This article is part of a Tyee Presents initiative. Tyee Presents is the special sponsored content section within The Tyee where we highlight contests, events and other initiatives that are either put on by us or by our select partners. The Tyee does not and cannot vouch for or endorse products advertised on The Tyee.
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Learn more about Tyee Presents. The Vancouver International Film Festival is back again, running from Sep. 26 to Oct.
6 in its 43rd edition. With over 140 feature films and 80 shorts from 72 countries, as well as the unique performances of VIFF Live and VIFF Talks , festival programmers have curated a dazzling array of visionary and entertaining cinema that showcases the best of Canadian and International filmmaking. One of the highlights of VIFF is the Insights series.
Featuring 12 powerful documentaries, Insights allows you to explore stories that change the way we see the world. Immerse yourself in the secret world of Brazil’s illegal hot-air balloonists in Balomania , a thrilling, guerilla-style documentary from a filmmaker who spent over a decade earning the trust of these baloeiros who risk their lives for their art. Or embed yourself in the Alps in Living with Wolves , which studies the politics surrounding wolf life in western Europe — the spirited advocacy for the animals, and the often harsh forces pitted against them.
Closer to home, you can cheer on the journey of the 4KGirl$ in the heartwarming Curl Power about a teenage curling team from Maple Ridge as they strive to become Canadian Junior Curling Champions. Or you can enjoy the world premiere of The Chef & the Daruma , a mouth-watering film tracing legendary Vancouver chef Hidekazu Tojo’s journey of immigration, identity and reinvention. You can also dive into the divisive potential of artificial intelligence in The Thinking Game , charting the rise of Demis Hassabis’s groundbreaking AGI company DeepMind as it showcases cutting-edge technology on the cusp of reshaping the world.
If you’d like a film focused more on the internal worlds of human experience, At Averroes & Rosa Parks is deeply invested in its subjects’ humanity: structured around a series of candid counselling sessions between psychiatric patients and their caregivers, it’s a powerful, thought-provoking film emphasizing the inner lives of people suffering from mental illness while subtly examining the systems that constrain them. And it doesn’t stop there. You can witness the long-term effects of authoritative systems around the world in films like Democracy Noir , a chilling exposé of far-right nationalism in Hungary that follows three women fighting for their country’s soul in the face of personal, public and institutional pressures, inspiring solidarity in its portraits of joyful and fierce resistance.
In the passionate, uplifting and incisive Unlikely Allies , music producer Weldon Angelos’ unjust drug conviction lays bare America’s draconian drug laws while rallying cross-partisan support from disparate figures such as Charles Koch and Snoop Dogg. Or dive deep into the history of fishing management in Washington state with Fish War , a compelling film that opens up important conversations around Indigenous treaty rights, the extent and limitations of federal and state jurisdiction, and the harsh impacts of colonialism. If you’re looking for inspiration, Blink is one of the most heartwarming films of the festival: when three of a family’s four kids are diagnosed with a genetic disease that causes blindness, their parents opt to take them on a tour of the world so they can fill up a visual memory bank of beautiful images before losing sight completely.
It’s both a globe-trotting adventure and a bittersweet journey of self-discovery and family connection. In the world premiere of Ninan Auassat: We, the Children , three Indigenous groups of children and teens from Atikamekw, Eeyou Cree and Innu nations share their stories, dreams and experiences over six years, allowing the perspectives and ambitions of the next generation to be heard. And in a transformative journey of peace, Searching For Amani follows 13-year-old Simon Ali as he searches for his father’s killers in the years following his murder in Kenya’s largest private wildlife sanctuary.
In tracing Ali’s personal story, explorations of Kenya’s postcolonialist upheaval and the ravaging effects of climate change colour the landscape. At the heart of the Insights series is the struggle for meaning. Telling stories both unique and universal, these films reveal the need to find beauty and purpose in nature and society, to confront the limitations of our bodies, to fight political repression and legal injustice while imagining the possibilities of the future.
Start planning your festival and view the full program at the VIFF website . Tickets on sale now . Read more: Film This article is part of a Tyee Presents initiative.
Tyee Presents is the special sponsored content section within The Tyee where we highlight contests, events and other initiatives that are either put on by us or by our select partners. The Tyee does not and cannot vouch for or endorse products advertised on The Tyee. We choose our partners carefully and consciously, to fit with The Tyee’s reputation as B.
C.’s Home for News, Culture and Solutions. Learn more about Tyee Presents.
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