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.Dana Gee, "VIFF back in theatres for 40th anniversary festival". The Province, September 8, 2021. 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.Marsha Lederman, "VIFF to offer full lineup in-person for 40th year". The Globe and Mail, September 8, 2021.
The festival opened with the film The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, and closed with the film Petite Maman. 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.Craig Takeuchi, "Vancouver International Film Festival returns to cinemas for 40th-anniversary edition". The Georgia Straight, September 8, 2021. Some, but not all, titles on the online platform were available for viewing across Canada rather than being geoblocked to British Columbia.
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.Steve Newton, "Vancouver International Film Fest announces award winners". The Georgia Straight, October 13, 2021.
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 , 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