The 38th Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) took place from September 26 to October 11, 2019.Dorothy Woodend, "VIFF in a Jiff, the 2019 Edition". The Tyee, September 24, 2019. The opening film was Atom Egoyan's Guest of Honour, and the closing film was Nicolas Bedos's La Belle Époque."VIFF announces opening and closing films, plus special events". Daily Hive, September 5, 2019.
Awards The festival award winners were announced on October 15.Craig Takeuchi, "Indigenous films, Parasite, and more take top honours at 2019 Vancouver International Film Festival". The Georgia Straight, October 15, 2019.
Award Film Director People's Choice Parasite Bong Joon-ho Most Popular Canadian Feature Red Snow Marie Clements Most Popular Canadian Documentary Haida Modern Charles Wilkinson Most Popular International Documentary Coup 53 Taghi Amirani Best Canadian Film One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk Zacharias Kunuk Best Canadian Film, Honorable Mention Blood Quantum Jeff Barnaby Best Canadian Documentary Jordan River Anderson, the Messenger Alanis Obomsawin Best Canadian Documentary, Honorable Mention My Dads, My Moms and Me Julia Ivanova Best Canadian Short Film At the Bottom of the Sea Caroline So Jung Lee Best Canadian Short Film, Honorable Mention The Physics of Sorrow Theodore Ushev Emerging Canadian Director Murmur Heather Young Emerging Canadian Director, Honorable Mention Kuessipan Myriam Verreault Most Promising Canadian Director of a Short Film Acadiana Guillaume Fournier, Samuel Matteau, Yannick Nolin Most Promising Canadian Director of a Short Film, Honorable Mention Labour/Leisure Jessica Johnson, Ryan Ermacora Best BC Film The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Kathleen Hepburn Sea to Sky Award The World Is Bright Ying Wang BC Emerging Filmmaker The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers VIFF Impact Award Resistance Fighters Michael Wech Rob Stewart Eco Warrior Award The Pollinators Peter Nelson
Films Galas Guest of Honour — Atom Egoyan (Opening) La Belle Époque — Nicolas Bedos (Closing)
Special Presentations Ford v Ferrari — James Mangold Harriet — Kasi Lemmons A Hidden Life — Terrence Malick Jojo Rabbit — Taika Waititi Just Mercy — Destin Daniel Cretton The Laundromat — Steven Soderbergh The Lighthouse — Robert Eggers Marriage Story — Noah Baumbach Motherless Brooklyn — Edward Norton Mr. Jones — Agnieszka Holland No.7 Cherry Lane — Yonfan Pain and Glory — Pedro Almodóvar The Painted Bird — Václav Marhoul Parasite — Bong Joon-ho Portrait of a Lady on Fire — Céline Sciamma The Song of Names — François Girard Sorry We Missed You — Ken Loach The Two Popes — Fernando Meirelles Young Ahmed — Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Contemporary World Cinema Adam — Maryam Touzani And Then We Danced — Levan Akin Babysplitters — Sam Friedlander Bacurau — Kleber Mendonça Filho Beanpole — Kantemir Balagov Burning Cane — Phillip Youmans Castle of Dreams — Reza Mirkarimi Chained — Yaron Shani Checkered Ninja — Anders Matthesen — Doris Dörrie The Day After I'm Gone — Nimrod Eldar Divine Love — Gabriel Mascaro A Dog and His Man — Siddharth Tripathy Dogs Don't Wear Pants — J-P Valkeapää Fourteen — Dan Sallitt Frankie — Ira Sachs I Was at Home, But — Angela Schanelec The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão — Karim Aïnouz It Must Be Heaven — Elia Suleiman Joel — Carlos Sorín Koko-di Koko-da — Johannes Nyholm Lara — Jan-Ole Gerster The Last to See Them — Sara Summa Little Joe — Jessica Hausner Noah Land — Cenk Ertürk Once in Trubchevsk — Larisa Sadilova Out of Tune — Frederikke Aspöck Port Authority — Danielle Lessovitz Queen of Hearts — May el-Toukhy The Realm — Rodrigo Sorogoyen Retrospekt — Esther Rots Scarborough — Barnaby Southcombe Sometimes Always Never — Carl Hunter Song Without a Name — Melina León Spider — Andrés Wood Staff Only — Neus Ballús Stitches — Miroslav Terzić Synonyms — Nadav Lapid Tehran: City of Love — Ali Jaberansari Temblores — Jayro Bustamante Those Who Remained — Barnabás Tóth Vai — Nicole Whippy, Becs Arahanga, Amberley Jo Aumua, Matasila Freshwater, Dianna Fuemana, Mīria George, 'Ofa-ki Guttenbeil-Likiliki, Marina Alofagia McCartney A Voluntary Year — Ulrich Köhler, Henner Winkler The Whistlers — Corneliu Porumboiu A White, White Day (Hvítur, Hvítur Dagur) — Hlynur Pálmason Yuli — Icíar Bollaín
