Movies
Country: Canada
VIFF: Framing Agnes
Exhuming transcripts from a 1950s UCLA study on transgender individuals, Chase Joynt and his cast employ re-enactments, reinvention, and personal reflections to examine the trans stories that are told and how—and by whom—they are authored. Every bit as conceptually daring as VIFF 2020’s No Ordinary Man (which Joynt co-directed), Framing Agnes sees the director
VIFF: Brother
Clement Virgo (The Book of Negroes) makes a brilliant return to feature filmmaking with this propulsive adaptation of David Chariandy’s celebrated novel. Set against the backdrop of suburban Scarborough, Brother follows siblings Michael (Lamar Johnson) and Francis (Aaron Pierre) as they strive to justify the sacrifices of their devoting mother (Marsha Stephanie
VIFF: Riceboy Sleeps
Raising her young son Dong-hyun (Dohyun Noel Hwang) in Vancouver’s suburbs in the 90s, So-young (Choi Seung-yoon), a South Korean immigrant and single mom, desperately wants to instill a sense of pride in the boy. In turn, he only wants to be considered “Canadian” in hopes of avoiding bullying at
VIFF: Falcon Lake
Following her bow at 2022 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, Charlotte Le Bon makes a VIFF debut with this thrilling and lush coming-of-age tale of first crushes, heartbreaks, and loss. The film follows 13-year-old Bastien, who gets paired up with a reluctant Chloé (16) when their families come together for a summer
Anvil! The Story of Anvil… Again (2022 Restoration)
Ready to rock? Originally released in ’08, the now cult doc followed the Canadian heavy metal icons ANVIL who would inspire the likes of Anthrax and Metallica, and then drop off the map to begin what would become decades of toiling in obscurity. Director and former roadie Sacha
Better Living Through Chemistry (Magic Mushroom Day!)
Connect with psychedelic therapy pioneer Ann Shulgin and the psychedelic community by attending a special Magic Mushroom Day screening of BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY, the new documentary from filmmaker Connie Littlefield. This film tells the story of Ann Shulgin and Sasha Shulgin, a married couple who were pioneers
Pump Up The Volume
Christian Slater stars in this teen drama as a loner student from the East who enrolls at a highly rated Southwest high school and secretly provokes a mini-rebellion in the student body via his pirate radio station. By day, Mark Hunter is a quiet, studious student at an ordinary suburban
Fire of Love
Katia and Maurice Krafft loved two things — each other and volcanoes. For two decades, the daring French volcanologist couple roamed the planet, chasing eruptions and documenting their discoveries. Ultimately, they lost their lives in a 1991 volcanic explosion, leaving a legacy that forever enriched our knowledge of the natural
Crimes of the Future
Visionary filmmaker David Cronenberg is renowned for fare that gets “under the skin.” His latest work, the polarizing CRIMES OF THE FUTURE, sees the iconic Canadian auteur turning his lens back towards familiar territory, re-framing his focus inside a hyper-modern context that extorts the depths of truly contemporary body horror.
The Righteous
Canadian actor and filmmaker Mark O’Brien (READY OR NOT) does triple duty in his impressive, slow-burn directorial feature debut THE RIGHTEOUS, which he also wrote and stars in. Praised at genre film festivals around the world, THE RIGHTEOUS is a unique and darkly engaging spiritual thriller strikingly shot in black