan Cook Prod Jennifer Jonas, Leonard Farlinger

AMAR WALA, CANADA, 2024, 113 MIN. MON SEP 30 6:00 PM IN08

O CT 1 3:30 PM FAV3

MFA grad Ashish (Sameer Usmani) has an unpublished novella, a girlfriend who’s leaving town in three weeks, and an estranged father who’s just been diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Amar Wala’s film follows Ash through these travails, offering a relatable portrait of life in transition and

The Stand

OCT 5 3:15 PM IN09

World Premiere. Chris Auchter’s terrific doc explores a 1985 dispute over clearcut logging on Haida Gwaii. On one side are loggers, their bosses, and the BC government; on the other is the Haida Nation, which wishes to protect its traditional lands from further destruction. Taking us

There, There

HEATHER YOUNG, CANADA, 2024, 100 MIN.

SUN SEP 29 6:00 PM CINE

MON SEP 30 3:30 PM IN08

World Premiere. Ruth (Marlene Jewell), an elderly Nova Scotian woman struggling with dementia, likes feeding pigeons and playing TV bingo. She fears that her body is infested with bugs. Her pregnant caretaker Shannon (Katie Mattattal) is quietly wrestling with her abandonment by the baby’s father. As Ruth’s cognition deteriorates, these two women overlooked by society leave an indelible impression on each other. Heather Young’s empathetic, bittersweet sophomore feature underlines the intrinsic human need for companionship.

Village Keeper

KAREN CHAPMAN, CANADA, 2024, 83 MIN. FRI SEP 27 6:30 PM IN08 SAT SEP 28 4:30 PM IN08

After the tragic loss of her husband, single mother Beverly-Jean struggles to bridge the emotional gap between herself and her children. Desperate to shelter them from a surge in gun violence, she takes it upon herself to cleanse the blood from crime scenes in her Toronto neighbour hood—a transformative act that impels her to examine the hidden wounds in her family’s own past. Karen Chapman’s sensitive debut feature delves into inter generational trauma and the beauty of rediscovering life’s little joys.

Cast Olunike Adeliyi, Zahra Bentham, Micah MensahJatoe, Maxine Simpson, Oyin Oladejo Prod Enrique Miguel Baniqued, Karen Chapman

Enjoy large discounts on tickets and amazing membership perks.

Cast Sophy Romvari, Vladimir Fedulov Prod Devan Scott, Willa Harlow Ross

Cast Marlene Jewell, Katie Mattatall Prod Britt Kerr, Martha Cooley, Heather Young

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Awards & Juries

SUMMIT Award

Presented to the director of an outstanding narrative feature by an established Canadian or Indigenous filmmaker.

$15,000 award presented by

ARBUTUS Award

HORIZON Award

Presented to the director of an outstanding first or second narrative feature by a Canadian or Indigenous filmmaker.

$3,000 award presented by

Presented to the director of an outstanding feature film produced in British Columbia.

$10,000 award presented by

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

SHORT FORUM Award

TIDES Award

Presented to the director of an outstanding documentary feature by a Canadian or Indigenous filmmaker.

$15,000 award presented by

All official selections in the Short Forum are eligible for this award.

$5,000 award presented by

Audience Awards

VANGUARD Award

All feature films in our competitive Vanguard section are eligible for this award.

$5,000 award presented by

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.

Yi Jung Chen

Rebecca Steele Shane Smith Zarrar Kahn

JURY

Hannah Baek Miryam Charles Noé Rodríguez

JURY

Joella Cabalu Jorge Amigo Mila Zuo

JURY

Chris Hyde Michael Scoular Pegah Tabassinejad

JURY

Ana Belén Asfura Fuentes

Corey Payette Rachel M’Bon

JURY

Leading Lights

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

I grew up between Canada and Pakistan, and have experienced life as a child, teenager, and adult in both these worlds. I’ve found the universality of the human experience to be consistent. Jus tice is personal, existence is political and societies tend to work as they are intended to. I hope these films move you as they did me, and make you question your place in the world—but also re mind you, as only the best of cinema can, that you are not alone.

ZARRAR KAHN, GUEST CURATOR

The Big City

Mahanagar

SATYAJIT RAY, INDIA, 1963, 135 MIN.

FRI SEP 27 8:45 PM CINE

SAT OCT 5 10:45 AM VCT

Satyajit Ray’s first portrayal of contemporary life in his native Kolkata, The Big City, follows the personal triumphs and frustrations of Arati, who decides, despite the protests of her bank clerk husband, to take a job to help support their family. With remarkable sensitivity and attention to the details of everyday working-class life, Ray builds a powerful human drama that is at once a hopeful morality tale and a commentary on the identity of the modern Indian woman.

Cast Anil Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherjee, Jaya Bhaduri Prod R.D. Bansal

Hyenas

Hyènes

DJIBRIL DIOP MAMBÉTY, SWITZERLAND/FRANCE/ SENEGAL, 1992, 110 MIN.

SUN SEP 29 3:30 PM CINE SAT OCT 5 4:00 PM CINE

In this hallucinatory comic adaptation of The Visit, an avant-garde stage play, Djibril Diop Mambéty follows a now-rich woman returning to her poor desert hometown to propose a deal to the populace: her fortune in exchange for the death of the man who years earlier abandoned her and left her with his child. Hyenas is a film of sinister, mocking laughter, and a biting satire of a contemporary Senegal whose post-colonial dreams are faced with erosion by western materialism.

Cast Mansour Diouf, Ami Diakhate, Faly Gueye, Mamadou Mahourédia Gueye, Omar Ba, Issa Ramagelissa Samb Prod Pierre-Alain Meier, Alain Rozanès

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion

Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto ELIO PETRI, ITALY, 1970, 115 MIN.

SAT SEP 28 8:45 PM CINE SUN OCT 6 12:00 PM VCT

A riveting genre-bender—part pitchblack satire, part police-procedural, and part psychological thriller. A police chief murders his mistress to prove that his position in society makes it impossible for him to be caught. Turning on power, sex, and politics, the film is a scathing critique of the excesses of power, the distortion of truth, and the absurdity of absolute authority.

Cast Gian Maria Volontè, Florinda Bolkan, Gianni Santuccio, Orazio Orlando, Sergio Tramonti, Arturo Dominici Prod Marina Cicogna, Daniele Senatore

Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts

Marlina si Pembunuh dalam Empat Babak

MOULY SURYA, INDONESIA/FRANCE/MALAYSIA/ THAILAND, 2017, 93 MIN.

MON SEP 30 4:00 PM CINE

SUN OCT 6 4:00 PM CINE

In the deserted hills of an Indonesian island, a widow is raped and robbed of her cattle. In defending herself, Marlina kills several of the attacking gang members and decapitates their leader. She then sets out on a journey to find justice, empowerment, revenge and redemption. But the road is long, especially when the ghost of her headless victim begins to haunt her.

Cast Marsha Timothy, Dea Panendra, Yoga Pratama, Egy Fedly, Yoga Pratama, Rita Matu Prod Rama Adi, Fauzan Zidni

The Big City

Hyenas

Supported by

GOMIS, FRANCE/SENEGAL/BELGIUM/ GERMANY/LEBANON, 2017, 123 MIN.

FRI OCT 4 8:45 PM CINE SAT OCT 5 10:45 AM IN10

Félicité is a single mom struggling to make ends meet as a bar singer in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. When her 14-year-old son is seriously injured in a motorbike accident, she races through the streets desperate to save his life. In this world of music and dreams, she encounters Tabu... As Félicité proves herself a force, Véro Tshanda Beya Mputu delivers a singular portrayal of the difficulties of city life for a woman and the inevitable grief of a woman touched by life.

Eyimofe (This Is My Desire)

ARIE ESIRI, CHUKO ESIRI, NIGERIA, 2020, 116 MIN. THU OCT 3 8:45 PM CINE FRI OCT 4 3:30 PM IN10

The acclaimed 2020 debut feature from brothers Arie and Chuko Esiri, Eyimofe traces the journeys of two distantly connected strangers in Lagos, Nigeria— Mofe (Jude Akuwudike), an electrician dealing with the fallout of a family tragedy, and Rosa (Temi Ami-Williams), a hairdresser supporting her pregnant teenage sister—as they each pursue their dream of starting a new life in Europe. From these intimate stories emerges a lyrical, poignant contemplation on what we must do for survival.

Jude Akuwudike, Temi Ami-Williams, Tomiwa Edun, Cynthia Ebijie, Jacob Alexander, Chioma “Chigul” Omeruah Prod Melissa Adeyemo, Arie Esiri, Chuko Esiri

Tooth for Tooth

THERESA TRAORE DAHLBERG, SWEDEN/BURKINA FASO/FRANCE/QATAR, 2017, 83 MIN.

MON SEP 30 8:30 PM VCT

TUE OCT 1 12:45 PM IN10

In this hybrid documentary, we get a glimpse of the lives of young women training to become mechanics in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso at a time of political turmoil. They encounter sexism and skepticism, but jobs are hard to come by. First-time filmmaker Theresa Traore Dahlberg introduces a psychologist who allows the girls to open up about their feelings. Amidst the quirks of their training, they find solace in sisterhood, and the girls’ resolve to break into the male dominated profession is inspiring to see.

Feat Bintou Konate, Chantale Nissougou, Mouniratou Sedogo, Catherine Nea, Dina Tapsoba, Marthe Ouedraogo Prod David Herdies

WANURI KAHIU, KENYA, 2018, 83 MIN. SAT OCT 5 8:30 PM CINE SUN OCT 6 3:45 PM IN10

Bursting with the colourful style and music of Nairobi’s vibrant youth culture, Rafiki is a tender love story between two young women in a fiercely conservative Kenyan society. As they choose between happiness and safety, director Wanuri Kahiu celebrates queer existence amidst oppression. Rafiki, a word that also means “friend” in Swahili, is seminal in the inquiry of queer lives in Africa. It sets the stage and establishes the language and required audacity for these stories as they continue to emerge.

Cast Samantha Mugatsia, Sheila Munyiva, Jimmi Gathu, Nini Wacera, Dennis Musyoka, Patricia Amira Prod Steven Markovitz

Dent pour Dent

OTTIS BA, SENEGAL/BELGIUM/FRANCE/RWANDA, 2023, 84 MIN.

TUE OCT 1 8:45 PM CINE WED O CT 2 3:45 PM IN09

In this genial, satiric comedy from Senegal, Idrissa loses his job in the civil service due to austerity measures dictated by the IMF. When his severance pay is depleted, he’s forced to rely on his wife’s income, but he’s too proud to do menial work, and gets in trouble borrowing money. After yet another humiliation, Idrissa decides to go and see a marabout (shaman) to prepare his revenge… Ottis Ba’s film uses comedy to address serious issues about politics and gender.

Cast Charles Auguste Kottou, Charles Auguste Kottou, Aida Ndeye Aidar, Oumou Ndeye Kaltoum Ndiaye, Jean-Pierre Correa Prod Oualid Baha, Aurélien Bodinaux, Souleymane Kébé, Ottis Ba

ALAIN

Cast Véro Tshanda Beya Mputu, Gaetan Claudia, Papi Mpaka Prod Arnaud Dommerc, Alain Gomis, Omar Sall

Félicité

Presented by

Rafiki

Insights

At Averroes & Rosa Parks

Averroès & Rosa Parks

NICOLAS PHILIBERT, FRANCE, 2024, 143 MIN.

TUE OCT 1 5:45 PM CINE

WED O CT 2 12:30 PM VCT

North American Premiere. Averroès and Rosa Parks are psychiatric units in Paris for patients with mental illness. A companion piece to his Golden Bear Winner On the Adamant (2023), Nicolas Philibert’s film is structured around a series of candid counseling sessions between patients and caregivers, providing an intimate window into the inner lives of people usually ignored by society. It’s a thought-provoking film emphasizing the humanity of people suffering from mental illness while subtly examining the systems that constrain them.

Prod Miléna

Several of this year’s Insights documentaries imbed us in worlds and circumstances that few of us could ever imagine and detail how individuals persist in the face of unthinkable adversity. Others examine our evolving relationship with nature, as our actions impact the denizens of both land and sea, and with technology, as we contemplate precisely how AI will shape our future. We’re afforded intimate access to remarkable individuals driven to create and reminded of how youth can inspire us with their singleminded determination.

