Movies
VIFF 2023: The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed
While coping with the usual workaday demands of life in New York City, Ann (Joanna Arnow), a thirty-something Jewish woman with a taste for BDSM sex, struggles to maintain a series of casual relationships with various “masters.” When one of her long-term partners suddenly ends things, however, she is forced
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
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
VIFF 2023: Robot Dreams
Living a solitary existence in Manhattan, Dog is tired of being alone, and mail orders a friend he can assemble himself: Robot. Their friendship blooms while exploring all that 1980s New York City has to offer. Capturing the fantastical possibilities of animated storytelling, director Pablo Berger (Blancanieves) balances the loveable
VIFF 2023: Restore Point
Central Europe, 2041. With violent crime on the rise, a new technology called Restore Point enables all citizens to be revived from unnatural deaths, so long as they back up their mind’s data at least once every 48 hours. Indefatigable loner detective Em Trochinowska (Andrea Mohylová) investigates the murders of
VIFF 2023: Red Rooms
North American Premiere Every morning before dawn, Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy) descends on a Montréal courthouse, eager to secure front row seats for the harrowing trial of Ludwig Chevalier (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos), a loner accused of the torture and murder of three teenage girls. Even more disturbingly, these atrocities were streamed online
VIFF 2023: Raging Grace
When a position opens up caring for a terminally ill British aristocrat in his secluded mansion, Joy (Maxine Eigenman) jumps at the opportunity. To an undocumented Filipino woman with a mischievous, equally undocumented daughter, Grace, it sounds like the perfect gig. Gradually, though, Joy begins to realize she’s swapped the
VIFF 2023: Physician, Heal Thyself
World Premiere Dr Gabor Maté has become one of the world’s most influential thinkers about addiction, trauma and childhood development on the back of books like In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, The Myth of Normal and When the Body Says No. He’s pioneered the idea of Compassionate Inquiry as
VIFF 2023: Les Filles du Roi
Canadian Premiere 1665. Louis XIV has seen fit to send a gift to the New World: surplus women to bring succor and support to French settlers in what is now Quebec. Among them is Marie-Jeanne (Julie McIsaac), who immediately falls foul of the matronly Madame Savoie (Claire Johnstone) by making
VIFF 2023: It’s Only Life After All
For many growing up in the 1990s, Indigo Girls was the band that defined a generation. They were admired for their unique alt-folk sound, and for their personal, earnest lyrics and catchy melodies. The duo defined gender norms and came out as gay during a time when many musicians stayed