| Opening film | The Electrical Life of Louis Wain |
|---|---|
| Closing film | Petite Maman |
| Location | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Founded | 1958 |
| No. of films | 190 |
| Festival date | October 1–11, 2021 |
| Website | VIFF |
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]
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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| 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, Vincent Munier | France |
| Venetian Molecules | Molecole | Andrea Segre | Italy |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| 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 |
| 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 | |