Balomania

SISSEL MORELL DARGIS, DENMARK/SPAIN, 2024, 93 MIN.

FRI SEP 27 1:00 PM IN10 SUN SEP 29 6:30 PM IN08

North American Premiere. In the labyrinthine underworld of São Paulo’s favelas, there lies a secret society of illegal baloeiros, whose illegal passion is to design, launch and chase giant, lavishly decorated, hot air balloons. Filmmaker Sissell Morell Dargis spent over a decade earning the trust of these baloeiros who risk their lives for their spectacular art. She’s crafted a thrilling, insightful chronicle of artistic ambitions as beautiful, strange, and ephemeral as the paper balloons themselves.

Feat Sissel Morell Dargis, Jabá Ricardo Mariano, Ton Everton Soares Prod Jesper Jack, Carles Brugueras, Marieke van den Bersselaar, Marie Schmidt Olesen

Blink

EDMUND STENSON, DANIEL ROHER, USA/CANADA, 2024, 84 MIN.

The Chef & the Daruma

MADS K. BAEKKEVOLD, CANADA, 2024, 90 MIN.

THU SEP 26 3:45 PM IN10

THU O CT 3 6:15 PM IN09

SAT OCT 5 10:30 AM IN09

Canadian Premiere. After learning that three of their four kids have a disease that causes blindness, Edith and Sébastien Pelletier decided to take their family on a year of travel, so their children could fill up a visual memory bank of beautiful images before losing their sight completely. Capturing the breathtaking vistas and excitement of the family’s globe-trotting adventures, from African safaris to the Amazon basin, Blink is an inspirational journey of reflection, self-discovery, and heartwarming family connection.

Feat Edith Lemay, Sébastien Pelletier, Mia Pelletier, Léo Pelletier, Colin Pelletier, Laurent Pelletier Prod Melanie Miller, Diane Becker

MON SEP 30 6:00 PM SFU SAT OCT 5 1:15 PM FAV3

World Premiere. For 36 years, Tojo’s has been a mainstay in the Vancouver food scene, beloved by critics, foodies, and a plethora of celebrities. A pioneer of Japanese cuisine in the West, chef Hidekazu Tojo helped bring sushi to the mainstream, and is known as the inventor of the California Roll. Shot in Vancouver, Vancouver Island, and Japan, The Chef & the Daruma is a mouth-watering film, taking us on a journey of immigration, identity, and reinvention.

Featuring Hidekazu Tojo Prod Luis Guerra

Poylo, Gilles Sacuto, Céline Loiseau

Curl Power Ninan Auassat

Living With Wolves Media Partner

Searching for Amani

Insights

Curl Power

JOSEPHINE ANDERSON, CANADA, 2024, 85 MIN.

THU OCT 3 6:00 PM SFU

SAT OCT 5 3:45 PM SFU

Josephine Anderson’s uplifting and heartwarming documentary follows the 4KGirl$, a teenage curling team from Maple Ridge, BC, as they strive to become Canadian Junior Curling Champions. Coached by three of their mothers, former Olympians, the girls navigate the uncertainties of their teen years—from self-esteem and body image issues to depression, family illness, and the major transition that high school graduation entails—but these close friends see each other through it all.

Feat Brooklyn Aleksic, Hannah Smeed, Savannah Miley, Amy Wheatcroft, Ashley Dezura Prod Mike Johnston, Josephine Anderson

Ninan

Auassat:

We, the Children

Ninan Auassat : Nous, les enfants

KIM O’BOMSAWIN, CANADA, 2024, 93 MIN.

Democracy Noir

CONNIE FIELD, USA/DENMARK, 2024, 90 MIN.

MON SEP 30 6:15 PM CINE TUE O CT 1 4:00 PM VCT

Canadian Premiere. Viktor Orbaìn has been dismantling Hungary’s democracy for years, ushering in an atmosphere of hate and religious nationalism. Connie Field’s film highlights three women—a journalist, a politician, and a nurse— working tirelessly to fight for their country’s soul. More than just a chilling exposé of far-right nationalism in the heart of Europe, Democracy Noir lights a beacon of hope, inspiring solidarity in its portraits of joyful, relentless resistance.

Feat Nikoletta Antal, Babett Oroszi, Timea Szabo, Maria Antalne Deak Prod Sigrid Dyekjær, Connie Field

Searching for Amani

NICOLE GORMLEY, DEBRA AROKO, USA/KENYA, 2024, 80 MIN.

FRI OCT 4 10:30 AM IN08 SAT OCT 5 7:00 PM IN08

Fish War

JEFF OSTENSON, CHARLES ATKINSON, SKYLAR WAGNER, USA, 2024, 79 MIN.

WED OCT 2 6:00 PM SFU

FRI OCT 4 1:00 PM FAV3

International Premiere. This deep dive into the contentious history of fishing rights in Washington State proves richly rewarding. It’s a compelling film that opens up important conversations around Indigenous treaty rights, the extent of federal and state jurisdiction, activism, cooperation, and conservation, to name just a few. At its heart is the transformative Boldt ruling of 1974, a judicial decree which granted Pacific Northwest bands 50% of the catch (up from 2%). The far-reaching implications are still being felt today.

Feat Willie Frank III, Russell Hepfer, Ramona Bennett, Lisa Wilson Prod Kari Neumeyer, Jeff Ostenson, Charles Atkinson, Tiffany Royal

The Thinking Game

GREG KOHS, USA, 2024, 83 MIN.

Living With Wolves

Vivre avec les loups

FRI OCT 4 6:00 PM SFU

SUN OCT 6 3:30 PM SFU

World Premiere. Shot over six years, this film brings us the moving stories of youths from three Indigenous nations: Atikamekw, Eeyou Cree and Innu. Following them right to the threshold of adulthood, we see their daily lives, aspirations and challenges they face. Offering a groundbreaking vision of contemporary Indigenous youth, this captivating documentary is notable for the complete absence of adult voices and “experts on young people”—holding space instead for a new generation with a burning desire to be heard.

Years after his father’s murder while working in Kenya’s largest private wildlife sanctuary, 13-year-old Simon Ali dreams of becoming a journalist and begins searching for the killers. His investigations reveal the colonialist history of Kenyan conservancies, and the effects of climate change-inflicted droughts on conflicts between local farmers, rangers, and traditional herders. An unflinching chronicle of postcolonial upheaval and one family’s choice to search for peace in the face of tragedy.

Feat Simon Ali Prod Nicole Gormley, Peter Goetz, Mungai Kiroga, Caryn Capotosto

Canadian Premiere. Will Artificial Intelligence change the world on the scale of the Industrial Revolution, or is it an overhyped tech bubble ready to burst? Through in-depth interviews, cuttingedge technological demonstrations, and the unrelenting enthusiasm and determination of cofounder Demis Hassabis, The Thinking Game charts the progress at one of the most successful and innovative AI research companies, DeepMind, as they work towards responsible AGI (Artificial General Intelligence).

Prod Gary Krieg

JEAN-MICHEL BERTRAND, FRANCE, 2023, 88 MIN.

FRI SEP 27 4:00 PM IN09

SUN SEP 29 6:00 PM IN10

Canadian Premiere. Nature-loving documentarian Jean-Michel Bertrand (Valley of the Wolves; Wolf Walk) concludes his multi-film project: the study of wolf life in the lower Alps. Embedding himself in the natural world, he films the animals in their natural habitat, periodically popping back into civilization to explore the politics surrounding the beasts. Inquisitive, fairminded, and—of course!—beautiful to look at, Living With Wolves is as pleasing as it is informative.

Feat Jean-Michel Bertrand Prod Jean-Pierre Bailly, Stéphane Millière

Unlikely Allies

ANTHONY PEDONE, USA, 2023, 95 MIN. SUN SEP 29 10:45 AM IN10

WED O CT 2 6:00 PM IN09

THU O CT 3 3:30 PM IN10

International Premiere. Anthony Pedone’s film documents an extraordinary response to an appalling injustice: the sentencing of Weldon Angelos to 55 years in federal prison for three marijuana sales to an informer. The case quickly became a cause célèbre in the US. It’s not every day that one sees right-wing billionaire Charles Koch join forces with Snoop Dogg, and part of the satisfaction of the film is in seeing people reach across America’s huge political divide. Unlikely Allies is an urgent, uplifting movie.

Feat

Weldon Angelos, Hollis, Nepolea, Lisa Angelos, Snoop Dogg, Charels Koch Prod Mike Marangu, Hollis Goldstein, Anthony Pedone, Patrick McManamee

Prod Mélanie Brière, Nathalie Cloutier, Colette Loumède

Apple Cider Vinegar

SOFIE BENOOT, BELGIUM/NETHERLANDS, 2024, 84 MIN.

FRI OCT 4 1:30 PM

SUN OCT 6 6:15 PM

While our Insights selections change the way we see the world, Spectrum’s nonfiction fare sends us crashing through the looking glass. This is an opportunity to witness Shakespeare staged in the seedy recesses of a notorious video game, visit the secret and sometimes surprisingly mundane sanctums of Satanists, and consider colonialism from the perspective of one of Pablo Escobar’s pet hippos. And while there is much lyricism and visual eloquence to be found here, Leos Carax’s latest isn’t so much a cinematic essay as an outright eruption.

SUN SEP 29 3:45 PM

Canadian Premiere. Upon finding a rare Antarctic mineral in a kidney stone, a former nature documentary narrator (voiced by Siân Phillips in this English version) guides us through the hidden world of stones: from Fogo Island’s volcanic rock to the granite quarries in Palestine; from the San Andreas fault to the Yorkshire Coast, and beyond. A gentle meditation on the Anthropocene, Sofie Benoot’s playful essay film offers up a micro- and macroscopic view of the mesmerizing connections between geology and living beings.

“All the world’s a stage...” Indeed, this holds true for virtual worlds, as two out-of-work actors mount a production of Hamlet in the violent online world of GTA V. Grand Theft Hamlet follows behind-the-scenes from auditions to performance, all of it taking place within the game world. Something is rotten in the city of Los Santos, the chaotic mayhem and cinematic beauty of which provides the perfect backdrop for Shakespeare’s revenge tragedy... if only the actors live long enough to deliver their lines.

Feat Siân Phillips Prod Peter Krüger

Feat Mark Oosterveen, Sam Crane, Pinny Grylls Prod Julia Ton, Rebecca Wolff

Pepe

The Universe in a Grain of Sand

The In Between

ROBIE FLORES, USA, 2024, 82 MIN.

WED OCT 2 6:15 PM IN10

THU O CT 3 4:00 PM VCT

Canadian Premiere. After the death of her brother, filmmaker Robie Flores is drawn back to US/Mexico border town of Eagle Pass, and, while processing her grief, finds echoes and reverberations of her own memories in the hopes, dreams, and daily lives of the youth there. Embedding herself in the communities she grew up in, Flores adopts a verité style with her subjects while using her own childhood experience to provide the film’s emotional weight. A subtle, heartfelt portrait of tejana life in a border town.

Prod Alejandro J Flores, Kellen Quinn

ADELE TULLI, ITALY/FRANCE, 2024, 83 MIN.

It’s Not Me

C’est pas moi

LEOS CARAX, FRANCE, 2024, 42 MIN.

SAT OCT 5 6:30 PM VCT SUN OCT 6 4:45 PM VCT

The spirit of the late Jean-Luc Godard lives on in It’s Not Me, French iconoclast Leos Carax’s latest unclassifiable whatsit. Originally assembled for an exhibition in the Centre Pompidou, one that never materialized, the film is ostensibly an answer to a simple question: “Where are you at, Leos Carax?” The result is an endlessly inventive, essayistic self-portrait of an artist confronting his own place in movie history—a film that pays tribute to cinema’s past in order to make way for its future.

Listen to the Voices

Kouté Vwa

MAXIME JEAN-BAPTISTE, FRENCH GUIANA/BELGIUM/ FRANCE, 2024, 76 MIN.