Spotlight on France Amanda — Mikhaël Hers By the Grace of God — François Ozon Deerskin — Quentin Dupieux I Lost My Body — Jérémy Clapin Joan of Arc — Bruno Dumont Les Misérables — Ladj Ly Oh Mercy! — Arnaud Desplechin The Specials — Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache Who You Think I Am — Safy Nebbou
Focus on Italy Amare amaro — Julien Paolini Dafne — Federico Bondi The Disappearance of My Mother — Beniamino Barrese Dolce Fine Giornata — Jacek Borcuch Marghe and Her Mother — Mohsen Makhmalbaf Santiago, Italia — Nanni Moretti Sole — Carlo Sironi
Vanguard Bait — Mark Jenkin Belonging — Burak Çevik I, Wretched Man — Bastian Wilplinger Miel-Emile — Peter van Houten My Window — Rodrigo John Off Season — Henning Beckhoff One Man Dies a Million Times — Jessica Oreck Ridge — John Skoog Subject to Review — Theo Anthony Vitalina Varela — Pedro Costa
Sea to Sky Ash — Andrew Huculiak The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open — Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Kathleen Hepburn Daughter — Anthony Shim Haida Modern — Charles Wilkinson My Dads, My Moms and Me — Julia Ivanova Raf — Harry Cepka Red Snow — Marie Clements Water Over Glass — Kellen Jackson, Zoe Kirk-Gushawaty, Amanda Thomson, Jimi Pantalon The World Is Bright — Ying Wang
True North The Acrobat (L'Acrobate) — Rodrigue Jean American Woman — Semi Chellas And the Birds Rained Down (Il pleuvait des oiseaux) — Louise Archambault Assholes: A Theory — John Walker A Brother's Love (La femme de mon frère) — Monia Chokri Castle in the Ground — Joey Klein Clifton Hill — Albert Shin Conviction — Ariella Pahlke, Teresa MacInnes, Nance Ackerman Cranks — Ryan McKenna Easy Land — Sanja Živković Jordan River Anderson, the Messenger — Alanis Obomsawin Kuessipan — Myriam Verreault L.A. Tea Time — Sophie Bédard Marcotte One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk — Zacharias Kunuk Rustic Oracle — Sonia Boileau Symphony in Aquamarine — Dan Popa Three Feathers — Carla Ulrich To Live to Sing — Johnny Ma When We Walk — Jason DaSilva White Lie — Yonah Lewis, Calvin Thomas
Future//Present Anne at 13,000 Ft. — Kazik Radwanski Danny — Aaron Zeghers, Lewis Bennett Killer Queen — Ramin Fahrenheit MS Slavic 7 — Sofia Bohdanowicz Murmur — Heather Young Tapeworm — Fabián Velasco, Miloš Mitrovič Tito — Grace Glowicki The Twentieth Century — Matthew Rankin
Impact 63 Up — Michael Apted Buddha in Africa — Nicole Schafer Coup 53 — Taghi Amirani The Euphoria of Being — Reka Szabo Gateways to New York — Martin Witz The Great Green Wall — Jared P. Scott Human Nature — Adam Bolt The Men's Room — Petter Sommer, Jo Vemund Svendsen Midnight Family — Luke Lorentzen My Father and Me — Nick Broomfield The Pollinators — Peter Nelson The Rabbi Goes West — Amy Geller, Gerald Peary Reason — Anand Patwardhan Resistance Fighters — Michael Wech Scheme Birds — Ellen Fiske, Ellinor Hallin Sea of Shadows — Richard Ladkani A Seat at the Table — David Nash, Simon Mark-Brown Stieg Larsson: The Man Who Played With Fire — Henrik Georgsson Talking About Trees — Suhaib Gasmelbari Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain — Alex Winter We Are Not Princesses — Bridgette Auger, Itab Azzam The Whale and the Raven — Miriam Leuze Wildland — Alex Jablonski, Kahlil Hudson
Gateway Another Child — Kim Yoon-seok Balloon — Pema Tseden Birthday — Lee Jong-un Boluomi — Lau Kek-Huat, Vera Chen The Cave — Tom Waller Children of the Sea — Ayumu Watanabe Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains — Gu Xiaogang Every Day a Good Day — Tatsushi Ōmori Hard-Core — Nobuhiro Yamashita Krabi, 2562 — Ben Rivers, Anocha Suwichakornpong Lost Course — Jill Li Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom — Pawo Choyning Dorji Melancholic — Seiji Tanaka No Longer Human — Mika Ninagawa Present. Perfect. — Shengze Zhu Samsara — Moon Jeong-yun The Shadow Play — Lou Ye Spring Tide — Yang Lina Still Human — Oliver Siu Kuen Chan Vanishing Days — Zhu Xin Wet Season — Anthony Chen White Snake — Amp Wong, Zhao Ji The Wild Goose Lake — Diao Yinan Wild Sparrow — Shih Li
