Opening this year’s festival will be Nouvelle Vague, director Richard Linklater’s Parisian rendition of the story behind the creation of Breathless, Jean-Luc Godard’s influential 1959 film that propelled French New Wave culture. 

This VIFF season also ushers in standout festival programs, with its special Spotlight on Korea welcoming seven emerging directors to Vancouver. Filmmaker Park Chan-wook brings his eagerly awaited No Other Choice, while Hong Sangsoo’s What Does That Nature Say to You will be having its Canadian premiere – only a few of an anticipated lineup in this program.

Alongside the traditional structure of the festival format, VIFF’s special events include VIFF Talks, featuring an incredible amount of international industry insiders sharing their creative insights, VIFF’s Artist and Industry program, celebrating the collective of art and culturally diverse cinematic collaborations, VIFF Amp, highlighting the essential role of music in film, and VIFF Live, where the blending of cinema and performance merge into a unique live show experience.

Closing the festival will be Ido Fluk’s Köln 75, the fascinating story, based on true events, of a young teenage concert promoter that managed to orchestrate jazz pianist Keith Jarrett’s one-hour, entirely improvised concert: The Köln Concert, the infamous best-selling recorded solo jazz album of all time. The closing gala will also integrate the live performance of renowned pianist and composer Chris Gestrin, accompanying the film so audiences can fully embrace the complete experience.

There are many films to highlight, but here is what we RANGE suggests you add to your watch list this year.

Nouvelle Vague (Richard Linklater)

What was old is new again, as acclaimed director Richard Linklater officially opens the festival with Nouvelle Vague. Taking us back in time to Paris in 1959, Linklater reanimates the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s French New Wave cinema classic, Breathless. The story behind À bout de souffle/Breathless tells of the fearless abandonment of traditional cinematic norms, and how Godard, played by Guillaume Marbeck, both delighted and frustrated the film set with his avant-garde methodology. With perfect Linklater patience, Nouvelle Vague transports the audience into the breathing room of the story, where a little French ‘60s culture is bound to leave with you.

6:00 pm | Sat Oct 04 | Vancouver Playhouse
11:00 am | Sat Oct 11 | Vancouver Playhouse

 

Are We Good? (Steven Feinartz)

Director Steven Feinartz and Marc Maron lead us through the nuances of grief and comedy in the international premiere of Are We Good? This documentary follows industry-lauded comedian Maron as he navigates his world after the loss of his partner, filmmaker Lynn Shelton. Are We Good? also coincides with the tail end of Maron’s podcast, WTF with Marc Maron, as it comes to a close after 16 years this fall. An Evening with Marc Maron will take place October 5th, offering an opportunity to engage with the seasoned comedian in a special screening and Q&A. Refreshingly candid and featuring poignantly vulnerable wit, Are We Good? takes us through a heartfelt, relatable journey that only Marc Maron could provide.

5:30 pm | Sun Oct 5 | The Rio
9:15 pm | Thu Oct 09 | International Village 8

 

Father Mother Sister Brother (Jim Jarmusch)

Tom Waits, Charlotte Rampling, Cate Blanchett and Adam Driver are only a small handful of the star-studded cast in this highly anticipated feature film by Jim Jarmusch. VIFF screens the Canadian premiere of Father Mother Sister Brother, with Jarmusch applying his characteristically delicate polish to family bonds. Told in a stylistic triptych, the relationships of adult children and their distant – or not so distant – parents are told through three different families, experiencing three very different stories, in three different countries. With creative heavyweights behind and in front of the camera, there’s a very good reason this film has so much buzz around it.

5:45 pm | Fri Oct 10 | The Rio Theatre
6:30 pm | Sun Oct 12 | Vancouver Playhouse

 

John Candy: I Like Me (Colin Hanks)

If you were a child of the ‘80s, John Candy needs no explanation. Loved by audiences and cherished by friends, family and industry, John Candy is one of Canada’s most lovable comedic treasures. Director Colin Hanks has taken this sentiment into his film, John Candy: I Like Me, and created a documentary celebrating Candy’s life, from the decades of work that preceded his untimely and sudden death in 1994, to his rarely shown personal struggles. The title of the film, I Like Me, a line from one of his sincerest monologues, encapsulates the perfect image of how John Candy stands in our memories.“I like me. My wife likes me… What you see is what you get.”