MON SEP 30 6:00 PM VCT

TUE OCT 1 6:15 PM IN08

North American Premiere. This powerful docudrama follows a French teenager as he summers at his grandmother’s house in French Guiana. There, he learns about his roots and connects with a community still reeling from the tragic loss of his uncle, who died under violent circumstances. In his emotionally charged debut, Maxime Jean-Baptiste demonstrates a sharp understanding of form fluidity and hybridity, skillfully blending verité observation with narrative elements.

SAT SEP 28 7:00 PM IN08

SUN SEP 29 4:30 PM IN08

North American Premiere. In the C21st, our relationship with reality has become increasingly informed by developments in virtual worlds. Adele Tulli’s documentary examines our digital dependence through a cast of characters who live chronically online and hijack the modern world’s ubiquitous cameras to explore many visual modes and lenses: phones, CCTV, 360° stereoscopic cameras, webcams, and drones. Real is a dizzying essay that questions whether technology is a barrier or a bridge to a deeper shared experience.

Realm of Satan

SCOTT CUMMINGS, USA, 2024, 79 MIN.

SAT SEP 28 3:30 PM RIO

FRI OCT 4 6:30 PM CINE

SUN OCT 6 9:00 PM IN08

Canadian Premiere. “The real Satanist is not quite so easily recognized as such,” wrote Anton Levay. Scott Cummings’ debut feature is an experiential documentary that paints a portrait of the modern Satanist. Comprised of vignettes that juxtapose macabre rituals (the film opens with the live birth of a baby goat) with the mundane day-to-day lives of members of The Church of Satan. Presented without narration or critique, The Realm of Satan is a disturbing, yet humanizing peek behind the veil of Levayan Satanism.

Feat High Priest Peter H. Gilmore, High Priestess

Peggy Nadramia, Magistra Templi Rex Blanche Barton

Prod Caitlin Mae Burke, Pacho Velez, Molly Gandour

Melrick Diomar, Nicole Diomar, Yannick Cébret Rosa Spaliviero, Olivier Marboeuf

*smiles and kisses you*

BRYAN CARBERRY, USA, 2024, 87 MIN.

FRI SEP 27 3:45 PM IN10

SUN SEP 29 9:15 PM IN09

North American Premiere. Lonely and withdrawn, Chris Stokes builds himself a girlfriend named Mimi by pairing a realistic love doll with an AI chatbot. Their conversations lift him out of depression and help him grow in confidence, but can a computer take the place of a real human?

Bryan Carberry’s documentary is a haunting, romantic sci-fi parable about a griefstricken man using AI machine learning as a tool to fulfill the basic human need for connection... Think Her meets Lars and the Real Girl but in real life.

Feat Chris Stokes Prod Adam Gibbs, Michael Klein, Bryan Carberry

Pepe

NELSON CARLO DE LOS SANTOS ARIAS, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC/NAMIBIA/GERMANY/FRANCE, 2024, 122 MIN.

SAT SEP 28 4:00 PM VCT

WED OCT 2 6:15 PM CINE

In 2009, a hippopotamus named Pepe became the only such animal to be killed in the Americas. Once a part of drug lord Pablo Escobar’s private zoo, Pepe had taken to wandering the Magdalena River, eventually becoming a dangerous nuisance to the locals. In this unclassifiable feature, Pepe tells us his side of the story. A wild, formally audacious foray into this unlikely tale, Pepe is a wry, humorous look at what history would be like if everyone were given a voice.

Cast

Tanya Valette, Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias

The Universe in a Grain of Sand

MARK A. LEVINSON, USA, 2024, 73 MIN. FRI SEP 27 2:30 PM VCT

SUN SEP 29 6:45 PM IN09

TUE O CT 1 3:00 PM IN09

North American Premiere. Interweaving artwork and experimental cinema with mathematicians and scientists striving to understand the innermost depths of the universe, Mark Levinson (Particle Fever) explores the synergistic intersection of art and science. Mapping out revolutions in analog and digital technology as they lead to increasingly complex artistic endeavours and stretch the limits of human perception, the film ultimately celebrates the transcendent power of the scientific imagination.

Prod Mark A. Levinson

Jhon Narváez, Sor María Ríos, Fareed Matjila, Harmony Ahalwa, Jorge Puntillón García, Shifafure Faustinus Prod Pablo Lozano,

Prod Agostino Saccà, Valeria Adilardi, Laura Romano, Luca Ricciardi, Mauro Vicentini

Portraits

Music takes centre stage in Portraits, with profiles of pioneering artists like Luther Vandross and Iranian singer Googoosh, and a liberating take on the rise of disco. Time and again, we’re reminded that remarkable art is often entangled with complicated histories. This is particularly evident in So Surreal: Behind the Masks, which investigates the complex connections between the European surrealists and Indigenous ceremonial masks from Turtle Island. Elsewhere, we’re allowed to explore art’s relationship with the natural world and witness how the spontaneity of the city can inspire indelible photography.

Draw Me Egypt: Doaa ElAdl, a Stroke of Freedom

NADA RIYADH, BELGIUM/ FRANCE/ LUXEMBOURG, 2023, 52 MIN.

THU SEP 26 4:30 PM IN08 MON SEP 30 10:45 AM IN10

Award-winning artist Doaa el-Adl is one of the most prominent of the very few female cartoonists in the Arab world. Creatively blending documentary, cartoons, and animation, this film brings to life her courageous political ideas and most famous artworks.

Feat Doaa el-Adl Prod Hanne Phlypo, Estelle Robin You, Marion Guth, François Le Gall, Femke Wolting, Bruno Felix

Preceded by: Facing the Storm: The Indigenous Response to Climate Change (Episode 1: Mazaska Talks) and The Smallest Power, together showcasing international voices for change.

Disco’s Revenge

OMAR MAJEED, PETER MISHARA, CANADA, 2024, 100 MIN.

FRI OCT 4 6:15 PM IN09 SUN OCT 6 4:00 PM FAV3

Peter Mishara and Omar Majeed’s vivacious doc chronicles disco’s trajectory, from its origins in the early 70s through its harsh repudiation in the 80s to its triumphant rebirth as house music. Pioneers interviewed include club owners, DJs, and musicians, and their commentary is mixed with needle drops and a wealth of archival footage. Lovingly mounted, loaded with info, and bursting with energy, this is a joyful experience.

Googoosh - Made of Fire

NILOUFAR TAGHIZADEH, GERMANY, 2024, 94 MIN.

MON SEP 30 8:45 PM SFU

WED O CT 2 10:30 AM IN08

John Singer Sargent: Fashion & Swagger

Feat Nile Rodgers, Billy Porter, Nona Hendryx, Grandmaster Flash, Fab Five Freddy, Nicky Siano Prod Noah Segal, Sam Sutherland, Christina Piovesan, Dave Harris

North American Premiere. Iranian pop icon Googoosh has lived through decades of political upheaval, political persecution, 20 years of house arrest, exile, and a career comeback. Still on stage in her 70s, she is outspoken in her activism, boldly speaking for the rights of women and young people. Niloufar Taghizadeh’s enthralling film features archival footage, rare performances, and interviews with the charismatic star. This is a fascinating portrait of a troubled and turbulent country through the life of an extraordinary woman.

Feat Googoosh Prod Niloufar Taghizadeh

DAVID BICKERSTAFF, UK, 2024, 93 MIN. SAT SEP 28 6:00 PM SFU MON SEP 30 12:30 PM VCT

Canadian Premiere. Celebrated for his incandescent portraits of the upper echelons of high society, John Singer Sargent possessed the ability to capture the essence and soul of a person. With cooperation from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Tate Gallery in London, the latest in the long-running Exhibition on Screen series gathers art and fashion experts to illuminate the intersection of art, haute couture, and society and invites us to arrive at a new appreciation for this master of portraiture and light.

Prod Phil Grabsky

Modernism, Inc.

Media Partner

Presented by

Portraits

Luther: Never Too Much

DAWN PORTER, USA, 2024, 101 MIN.

WED OCT 2 12:45 PM FAV3

SAT OCT 5 8:45 PM IN09

The dazzling but all too short career of singer-songwriter Luther Vandross gets revelatory reappraisal in Dawn Porter’s moving biographical documentary. The trailblazing soul artist was a titanic musical force in the 1980s and 90s, arranging and producing songs for David Bowie, Dionne Warwick and Mariah Carey, to name just a few. Drawn from roughly four decades of interview and performance footage, Luther restores the rightful reputation of an artist who couldn’t be appreciated on his own terms in his era.

Feat Luther Vandross Prod Trish D. Chetty, Ged Doherty, Jamie Foxx, Datari Turner, Leah Smith

A Stranger Quest

ANDREA GATOPOULOS, ITALY/USA/CANADA, 2023, 90 MIN.

TUE OCT 1 4:00 PM IN08

SAT OCT 5 6:30 PM CINE

Canadian Premiere. David Rumsey has dedicated himself to assembling a vast collection of historical maps. Looking back on his life, he revisits the people he used to be: the film student who made surrealist films; the financier; and the virtual avatar in his fantastical cartographic tower in Second Life. He ponders his legacy and wonders if his maps will live on after his death. It’s a gentle meditation on how we trace our place in the world, on maps, memory, and mortality.

Feat David Rumsey Prod Andrea Gatopoulos, Marco Crispano, Marco Caberlotto, Lucio Scarpa

Modernism, Inc.

JASON COHN, USA, 2023, 79 MIN.

THU SEP 26 6:30 PM CINE SAT SEP 28 2:00 PM FAV3

Eliot Noyes was a trailblazing industrial designer, architect, and lifelong innovator who spent four decades introducing the design principals of modernism to American life. Interweaving Noyes’ family life with his professional achievements and larger cultural shifts, the film explores how aesthetic principles of design and modernism were integrated into daily life and society, finding an insightful window into the heart and soul of modernism and industrial design in postwar America.

Feat Sebastian Roché Prod Camille Servan-Schreiber

Pol Pot Dancing

ENRIQUE SÁNCHEZ LANSCH, GERMANY/NORWAY, 2024, 101 MIN.

SAT SEP 28 10:30 AM IN09

WED O CT 2 4:45 PM IN08 FRI OCT 4 6:00 PM IN08

North American Premiere. The son of a farmer, young Saloth Sar was fostered by his brother and sister-in-law, who was a star dancer at the Cambodian Royal Palace. There was no sign that this young man would become Pol Pot, the brutal dictator of the murderous Khmer Rouge. In this remarkable story of Khmer classical dance and how one woman singlehandedly revived the form, Enrique Sánchez Lansch sheds new light on one of the darkest moments of history.

Feat Sophiline Cheam Shapiro Prod Arne Birkenstock, Laryssa Stone

A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things

MARK COUSINS, UK, 2024, 88 MIN.

THU SEP 26 6:15 PM SFU SAT SEP 28 4:00 PM FAV3

Canadian Premiere. In May 1949, the Scottish painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, a key figure of the modernist St. Ives group of artists, ascended the Grindelwald glacier in Switzerland. The experience proved transformative, becoming a fount of creative inspiration which she would return to for the remainder of her artistic life. Reflective and lyrical, this imaginative biography by renowned documentarian Mark Cousins—narrated by Tilda Swinton—is a plangent exploration of art and its relation to the natural world.

Feat Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Tilda Swinton Prod Mary Bell, Adam Dawtrey

So Surreal: Behind the Masks

SUN SEP 29 6:00 PM SFU

TUE O CT 1 12:45 PM FAV3

During the potlatch ban, many traditional Indigenous masks ended up in Europe, in museums and art collections, and in the hands of artists like Max Ernst, André Breton, and Joan Miró. This documentary explores the astonishing connections between Yup’ik and Kwakwakaʼwakw ceremonial masks and surrealist art, while highlighting the crucial ongoing work involved in recovery and repatriation.

Uncropped

D.W. YOUNG, USA, 2023, 111 MIN.

FRI SEP 27 12:45 PM FAV3

THU OCT 3 8:45 PM IN09 FRI OCT 4 3:30 PM FAV3

Canadian Premiere. Street photographer, portraitist, war photojournalist, and on-set photographer for Wes Anderson, Francis Ford Coppola, and others, James Hamilton has done it all in a remarkable career spanning six decades. His print images shaped The Village Voice (where he was on staff 1974-1993), Harper’s Bazaar, and The New York Observer, and he was at the vanguard of culture, chronicling the rise of punk and new wave. D.W. Young’s energetic doc lets us revel in the halcyon days of alternative print media.

