The Vancouver International Film Festival returns for its 45th year with about 160 feature films and 80 shorts plus VIFF Live events on Oct. 1–11.
The Story
The Vancouver International Film Festival is set to return for its 45th instalment in the city, bringing feature films, shorts, and live programming to theatres across Vancouver from Oct. 1 to 11.
A press release says festival-goers can expect roughly 160 feature films and 80 shorts spread across 13 screens at 10 venues, giving audiences a wide set of screenings over the festival’s 11-day run.
In addition to standard film schedules, the festival also includes “VIFF Live,” described as the most expansive live programme to date, bringing cinematic and audiovisual performances beyond traditional ticketed screenings.
VIFF Live will feature nine experiences spanning a range of styles including avant-garde electronica, Indigenous futurism, experimental performance, and orchestral film music, with a one-night-only event highlighted within the broader slate.
One of the live-programme standouts scheduled within VIFF Live includes a performance by Mark Mothersbaugh, identified as a composer and DEVO founder, performing music from films such as The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, Thor: Ragnarok, and The LEGO Movie with an 11-piece ensemble.
The festival also points to a North American premiere as part of VIFF Live programming: The KLF: 23 Seconds to Eternity, directed by Bill Butt, described as a film that takes viewers through music videos and short films from Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond.
Alongside that premiere, the VIFF Live schedule includes a pairing of CHXMERAS with a MUTEK x VIFF Live evening of electronic music and audiovisual performance, reflecting the festival’s blend of film culture and sound-and-performance programming.
Beyond live events, VIFF’s screening schedule includes an opening gala tied to a special invitation, with The Debut serving as the opening film on Oct. 1 at 5:45 p.m., starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti.
The opening film is written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg and is described as a story in which a “meek Mona,” played by Moore, lands a role in a musical while becoming increasingly untethered from reality as the production unfolds.
For audiences who cannot attend the opening-night gala, the festival notes that multiple films are scheduled at or around the same time, including Clarissa, which is described as a transposition of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway into a city setting of traffic, privilege, memory, and political unease.
Other opening-day options mentioned include All the Lovers in the Night, a Japanese film about a solitary thirty-something freelance proofreader living a quiet, meticulously ordered life on the margins of Tokyo who gradually loosens her defences and confronts the vulnerability of being seen.
The festival also highlights several world premieres from filmmakers with connections to British Columbia, including First Comes Love: Nakabingwit by Joella Cabalu, Relax, Open Your Eyes by David Ehrenreich, and The Bryce Lee Story by Arnold Lim, all identified as new works being introduced to audiences.
Several Canadian premieres are also part of the lineup, including Behemoth! by Tony Gilroy, Fjord by Cristian Mungiu, All of a Sudden by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and Possible Love by Lee Chang-dong.
The programming focus for this year includes a spotlight on new German cinema, with six films from emerging filmmakers included in the festival’s offerings.
The closing night is tied to a feature from director Martin McDonagh, with Wild Horse Nine described as starring John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell, who are identified as CIA agents dispatched from Santiago to Easter Island by their bureau chief, MJ (Steve Buscemi).
VIFF’s lineup also includes an Indigenous talent spotlight featuring director Marie Clements, identified as a Métis/Dene filmmaker, whose film How We Stand premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Sept. 10.
How We Stand is described as following a single mother and her three daughters whose lives are uprooted through the long aftermath of the Native American Relocation Program in the United States, as they move from Oklahoma to Los Angeles drawn by promises of opportunity and stability but face tragedy.
For Vancouver and Canadian audiences, the festival’s structure—dense schedules across multiple venues, plus expanded live programming—offers a practical way to build a week of entertainment around film discovery, local and international premieres, and programming that extends beyond screen-to-screen viewing.
With the festival scheduled across a set of dates in early October and with “cost: varies” and a range of venue options indicated, readers are positioned to plan around the Oct. 1 start, the gala opening timeline, and the opportunities to catch premieres and Canadian first screenings as the festival moves through its Oct. 11 conclusion.
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