2021 Vancouver International Film Festival

2021 Vancouver International Film Festival
Opening filmThe Electrical Life of Louis Wain
Closing filmPetite Maman
LocationVancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Founded1958
No. of films190
Festival dateOctober 1–11, 2021
WebsiteVIFF
Vancouver International Film Festival

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.[1] 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.[2]

The festival opened with the film The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, and closed with the film Petite Maman.[1] 190 films from 51 countries where screened in the festival constituting 113 features, 77 shorts, 80 narrative features and 33 documentary features.

In addition, the festival screened some titles outside Vancouver, including in Terrace and Powell River.[3] Some, but not all, titles on the online platform were available for viewing across Canada rather than being geoblocked to British Columbia.[3]

Awards

Audience-voted awards were announced on October 13 following the end of the festival; however, the juried award winners were announced during the festival as a technique to help publicize and promote the winning films.[4]

Award Film Filmmaker
Audience Award, Galas & Special Presentations Official Competition (Competencia oficial) Gastón Duprat & Mariano Cohn
Audience Award, Contemporary World Cinema The In-Laws (Tesciowie) Kuba Michalczuk
Audience Award, True North Handle With Care: The Legend of the Notic Streetball Crew Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux, Kirk Thomas
Audience Award, Gateway Time Ricky Ko
Audience Award, Impact Little Palestine: Diary of an Occupation Abdallah Al-Khatib
Audience Award, Insights The Six Arthur Jones
Audience Award, M/A/D Charlotte Eric Warin, Tahir Rana
Audience Award, Altered States Saloum Jean Luc Herbulot
Best Canadian Film Without Havana (Sin la Habana) Kaveh Nabatian
Best Canadian Documentary Returning Home Sean Stiller
Best Canadian Short Film Together Albert Shin
Emerging Canadian Director Bootlegger Caroline Monnet
Best BC Film Handle With Care: The Legend of the Notic Streetball Crew Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux, Kirk Thomas
Best BC Short Film The Horses Liz Cairns
BC Emerging Filmmaker Portraits from a Fire Trevor Mack
VIFF Impact Award Blue Box Michal Weits
Rob Stewart Eco Warrior Award Coextinction Gloria Pancrazi, Elena Jean
Immersed (Virtual Reality Program), Best Cinematic Live Action Symphony Igor Cortadellas
Immersed, Best Documentary Inside COVID19 Gary Yost, Adam Loften
Immersed, Best Augmented Reality Mission to Mars AR Piotr Baczyński, Bartosz Rosłoński
Immersed, Best Animation Beat Keisuke Itoh
Immersed, Best Animation Honorable Mention The Passengers Ziad Touma
Immersed, Audience Award Red Eyes Sngmoo Lee

Films

Special presentations

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
All My Puny Sorrows Michael McGowan Canada
Belfast Kenneth Branagh United Kingdom, Ireland
Benediction Terence Davies United Kingdom, United States
Bergman Island Mia Hansen-Løve France, Mexico, Brazil, Germany
Drive My Car Doraibu mai kā Ryusuke Hamaguchi Japan
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain Will Sharpe United Kingdom, United States
Everything Went Fine Tout s'est bien passé François Ozon France
Memoria Apichatpong Weerasethakul Thailand, Colombia, France, Germany, Mexico, China
Mothering Sunday Eva Husson United Kingdom
Night Raiders Danis Goulet Canada
Official Competition Competencia oficial Gastón Duprat & Mariano Cohn Spain
One Second 秒钟 Zhang Yimou China
Petite Maman Céline Sciamma France
Red Rocket Sean Baker United States
The Worst Person in the World Verdens verste menneske Joachim Trier Norway