Feat James Hamilton, Thurston Moore, Wes Anderson Prod Judith Mizrachy, D.W. Young

Viva Niki - The Spirit of Niki de Saint Phalle

Viva Niki - The Road to the Tarot Garden

MICHIKO MATSUMOTO, JAPAN, 2024, 75 MIN.

FRI SEP 27 4:45 PM IN08

SUN SEP 29 11:45 AM VCT

World Premiere. Best known for her playfully vibrant, voluptuous outdoor Nana statues, feminist artist Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002) was considered one of the few female monumental sculptors of her generation. Her masterwork, The Tarot Garden, draws over 100,000 visitors to Tuscany each year. Combining photos from her own archive with new footage, director Michiko Matsumoto guides us on a joyous retrospective of Niki de Saint Phalle’s breathtaking oeuvre, life, and legacy. It’s a testament to the healing power of art.

Feat Niki de Saint Phalle Prod Michiko Matsumoto

NEIL DIAMOND, JOANNE ROBERTSON, CANADA, 2024, 88 MIN.

Feat Neil Diamond, Bill Cranmer, Juanita Johnston, Chuna McIntyre, John McIntyre Prod Daniel Morin

Viva Niki - The Spirit of Niki de Saint Phalle

Altered States

Presence

STEVEN SODERBERGH, USA, 2024, 85 MIN.

FRI SEP 27 9:00 PM RIO

SUN SEP 29 4:00 PM RIO

Moving into a new home, the Payne family is saddled with baggage. In particular, daughter Chloe (Callina Liang) is grieving a friend’s death while questioning the intentions of a new admirer. With tensions simmering and melancholy taking a stranglehold, things start to go bump in the night... In this inspired foray into ghost stories, the ever-innovative Steven Soderbergh shoots every scene from the perspective of a spectral interloper, leaving viewers consumed by the eerie sensation of being disembodied.

Altered States’ Class of 2024 is a particularly wild bunch, serving up weird science, oversexed espionage, uncanny outbreaks, freaky folk horror, expressive fairytales, prog rock odysseys, macabre transformations, and chilling encounters at the end of the world. Running roughshod over genre conventions and audience expectations, these films employ an array of aesthetic approaches, including rotoscope animation, degraded video, and experimental cinematography. All told, these are the most spellbinding films of the festival season.

Fréwaka

AISLINN CLARKE, IRELAND, 2024, 103 MIN. THU OCT 3 9:00 PM RIO SAT OCT 5 4:00 PM RIO

Canadian Premiere. Shoo, a primary care nursing student takes placement in a remote Irish village to care for Peig, a reclusive woman haunted by her past. Shoo’s stay turns sinister as night terrors invade her reality and she delves into the house’s dark cellar. Featuring a primarily female cast and a chilling, Irish-language screenplay, Aislinn Clarke’s folk horror values atmosphere over thrills and uses the uniquely pagan rituals and imagery of Irish Catholicism to highlight Ireland’s harrowing history of religious abuse.

Cast Clare Monnelly, Bríd Ní Neachtain,

Cast Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang, Eddy Maday, West Mulholland, Julia Fox Prod Julie Anderson, Ken Meyer

Aleksandra Bystrzhitskaya Prod Diarmuid Lavery, Patrick O’Neill

Media Partners

She Loved Blossoms More

40 Acres

R.T. THORNE, CANADA, 2024, 108 MIN.

MON SEP 30 6:00 PM RIO

WED O CT 2 8:45 PM IN09

Living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland in rural Canada, Hailey Freeman (Danielle Deadwyler) will stop at nothing to protect her family. But after a band of bloodthirsty cannibals get wind of their sanctuary, the stakes couldn’t be higher. R.T.Thorne’s feature debut is a thrilling, crowd-pleasing genre gem with a talented cast of Black and Indigenous actors. A propulsive piece of representational filmmaking 40 Acres presents a dystopian world that feels too close to our own for comfort.

Cast Danielle Deadwyler, Kataem O’Connor, Michael Greyeyes, Milcania Diaz-Rojas, Leenah Robinson, Jaeda LeBlanc Prod Jennifer Holness

JAYRO BUSTAMANTE, GUATEMALA, 2024, 107 MIN.

SAT OCT 5 9:00 PM RIO

SUN OCT 6 1:00 PM IN09

At 13, Rita flees from an abusive home life, only to be detained by the government in a grim all-girls’ shelter. Though she has stopped believing in fairy tales, her fellow wards prophesize that she is the warrior angel who will liberate them from the guards who, like ogres, prey on their innocence. Reminiscent of Pan’s Labyrinth, this magical realist fantasy from Jayro Bustamante (La Llorona) is a powerful tribute to the victims of the 2017 blaze at the Virgen de la Asunsión orphanage in Guatemala.

Cast

De

Ernesto

Altered States

Dream Team

LEV KALMAN, WHITNEY HORN, USA, 2024, 91 MIN.

FRI SEP 27 6:30 PM RIO

MON SEP 30 3:45 PM RIO

Canadian Premiere. Two Interpol agents (Esther Garrel and Alex Zhang Hungtai) travel to Mexico to investigate a pair of mysterious deaths caused by poisonous gas-emitting coral. A bizarro homage to 90s basic cable television, this is a blearyeyed binge-watch of a six-episode season that unfolds like a horny fever dream with a neon-soaked VHS aesthetic. Playing out as a disorienting, post-modern, eco-espionage sitcom broadcast from another planet, Dream Team is a delirious exercise in lo-fi art house camp.

Cast Esther Garrel, Alex Zhang Hungtai, Isabelle Barbier, Fariha Roisin, Minh T Mia, John Fell Ryan Prod Lev Kalman

Rock Bottom

MARÍA TRÉNOR, SPAIN/POLAND, 2024, 86 MIN.

Else

THIBAULT EMIN, FRANCE/BELGIUM, 2024, 100 MIN. SAT SEP 28 8:45 PM IN09 TUE O CT 1 9:15 PM RIO

Following a mediocre one-night stand, Anx and Cass are forced into lockdown together in Anx’s apartment. A mysterious virus is causing people’s bodies to melt and fuse with the surfaces of inanimate objects. Featuring enough guts and goo to paint the walls of a studio apartment and a phantasmagorical third act, Thibault Emin’s directorial debut is a grotesque, apocalyptic body horror that is sure to get under your skin. Not for the faint of heart!

Cast Matthieu Sampeur, Edith Proust, Lika Minamoto

Prod Damien Lagogué

Párvulos

Párvulos: Hijos Del Apocalipsis ISAAC EZBAN, MEXICO, 2024, 119 MIN.

SUN SEP 29 9:00 PM RIO

MON SEP 30 9:30 PM IN10

Years after a viral zombie outbreak, three young brothers are forced to fend for themselves in a remote cabin in the woods. Worse than the zombies are the murderous bandits known as The Trumpets. And what are they to do with the monstrous sounds ringing out from the basement? Through detailed world-building and clever twists, director Isaac Ezban (Parallel; The Similars) turns this bloody, coming-of-age zombie horror into an affirmative fable about caring for your family.

Cast Felix Farid Escalante, Leonardo Cervantes, Mateo Ortega, Norma Flores, Horacio Lazo, Carla Adell Prod Natalia Contreras, Javier Sepulveda, Eduardo Lecuona, Isaac Ezban

She Loved Blossoms More

FRI SEP 27 9:00 PM VCT SUN SEP 29 4:15 PM FAV3

North American Premiere. Inspired by the life and music of Robert Wyatt and his 1974 album Rock Bottom, which he recorded after the four-storey fall that left him paralyzed from the waist down, this animated rock opera is a psychedelic, musical odyssey that tells the story of Bob and his lover Alif, young artists caught in a self-destructive cycle of addiction. Spanish filmmaker Maria Trénor’s debut feature is a trippy, hypnotic freak-out that should give a new lease on life to a progrock classic.

Feat Fermí Herrero, Laura Casaña Prod Alba Sotorra Clua, Miguel Molina, Robert Jaszczurowski, Aliaga Adán, Joaquín Ojeda de Haro, Dani Bagur

YANNIS VESLEMES, GREECE/FRANCE, 2024, 86 MIN. FRI OCT 4 9:00 PM RIO SUN OCT 6 6:15 PM IN09

Canadian Premiere. After the loss of their mother, Hedgehog and his brothers build a rickety time machine out of her wardrobe in the hopes they can bring her back to life. Things don’t go to plan. Painting a grotesque portrait of grief, She Loved Blossoms More is a black comedy about necromancy and time travel that devolves into a hallucinatory freak show. Yannis Veslemes’ surreal, cosmic body horror is a delirious bad trip on the outer edges of the Greek Weird Wave, but a treat for anyone who enjoys feeling their skin crawl.

Cast Panos Papadopoulos, Julio Giorgos Katsis, Aris Balis, Dominique Pinon Prod Fenia Costovista

Timestalker

LOWE, UK, 2024, 89 MIN. THU SEP 26 9:00 PM RIO MON SEP 30 1:15 PM IN10

Seemingly pathologically incapable of remembering the past, Agnes (writerdirector Alice Lowe) is condemned to fall for the same disinterested bloke (Aneurin Barnard) time and time and time again in this outlandish romantic/reincarnation comedy. Inspired by old Hollywood’s grand romantic epics and lovingly incorporating elements of costume dramas, speculative fantasies, swashbuckling adventures, and 80s music videos, Timestalker is both a giddy genre confection and a heartfelt tale of hard-won empowerment.

Alice Lowe, Jacob Anderson,

Cast

Aneurin Barnard, Tanya Reynolds, Nick Frost Prod Vaughan Sivell, Mark Hopkins, Tom Wood, Natan Stoessel

Rita

Sabrina

La Hoz, Margarita Kénefic,

Villagran, Glendi Rucal, María Telón, Juan Pablo Olyslage Prod Jonathan King, Gustavo Matheu, Jayro Bustamante

Párvulos

Short Forum 1

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 107 MIN. FRI SEP 27 8:30 PM IN10 SAT SEP 28 1:30 PM IN08

Short Forum 2

Zoé

RÉMI ST-MICHEL, CANADA, 2024, 16 MIN.

Zoé is a captive zombie, whose vague memories of the past motivate her desire for freedom.

Judas Icarus Twists His Wrist

KERR HOLDEN, CANADA, 2024, 15 MIN.

Vancouver-based wrestler Judas Icarus embarks on an arduous road to recovery. Featuring a cast of active Pacific Northwest wrestlers and musicians.

The Sweater

MAZIYAR KHATAM, CANADA, 2024, 9 MIN. A young man regrets throwing out his favourite sweater after his girlfriend insists that he should thin out his wardrobe.

One Day This Kid

ALEXANDER FARAH, CANADA, 2024, 18 MIN.

Inspired by David Wojnarowicz’s text, this story of the same name follows the quiet struggle for acceptance between Afghan-Canadian Hamed and his father.

Organza’s Revenge

WALTER SCOTT, CANADA, 2024, 21 MIN.

Organza, a broke artist living in deep space, must travel across the galaxy to seek revenge on her ex in order to cure her mysterious illness.

Like a Spiral

LAMIA CHRAIBI, CANADA, 2024, 28 MIN. Five women share their experiences working as migrant domestic workers under the Kafala system in Beirut.

You Can’t Get What You Want but You

Can Get Me

SAMIRA ELAGOZ, Z WALSH, NETHERLANDS/FINLAND, 2023, 13 MIN.

A slideshow of personal photographs and correspondence document two long-haired trans men falling in love.

Colors Under the Streetlights

YOSHIMI JOYA, JAPAN, 2023, 23 MIN.

Late one night, two women who work at a hostess bar are approached by police.

Candle

JÉRÉMI ROY, CANADA, 2023, 9 MIN.

David and Leonard are ex-lovers who reunite one autumn evening during a power outage.

Delta Dawn

ASIA YOUNGMAN, CANADA, 2023, 26 MIN.

This documentary follows Dawn Murphy, or “Princess Delta Dawn”, who rose to fame in the 1980s and early 1990s and became the first Indigenous woman wrestler and the first Canadian woman wrestler to compete in Japan.

