How We Stand: VIFF 2026
How We Stand: VIFF 2026
The Vancouver International Film Festival returns for their 45th year this October 1-11 for another curated season celebrating the best in independent, Canadian, documentary, and international shorts and features.
In How We Stand, writer-filmmaker Marie Clements follows three sisters through the long aftermath of the Native American Relocation Program that uprooted Indigenous families. Opening in 1950s Oklahoma, we’re introduced to a single mother (Cara Jade Myers) and her three young daughters. Drawn by promises of opportunity and stability, the family moves to Los Angeles, but their ambitions never materialize, and a traumatic event separates the girls. Twenty years later the sisters have taken vastly different paths: Jessie (Amber Midthunder) is a clinic doctor; Miranda (Alyssa Wapanatâhk) is an activist-turned-actor; and Janey (Isabel DeRoy-Olson) is unraveling under the weight of a trauma she’s never been able to name.
The historical drama carries heavy weight, but Clements doesn’t play it straight — magical realism and a satirical streak run through the film, including a sharp Hollywood western send-up. Each sister’s experiences or racism and institutional violence are unique, yet the three threads are tied together by a shared history that continues to shape their lives, even decades after the separation.
Sunday, October 4
Doors: 2:30 pm | Film: 3:00 pm *Start time subject to change. Please arrive on time.
Tickets HERE
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.