Contemporary World Cinema

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Azor Andreas Fontana Argentina, France, Switzerland
The Beta Test Jim Cummings, PJ McCabe United States
Bone Marrow Hamid Reza Ghorbani Iran
The Book of Delights O Livro dos Prazeres Marcela Lordy Brazil
Brighton 4th Levan Koguashvili Georgia, Russia, Bulgaria, Monaco, United States
Brother's Keeper Okul Tıraşı Ferit Karahan Turkey, Romania
Bye Bye Morons Adieu les cons Albert Dupontel France
Celts Kelti Milica Tomović Serbia
Clara Sola Nathalie Álvarez Mesén Sweden, Costa Rica, Belgium, Germany
Compartment No. 6 Hytti nro 6 Juho Kuosmanen Finland, Estonia, Germany, Russia
Fabian – Going to the Dogs Fabian oder Der Gang vor die Hunde Dominik Graf Germany
Father Pablo Padre Pablo José Luis Isoard Arrubarrena Mexico
The Girl and the Spider Das Mädchen und die Spinne Ramon Zürcher, Silvan Zürcher Switzerland
Girlfriends Chavalas Carol Rodríguez Colás Spain
Godavari Nikhil Mahajan India
Havel Slávek Horák Czech Republic
Him Han Guro Bruusgaard Norway
Hit the Road Jadde Khaki Panah Panahi Iran
The In-Laws Tesciowie Kuba Michalczuk Poland
Lamya's Poem Alex Kronemer Canada, United States
Miracle Miracol Bogdan George Apetri Romania, Czech Republic, Latvia
Paris, 13th District Les Olympiades Jacques Audiard France
Queen of Glory Nana Mensah United States
The Siamese Bond Las siamesas Paula Hernández Argentina
Small Body Piccolo Corpo Laura Samani Italy, France, Slovenia
Souad Ayten Amin Egypt, Tunisia, Germany
A Tale of Love and Desire Une histoire d'amour et de désir Leyla Bouzid France, Tunisia
Unclenching the Fists Разжимая кулаки Kira Kovalenko Russia
What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? Ras vkhedavt, rodesac cas vukurebt? Alexandre Koberidze Germany, Georgia

True North

English title Original title Director(s)
Be Still Elizabeth Lazebnik
The Boathouse Hannah Cheesman
Bootlegger Caroline Monnet
Coextinction Gloria Pancrazi, Elena Jean
Damascus Dreams Émilie Serri
Darkroom Lukas Maier
Drunken Birds Les Oiseaux ivres Ivan Grbovic
Handle With Care: The Legend of the Notic Streetball Crew Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux, Kirk Thomas
Hands That Bind Kyle Armstrong
Islands Martin Edralin
The Last Tourist Tyson Sadler
Learn to Swim Thyrone Tommy
Night Blooms Stephanie Joline
Portraits from a Fire Trevor Mack
Quickening Haya Waseem
Returning Home Sean Stiller
Ste. Anne Rhayne Vermette
See for Me Randall Okita
The White Fortress Tabija Igor Drljaca
Wildhood Bretten Hannam
Without Havana Sin la Habana Kaveh Nabatian
Zo Reken Emanuel Licha

Gateway

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Barbarian Invasion Tan Chui Mui Malaysia, Hong Kong, Philippines
A Chat Wang Xide China
Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko Gyokō no Nikuko-chan Ayumu Watanabe Japan
In Front of Your Face Hong Sang-soo South Korea
Money Has Four Legs Maung Sun Myanmar
Moneyboys 尋找 C.B.Yi Taiwan, Austria
Sinkhole Singkeuhol Kim Ji-hoon South Korea
Spaghetti Code Love Takeshi Maruyama Japan
Three Sisters Lee Seung-won South Korea
Time Ricky Ko Hong Kong
Wife of a Spy Spy no Tsuma Kiyoshi Kurosawa Japan
Yuni Kamila Andini Indonesia, Singapore, France, Australia

