VIFF Short Forum

Community Broadcast Partner

Nalujuk Night

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 76 MIN.

LEWIS BENNETT, CANADA, 2021, 10 MIN. The chaos on the streets of Vancouver that unfolded in the wake of the Canucks’ loss in the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals is revisited from dozens of perspectives.

TERESA ALFELD, CANADA, 2021, 8 MIN. Veteran activist and rst-term Vancouver city councillor Jean Swanson works alongside the next generation of anti-poverty activists ghting systemic inequality.

COURTNEY MONTOUR, CANADA, 2021, 34 MIN. Mary Two-Axe Earley spent much of her life ghting against the injustices that the Indian Act created for Status Indian women. Her work eventually led to the passing of Bill C-31 in 1985, an amendment to the Indian Act to correct gender discrimination.

JENNIE WILLIAMS, CANADA, 14 MIN. Every January 6th, the Inuit community of Nain, Labrador, awaits the Nalujuit, eerie gures that come in from the sea dressed in tattered fur clothing, frightfully descend on homes, and playfully chase locals with sticks and chains.

AMANDA CASSIDY, CANADA, 2021, 10 MIN. A meditative stop-frame animation exploring our connection to the natural world through sound and slow movement.

Militant Mother

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 71 MIN.

CLAUDE CLOUTIER, CANADA, 2020, 7 MIN. In a bizarre world where carnivorous plants can change shapes, a shocking duel is peppered with allusions to the Western, the Cold War, board games, and much more.

MARIE VALADE, CANADA, 2021, 8 MIN. A surrealist journey through a woman’s lovehate relationship with her breasts, her body, her femininity.

KHADIJAH ROBERTS-ABDULLAH, ARAYA MENGESHA, CANADA, 15 MIN. Millennial twins are trapped in their apartment, watching the BLM uprisings unfold on their phones. Fed up with sitting on the sidelines, they head out under the cover of night.

ASIA YOUNGMAN, CANADA, 2020, 10 MIN. After a near collision at an intersection, two women nd themselves face-to-face and at each other’s throats in a yoga class.

CARMEN POLLARD, CANADA, 2021, 8 MIN. To get to class on time, children from the Raymur social housing project were forced to cross perilous train tracks. Twenty- ve mothers made their voices heard by blockading CN Rail.

GLORIA MERCER, CANADA, 2020, 8 MIN. Trudging through a forest, two blood-splattered women stop to wash themselves, smoke a joint, and share thoughts about men, relationships, and bodily autonomy.

AVAZEH SHAHNAVAZ, IRAN/CANADA, 2021, 15 MIN. Yassi is in the middle of a busy street, jumping in front of cars as she desperately searches for someone. The police try to contain the situation but only send things spiraling into further chaos.

Flower Boy

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 81 MIN.

ANYA CHIRKOVA, CANADA, 2020, 17 MIN. As August creeps in, Nav forms intimate bonds with an audacious painter and a middle-aged laser tag arena owner. Just as he begins to nd himself, summer abruptly comes to an end.

PETER BRASS, CANADA, 2021, 12 MIN. Four Indigenous dads candidly discuss their fears and hopes in raising their kids in today’s world.

SARA WYLIE, CANADA, 2021, 9 MIN. Two phone calls between a mother and daughter on opposite sides of the country, recorded in March 2020.

ANDREA NIRMALA WIDJAJANTO, CANADA/INDONESIA, 2020, 9 MIN. Teenage Anjani reunites with her late father’s spirit through the puppets he left behind and sets out to realize her own future—becoming a modern Srikandi.

LAUREN GRANT, CANADA, 2021, 10 MIN. A woman struggles with the isolation of her grief following a miscarriage.

STEVEN DAVIES, CANADA, 2021, 11 MIN. After working as a clearcut logger in the Clayoquot Sound, master carver and land defender Joe Martin reconciles his past by revitalizing the ancestral knowledge and artistic practice of the traditional Tla-o-qui-aht dugout canoe.

ALBERT SHIN, CANADA/SOUTH KOREA, 13 MIN. Two anonymous strangers meet in a motel room by the sea.

Kiri and the Girl

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 90 MIN.

