VIFF 2023: Animalia

With her affluent husband and his oppressive family away on a day trip, Itto (Oumaïma Barid) intends to savour some solitude in their opulent home. But when an ominous meteorological event blows in, all of Morocco is plunged into a state of emergency. Forced to evacuate and thrust from her sheltered privilege, the heavily pregnant … Read more

VIFF 2023: Fitting In

Lindy (Maddie Ziegler) has a problem. She’s 16, doing well in school, and she has a boyfriend in her sights… But a routine gynecological examination reveals her body doesn’t conform to expectations, not her own and not society’s. Born with a rare reproductive syndrome, she is told she will never conceive and penetrative sex will … Read more

VIFF 2023: Close To You

Drawn home for the first time in a long time by his father’s birthday, Sam (Elliot Page) finds himself aboard a train out of Toronto hurtling towards a family he hasn’t faced since transitioning four years earlier. Onboard, he makes a chance encounter with an old friend, Katherine (Hillary Baack), and sparks instant chemistry, bringing … Read more

VIFF 2023: Float

World Premiere During the summer before college, city girl Waverly (Andrea Bang) finds herself in Tofino, completely alienated by the local beach culture. Things start to look up when she meets the local lifeguard Blake (Robbie Amell), who welcomes her into his life. And when he finds out that she doesn’t know how to swim … Read more

VIFF 2023: Seagrass

Having decamped to a Gabriola Island couples’ retreat in a last-ditch attempt to save their crumbling marriage, preoccupied Judith (Ally Maki) and Steve (Luke Roberts) leave their young daughters to their own devices. In turn, 11-year-old Stephanie (Nyha Breitkreuz) quickly ditches six-year-old Emmy (Remy Marthaller) in favour of a pack of unruly teens and their … Read more

VIFF 2023: White Plastic Sky

One hundred years in the future, humanity is facing the consequences of the environmental degradation they’ve wrought: at the age of 50, every citizen is voluntarily transformed into a tree so that they might supply oxygen to a withering world. Stefan (Tamás Keresztes) is at peace with all of this until his wife Nóra (Zsófia … Read more

VIFF 2023: The Royal Hotel

Hanna (Julia Garner) is backpacking across Australia with her best friend Liv (Jessica Henwick). Running low on funds, they decide that a job tending bar in an Outback mining town might be a lark — the job comes with free lodging, after all, and not a little booze. The owner, Billy (Hugo Weaving) does his … Read more

VIFF 2023: The Animal Kingdom

North American Premiere In a world where mysterious mutations are gradually evolving humans into animal hybrids in an unpredictable and frightening way, a father tries to protect his 16 year old son who is starting to acquire beastly characteristics. Fantastical and fascinating, The Animal Kingdom insightfully explores otherness, pandemic, and human survival within the context … Read more

Dovbush

Presented by Ukraine Harmony Foundation Carpathians. Beginning of the 18th century. The brutal rule of the Polish nobility forces Hutsuls to flee to the mountains. Two brothers, Oleksa and Ivan Dovbush, find themselves to be outlaws and become opryshoks. In search of revenge on the lords for the murder of Dovbush’s parents, the brothers become … Read more