Impact

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Ayukawa: The Weight of Life Tu Neill, Jim Speers New Zealand, United Kingdom, Japan
Behind the Headlines Daniel Andreas Sager Germany
Blue Box Michal Weits Israel, Canada, Belgium
From the Wild Sea Fra det vilde hav Robin Petré Denmark
Her Socialist Smile John Gianvito United States
Little Palestine: Diary of an Occupation Abdallah Al-Khatib Lebanon, France, Qatar
Secrets from Putumayo Aurélio Michiles Brazil

Insights

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Daughter of a Lost Bird Brooke Pepion Swaney United States
Faya Dayi Jessica Beshir Ethiopia, United States, Qatar
The First 54 Years: An Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation Avi Mograbi France, Finland, Israel, Germany
Flee Jonas Poher Rasmussen United States, United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Norway, Denmark
Just a Movement Juste un mouvement Vincent Meessen Belgium, France
The King of North Sudan Danny Abel United States, China, Egypt, Thailand
Maya Jamshid Mojaddadi, Anson Hartford United Kingdom, Iran
My Childhood, My Country - 20 Years in Afghanistan Phil Grabsky, Shoaib Sharifi Afghanistan, United Kingdom
The Six Arthur Jones China
Taming the Garden Salomé Jashi Switzerland, Germany, Georgia
The Velvet Queen La Panthère des neiges Marie Amiguet [fr], Vincent Munier France
Venetian Molecules Molecole Andrea Segre Italy

M/A/D

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Charlotte Eric Warin, Tahir Rana Canada, France, Belgium
The Endless Moment: The Painter Rolf Kuhlmann Claudia Schmid Germany, Greece
Keep Rolling Man Lim Chung Hong Kong
Nine Sevilles Nueve Sevillas Gonzalo García Pelayo, Pedro G. Romero Spain, France
Records Alan Zweig Canada
Rock Bottom Riser Fern Silva United States
Stories That Transform Us Corey Payette Canada
To the Moon Tadhg O'Sullivan Ireland
White Cube Renzo Martens Netherlands, Belgium

Modes

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Adversarial Infrastructure Anna Engelhardt Russia
The Canyon Zachary Epcar United States
The Coast Sohrab Hura India
Corps Samples Astrid de la Chapelle France
Happiness Is a Journey Ivete Lucas, Patrick Bresnan United States, Estonia
In Flow of Words Eliane Esther Bots Netherlands
I've Been Afraid Cecelia Condit Mexico
Motorcyclist's Happiness Won't Fit Into His Suit Al motociclista no le cabe la felicidad en el traje Gabriel Herrera Mexico
Neon Phantom Fantasma Neon Leonardo Martinelli Brazil
New Abnormal Sorayos Prapapan Thailand, South Korea, Singapore
Once Upon a Screen: Explosive Paradox Kevin B. Lee Germany, United States
Show Me Other Places Rajee Samarasinghe Sri Lanka, United States

Altered States

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Bipolar Queena Li China
Kicking Blood Blaine Thurier Canada
Saloum Jean Luc Herbulot Senegal
The Scary of Sixty-First Dasha Nekrasova United States
Strawberry Mansion Albert Birney, Kentucker Audley United States
Tin Can Seth A. Smith Canada
Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror Kier-La Janisse United States

