The 41st Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) returns to theatres September 29 – October 9, 2022. Over 130 films, 100 shorts, talks and special events will light up the screens and stages across Vancouver. Discover the list of B.C. films at this year’s festivals!
Anyox
Jessica Johnson and Ryan Ermacora
Feature Documentary
Originally constructed around a copper mine, the once thriving company town of Anyox now boasts only two year-round residents. An immaculately crafted portrait of the damage wrought by the callousness of colonial ambition.
back home
Nisha Platzer
Feature Documentary
In 1999, 11-year-old Nisha Platzer lost her brother, Josh, to suicide. Twenty years later, her search leads her to the door of Josh’s chosen family. An eloquent collage that asserts that both grieving and healing are meant to be communal experiences.
Bones of Crows
Marie Clements
Feature
Vancouver-born Dene/Métis writer-director Marie Clements lays out a hard history of Indigenous resilience in this urgent, harrowing epic, spanning most of the 20th century; the story of a Cree woman from childhood, through residential school, WWII, and beyond.
Concrete Valley
Antoine Bourges
Feature
A Syrian doctor struggles to hold on to his identity as his family adjusts to life in Canada. Director Antoine Bourges (Fail to Appear) continues his social realist project, turning a lens this time to struggles faced by new immigrants to Canada.
Golden Delicious
Jason Karman
Feature
Golden Delicious is a coming-of-age story about an Asian-Canadian teenager who is torn between his girlfriend’s dreams of their future and his father’s ambition, all the while struggling with finding himself and his feelings for the boy next door.
The Grizzlie Truth
Kathleen S. Jayme
Feature Documentary
In this zippy doc, we learn about a new way of representing the past, and meet community curators and archivists from across BC whose mission is to share the secret, neglected, and untold histories of this place we only think we know.
The Klabona Keepers
Tamo Campos, Jasper Snow-Rosen
Feature Documentary
The Klabona Keepers is a fierce account of the Tahltan Nation’s struggle to protect the Klabona Sacred Headwaters from commercial mining. Interspersing verité cinematography with interviews, the film documents the tactics used by the land defenders.
Lay Down Your Heart
Marie Clements
Feature Documentary
Marie Clements’ Lay Down Your Heart is a touching tribute to Niall McNeil, a multi-talented artist in theatre who happens to be a person living with Down Syndrome. A heartwarming celebration of a local artist who has succeeded on his own terms.
Riceboy Sleeps
Anthony Shim
Feature
Raising her son Dong-hyun (Dohyun Noel Hwang, then Ethan Hwang) in Vancouver’s suburbs, So-young (Choi Seung-yoon), a South Korean immigrant, desperately wants to instill a sense of pride in the boy. Meanwhile, he just wants to fit in.
Unarchived
Elad Tzadok, Hayley Gray
Feature Documentary
In this zippy doc, we learn about a new way of representing the past, and meet community curators and archivists from across BC whose mission is to share the secret, neglected, and untold histories of this place we only think we know.
Until Branches Bend
Sophie Jarvis
Feature
Discovering a potentially invasive insect inside a peach, fruit packer Robin immediately reports it. When management refuses to take action, she goes public with her concerns and precipitates a widescale shutdown in her Okanagan town.
When Time Gets Louder
Connie Cocchia
Feature
Leaving home for university, Abbie (Willow Shields) thrives and experiences self-actualization. However, she’s tormented by the knowledge that her brother Kayden (Jonathan Simao), who has autism and is non-verbal, is reeling in her absence.
The Runner
Amar Chebib
Short
Darius Sam, a young man from the Lower Nicola First Nation, attempts to run a 100-mile ultramarathon in subzero temperatures to raise awareness for addiction and mental health in his community.
From Chile to Canada: Media Herstories
Sarah Shamash, Sonia Medel
Short
Through feminist solidarities on unceded Coast Salish land, the contributions of Latinx women reveal an intergenerational network of media art genealogies.
I thought the World of You
Kurt Walker
Short
An enigmatic mosaic built on the lore existing around Canadian musician Lewis and his 1983 album, L’Amour.
Rumination
Ashleigh Vailancourt
Short
At night, a woman’s mind wanders as she chops firewood.
i see me watching
Sidney Gordon
Short
Through formal experimentation based on the artist’s personal struggle with gender identity, a singular self has been split into two.
Tongue
Kaho Yoshida
Short
Tired of her date’s racist and sexist comments, a woman decides to liberate his tongue.
Paco
Kent Donguines
Short
While keeping a secret from his family overseas, Paco struggles to uphold his responsibilities and aspirations.
Dhulpa
Kunsang Kyirong
Short
Narrative and documentary elements are woven together to tell the stories of a Tibetan immigrant community working at a local laundry facility.
Terror/Forming
Rylan Friday
Short
Parker and his boyfriend Darren make a disturbing discovery on their way to Parker’s late kokum’s cabin, setting the stage for how the night will unfold.
Red House
Barry Doupe
Short
Created using the Amiga computer console and Deluxe Paint IV software, hand-drawn sequences undergo a continual metamorphosis of images, characters, and forms.
My Thoughts Exactly
Mike Archibald
Short
Two strangers bring their love, frustration, and desire to the cruising trails within Stanley Park.
Framing the Self
Andrea Cristini
Short
A heady but emphatic experiment whereby an animated character improvises in a cinematic vacuum through the direction of their creator.
Sexy Highland Stream
Nathan Alder
Short
In appreciation of the eponymous stream, this poem is a love letter to the beauty found in nature. Written and spoken in English and Anishinaabemowin.
The Faraway Place
Kenny Welsh
Short
A young woman and her father, both of whom have horns, flee from a violent cult on a mission to eradicate their kind.
I Empower as a Mother
Inder Nirwan, Dani Barker
Short
Patricia Massy, the founder and director of Massy Arts Society and co-founder of Indigenous Brilliance collective, shares aspects of her life, work, and business, Massy Books.
N’xaxaitkw
Asia Youngman
Short
New to town, Zaraya befriends her next-door neighbour, who invites her to go on a search for the legendary lake monster, N’xaxaitkw—known to settlers as Ogopogo.