OSSIE MICHELIN, CANADA, 2021, 15 MIN. In this intimate look at Inuit family and culture, seven year-old Evan Winters from Happy Valley-Goose Bay learns the once-lost tradition of Labrador Inuit drum dancing from his mom.

LIZ CAIRNS, CANADA, 13 MIN. After several horses are euthanized at her barn, a woman must nd a mare to put with the sole remaining horse.

ALI GRANT, CANADA, 2021, 7 MIN. Years after her sister’s devastating suicide, Ali Grant travels back through old letters, photos, and home movies to arrive at a pivotal moment in their intertwined destinies—Toronto in the summer of 1978.

GRACE DOVE, CANADA, 2021, 22 MIN. Inspired by the experiences of Tlingit artist Kiri Geen, this is the story of a young girl navigating the loss of her mother, reclaiming her Indigenous heritage, and becoming her true self.

ANNIE ST-PIERRE, CANADA, 2021, 18 MIN. December 24, 1983, 10:50pm: everyone has had too much sugar, Santa Claus is late, and Denis, alone in his car, is anxious about setting foot in his ex-in-law’s house to pick up his kids.

CHARLES WAHL, CANADA, 2020, 15 MIN. Family expectations and nancial strain force James to confront the transactional nature of religion, and the realities of maintaining old traditions in a modern world.

On Either Side

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 79 MIN.

LINDSAY MCINTYRE, CANADA, 2021, 17 MIN. Using antique wind-up bears, layered animation, and analogue techniques, this animated documentary explores identity and belonging, by Inuit both inside and outside of community.

ERIC PETERSON, CANADA, 2021, 18 MIN. An aspiring musician experiences the loss of his grandfather, annoying coworkers, and the anticipation of “big things.”

ELISA JULIA GILMOUR, CANADA, 2021, 12 MIN. A Torontonian of Corsican-Moroccan descent learns he must renew his late grandfather’s expired cemetery plot in Corsica. As he considers unearthing a cadaver, he contends with his own fears of displacement.

SASHA ARGIROV, CANADA, 13 MIN When an encounter at a glory hole sparks an unexpected connection, two socially anxious loners must risk vulnerability to nd the intimacy they yearn for.

PAUL SHKORDOFF, CANADA, 2021, 14 MIN. Sequestered to the con nes of a hotel room, an overworked healthcare worker struggles to nd relief amidst the incessant demands of her day to day life.

MINA SHUM, CANADA, 2020, 5 MIN. A love letter to all the humans.

Heavy Petting

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 78 MIN.

RUKIYA BERNARD, CANADA, 2021, 14 MIN. On her way to another demeaning audition for another stereotypical role, a Black actress is stopped by an undercover cop who believes she’s involved in a break and entry.

CHARLENE MOORE, CANADA, 2021, 4 MIN. A study of shedding away colonial patterns in order to nd truth within the ways of life of one’s natural self.

BRENDAN PROST, CANADA, 2020, 17 MIN. An eerie, bifurcated character drama about a queer encounter between two lonely cat enthusiasts, and a macabre test of one’s social obscurity.

TERRIL CALDER, CANADA, 2021, 20 MIN. A young girl of mixed ancestry endures a challenging journey of self-discovery through an un inching examination of the European and Indigenous ethics embedded inside her.

MARIE FARSI, CANADA, 2020, 7 MIN. This radical visual adaptation and re-imagining of the Greek myth recasts Prometheus as a woman and crafts a poem about resilience, the reclamation of the natural order, and of feminine power inside the patriarchy.

DOMINIQUE VAN OLM, CANADA, 16 MIN While working as a caretaker at an old concert hall one summer, an anxiety-prone young woman invites an otherworldly presence into her life.

The VIFF Catalyst mentorship program is designed to open doors and eliminate barriers for up-and-coming lmmakers, o ering opportunities to those who are often under- or misrepresented in the lm industry. Through exclusive, intimate sessions, our diverse cohort will develop a network of peers and mentors from Vancouver and beyond as part of their tailored festival experience. We’re excited to include:

Anna Anaka Mariam Barry Kathleen Edwards

Jamuna Galay-Tamang Jenny Lee-Gilmore Mily Mumford

Natalie Murao Sean Patterson Hân Phạm

Rosie Pidcock

Ian Tan

Presented by Rachel Rose

Cole Vandale Morgan Strug

Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto

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