Foreigner: VIFF 2025
Set in 2004, Yasamin (Rose Deghan) is an Iranian teenager who has recently immigrated to Canada with her family. Desperate to fit in, she practices her English by studying sitcoms and succeeds in befriending three popular girls at school — mean girls with permanent smiles and soulless eyes. When her new friends convince Yasamin she needs to dye her hair blonde to be accepted, she takes their advice, but gets more than she bargained for when her new hair colour awakens a demon lurking inside her.
Vancouver-based artist Ava Maria Safai’s first feature is a humorous coming-of-age horror story that reimagines the immigrant high school experience as an internal conflict akin to demonic possession. Rose Deghan’s enchanting performance perfectly balances the darkly humourous and lighthearted tonal shifts of Safai’s screenplay — think Heathers meets Carrie. Foreigner is a charming and entertaining thrill ride, and a vengeful power fantasy that should prove satisfying for anyone who’s been told to go back to where they came from.
Monday, October 6
6:00 pm
Tickets HERE
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VIFF thanks the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ/Selilwitulh (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 collaborating with and supporting Indigenous artists, filmmakers, curators, and audiences.