The Death of James

SAM CHOU, CANADA, 2023, 14 MIN.

Two friends grapple with mortality as they are confronted with a dying pet ferret.

Pena’s Special Hauling

ANSSI KASITONNI, FINLAND, 2024, 12 MIN.

Perhaps he shouldn’t still be driving at his advanced age, but veteran truck driver Pena cannot help but get behind the wheel of his custom truck.

Salem on the Road

ÉTIENNE GALLOY, CANADA, 2024, 20 MIN.

While experiencing a major depersonalization episode, Salem embarks on a solo cycling journey across the Gaspé Peninsula with the intent of ending her life.

Judas Icarus Twists His Wrist You Can’t Get What Want But You Can Get Me

We Deserve an Empire

Delta Dawn

Retracing Their Steps

The Boys and the Donkey

Losing Your Home

Community Partner

suicide of the only midwife in town until after his pregnant wife gives birth.

Darker

MATAZI WEATHERS, USA, 2024, 19 MIN.

In a dystopian Los Angeles, a coalition of Black insurgents, trans hackers, and their POC allies prepare for an uprising.

Short Forum

Short Forum 5

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 115 MIN.

TUE OCT 1 9:00 PM VCT

WED OCT 2 3:30 PM VCT

Stuffed

LOUISE LABROUSSE, FRANCE, 2024, 11 MIN.

Short Forum 6

Gate 3 to 14

KAREN ABOU JAOUDEH, LEBANON, 2023, 7 MIN.

Experiments with drawing, stop motion, -

A woman decides to treat herself to a bowl of noodles in the bath.

Strawberry Shortcake

DEBORAH DEVYN CHUANG, TAIWAN, 2024, 21 MIN.

Through her connection with the natural -

An elderly activist rallies his community against the expansion of an oil refinery in

A teenage girl falls into a Freudian phantasy with her mother.

The Painting

MICHÈLE LEMIEUX, CANADA, 2024, 11 MIN.

Using pinscreen animation, an instance of institutionalized incest in art history is examined through the portrait of Queen Mariana of Austria, who was 14 when she married her uncle.

Zanatany, When Soulless Shrouds Whisper

Malih returns to her community as the first Maasai filmmaker—both an insider and an outsider, a woman amongst -

On the island of Martinique, a young girl attempts to summon mermaids through

HACHIMIYA AHAMADA, BELGIUM/FRANCE/QATAR, 2024, 27 MIN.

Tensions rise in the community, days before the little known 1976 Majunga massacre.

Shadow

KAMELL ALLAWAY, USA, 2023, 12 MIN.

A young mother’s shadow takes on a life of its own, terrorizing her and her daughter.

Hatch

ALIREZA KAZEMIPOUR, PANTA MOSLEH, CANADA, 2024, 11 MIN.

Two filmmakers assist with search and rescue efforts in Beirut following the August 2020 disaster.

If the Sun Drowned Into an Ocean of Clouds

WISSAM CHARAF, FRANCE/LEBANON, 2023, 20 MIN. Along a waterfront construction site, a security guard must prevent passersby from accessing the seaside.

Bright White Light

HENNA VÄLKKY, EESU LEHTOLA, FINLAND, 2023, 14 MIN. Five survivors recall their near death experiences.

Dark Matter

LEO BERKELEY, AUSTRALIA, 2024, 11 MIN. Now in the later stages of multiple sclerosis, the director ponders existence, disability, and quantum mechanics.

Explosions Near the Museum

ROMAN KHIMEI, YAREMA MALASHCHUK, UKRAINE, 2023, 14 MIN.

The camera moves through Ukraine’s Kherson Museum of Local Lore, looted by Russian occupational forces in 2022.

Three Birds

ZARJA MENART, SLOVENIA/CROATIA, 2024, 9 MIN.

In this comedy of manners, chaos ensues at a dinner party when the help does not

Fishmonger

NEIL FERRON, USA, 2024, 26 MIN.

A pathetic fishmonger must survive a sex pact with an ancient fish creature in order to save his mother’s soul.

A group of Afghan refugees hide inside a water tanker as they attempt to cross the border to safety.

Time to Dilate

KIM NAYOUNG, SOUTH KOREA, 2024, 22 MIN.

Two lovers, Myung-ki and Do, break up because of a secret Myung-ki’s been hiding. When they meet again, this secret cannot be ignored.

A sad girl seeks guidance from a wise bird woman.

Losing Your Home

EMMANUEL RIOUX, CANADA, 2024, 20 MIN. Two women battle eviction notices from their respective homes.

Palestine Islands

NOUR BEN SALEM, JULIEN MENANTEAU, FRANCE/ JORDAN, 2023, 23 MIN.

Young refugees at Balata camp in the northern West Bank imagine the unrealized goal of Palestinian sovereignty.

Palestine Islands

Tayal Forest Club

When the Wind Rises

Strawberry Shortcake

Short Forum

Short Forum 7

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 118 MIN.

THU OCT 3 9:00 PM IN08 FRI OCT 4 12:45 PM IN08

Grizzly Bear Country

MAVE KY, CANADA, 2024, 6 MIN.

Masculinity and male friendships are explored through three friends who go on a backcountry hiking trip in the Alberta Rockies.

Magic Candies

DAISUKE NISHIO, JAPAN, 2024, 21 MIN.

Somewhat of a loner, Dong-Dong is content playing marbles on his own. One day, he goes to buy new marbles but leaves the shop with a bag of magic candies instead. Based on the Korean picture book, Magic Candies by Heena Baek.

The Egg

VAHAN GRIGORYAN, ARMENIA, 2024, 12 MIN.

A struggling actor decides to steal an egg at the grocery store.

Morî

YAKUP TEKINTANGAÇ, TURKEY, 2024, 20 MIN.

When a new teacher starts at school, Morî is convinced that he is her long-lost father.

The Boys and the Donkey

TSERING YANGJYAB, CHINA, 2023, 21 MIN.

In the Tibetan Plateau, four friends roughhouse with a neighbour’s donkey, leading to a nasty scratch on one of their faces. They resolve to punish the beast.

Culture Shock

BARRY BILINSKY, CANADA, 2024, 15 MIN.

While Joey struggles to fit in at Culture Camp—where she is sent after defacing a mural—the mural artist’s sister is there also, looking for the vandal.

We Deserve an Empire

MAURICIO MALDONADO, COLOMBIA, 2024, 23 MIN.

Scrap metal thieves prepare to excavate an abandoned mine for gold.

Short Forum 8

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 106 MIN. FRI OCT 4 9:00 PM IN08 SAT OCT 5 2:00 PM IN08

Discoteque

MASASHI YAMAMOTO, USA, 2023, 5 MIN.

Two friends embark on a galactic journey towards the disco ball moon.

Sauna Day

ANNA HINTS, TUSHAR PRAKASH, ESTONIA, 2024, 13 MIN.

An intimate portrait of Southern Estonian men enjoying a smoke sauna together after a hard day of work.

The Widow’s Son Turns Storyteller

SHIKER PAL, INDIA, 2023, 11 MIN.

In the city of Kanpur, fables emanate from an ancient mound.

Save My Soul

KAM FAI LEUNG, HONG KONG, 2023, 15 MIN.

What transpires when a mute and a blind man cross paths...

Almost the Dust

LÉA SOLER, MEXICO, 2023, 22 MIN.

From the upper branches of a tree, a land defender on a hunger strike is visited by people from his village.

The Moving Garden

INÊS LIMA, PORTUGAL, 2024, 19 MIN.

A group of hikers embark on a guided tour of the Arrábida Natural Park but observe a disturbing transformation.

Retracing Their Steps

MANUEL ORHY PIRON, CANADA, 2024, 21 MIN. Boxes from the Montreal Archive Center reveal forgotten tales from the queer community.

Short Forum 9

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 114 MIN.

SAT OCT 5 9:00 PM IN08 SUN OCT 6 1:15 PM IN08

On Plains Of Larger River & Woodlands

MIGUEL DE JESUS, AUSTRALIA/PORTUGAL, 2024, 13 MIN.

Living in the rural suburbia of Sandy Bay, two Tasmanian teenagers find ways to articulate their isolation and boredom.

Uncommon Ground

FAITH SPARROW-CRAWFORD, CANADA, 2024, 20 MIN. In the year 2171, Tawni and her aunt live in the Shadowlands. While on a journey to the capital for medicine, Tawni discovers a plane crash survivor and risks her own safety to treat him.

Julian and the Wind

CONNOR JESSUP, CANADA, 2024, 15 MIN. Two boarding school roommates share a strange sleepwalking experience.

The Mysterious Adventures of Claude Conseil

MARIE-LOLA TERVER, PAUL JOUSSELIN, FRANCE, 2023, 24 MIN.

An ornithologist experiences a case of mistaken identity via social media.

Get Thee on the Dance Floor

HYUN HAHN, SOUTH KOREA, 2023, 27 MIN.

A middle-aged man, his ailing father, and his father’s caregiver take a day trip together to the bathhouse.

Time Space Love

MARIE-LOUISE GARIÉPY, CANADA, 2024, 15 MIN.

A probe equipped with artificial intelligence is launched towards the star Rigel on a thousand-year journey to establish contact with an unknown extraterrestrial consciousness.

Short Fuse

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 83 MIN. SUN OCT 6 4:15 PM IN08

Charming, funny, and even a bit scary, these shorts explore imaginary and natural worlds, Indigenous futurist stories, and experiences from the everyday.

Dokra

Keu Bojhey Na

SNEHA DAS, MONJIMA MULLICK, INDIA, 2023, 8 MIN.

An innovative animated documentary about the ancient bronze craft of Dokra sculptures in India told through the voices of Dokra artisans and sellers.

Judy’s Garden

EVIE METZ, USA, 2024, 7 MIN.

An enchanting animated journey through a cosmic, and microcosmic, garden of life, death, and renewal.

The Everlasting Pea

SU RYNARD, CANADA, 2024, 17 MIN.

As a scientist questions plant consciousness, a pea plant dreams of its past in Rome’s Colosseum and a mystery unravels, reimagining our relationship with the plant world.

Beeps

KIRK JOHNSON, USA, 2024, 15 MIN.

Sam can’t sleep due to incessant alarms beeping outside. So he sets off to to find the source...

Inkwo: For When the Starving Return

AMANDA STRONG, CANADA, 2024, 19 MIN.

Set two lifetimes in the future. Dove, a gender-shifting warrior, uses their Indigenous medicine (Inkwo) to protect their community from an unburied swarm of terrifying creatures.

Soap Box

JIMMY G. PETTIGREW, CANADA, 2024, 17 MIN.

Young Hubert strives to win the annual mountain soap-box race to impress Anouk. This thrilling, wildly fun sports comedy is a tribute to children’s incredible imaginations.

Inkwo

We Deserve an Empire Sauna Day

Uncommon Ground

MODES

MODES 1

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 102 MIN. SAT SEP 28 9:00 PM VCT SAT OCT 5 4:15 PM VCT

The veracity of history is made visible, audible, and tangible. Embodying the principle of “Art as modes of truth production,” strap in for a sensory examination of the varying forms of aggression enacted by those with power as a means of dominance.

The Cavalry

ALINA ORLOV, CANADA/USA/ISRAEL, 2024, 17 MIN. Using a semi-documentary approach, newcomer Alina Orlov highlights the brutal desensitization techniques used to condition Israeli police horses in the West Bank.

Flowers

JOSÉ CARDOSO, ECUADOR/SOUTH AFRICA, 2024, 30 MIN. Filmmaker José Cardoso streams disparate details of a war in Ukraine, “justified” by a string of seemingly unconnected events as an ethnocide unfolds in the Amazon. The duties of parenthood routinely interrupt the onslaught of tense imagery, granting gentle moments in the garden with his young son.

Man Number 4

MIRANDA PENNELL, UK, 2024, 10 MIN.

A startling confrontation with a photograph taken in Gaza, in December 2023 (which now exists on social media), triggers questions about what it means to be an onlooker.

The Diary of a Sky

LAWRENCE ABU HAMDAN, LEBANON, 2024, 45 MIN.

A self-described ‘Private Ear,’ Turner Prize winner Lawrence Abu Hamdan gathers, investigates, and analyzes audio and video recordings of Israeli fighter jets illegally infringing on the otherwise peaceful skies above Lebanon.

