2025 Vancouver International Film Festival 2SLGBTQIA+ Films
Oct 2 & 10
Night Stage dir Filipe Matzembacher, Marcio Reolon (Brazil) | Canadian Premiere | Altered States
Matias (Gabriel Faryas) is a queer Black actor on the rise. When he enters into an intensely physical relationship with Rafael (Cirillo Luna) — a wealthy, white mayoral candidate — the pair discover a mutual fetish for public sex, putting their professional lives into jeopardy. Directors Marcio Reolon and Felipe Matzembacher construct a steamy, slow-burn erotic thriller that presents queer love as a dangerous act of defiance, bursting out from the nightclubs and into the neon soaked streets of Porto Alegre.
https://viff.org/whats-on/viff25-night-stage/
Oct 3 & 11
Daria's Night Flower گلهای شب ِدریا dir Maryam Tafakory (Iran/UK/France) | Modes
Daria has written her first manuscript about falling in love with a mysterious girl called Blue. The night flowers in her garden hide the secrets of a country that has turned love stories into routine crime scenes.
https://viff.org/whats-on/viff25-darias-night-flower/
Oct 3 & 11
Lloyd Wong, Unfinished dir Lesley Loksi Chan (Canada) | Modes
Thirty years after his passing, filmmaker Lesley Chan re-examines Lloyd Wong’s uncompleted video art project about living with HIV.
https://viff.org/whats-on/viff25-lloyd-wong-unfinished/
Oct 3 & 11
Rezbotanik dir Pedro Gonçalves Ribeiro (Portugal/Brazil/Spain) | North American Premiere
After a night partying, Rezmorah sobers up in the botanical gardens of Lisbon, pondering what the plants can teach us about queerness.
https://viff.org/whats-on/viff25-rezbotanik/
Oct 4 & 5
Thanks to the Hard Work of the Elephants dir Bryce Hodgson (Canada) - World Premiere
High on LSD and eager to break from confinement, two teenage boys steal a van and make their escape from the youth treatment centre that has kept them under lock and key. Four-hundred kilometres later, broken down in the parking lot of a Valu-Mart and wracked with PTSD, the next stage of their trip begins. Bryce Hodgson's film attacks the multi-billion-dollar "troubled teen" industry, which preys helpless parents and vulnerable, queer youth. An emotionally potent rendering of young minds lost to trauma.
https://viff.org/whats-on/viff25-thanks-hard-work-elephants/
Oct 4 & 5: Q&A
Edhi Alice dir Ilrhan Kim (Korea, Republic of) | Canadian Premiere | Spectrum
Kim Ilrhan’s documentary takes an unconventional form, as befits a work about two brave souls defying convention. The first section focuses on Alice, a trans woman who works as a lighting director on films (including this one) while pursuing her dream of becoming a dancer. Next, the focus switches to Edhi, a counsellor preparing for gender reassignment surgery. Kim shows a superb attention to detail, both physical and psychological, and she explores trans identity with curiosity and deep respect.
https://viff.org/whats-on/viff25-edhi-alice-take/
Oct 6 & 7: Q&A
3670 dir Joonho Park (South Korea) ) | Canadian Premiere | Portraits
From Park Joon-ho comes a fascinating, deeply poignant coming-of-age story. An escapee from North Korea, Cheol-jun (Cho You-hyun) is having trouble adjusting to life in Seoul. Shy, socially awkward, and deep in the closet, Cheol-jun is advised to join a social group for young gay men, but the subculture of open homosexuality is defined by customs he struggles to understand. Park’s film walks a fine line: the writer-director is humane enough to avoid cynicism and honest enough to reject false uplift.
https://viff.org/whats-on/viff25-3670/
Oct 6 & 7
I Am Revathi (India) FOCUS: | International Premiere | Once, There Is a City
I Am Revathi traces the journey of trans woman, writer, activist, and theater artist A. Revathi, exploring her transformation into a prominent voice for trans rights in India. The film depicts the lived experiences of transgender people, shedding light on their struggles, power, and ongoing fight for visibility, dignity, and inclusion. Through the documentary, director P. Abhijith aims to highlight the broader realities of transgender lives in India.
https://viff.org/whats-on/viff25-i-am-revathi/
Oct 10 & 11
Skin of Youth Ồn ào tuổi trẻ dir Ash Mayfair (Vietnam/Singapore/Japan) | Canadian Premiere
Ash Mayfair’s romance tells the story of San (Trân Quân) and Nam (Võ Diên Gia Huy), lovers in a dangerous situation. San is a dancer saving up for gender reassignment surgery; Nam is her boyfriend, a professional fighter with a quick temper. Together they negotiate financial need, transphobia, and mortal danger, doing their utmost to succeed in a society in which the odds
https://viff.org/whats-on/viff25-skin-of-youth/
Oct 11 & 12
Assembly dir Rashaad Newsome, Johnny Symons (USA) | Portraits
In 2022, interdisciplinary artist Rashaad Newsome created his most groundbreaking and visionary exhibition yet with Assembly, a multimedia extravaganza of sculpture, dance, collage, spoken word, artificial intelligence, and participatory workshops exploring Black and Queer cultures. This vibrant documentary explores the inner workings of Newsome’s imagination as he took the project from a simple idea to a profound collaboration with dozens of other artists to create an immersive space of empowerment.
https://viff.org/whats-on/viff25-assembly/
