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VIFF 2025 - Vancouver International Film Festival When & Where October 2 – 12, 2025 | The VIFF Centre, The Cinémathèque, International Village, Vancouver Playhouse, Rio Theatre, SFU's Goldcorp Centre, Fifth Avenue Cinema, H.R. MacMillan Centre, Granville Island Stage & Alliance Francaise Reviewer
John
Anthony Jane
France, 2025, dir. Rebecca Zlotowski, 103 minutes Dates and Venues October 4 at Alliance Francaise, October 7 at Vancouver Playhouse & October 12 at Granville Island Stage In French with English subtitles Rebecca Zlotowski’s new film comes across as a tribute to the Woody Allen style of film-making; in as much that his (best) films often portray neurotic and complex characters who struggle with personal anxiety. This trait allows the viewer to observe the subject with humour. Jodie Foster portrays an American psychoanalyst living and working in Paris whose own mental health might be questionable. While Ms. Foster is on screen for almost the entire duration of the film, this is not one of her best; although, she functions in the role speaking remarkably good French. Norway/France/Denmark/Germany/Sweden/UK, 2025, dir. Joachim Trier, 135 minutes Dates and Venue October 3 & October 8 at the Vancouver Playhouse In English and Norwegian with English subtitles
Joachim Trier’s film is a complex family drama about
an intergenerational, dysfunctional family. More than that
though, it’s a story of forgiveness and redemption.
USA, 2025, dir. Colin Hanks, 113 minutes Dates and Venue October 4 at the Vancouver Playhouse & October 6 at Granville Island Stage Canadian actor and comedian John Candy died of a heart attack on March 4, 1994 on location in Durango, Mexico midway through filming Wagons East. He was only 43. That was more than thirty years ago.
Iran/France/Luxembourg, 2025, dir. Jafar Panahi, 105 minutes Dates and Venues October 2 & October 9 at the Vancouver Playhouse In Persian with English subtitles
A simple single vehicle accident on a dark road on the outskirts
of a large Iranian city leads to a catastrophic conclusion,
that effects not only the driver and the vehicle’s other
occupants, but also a disparate group of denizens.....
USA, 2025, dir. David Michôd, 135 minutes Dates and Venues October10 at the Vancouver Playhouse and October 12 at The Rio Notwithstanding
Clint Eastwood’s 2004 film Million Dollar Baby,
movies that focus on the sport of female boxing are almost
unique. David Michôd’s film is a cinematic biography
that chronicles Christine “Christy “ Salters’
abusive relationship with husband and trainer Jim Martin and
her career..... 2025 Vancouver Queer Film Festival (VQFF) When & Where September 11 - 21, 2025 | Local supporting in-person theatres + online. For more more information, visit the VQFF website here. Reviewers Darren Cordeiro and Jason Martin Then. Now. Forever. (Opening Presentation) Date and Venue September 11, 2025 | Vancouver Playhouse, 600 Hamilton St., Vancouver, BC Reviewers: Darren Cordeiro & Jason Martin The opening gala for the 2025 Vancouver Queer Film Festival (VQFF) was a night to remember! With speeches from collaborators to amazing performances by Indigenous Peoples prior to the Shorts, the evening kicked off to a fabulous start. Then. Now. Forever., a collection of seven Shorts, was played for the sold-out audience, each one speaking to different topics and themes that entrench the Queer community.
Set in 1970s Los Angeles, Dandelion trails foster teen Margaret (Ava Lalezarzadeh) as she’s ferried across the city in a sputtering wood-paneled Pinto—both a metaphor of her inner struggle and an iconic relic of the era. With her social worker (Vic Michaelis), she scrambles to find her yet another placement before daybreak. As the night unfolds, the search for a new placement turns into something more: a glimpse of queer community, tenderness, and the possibility of belonging. Obertinca’s Short distills themes of abandonment and chosen family into 20 minutes that are as sharp as they are heartfelt.
Anita Louise, a Nova Scotian photographer, spent decades visually documenting local queer community events, especially the weekend retreat Wild Women Don’t Get The Blues which was an intimate camping getaway for lesbian and bisexual women in the 80s and 90s. Truly serving as a Canadian queer pioneer, she was noted in the interviews as somebody who would always be present but never in the spotlight as she was behind the scenes capturing the candid, blissful moments of her queer community. After her recent passing, she is still remembered as the warmth behind the camera’s eye. View all reviews
USA, 2025, Dir. Akiva Schaffer, 85 minutes When and Where Release date for Canada & U.S. is set for August 1, 2025 | Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas Reviewer John Anthony Jane Akiva Schaffer’s
2025 version of The Naked Gun is not a remake of David
Zucker’s original released back in 1988, but rather a
legacy sequel. Zucker’s version had Canadian actor Leslie
Nielsen as Lt. Frank Drebin, while Irish actor Liam Neeson takes
on the role of Frank Drebin Jr. Full
Review
2025 DOXA Documentary Film Festival When & Where May 1 - 11, 2025 | Vancouver Playhouse, VIFF Centre, The Cinematheque & SFU Goldcorp Centre + online
Canada, 2025, dir. Baljit Sangra, 79 minutes There’s perhaps no greater tragedy than talent unclaimed…It would seem that Judi Singh was born too early for the global acclaim that her talent deserved. Judi was the daughter of Sohan Singh Bhullar, a Punjabi Sikh and Effie Jones, whose father had been a slave in Mississippi. She began singing at Edmonton's famous jazz club the Yardbird Suite at the age of 17, and continued to perform in front of sold-out crowds at the venue throughout the fifties and sixties. Full Review
Mistress Dispeller China
& USA, 2024, Elizabeth Lo, 95 minutes Elizabeth
Lo’s strange documentary provides an intimate look at China’s
booming relationship industry, that has for the last decade indicated
an increase in adultery. Of course, China is hardly unique in
this very human problem. Full
Review
Reviewer John Anthony Jane In the making
of Mr. Nobody Against Putin, Danish-based documentarian
Daniel Borenstein worked with educational videographer and student
events coordinator Pavel Talankin. Over a two year period Talankin
selectively documented the activities of students and staff
at the Karabash Primary School #1. Full
Review
Reviewer John Anthony Jane Montreal
based Kinga Michalska’s observational documentary investigates
Poland from the perspective of people living today on or near
sites that are identified with the horror of the Holocaust.
Sites, such as the labour camp at Starachowice and the Stutthof
concentration camp at Sztutowo where 65,000 people met their
fate. Full Review
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A
Private Life (Vie Privée)
Sentimental
Value
ohn
Candy: I Like Me
Christy
Dandelion
Anita
Louise and the Wild Women
Mr.
Nobody Against Putin 