MODES 2

Freedom and control, or chaos and systematization. With indelible nuance and care, these works defy categorization, break binaries, and tempt us to adopt a gaze of love, or resistance; defiantly, also an act of love.

Freak

CLAIRE BARNETT, USA, 2024, 14 MIN.

Confronted via home video by her partner to reveal her deepest, darkest fantasy, Laine is left questioning the limits of their relationship.

Dreams Like Paper Boats

SAMUEL SUFFREN, HAITI, 2024, 19 MIN.

Since his wife left for the USA, Edouardo and his daughter subsist on recorded tapes she sends to fill the void of her absence.

She Stays

MARINTHIA GUTIÉRREZ, MEXICO, 2024, 10 MIN. Watched by a coven in the shadows, Laura must decide if she’s ready to walk away from Tijuana and her ex.

We Were No Desert

AGUSTINA COMEDI, CHIACHIO & GIANNONE, ARGENTINA, 2024, 12 MIN.

New choreography for the “Pericón” resists the inherent ideology of conquest baked into the traditional folk dance.

Grandmamauntsistercat

ZUZA BANASINSKA, POLAND, 2024, 23 MIN.

A dazzling array of materials compiled from the educational archive in Łódź, reveals the often sexist images that were first used as a didactic means of power in Communist era Poland.

Razeh-del

MARYAM TAFAKORY, IRAN/UK/ITALY, 2024, 28 MIN.

In 1998, two schoolgirls sent a letter to Iran’s first-ever women’s newspaper, proposing an impossible film.

Community Partner

Cavalry

Grandmamauntsistercat

She

Ignite High School Program

Each year, VIFF welcomes thousands of high school students to experience exceptional international cinema at the festival. From stories of imagined worlds and speculative futures, to films that capture historic events as they’re unfolding, great world cinema expands our understanding. Films promote student inquiry, help develop critical thinking skills, and ignite imaginations. Be they set in Japan, Kenya, or a reimagined alternate Canada, this year’s Ignite selections present films that connect youth with powerful stories and offer insights into forces shaping our world and identities

Exclusive Dialogue and Q&A with Filmmakers and Subject Experts

After seeing the film, students will have the rare opportunity to be part of a talk-back session with directors, producers, or subject experts connected to the film.

Educational Resources

We have selected these films for their bold approach to storytelling, timely social, historical, and environmental themes, and for their thought-provoking connections to multiple subjects across the BC curriculum. Prior to the screenings, teachers will receive our educational film guides to facilitate discussion and learning, connecting the cinema and the classroom.

How to Book

Free for all school groups! Book online through our Ignite program homepage. All Ignite film screenings will take place at International Village. Some select films are also available to stream on VIFF Connect. Capacity for all films is limited. For our booking form, full film details, and resource materials visit viff.org/ignite.

The Perfect Venue for Your Next Event

For questions, or for help booking your class, please email us at education@viff.org

Inkwo: For When the Starving Return

Events

Every edition, VIFF enhances our world class film program with a selection of expertly curated live events. From enthralling live scores to inspiring talks, innovative creative technology exhibitions to symphonic presentations by renowned composers, these celebratory events are vehicles to further explore the vast and awe-inspiring landscape of  film culture. Not to be found anywhere else and incapable of being repeated, these inventive and entertaining events are not to be missed.

Unmissable Live Performances

The VIFF Live series this year has been guided and in spired by artists working at the outer edges of sound and image; and artists that experiment with form, blur boundaries between disciplines, and explore deep relationships between storytelling, memory, time, and presence. Join us to share and witness these extraor dinary live performances.

Each artist considers and responds to similar questions: What can the past tell us about our present? How do collaborations shape creative imaginings and give new form to their expression across disciplines? How do archives of story, song, and image— both personal and communal—live beyond us? What is carried forward, and what is left behind?

JARRETT MARTINEAU LIVE CURATOR

Elisapie—Uvattini

Saturday, September 28 – 8:00 pm

Chan Centre for the Performing Arts

JUNO Award-winning Inuk artist Elisapie presents the West Coast Premiere of her new multimedia show, Uvattini. In collaboration with Algonquin multidisciplinary artist Émilie Monnet, Uvattini—which means “home” in Inuktitut—combines music, narration, video and performance to reveal the intimacies of Elisapie’s home community of Salluit in the very north of Nunavik, to create a space of ritual where past and present merge. Mixing poetry with cinematic landscapes and portraits of Inuit life, Uvattini gifts audiences with Elisapie’s most personal offering yet—that of her own story.

Co-presented with the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts EXP Series.

Eno

A Live Performance Screening and Q&A with Director Gary Hustwit

Sunday, September 29 – 6:00 pm Vancouver Playhouse

Join us for the Vancouver Premiere of Eno, the world’s first generative documentary, a groundbreaking exploration of the life and work of visionary musician and artist Brian Eno. Each screening of  Eno is unique and meant to be experienced live. The generative and infinitely iterative quality of  Eno poetically resonates with the artist’s endless deep dive into the mercurial essence of creativity. For this special event, the film will be created live in real time, and this version will never be seen again. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Gary Hustwit and special guests.

GIFT

A Film by Ryusuke Hamaguchi X Live Score by Eiko Ishibashi

Tuesday, October 1 – 7:00 pm

Rio Theatre

William Basinski: Arcadia Archive

Multi-instrumentalist and composer Eiko Ishibashi, who scored director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Oscar-winning film Drive My Car (2021) presents the Canadian Premiere of GIFT—a new silent film directed by Hamaguchi, and accompanied by a dynamic, live soundtrack performed by Ishibashi. Using visual source material drawn from Hamaguchi’s latest feature film Evil Does Not Exist (2023), GIFT has been hailed as its “concentrated, wordless flipside” (Lincoln Centre). Ishibashi’s live performance offers a vital recomposition of the relationship of sound to narrative, and composer to filmmaker.

Wednesday, October 2 – 8:00 pm

Rio Theatre

Acclaimed ambient and experimental composer William Basinski presents the Canadian Premiere of Arcadia Archive: an immersive, transcendent live performance that combines music drawn from Basinski’s extensive archival work with 40+ year-old tape loops. For this special performance, Basinski will premiere a new work—a prayer for peace, channeled via 1970s Uher tape machines and digital feedback and archival piano recordings from Arcadia, his former loft in Brooklyn—accompanied by a new “nocturnal video work” created by Basinski’s longtime partner and collaborator, artist-filmmaker James Elaine.

Friday, October 4 – 8:00 pm

Chan Centre for the Performing Arts

Two of the most compelling voices in Indigenous music and cinema meet for an intimate, unique, and unforgettable evening of intergenerational story and song featuring award-winning Wolastoqiyik tenor and composer Jeremy Dutcher and renowned Abenaki filmmaker and musician Alanis Obomsawin. Dutcher blends songs from his community of Tobique First Nation with neoclassical, jazz, and pop influences. Obomsawin, hailed as “one of the most acclaimed Indigenous directors in the world”, offers a rare live performance of Bush Lady, her acclaimed and only full-length album, originally released in 1988.

Co-presented with the Chan Center for the Performing Arts EXP Series, in partnership with the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Photo: Jim O'Rourke

Photo: Jose Ramón Caamaño

Photo: Kirk Lisaj

An Evening with A.R. Rahman Stories and Music From His Career

For one night only on October 5, two-time Oscarwinning composer and songwriter A.R. Rahman will join the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Vancouver International Film Festival for An Evening with A.R. Rahman: Stories and Music From His Career. The international superstar will provide a keynote and performance with the VSO at the Orpheum, with music spanning his legendary career composing for some of Hollywood and Bollywood’s biggest hits.

This special concert presented by the VSO and VIFF is part of an exciting new collaboration between the two

organizations that celebrates the connection between music and film.

Reaching international acclaim in 2008 with his score for Slumdog Millionaire, A.R. Rahman’s live performance will be a celebration of sound and emotion. His works are notable for their seamless cultural integration of Eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres, and traditional orchestral arrangements.

A marquee event of VIFF and a highlight of the VSO season, An Evening with A.R. Rahman will share his

life’s journey with fans through a new and custommade presentation that blends storytelling and song. The legendary artist will invite audiences behind the scenes of his greatest works, sharing insights into his process and stories from his remarkable career. He will also perform segments of his scores live with the VSO, with clips from the fan-favourite films projected on the Orpheum’s big screen.

Supported by Co-Presented by

Behind the Scenes Insights

VIFF Talks offer enlightening conversations with leading artists who’ve made noteworthy contributions to the world of film and television. Celebrating their achievements and sharing their diverse approaches to cinematic storytelling, these events are rare opportunities to hear directly from creators who are at the top of their game.

Tickets $25

Methods to Madness

with Longlegs’ Osgood Perkins

Saturday, September 28 – 6:00 pm

The Rio

Making it Epic

with Production Designer Colin Gibson

Sunday, September 29 – 6:30 pm Vancity Theatre @ VIFF Centre

Across Generations

with Alanis Obomsawin & Amanda Strong

Saturday, October 5 – 2pm Vancity Theatre @ VIFF Centre

Osgood Perkins shares the dark secrets of Longlegs’ success. Expect uncommon candour as he discusses borrowing from his influences to create familiar narrative structures, while retaining freedom to explore his personal fascinations. This deep dive will illustrate his creative process, including amassing ideas and connections when writing, establishing thematic underpinnings, and assembling collaborators who can make it all a nightmarish reality.

Academy Award-winning production designer Colin Gibson is the architect of the end of the world. George Miller’s go-to guy for two decades now, he’s credited with the look and feel of  Mad Max: Fury Road and  Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. It’s undeniable that Gibson has it in him to make it epic. Join us for a dynamic conversation with Gibson as he takes us through his craft and the process of collaboration in creating these unforgettable worlds.

In this intimate dialogue, legendary Abenaki filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin and Michif/Métis animator and mixed media artist Amanda Strong discuss their artistic practices, their approaches to storytelling, and the importance of intergenerational connection. Centered around the screening of their latest short films, this conversation between these two powerful cinematic voices will share the joys and challenges of making films for all ages.

Presented by

Photo: Julie Artacho

FUEL YOUR CREATIVE SPIRIT

CREATIVE SPIRIT

Sept 27 - Oct 6, 2024

Sept 27 - Oct 6, 2024

Signals 2024 showcases original and innovative storytelling in video games, XR, VFX and AI – all with a focus on world-class Canadian and Indigenous works.

Signals 2024 showcases original and innovative storytelling in video games, XR, VFX and AI – all with a focus on world-class Canadian and Indigenous works.

Tickets & Info: signals.digibc.org

Tickets & Info: signals.digibc.org

Supported by:

Supported by:

Artist & Industry Development

Festivals that share a deep connection with a vibrant local film community can be powerful platforms for both emerging and established artists. Nurturing the artistic practices and furthering the careers of our local directors, producers, writers, composers, and the other key creatives is not only rewarding, but also an investment in the future as we seek to showcase our vibrant film community for the rest of the world. We are so proud to share these programs so that  BC’s artists can benefit from mentorship, hone their respective craft, and make the invaluable connections that will propel them forward both professionally and creatively.

Celebrating Creative Disruptors

Sept 30 - Oct 4, 2024

This year, VIFF’s Industry program celebrates the creative disruptors shifting culture and cinema. Through curated conversations, masterclasses, case studies and panel discussions we’ll spotlight rising talent, explore new genres, and hear from creative leaders behind criti cally acclaimed productions who are taking creative risks to push the boundaries of cinema.

This Year’s Highlights

Redefining Genre Filmmaking

Black creatives discuss their approach to creating genre-bending cinema which showcases the breadth of Black horror, Black sci-fi, and Black fantasy films.

Disrupting Form in Documentary

Led by filmmakers using multimedia and hybrid genres to create compelling documentaries, this session explores new cinematic formats.

Rethinking Documentary Marketing

How can documentary filmmakers bring greater visibility to their projects? Creative leaders share their strategies on harnessing social media to build community.

Directing Breakthrough Television

How can you make your mark on a hit TV series? A roundtable of prominent directors discuss.

Visit viff.org/industry for the full program.