M/A/D Architecture of Infinity — Christoph Schaub Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint — Halyna Dyrschka Cunningham — Alla Kovgan Devil's Pie: D'Angelo — Carine Bulsma Edo Avant-Garde — Linda Hoaglund Eliades Ochoa: From Cuba to the World — Cynthia Biestek Escher: Journey Into Infinity — Robin Lutz It Was All So Wonderful: The Everyday Magic of Mary Pratt — Kenneth J. Harvey Leonardo: The Works — Phil Grabsky Martha: A Picture Story — Selina Miles Neutra: Survival Through Design — Pi Letofsky Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin — Werner Herzog Other Music — Puloma Basu, Rob Hatch-Miller Our Time Machine — Yang Sun, S. Leo Chiang Stuffed — Erin Derham System K — Renaud Barret Ursula Von Rydingsvard: Into Her Own — Daniel Traub Varda by Agnès — Agnès Varda What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael — Rob Garver Years of Construction — Heinz Emigholz
ALT Blood Quantum — Jeff Barnaby Boyz in the Wood — Ninian Doff Come to Daddy — Ant Timpson The Death of Dick Long — Daniel Scheinert Extra Ordinary — Mike Ahern, Enda Loughman Greener Grass — Jocelyn DeBoer, Dawn Luebbe In the Tall Grass — Vincenzo Natali Judy and Punch — Mirrah Foulkes Knives and Skin — Jennifer Reeder The Lodge — Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala Paradise Hills — Alice Waddington
Canadian Shorts At the Bottom of the Sea — Caroline So Jung Lee The Beach Raiders — Tyson Breuer Bumblebee — Adam Beck Canaan — Wang Weibin Chubby — Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli The Cut (La Coupure) — Chloé Cinq-Mars Days of Rage — Eli Jean Tahchi Deady Freddy — Alicia Eisen Delphine — Chloé Robichaud Finding Uranus — Ivan Li Flood — Joseph Amenta Ghoulish Galactic Grievances — Josh Owen Grandma's House — Sophy Romvari Hand Job — Kara Hornland Heart Bomb (Une bombe au cœur) — Rémi St-Michel Highway to Heaven: A Mosaic in One Mile — Sandra Ignagni I Am in the World as Free and Slender as a Deer on a Plain — Sofia Banzhaf I'll End Up in Jail (Je finirai en prison) — Alexandre Dostie In Which Life Continues Without Time — Sheridan Tamayo-Henderson Jarvik — Émilie Mannering Labour/Leisure — Jessica Johnson, Ryan Ermacora Main Squeeze — Brendan Prost My Heart Is Walking Around Outside of My Body — Matthew Taylor Blais No Crying at the Dinner Table — Carol Nguyen Now Is the Time — Christopher Auchter The Physics of Sorrow — Theodore Ushev Pick — Alicia K. Harris Pinch — Diego Maclean Pools — Seth Fluker The Procession (Le Cortège) — Pascal Blanchet, Rodolphe Saint-Gelais Shadow Trap — Damian Gillis, Michael Bourquin Solastalgia — Millefiore Clarkes The Spirit Keepers of Makuta'ay — Yen-Chao Lin Standard of Care — James Rathbone This Ink Runs Deep — Asia Youngman Unkept — Michael P. Vidler Venusian — Cameron Mackenzie, Suzanne Friesen A Winter Morning — Manny Mahal
International Shorts Amparo's Offerings — Leonel Chee Call Connect — Indianna Bell, Josiah Allen A Disappearance — Laura Spini, Laurence Brook Disrepute — Stephane Mounkassa, Stefan Sundin Diversion — Mathieu Mégemont Family Hour — Maria Ponomarova First Disco — Helen O'Reilly Flush — Sheridan O'Donnell Forgiveness — Marcello Cotugno Grandpa — Clifford Miu I Signed the Petition — Mahdi Fleifel In the Shadow of the Guacari — Greg Mendez The Interview — Ivan Sosnin Itohime — Nao Izumi Kill the Boy — Juan Pablo Villavicencio Borges Lee Ann Womack's "Hollywood" — Chris Ullens The Legend — Manon Eyriey Liminaali & Communitas — Laura Rantanen Long-Legged Nuria — Frank Vera Jimenez Masmelos — Duvan Duque Mortis — Xindi Lou My Generation — Ludovic Houplain Nurtured — Ben Pearce O Holy Ghost — Mark Bradshaw Pearl — Yuchao Feng Romantica.com — Shay Fellner The Sea — Cameron Richards Song Sparrow — Farzaneh Omidvarnia Taboo — Olivia Altavilla