Short Forum

English title Original title Director(s)
Ajjigiingiluktaaqtaugut (We Are All Different) Lindsay McIntyre
Bad Seeds Mauvaises herbes Claude Cloutier
Big Things Eric Peterson
The Blactor Rukiya Bernard
Boobs Lolos Marie Valade
Canucks Riot I Lewis Bennett
Chocolate Charlene Moore
Defund Kahdijah Roberts-Abdulla, Araya Mengesha
Evan's Drum Ossie Michelin
Flower Boy Anya Chirkova
Hatha Asia Youngman
Heavy Petting Brendan Prost
The Horses Liz Cairns
Indigenous Dads Peter Brass
The Isobel Imprint Liz Grant
Jean Swanson: We Need a New Map Teresa Alfield
Kiri and the Girl Grace Dove
Like the Ones I Used to Know Les Grandes claques Annie St-Pierre
Mary Two-Axe Earley: I Am Indian Again Courtney Montour
Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics Terril Calder
Militant Mother Carmen Pollard
The Mohel Charles Wahl
Nalujuk Night Jennie Williams
News from Home Sara Wylie
On Either Side Elisa Julia Gilmour
Personals Sasha Argirov
Prometheus Marie Farsi
A Safe Distance Gloria Mercer
Solitary Skies Amanda Cassidy
Srikandi Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto
Things We Feel But Do Not Say Lauren Grant
Tla-o-qui-aht Dugout Canoe Steven Davies
Together Albert Shin
Twelve Hours Paul Shkordoff
The Untouchable Avazeh Shahnavaz
A Void Dominique Van Olm
Without You Mina Shum

International Shorts

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Al-Sit Suzannah Mirghani Sudan, Qatar
All Dogs Die Allir Hundar Deyja Ninna Pálmadóttir Iceland
Anyhow, Anyway Seja como for Catarina Romano Portugal
Apart, Together Olivia Hang Zhou United States, China
The Black Disquisition Quincy G. Ledbetter United States
Carrier Lasti Max Ovaska Finland
Chants from a Holy Book Cassiana Der Haroutiounian, Cesar Gananian Brazil
Charlotte Zach Dorn United States
Charon Yannick Karcher France
Don vs. Lightning Big Red Button United Kingdom
Dona Marga Melià Spain
Fall of the Ibis King Mikai Geronimo, Josh O'Caoimh Ireland
Flowing Home Nhu môt dòng sông Sandra Desmazières France
The Following Year Miguel Campaña Spain
Goodbye Tornio Hei hei Tornio Emilia Hernesniemi Finland
Granny's Sexual Life Babičino seksualno življenje Urška Djukić Slovenia, France
MeTube: August Sings Una Furtiva Lagrima Daniel Moshel Austria
The Monkey Lorenzo Degl´Innocenti, Xosé Zapata Portugal, Spain
Neko and Flies Tsao Shih Han Taiwan
The Night I Left America Laki Karavias United States
Nuevo Rico Kristian Mercado Figueroa United States
Quality Time Omer Ben-David Israel
A Quiet Man L'Homme silencieux Nyima Cartier France
A Roll in the Hay Une partie en l'air Geoffrey Fighiera France
Roy Tom Berkeley, Ross White United Kingdom
The Saverini Widow La Veuve Savarini Loïc Gaillard France
Unnecessary Things Непотрібні речі Dmytro Lisenbart Ukraine
Wake Mark Boston United Kingdom
Your Street Deine Strasse Güzin Kar Switzerland

Reel Youth

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
10am Prodipto Saha Bangladesh
All Alone Mackenzie Dy Canada
The Art of Being in a World of Not Being Soheil Soheili, Parsa Shojai, Alireza Ahmadi, Sajad Teymoori Iran
Christopher Hunte Tiffany Siu, Andrea Leung Canada
Eye Robot Elina Villemure, Noah Harrison United States
From the North Avi Maksagak Canada
ḥaḥuupač̓akukqin Tim Masso Canada
A Letter to Hong Kong Wynne Kwok Canada
Kamayan Minerva Navasca Canada
kʷənáŋət néʔ Marius Fernandes, Julian Fernandes, Anthony Fernandes, Malinalli Angulo, Weah Fernandes Canada
The Moments Chwile Piotr Kaźmierczak Poland
Music for the End of the World Emmanuel Li United Kingdom
Pitoc e icinakosian Jos-Onimskiw Ottawa-Dubé, Gerry Ottawa Canada
The Secret of Colors Travis Nguyen Canada
Sophie and Jacob Max Shoham Canada
Wicket Harsh Khurana India
Witch's Hunt Day Odilia Tanujaya Indonesia

References