Books to Screen: Adapting Local IP

Discover how producers can option books from local authors as a creative pathway to a greenlight.

Betting on Yourself: Short Form Edition

In a moderated talk celebrating 2SLGBTQIA+ storytelling, two filmmakers discuss how they accelerated their own success through their breakout short-form series.

Gen Z on Set

Youth actors (The Last of Us, Bones of Crows) take the mic alongside a kids' content producer in this moderated discussion about renewing set culture.

This session will have ASL interpretation.

In Conversation with the DSO

An ask-me-anything panel with the Disability Screen Office.

A creative disruptor sparks good trouble by urging the film industry to re-envision what's possible. Through their original, unapologetic, and imaginative points of view, these artistic voices are game changers. By pairing leaders in our field with exciting new talent, I hope to paint a fuller picture of who makes up our sector. As a programmer, I am interested in the intersections of where the traditional meets the new. That boiling point of tension and possibility is where the most thrilling work is born. I hope these sessions offer delightful conversations to our local film community and open up the space for new partnerships to begin.

MARIAM BARRY, VIFF INDUSTRY CURATOR

Register for VIFF’s Artist & Industry Pass

Wherever you are on your journey, VIFF’s Artist & Industry Pass is your chance to meet the leaders behind the films you love, hear how they bring images to life with magical scores, and discover the next wave of digital storytellers making their mark on the big screen.

Buy a Pass: viff.org/industry

The Last of Us

Music in Media Summit

Oct 2-6, 2024

From composers to songwriters to music entrepreneurs, VIFF Amp nurtures, educates and champions music for media professionals. With a strong emphasis on supporting those from marginalized and underrepresented communities, the program connects participants with international experts, offering mentorship and career development opportunities.

VIFF Amp fosters creativity, builds community, promotes collaboration and advances careers. We’re excited to welcome music and visual media storytellers and key industry players to this year’s event, which will include panel discussions, workshops, live performances and networking opportunities. If you’re looking for a career in music for media, this is the place to be!

ROB CALDER, VIFF AMP

CURATOR FOUNDER & PRODUCER, SECRET STUDY

Nine years on, VIFF Amp continues to raise the bar. We have expanded our circle to bring more disciplines to the conversation, from directors to writers and producers. What stays is our commitment to elevating those from underrepresented and marginalized communities. This makes for a truly singular program in the entertainment industry.

TONY SCUDELLARI, VIFF AMP CURATOR SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, TELEVISION MUSIC, SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT

This Year’s Highlights

UnShazamable

Award-winning music supervisor, composer, music entrepreneur and DJ Burt Blackarach explores his family’s iconic 60s and 70s music catalog in the hippest listening session imaginable.

The Art of Composition

Composer Mark Korven (The Witch) says his greatest fear is being boring. Find out how Mark carved his unique career arc and how he collaborates with maverick filmmakers like Robert Eggers while keeping his process fresh.

Music BC’s SOUNDOFF

BC’s most promising local musicians perform live in front of a panel of music supervisors at this special showcase.

Composer Filmmaker Accelerator

Three-time Emmy nominated film and TV composer Miriam Cutler returns to curate this intensive, practical program focused on developing symphonic scores to picture. 12 talented composers will collaborate with four established filmmakers, including recording and mixing sessions at the renowned Warehouse Studios with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

Creatives on the Spectrum

Producer, writer and educator Zhara Astra and renowned composer John Frizzell (Beavis & Butthead, King of The Hill) both identify as being on the spectrum. Zhara and John discuss how productive work environments can break stigmas and empower neurodivergent creatives.

Creating Successful CrossCultural Collaboration in Film and TV

Composer Dave Porter (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) worked closely with Indigenous director Sydney Freeland and musician Seth Fairchild from the Choctaw Nation to produce a stunning score for Marvel’s Echo. They discuss how they worked together to enhance the cultural legacy of a community.

The Art of Music Supervision in Animation

Music supervision for animation—be it film or television—has different requirements based on the specific storytelling needs of the genre. Three music supervisors share their insights.

Visit viff.org/amp for the full program.

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

It remains a privilege to extend an invitation to global industry experts to participate in dialogues at VIFF. Our Labs cover a diverse range of topics, and are aimed at sparking meaningful conversation and ideas between international talent and Vancouver’s filmmaking community.

KEN TSUI, VIFF LABS CURATOR

This Year's Highlights:

Reinventing the Slasher: The Slow Horror of In a Violent Nature with Chris Nash, Director

From Novel to Screen: Adapting The Sympathizer with Don McKellar, Writer & Showrunner

Learn more at viff.org/labs.

VIFF welcomes to the 2024 cohort:

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

LAURA ARBOLEDA VIFF CATALYST PROGRAMMER

Meet this year's cohort at viff.org/catalyst.

Alger Ji-Liang 梁家傑

Bree IslandRomi KimGabriel Souza Nunes Cameron Mackenzie

Nushi Sharma Eloane Venkatapen

Brandon WintJamie LamCathy Huynh

Kat Reynolds Josh Settee-Brown Rame IbrahimRoger A. GalvezDavid Jeric Avelino

Index of Films and Programs

Inkwo:

Not Me..........................................59

J

Jane’s in the Freezer 65

John Singer Sargent: Fashion & Swagger 60

Judas Icarus Twists His Wrist 64

Judy’s Garden 67

Julian and the Wind ........................ 67 Julie Keeps Quiet 35 L

Like a Spiral 64

Listen to the Voices 59 Living in Two Worlds 35 Living Together 49

Living With Wolves..........................57

Losing Your Home 65

Love Lies 35

Lucky Star .......................................... 49

Luther: Never Too Much 61

M

Magic Candies 67 Man Number 4 68

Marco, the Invented Truth 35

Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts 54

Matt and Mara 29

Me, Maryam, the Children and 26 Others 47

Measures for a Funeral 35

Mermaids 65

Minus Plus Multiply........................ 65

Misericordia 32

Modernism, Inc. 61

MODES 1............................................68

MODES 2............................................68

Mongrels ............................................ 48

Morî 67

Most People Die on Sundays ..... 36

The Mother and the Bear 36

The Moving Garden 67

My Dog is Dead 65

My Favourite Cake 25

My Late Summer ............................. 36 The Mysterious Adventures of Claude Conseil ............................ 67

N

Nemo 1................................................65

The New Year That Never Came 36

Nietzschean Suicide 65

Nightbitch 25

Ninan Auassat: We, the Children 57 No Other Land 31

O

On Becoming a Guinea Fowl ...... 37

On Plains Of Larger River & Woodlands 67

One Day This Kid ............................. 64

Opening Gala: Ari’s Theme 16

Organza’s Revenge 64 Ouaga Girls 55

P

The Painting 65 Palestine Islands 65

Párvulos 63

Paying For It.......................................31

Pena’s Special Hauling 64 Pepe 58

The Piano Lesson ........................... 26 Pierce 32 Pol Pot Dancing 61

Preface to a History ........................ 51 Presence 62 R Rafiki 55 Razeh-del 68 Real....................................................... 59 Realm of Satan 59

Retracing Their Steps 67 The Return 65 Rita 63 Rock Bottom 63

Index of Directors

AAbou Jaoudeh, Karen ................ 65

Abraham, Yuval 31

Achour, Lotfi 46

Adra, Basel 31

Ahamada, Hachimiya 65

Allaway, Kamell 65

Anderson, Josephine 57

Arnold, Andrea ............................ 19

Aroko, Debra 57

Arraes, Luisa ................................ 65

Arregi, Aitor 35

Atkinson, Charles ....................... 57

Auchter, Christopher 51

Audiard, Jacques 17

Aurtenèche, Albéric 65

Ayouch, Nabil 33

BBa, Ottis 55

Baekkevold, Mads K. 56

Bahadur Bham, Min 47

Baker, Sean 19

Ballal, Hamdan ............................ 31

Banasinska, Zuza 68

Barnett, Claire .............................. 68

Ben Salem, Nour 65

Benoot, Sofie................................ 59

Berger, Edward 21

Berkeley, Leo 65

Bertrand, Jean-Michel 57

Bickerstaff, David 60

Bilinsky, Barry 67

Bliuvaitė, Saulė 46

Bohdanowicz, Sofia ................... 35

Boontarig, Patiparn 37

Bustamante, Jayro ...................... 63

Buxton, Jason 31

C

Cairns, Liz...................................... 48

Carax, Leos 59

Carberry, Bryan ........................... 59

Cardoso, José 68

Chao Koi Wang ............................ 65

Chapman, Karen 51

Charaf, Wissam 65

Chen, Hung 65

Chew-Bose, Durga 49

Chiachio & Giannone ............... 68 Chou, Sam 64

Chraibi, Lamia.............................. 64

Chuang, Deborah Devyn 65

Chuk, Sasha ................................. 33

Clarke, Aislinn 62

Cohn, Jason 61

Coimbra, Fernando 32

Comedi, Agustina 68

Courvoisier, Louise 35

Cousins, Mark 61

Crane, Sam ................................... 58

Cummings, Scott 59

D

Das, Sneha 67 de Jesus, Miguel ......................... 67 de los Santos Arias, Nelson Carlo ................................ 58

