Each year in their programme, the Vancouver International Film Festival sets out in their programme feature presentations representing the best of world cinema, film festivals that have garnered awards at the Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, Tribeca and other prestigious films that will, in the months to come, enter the Oscar race and garner both critical acclaim across North America, and audience love upon arriving on our shores at VIFF 2026.
Cristian Mungiu’s Palme d’Or–winning Fjord, a morally knotty drama about the limits of tolerance
Here’s what VIFF has to say: Representing the year’s most acclaimed and accomplished cinema, our Special Presentations offer a dizzying array of experiences.
Beyond Cristian Mungiu’s riveting Palme D’Or winner, this year’s Cannes imports are highlighted by the precision of Paweł Pawlikowski, the poetry of Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, and two stirring wartime romances. Lee Chang-dong makes his long-awaited return with a characteristically complex investigation of Korean society, while Mike Leigh cements his legacy as one of the greatest humanist filmmakers with what is likely his swansong.
Enthralling performances abound throughout the selection, highlighted by the incomparable Sandra Hüller demonstrating her prowess with two stunning performances.
This year’s VIFF 45’s Galas and Special Presentations programme, an integral element of the Festival programme, once again emerges as must-see cinema.
When Mona Friedman (Julianne Moore) is cast in a bit part at a small community theater, she transforms from a shy, unassuming housewife into a zealous method actor willing to do anything to protect the artistic integrity of her marginal role—even if it means waging war against the show’s domineering director (Paul Giamatti).
Directed by Jesse Eiesenberg.
Opening Gala Film
The Debut
Thu Oct 01, 5:45 pm
Vancouver Playhouse
Book Tickets
Director Rodrigo Sorogoyen (The Beasts, VIFF 2022) took Cannes by storm this year with The Beloved, which tells the story of acclaimed film director Esteban Martínez (Javier Bardem), a legend both for his films and for his past marked by violence and excess. For his new project, he offers his daughter Emilia (Victoria Luengo) a role under the pretext of helping her with her stalled acting career. Living together on set will foster a closeness they haven’t shared for years, but it will also re-open old wounds that never healed.
The Beloved
Thu, Oct 01, 6:00 pm
The Rio Theatre
Standby tickets only
Mon., Oct 05, 6:00 pm
The Park Theatre
Standby tickets only
Sat, Oct 10, 9:30 pm
Vancouver Playhouse
Book Tickets
Amy is a devoted social service worker who puts her heart and soul into her job to care for those in need. At home, however, she finds herself confronting new challenges as her beloved father begins to show the early signs of dementia, and she and her mother must begin to make peace with their new reality.
Through it all, Amy finds comfort, perspective, and plenty of laughter through sips of wine with her lifelong friend Rosie, whose warmth and wit become a vital anchor as both women navigate the shifting rhythms of approaching middle age
Thu, Oct 01, 6:30 pm
The Park Theatre
Standby tickets only
Sun, Oct 04, 11:00 am
Vancouver Playhouse
Sun, Oct 11, 6:00 pm
Vancouver Playhouse
Book Tickets
Harry Lehman (John Turturro) is an aging pickpocket who plies his trade with ever-diminishing returns in a drastically changed New York. Wallets stuffed with cash have been replaced by easily canceled credit cards, and Harry struggles to make ends meet as he cares for his disabled wife, Rosie. When he unwittingly purloins and fences a valuable USB stick, Harry finds himself in a race against time to return the loot or face the rage of a vengeful crime family. Oscar bound. John Turturro is a lock for a Best Actor nomination.
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York
Thu Oct 01, 9:30 pm
Vancouver Playhouse
Book now Limited availability
Tues, Oct 06 5:45 pm
The Rio Theatre
Standby tickets only
Sat.,Oct 10, 11:00 am
Vancouver Playhouse
Book Tickets
Writer-director Cristian Mungiu has made a slow-burn provocation that knows exactly which buttons it is pressing — yet which also grapples with the thorny issues it raises, from the limits and contradictions of multiculturalism to public sector careerism, with an unflinching moral seriousness. The two-and-a-half-hour result is riveting, acted with careworn nuance down the line by an excellent ensemble, yawing this way and that in terms of narrative and emotional momentum, even as we sense early on that no clear, cathartic resolution will ever be forthcoming. A triumphant film that tugs at the spiritual and soulful in all of us, regardless of nation, creed, faith, or the rejection of all three.
Fri Oct 02, 5:15 pm
Vancouver Playhouse
Wed, Oct 07, 9:00 pm
Vancouver Playhouse
Book Tickets
Mina Shum returns to feature filmmaking with Whatcha Want, a Vancouver-set drama that will screen at the 45th annual Vancouver International Film Festival. The film stars Isabella Wei (Bridgerton) as Yin Tse, a young woman transplanted from Hong Kong to Vancouver on a temporary visa.
Yin appears to have everything: a wealthy husband, a privileged lifestyle and all the material comforts money can buy. But her marriage has become a gilded cage. When she discovers her husband’s infidelity, Yin reconnects with something she had left behind — her love of dance. She meets Penny (Helen Dang), owner of a dance studio, who encourages her to train for an audition at an elite dance programme. When Yin’s husband returns from Hong Kong intent on reclaiming the life they had, she must decide whether to remain financially comfortable or pursue independence and self-expression.
The impressive ensemble includes Ming-Na Wen, Tzi Ma, Helen Dang, Russell Lee and Hugh Tran, with Wen and Ma bringing considerable screen experience to the production. Shum herself wrote the screenplay, as well as directing and producing the film.
Why did Shum choose Whatcha Want as her comeback film? The answer appears to lie in its themes. After Meditation Park in 2017, Shum’s first narrative feature in nearly a decade returns to the territory she knows best: Asian-Canadian identity, women seeking independence and the complicated experience of finding oneself between cultures. But Whatcha Want adds something new — hip-hop and dance as vehicles for liberation. Shum has described her filmmaking career through stories of Asian-Canadian women negotiating family, culture and identity; this time, she gives that struggle a physical language: movement.
Fri October 02, 6:30 pm
The Park Theatre
Wed., Oct 07, 9:00 pm
Fifth Avenue Cinema – 19+ only
Sun, Oct 11, 3:30 pm
The Rio Theatre
Book Tickets
Return next Friday for Part 2 of VanRamblings’ presentation of the Galas and Special Presentations films that represent a critical element of VIFF 45.