The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October.
The Grudge is a 2004 supernatural horror film directed by Takashi Shimizu, written by Stephen Susco, and produced by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, and Takashige Ichise. A remake of Shimizu's 2002 Japanese horror film Ju-On: The Grudge, it stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jason Behr, KaDee Strickland, Clea DuVall, and Bill Pullman, and is the first installment in The Grudge film series, which is based on the Japanese Ju-On films. Takako Fuji, Yuya Ozeki, and Takashi Matsuyama portray the characters Kayako Saeki, Toshio Saeki, and Takeo Saeki from the original films. The plot is told through a nonlinear sequence of events and includes several intersecting subplots.
Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe is a Canadian actress. She is known for her scream queen roles in horror films such as Children of the Corn: Revelation (2001), Final Destination 3 (2006), Black Christmas (2006), and Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007). She played Rita Haywith in Hallmark Channel's television and television film series Signed, Sealed, Delivered (2013–2021).
VIFF Dragons and Tigers Award for Young Cinema was an award from the Vancouver International Film Festival for a film director from the Asia-Pacific region. Presented to a film judged as the best film by an emerging director within the festival's Dragons and Tigers program for Asian cinema, it awarded a creative and innovative film, made early in the director's career, which had not yet won significant international recognition.
Lost in Paradise is a 2011 Vietnamese drama film directed by Vũ Ngọc Đãng. Its original title is Rebellious Hot Boy and the Story of Cười, the Prostitute and the Duck, shortened to Rebellious Hot Boy or simply Hot Boy. The film is set in Ho Chi Minh City and has two separate story lines. The first depicts a love triangle between three men, Khôi, Lam, and Đông, amidst a backdrop of male prostitution. The second concerns a mentally handicapped man, Cười, his friendship with Hạnh, a female prostitute, and his attempts to raise a duckling. The film was a strong critical and commercial success in Vietnam. It has been shown at several international festivals, from which it garnered more mixed reviews. In particular its portrayal of homosexuality has been noted as ground breaking within the context of Vietnamese cinema.
Haida Modern is a 2019 Canadian documentary film about the art and activism of Haida artist Robert Davidson. The film was directed by Charles Wilkinson, filmed, produced and edited by Wilkinson and Tina Schliessler and executive produced by Kevin Eastwood. It premiered at the 2019 Vancouver International Film Festival.
Evangeline is a 2013 Canadian horror/thriller film, which was written and directed by Karen Lam.
Karen Lam is a Canadian director, writer and producer. She is known for the horror film Evangeline (2013).
Sofia Bohdanowicz is a Canadian filmmaker. She is known for her collaborations with Deragh Campbell and made her feature film directorial debut in 2016 with Never Eat Alone. Her second feature film, Maison du Bonheur, was a finalist for the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award at the 2018 Toronto Film Critics Association Awards. That year, she won the Jay Scott Prize from the Toronto Film Critics Association. Her third feature film, MS Slavic 7, which she co-directed with Campbell, had its world premiere at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival in 2019. She has also directed several short films, such as Veslemøy's Song (2018) and Point and Line to Plane (2020).
Never Eat Alone is a 2016 Canadian drama film written and directed by Sofia Bohdanowicz. The film follows a lonely grandmother as she tries to reconnect with an ex-boyfriend from her youth.
Deragh Campbell is a Canadian actress and filmmaker. She is known for her acclaimed performances in independent Canadian cinema. Her collaborations with filmmaker Sofia Bohdanowicz—Never Eat Alone (2016), Veslemøy's Song (2018), MS Slavic 7 (2019), and Point and Line to Plane (2020)—have screened at film festivals internationally. She has also featured in two of Kazik Radwanski's films, How Heavy This Hammer (2015) and Anne at 13,000 Ft. (2019), both of which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Beans is a 2020 Canadian drama film directed by Mohawk-Canadian filmmaker Tracey Deer. It explores the 1990 Oka Crisis at Kanesatake, which Deer lived through as a child, through the eyes of Tekehentahkhwa, a young Mohawk girl whose perspective on life is radically changed by these events.
Monkey Beach is a 2020 Canadian drama film, directed by Loretta Todd. Her debut narrative feature, the film is an adaptation of Eden Robinson's 2000 novel Monkey Beach.
The 2020 Vancouver International Film Festival, the 39th event in the history of the Vancouver International Film Festival, was held from September 24 to October 7, 2020. On September 3, organizers announced a lineup of 180 films; due to the COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia and the associated social distancing restrictions remaining in place at movie theatres and other public venues, the festival took place primarily on the online VIFF Connect platform.
Brother, I Cry is a Canadian drama film, directed by Jessie Anthony and released in 2020. The film stars Justin Rain as Jon, a young First Nations man struggling with drug addiction.
The World Is Bright is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Ying Wang and released in 2019.
The 2021 Vancouver International Film Festival, the 40th event in the history of the Vancouver International Film Festival, was held from October 1 to October 11, 2021. Unlike the 2020 Vancouver International Film Festival, which was staged entirely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 festival featured in-person screenings at the VIFF Centre and other venues, although most titles were also available on the online VIFF Connects platform.
The Vancouver International Film Festival Award for Best Canadian Film is an annual award, presented by the Vancouver International Film Festival to honour the film selected by a jury as the best Canadian film screened at VIFF that year.