Deraspe, Sophie 31

Diamond, Neil 61

Diop Mambéty, Djibril 54

Diop, Mati 28

Downie, Mike 27

Drillot, Nathan 16

E

Elagoz, Samira 64

Elkhatabi, Halima 49

Emin, Thibault 63

Esiri, Arie ....................................... 55

Esiri, Chuko 55

Ezban, Isaac ................................. 63

F

Farah, Alexander ........................ 64

Fernandes, Denise 47

Ferron, Neil ................................... 65

Field, Connie 57

Fleifel, Mahdi 39

Fleming, Ann Marie 21

Flores, Robie 59

Friedland, Sarah 47

G

Galloy, Étienne 64

Garaño, Jon 35

Gariépy, Marie-Louise .............. 67

Gašić, Emilija 47

Gatopoulos, Andrea .................. 61

Gingrey, Mikayla 60

Glasner, Matthias ....................... 29

Gomes, Miguel 29

Gomis, Alain 55

Gormley, Nicole 57

Grigoryan, Vahan 67

Grimonprez, Johan 31

Grylls, Pinny 58

Guan Hu......................................... 29

Guiraudie, Alain 32

Gündüzalp, Baran....................... 37

Gutiérrez, Marinthia 68

H

Hahn, Hyun 67

Hamdan Lawrence Abu ........... 68

Hashemi, Farshad 47

Haugerud, Dag Johan 37

Heller, Marielle 25

Hints, Anna 67

Ho Miu-Ki 35

Holden, Kerr 64

Hong Sangsoo............................. 31

Horn, Kaniehtiio 51

Horn, Whitney .............................. 63

Hustwit, Gary 72

IIgarashi, Kohei 39

JJean-Baptiste, Maxime 59

Jessup, Connor............................ 67

Johnson, Evan 26

Johnson, Galen 26

Johnson, Kirk 67

Jousselin, Paul 67

Joya, Yoshimi 64

Joye, Caleb 65

KKahiu, Wanuri 55

Kalman, Lev .................................. 63

Kang, Yuqi 49

Kapadia, Payal.............................. 18

Kasitonni, Anssi 64

Kassandra, Alain ......................... 55

Kazemipour, Alireza 65

Kerem Özcan, Hikmet 35

Khatam, Maziyar 64

Khimei, Roman 65

Kim Nayoung ............................... 65

Kocur, Damian 39

Kohs, Greg .................................... 57

Kurdistani, Payam 65

Ky, Mave ......................................... 67

LLabrousse, Louise...................... 65

Lee, Chu-Chieh 65

Lee, Sook-Yin 31

Lehtola, Erik 65

Lemieux, Michèle 65

Lesage, Philippe 39

Leung, Kam Fai 67

Levinson, Mark A. ...................... 59

Lima, Inês 67

Lin Jianjie ....................................... 33

Lojkine, Boris 37

Loo, Thea....................................... 49

Low, Nelicia 32

Lowe, Alice 63

Lozano Álvarez, Santiago 47

Lund, Carson 33

M

Ma, Johnny 36

Maddin, Guy ................................. 26

Majeed, Omar 60

Malashchuk, Yarema ................ 65

Maldonado, Mauricio 67

Malih, Laissa ................................ 65

Malléon, Sarah 65

Matsumoto, Michiko 61

Matsunaga, Tasuku 65

McKercher, Gillian 49

Mebow, Laha ............................... 65

Menanteau, Julien 65

Menart, Zarja ............................... 65

Metz, Evie 67

Millet, Jonathan 33

Mishara, Peter 60

Moghaddam, Maryam 25

Morell Dargis, Sissel 56

Mosleh, Panta 65

Mullick, Monjima........................ 67

Mureşanu, Bogdan 36

N

Nishio Daisuke 67

Nyoni, Rungano .......................... 37

O

O, Mipo ........................................... 35

O’Bomsawin, Kim 57

Oh Jung-min ................................. 35

Oppenheimer, Joshua 22

Orlov, Alina 68

Ostenson, Jeff 57

P

Pal, Shiker 67

Pedone, Anthony 57

Pennell, Miranda ........................ 68

Petri, Elio 54

Petrie, Ben..................................... 49

Petry, Jeff Lee 16

Pettigrew, Jimmy G. ................... 67

Philibert, Nicolas 56

Piron, Manuel Orhy 67

Porter, Dawn 61

Prakash, Tushar 67

R

Radwanski, Kazik 29

Rankin, Matthew 31

Rasoulof, Mohammad 27

Ray, Satyajit................................... 54

Reynicke, Klaudia 37

Rioux, Emmanuel ....................... 65

Riyadh, Nada 60

Robertson, Joanne ..................... 61

Roher, Daniel 56

Ross, Willa Harlow 51

Roy, Jérémi 64

Rynard, Su 67

S

Said, Iair 36

Salles, Walter ............................... 23

Salomonowitz, Anja 37

Şamdereli, Yasemin ................... 37

Sanaeeha, Behtash 25

Sánchez Lansch, Enrique ....... 61

Sarjahani, Andy 60

Schimberg, Aaron 29

Scott, Devan 51

Scott, Walter 64

Senda, Takehiro .......................... 65

Shears, Devin 49

Sissako, Abderrahmane........... 33

Soderbergh, Steven 62

Soler, Léa 67

Sora, Neo 29

Sparrow-Crawford, Faith 67

St-Michel, Rémi 64

Stenson, Edmund 56

Strong, Amanda .......................... 67

Suffren, Samuel 68

Surya, Mouly ................................ 54

Szor, Rachel 31 T

Tafakory, Maryam 68

Taghizadeh, Niloufar ................. 60

Tanović, Danis 36

Taormina, Tyler 33

Tekintangaç, Yakup 67

Terver, Marie-Lola 67

Thorne, R.T. ................................... 63

Traore Dahlberg, Theresa 55

Traub, Viktória .............................. 65

Trénor, María 63

Tsang, Constance ...................... 29

Tulli, Adele 59 U

Ullmann Tøndel, Halfdan 33 V

Välkky, Henna 65 van Dijl, Leonardo 35 van Driel, Guido 39

Veslemes, Yannis 63

Vicario, Margherita 29 von Horn, Magnus ..................... 22 W

Wagner, Skylar ............................. 57

Wala, Amar 51

Walsh, Z.......................................... 64

Washington, Malcolm 26

Weathers, Matazi........................ 65

Weber, Sylvie 65

Workman, Jeremy 31 Y Yamamoto, Masashi 67

Yangjyab, Tsering 67

Yoo, Jerome 48

Young, D.W. ................................... 61

Young, Heather 51

Youngman, Asia .......................... 64 Z

Zhangke, Jia .................................. 28

Zilbalodis, Gints 28

Živković, Sanja ............................. 49

Zürcher, Ramon 39

Staff List

Board of Directors

Chair Am Johal

Vice Chair

Matthew Hall

Jennifer Roe Emery

Treasurer Valerie Prodanuk

Secretary Catherine Olsen

Board Members

Brian Chan, Kevin Eastwood, Ross Gentleman, Tina House, Barry MacDonald, Doreen Manuel, Brian McBay, Sirish Rao

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, Lucille Pacey

Festival Founder

Leonard Schein

Indigenous Advisory Council

Members

Jessie Anthony, Rhiannon Bennett, Marion Jacobs, Allan Lindley, Melanie Molloy, Jada-Gabrielle Pape, Jeremy Ratt, Colin Van Loon (Lyttle)

Executive

Executive Director Kyle Fostner

Festival 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

Program Administration Manager

Jeraldine Chong

Feature Film Coordinator

Natalie Murao

Short Forum Programmer

Casey Wei

Short Film Coordinator & Consultant

Jaewoo Kang

MODES Curator

T Bannister

Youth Engagement Programmer

Jessa Alston-O’Connor

Guest Programmers

Zarrar Kahn, Kika Memeh, Ogheneofegor Obuwoma

Programming Consultants

Mariam Barry, Cole Forrest, Sandy Gow, Pavol Hell, John Hollands, Selwyn Jacob, Jack Vermee, Onjana Yawnghwe

Screening Committee

Tania Alekson, David Avelino, Sarah Bakke, Hannâ Banian, William Banks, Janet Baron, Allyson Beaupere, Taylor Bishop, Michelle Bjornson, Anja Block, Alison Cartan, Danita Cees, Jennifer Chen, Lauren Crawford, Matthew Forchione, Darren Gay, Jack Godwin, Ariane Hachem, Josh Hamm, Liisa Hannus, Annie Rae Huston, Michael Ioannou, Russell Janzen, Hazel Kang, Yani Kong, Rai Lai, Jin Lee, Steffanie Ling, Abigail Markowitz, Arnaud Menindes, Sam Mohseni, Hannah Möller, Stephen Morgan, Eve O’Dea, Colby Payne, Karan Sandhu, Glen Schaefer, Janos Sitar, Barney Sprague, Lori Strong, Ruby Strong, Nural Sumbultepe, Deepika Suseelan, Arash Taheri, Duygu Unal, Mary Ungerleider, Lynn Vasey, Shan Yam Wai, Joel Warhaft, Donna Welstein, Qiuli Wu, Keith Yoshida

Artist and Industry Programs

Amp & Industry Event Manager

Lauren Sailer

Amp Event Coordinator

Ashley Sugimoto

Amp Community Outreach

Coordinator

Gabrielle Rutman

Amp Curator & Industry Consultant

Rob Calder

Amp Curator

Tony Scudellari

Amp Composer Filmmaker

Accelerator Curator

Miriam Cutler

Catalyst Programmer & Consultant

Laura Arboleda

Artist Programs Producer & Industry Programmer

Mariam Barry

Labs Curator

Ken Tsui

Live Curator

Jarrett Martineau

Technical Producer

EventLAB

Festival & Event Producers

James Ong, Eduardo Ottoni

Sponsorship

Director of Corporate Partnerships

Colin Jarvis

Partnerships Manager

Epiphany Cooper

Government Relations Manager

Marla Penner

Partnerships Coordinator

Arnaud Menindes

Philanthropy

Director of Philanthropy

Shahriar Pedram

Philanthropy Coordinator

Emma Leck

Marketing

Director of Marketing

Lainé Slater

Marketing Manager

Jamie Wright

Digital Communications Coordinator

Samara Malkin

Email Marketing Coordinator

Shelbie Jarvis

Community Outreach Coordinator

Hannâ Banian

Video Content Creators

Candelario Andrade, Julian La Brooy

Senior Graphic Designer

Steve Chow

Graphic Designers

Vinay Giridhar, Lillian Pham

Creative Agency

ZAK: Zia Somjee, Arvin Paelmo, Kristian Hay, Brett Boivin, Bella Sanchez

Production Support

PostPro: Randy Egan, Kylie Kumar, Cory Clarkson, Matthew Hayashi, Mohammad Dastan, Don Macdonell, Melanie Snagg, Jordan Taylor, Julia Hostetler

Social Media Team

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

Publicity & Digital Marketing

Media Relations and Publicity:

Murray Paterson Marketing Group (MPMG)

Laura Murray, Ines Min, Angela Poon, Dee de los Santos, Deborah Hui, Rona Goodman, Angela Vannatter, Epiha Inglis

Digital Marketing Support:

Murray Paterson Marketing Group (MPMG)

Brian Paterson, Sijia Cheng

Festival Publications

Content Manager

Jeraldine Chong

Graphic Designer

Steve Chow

Editor

Tom Charity

Contributing Writers

Mike Archibald, Mikaela Asfour, Sonja Baksa, Taylor Bishop, Tom Charity, Lawrence Garcia, Josh Hamm, Eve O’Dea, Curtis Woloschuk, Onjana Yawnghwe

Business Office

Director of Finance

Linda Gorrie

Senior Accountant

Jason Kang

Business Administrative Coordinator

Ruthie Tabata

VIFF Centre

VIFF Centre Senior Operations Manager

Sean Wilson

Year-Round Programmer

Tom Charity

VIFF Centre Rental Logistics Manager

J Bradford

VIFF Centre Projection Manager

Ron Lacheur

VIFF Centre IT & Office Coordinator

Sam Jira

VIFF Centre Technicians

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

VIFF Centre Maintenance

Shawn Brazeau, Ruben Fiodelmondo, Howie Rabey

Database Administrator

Sandy Gow

VIFF Centre Venue Managers

Prudence Baker, Giovana Birck, Aliya Breen, Zoe BT, Rilee German-Martinez, David C Jones, Adam Karolewski, Lilah Orkin, Janice Walter, Kelly Zhou

VIFF Centre Cashiers

Lora Haber, Savannah Kemp, Joy McDerment, Austin Neaves, James Narvey, Noor ul ain Zaib

VIFF Centre Concession Attendants

Jessica Kim, Mia Mateo, Parv Sachdeva, Andrew Taillon, Dennis Tokarsky

HR & Festival Operations

Senior Operations Manager

Brie Koniczek

Venue Operations

Festival Venue Operations Manager

Alex Clinton

Festival Venue Operations Assistant Manager

Jonathan Stonehouse

Venue Supervisors

Zachary Starko, Tamika Tallio, Jenny Tennant, Sunny Tse

Festival Technical Support

Barney Sprague

Venue Managers

Maleekah Ar-Rahiman, Emily Bison, Z Brimacombe, Alex Carmona, Jason Deline, Paul Denis, Omar Duran, Darren Gay, Elizabeth Glancy, Janet Glassford,

Julie Iuvancigh, Ellen Kibble, Sydney MacLennan, Yasu Nakasato, Anne Marie Paquin, Alina Quarin, Kai Rajala, Annika Rambo, Juan Saa, Riaan Smit, Rodney Stewart, Meghan Trahar, Eden Zinchik

Box Office

Aya Alvarez, Isabelle Bottin, Wendy Louie, John Mendes, Wade Nott, Gregory Samek, Sabine Schwirtz-Zinser, Mustafa Syed, Robert Tanikawa, Stephen Tweedale, Jasmine Wang, Graham Wong

Ticketing & Customer Service

Ticketing and Customer Service Manager

Abigail Bueno

Festival Ticketing Coordinator

Nate Johnson

Customer Service Coordinator Aliya Breen

Customer Service Agents

Rajashree Rai, Radhika Sharma

Technical Crew

Crew

Jesse August, Jurgen Beerwald, Bruno Benedetto, Rich Eiboff, Ryan Ermacora, Tim Fernandes, Marshall Freund, Sandy Gow, Tory Ip, Jessica Johnson, Dave Jones, Matt Kunau, Ron Lacheur, Ingrid Lae, Thierry Latremoille, Franklin Leung, James Neves, Ciara O’Donnell, Dave Page, Jana Rankov, Shana Schiopu, Graeme Scott, Sarah Worden

Print Logistics

Print Logistics Manager Eirinn McHattie

Print Logistics Coordinator Jana Rankov

Volunteer Program

Volunteer Engagement Manager

Maddie Wahl

Festival Volunteer Coordinator Ruth Ormiston

Volunteer Assistant

Laura Otto

Guest Services

Guest Services Manager Jenny Lee Craig

Guest Travel Coordinator Lu Slone

Transportation Coordinators Gregory Adams, Diva Macdonald

Hospitality

Gala and Hospitality Manager

Sheila Galati

Hospitality Coordinator Kateryna Kologryva