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Fri. Sep 27, 6:30 pm, Intl Village 10
Sat. Sep 28, 1:10 pm, Intl Village 10

ALL THE WRONG REASONS

Classification: 14A - Sexually suggestive scenes; coarse language

The paths of four troubled souls intersect inside an unassuming department store in Gia Milani’s romantic tragicomedy. Commanding fantastic performances from her stellar cast—Karine Vanasse, Emily Hampshire, Kevin Zegers and Corey Monteith in his final film role—Milani shows that there are right and wrong ways to love, and that learning the difference is a worthy struggle.

THE DIRTIES

Canada | Director: Matt Johnson

Related Links: Review | Official Website

Mon. Sep 30, 9:15 pm, Rio
Wed. Oct 2, 4:00 pm, Cinematheque

In Matt Johnson’s conceptually daring debut, a high school movie geek’s power fantasies about exacting revenge on his tormentors spill over into reality and spiral out of control. "The most empathetic and human portrait of bullying, and its deadly consequences, ever put on film.”—Huffington Post.

Winner, Best Narrative Feature, Slamdance 2013.

RHYMES FOR YOUNG GHOULS

Canada | Director: Jeff Barnaby

Sat. Sep 28, 9:00 pm, Rio
Thu. Oct 3, 3:40 pm, Intl Village 9

Revenge is a rite of passage in Jeff Barnaby’s audacious, genre-bending debut. The reigning "weed princess" of Red Crow reserve, teenage Aila communes with spirits as she plots vengeance against the callous Indian Agent tormenting her community. Swirling fantasy and harrowing reality conspire in this riveting tale of a feminist, First Nations heroine for the ages.

SARAH PREFERS TO RUN

(Sarah préfère la course)

Canada | Director: Chloé Robichaud

Related Links: Trailer

Classification: 14A - Sexually suggestive scene

Thu. Oct 3, 9:15 pm, Intl Village 9
Fri. Oct 4, 1:00 pm, Intl Village 9

Bursting out of the starting blocks, Chloé Robichaud’s debut feature is a breathless account of a fiercely driven runner (Sophie Desmarais) who’s tripped up while navigating a romantic obstacle course. As the athletically gifted, socially stunted Sarah, Desmarais impresses with displays of physical prowess offset by the slightest, most revealing gestures.

WHITEWASH

Canada | Director: Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais

Related Links: Review

Tue. Oct 1, 1:45 pm, SFU-GCA
Fri. Oct 4, 9:15 pm, Intl Village 10

Provoked into an act of violence, a taciturn widower (Thomas Haden Church, spectacular) pilots his snowplow into a Quebec forest and sets about living as an outlaw. In turns amusing, morbid, tragic and tense, Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais’ singular debut signals the arrival of a formidable new talent.

Winner, Best New Narrative Director, Tribeca 2013.

Canadian Images Opener ALL THE WRONG REASONS is also eligible for this award as are the following BC Films:

3  DAYS IN HAVANA, LAWRENCE & HOLLOMAN, LEAP 4 FOR YOUR LIFE, THAT BURNING FEELING

VIFF proudly showcases both established and emerging filmmakers in our four Canadian Images short film programs: Dark Matter, Objects of Desire, Performance/Anxiety and Young Offenders. Many filmmakers who were first introduced to VIFF audiences through their short films have subsequently returned with features, including VIFF13’s Louise Archambault (Gabrielle), Jason DaSilva (When I Walk), Matthew Kowalchuk (Lawrence & Holloman), Chelsea McMullan (My Prairie Home) and Chloé Robichaud (Sarah Prefers to Run). We anticipate that you’ll be seeing a lot more of this year’s short filmmakers in the very near future.

Full details regarding the programs are available at viff.org.

15 REASONS TO LIVE

Canada | Director: Alan Zweig

Related Links: Website & Trailer

Fri. Oct 4, 9:30 pm, Vancity
Sun. Oct 6, 11:30 am, Intl Village 9

Sharing personal reminiscences and interviews with others, director Alan Zweig constructs an affirming journey that encompasses personal quests, amazing anecdotes and poignant reflections. Whether it’s a young girl who takes a brave stand against religious conformity or a man who decides to walk the Earth, there’s something valuable to be gleaned from each of these encounters.

ANOTHER HOUSE

(L’ autre maison)

Canada | Director: Mathieu Roy

Sun. Sep 29, 6:45 pm, Intl Village 9
Mon. Sep 30, 1:00 pm, Intl Village 9

The first fiction feature by Mathieu Roy (Surviving Progress) stars Marcel Sabourin as the increasingly erratic and forgetful father of a jet-setting reporter (Roy Dupuis) and an ambitious pilot in training (Émile Proulx-Cloutier). The two brothers must overcome their differences when they accompany their father to the enigmatic "other home" that he seeks.

