Movies
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),
VIFF 2023: Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
Meet Sasha, the world’s most compassionate young vampire. Her family is at their wits’ end with her reluctance to embrace their lethal traditions; instead she relies on somewhat ethically sourced blood bags to survive. But when her clan decides to cut off her supply to push her out of her
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
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
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: Wild Goat Surf
World Premiere It’s 2003, and 12-year-old Rell “Goat” Barrel (Shayelin Martin) and her mom Jane (Caitlyn Sponheimer) are scheming and scrounging their way through another Penticton summer. Having illegally sublet the house they’re renting; they’re now holed up in a RV park bordering Skaha Lake. From this modest base of
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
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,
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: 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