GABRIELLE

Canada | Director: Louise Archambault

Classification: 14A - Sexually suggestive scenes

Sun. Oct 6, 7:00 pm, Vancity
Mon. Oct 7, 4:00 pm, Playhouse

Director Louise Archambault avoids the obvious traps in this thoughtful telling of the love between Gabrielle, a young woman affected by a neurodevelopmental disorder, and a boy she meets through her choir. With the stirring participation of famous Quebec singer Robert Charlebois, this is a crowd-pleaser with integrity.

Winner, Audience Award, Locarno 2013.

H & G

Canada | Director: Danishka Esterhazy

Related Links: Official Website

World Premiere

Classification: PG - Coarse language; crude content

Sat. Sep 28, 6:00 pm, Intl Village 9
Tue. Oct 1, 10:50 am, Intl Village 10

Danishka Esterhazy’s provocative and challenging film is a tale of survival against all odds, updating the story of Hansel and Gretel to reflect some grim contemporary realities: single parenthood, substance abuse, child neglect, pedophilia and serial murder. It’s a potent mix, and the performances are superb.

NO LAND NO FOOD NO LIFE

Canada | Director: Amy Miller

World Premiere

Thu. Oct 3, 6:30 pm, Rio
Sun. Oct 6, 4:00 pm, SFU-GCA

Director Amy Miller (Carbon Rush, VIFF 2012) exposes the devastating human cost of agricultural land grabbing—the contentious issue of large-scale agricultural land acquisitions by domestic and transnational companies, governments and individuals.

THE OXBOW CURE

Canada | Directors: Yonah Lewis, Calvin Thomas

Related Links: Official Website | Review | Review

Mon. Sep 30, 4:30 pm, Cinematheque
Tue. Oct 8, 7:00 pm, Cinematheque
Thu. Oct 10, 4:45 pm, Cinematheque

In turns sensuous and sinister, Yonah Lewis and Calvin Thomas’ entrancing, atmospheric character study unfolds in an isolated, snowbound cabin within which a woman is plagued by grief, illness and a supernatural presence. "Viewers who are unafraid to venture into cinema’s darkest hinterlands will be impressed by what they discover here."—Grid

SOFTENING

Canada | Director: Kelly O’Brien

Thu. Oct 3, 6:45 pm, SFU-GCA
Sun. Oct 6, 1:20 pm, Intl Village 8

Kelly O’Brien’s visually arresting, deeply personal documentary is a lyrical-yet-candid account of her family’s experiences raising a disabled child.

TOM AT THE FARM

(Tom à la ferme)

Canada/France | Director: Xavier Dolan

Fri. Sep 27, 9:15 pm, Rio
Sun. Sep 29, 1:40 pm, Intl Village 10

Xavier Dolan (I Killed My Mother), one of Canada’s most provocative and boundary pushing filmmakers, dips his toes into the mainstream with this gripping psychological thriller. Dolan plays the grief-stricken Tom, who ventures into the bucolic Quebec countryside for his lover’s funeral, only to become a pawn in a savage, sadistic game perpetrated by members of the grieving family.

THE RIGHT KIND OF WRONG

Canada | Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik

Sat. Sep 28, 8:45 pm, Intl Village 9
Sun. Sep 29, 3:40 pm, Intl Village 9

This quixotic quest film is directed by Jeremiah Chechik (Benny & Joon) and stars True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten as Leo Palamino, a failed writer who toils as a dishwasher. Leo is reluctantly famous thanks to a blog and a book written by his ex-wife called "Why You Suck." But there’s light at the end of his tunnel vision…

VIC + FLO SAW A BEAR

Canada | Director: Denis Côté

Related Links: Trailer | Official Website

Sat. Oct 5, 9:00 pm, Intl Village 8
Mon. Oct 7, 2:00 pm, Vancity

Desire and revenge fuel Denis Côté’s entrancing tragicomedy about two lesbian ex-cons trying—and failing—to discover normalcy in the Quebec countryside. A dizzying climax certifies this as "one of the more bizarre and original films to emerge from a territory that seems to specialize in this cinematic commodity…"—Screen.

Winner, Alfred Bauer Award, Berlin 2013.

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Volunteers are vital to VIFF and help organize all aspects of the Festival—they tear tickets and check passes, chauffeur guests, control the line-ups (sometimes in the rain!), answer the film info line, work the box office, clean up at the galas, work the media centre and seat people in the theatres, among other things. We need you! Click here to sign up online.

You need to volunteer for a minimum of 32 hours for the Festival, earning you a Volunteer Pass good for most screenings during the Festival.