12:00 pm | Sat Oct 04 | Vancouver Playhouse
8:30 pm | Mon Oct 06 | Granville Island Stage
12:45 pm | Wed Oct 08 | International Village 10

 

It Was Just an Accident (Jafar Panahi)

Palme d’Or Winner, It Was Just an Accident, directed by legendary Iranian director Jafar Panahi, is not only a feat in filmatic story, but also a personal triumph by Panahi. In addition to claiming the prestigious award from Cannes, Panahi has also received the highest accolades from both the Berlin International Film Festival for Taxi (2015), and Venice Film Festival for The Circle (2000). Based on Panahi’s own experiences in an Iranian prison, and made in secret, It Was Just an Accident tells an unexpectedly funny story of revenge and misunderstood truths, all set to the backdrop of an oppressive regime thriller. 

9:30 pm | Thu Oct 02 | Vancouver Playhouse
2:45 pm | Thu Oct 09 | Vancouver Playhouse

 

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie (Matt Johnson)

From the energetic duo of creators Jay McCarrol and Matt Johnson, director of the critically acclaimed Blackberry, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie continues the premise and quest of the original Nirvanna the Band the Show: to perform at Toronto venue, Rivoli. However, a nostalgic and Toronto-centric incident sends the two back in time to 2008. Winner of the 2025 Audience award at SXSW, the two realize an accidental find of personal archaic footage, enhance their continuing story, and cement the brilliance of the time-travel plot. There’s a genuineness between Johnson and McCarrol that permits the hilarious, sometimes ridiculous, clever, and very appreciated film to land.

6:00 pm | Fri Oct 03 | The Rio Theatre
2:30 pm | Sun Oct 05 | The Rio Theatre

 

What Does That Nature Say to You (Hong Sangsoo)

Hong Sangsoo’s Canadian premiere of What Does That Nature Say to You beautifully exemplifies the poetry of cinema. Following that theme, Sangsoo’s leading character, poet Donghwa, played by Ha Seong-guk, stays and experiences the fluid nature of a family visit after dropping his girlfriend off to her family home. Blending sustained shots, natural sounds, food, booze and tensions, and purposely filmed in a blur, Sangsoo creates the cinematic realism of Donghwa’s experience. Featured in VIFF’s Spotlight on Korea, What Does That Nature Say to You is one of nine films to be showcased, also marking Sangsoo’s 33rd feature.

6:15 pm | Fri Oct 10 | Granville Island Stage
3:15 pm | Sun Oct 12  Fifth Avenue Cinema – 19+ only

 

La Grazia (Paolo Sorrentino)

The reputation of a Sorrentino film has built a special anticipation to the screening of La Grazia. There is an unmistakable touch to his films, especially when they reflect upon the solitude of life, forgiveness and death. In his seventh film, Toni Servillo plays the role of fictional President of the Republic, Mariano De Santis. During the last weeks of his presidency, De Santis dances with the finality of what he’s left behind, torn between indecision, much to the chagrin of his lawyer daughter Dorotea, played by Anna Ferzetti. Paulo Sorrentino delivers La Grazia as a delicious plate, subtle and rich.

8:30 pm | Wed Oct 08 | Granville Island Stage
2:00 pm | Fri Oct 10 | Vancouver Playhouse

 

Akashi (Mayumi Yoshida)

Featured within VIFF’s Northern Lights, Mayumi Yoshida’s directorial debut, Akashi, celebrates its World premiere. Starring in the film she both wrote and directed, Akashi is the full-length feature adaptation of Yoshida’s first autofictional, multiple-award winning short film by the same name. Filmed in both Japan and Canada, the Vancouver-based filmmaker tells the story of artist Kana Yamamoto, played by Yoshida, on her returning trip to Tokyo for her grandmother’s funeral. Along the way, she reignites an old romance and discovers a family secret. Akashi cinematically punctuates through the black and white landscape with scenes of vivid colour, unapologetically forming Yoshida’s emotionally tender drama.

6:00 pm | Sun Oct 05 | Vancouver Playhouse
3:00 pm | Thu Oct 09 | Granville Island Stage

 

Köln 75 (Ido Fluk)

This year’s closing gala is an encompassing feature experience combining history, music and film. Köln 75, directed by Ido Fluk, is a film inspired by the true events surrounding jazz pianist Keith Jarrett’s The Köln Concert. In 1975, tenacious up-and-coming 18-year-old concert promoter Vera Brandes, played by the enigmatic Mala Emde, orchestrated the staging of The Köln Concert, historically becoming the now-famous best-selling solo album in jazz history. The closing gala will be one of 5 VIFF Live feature presentations incorporating cinema and music. Accompanying the Special Event screening Köln 75, will be a live performance of Keith Jarrett-inspired, improvised solo music by versatile Vancouver stalwart, pianist and composer Chris Gestrin.

6:00 pm | Sat Oct 11 | Vancouver Playhouse (*Closing Gala: Köln 75 With Live Performance by Chris Gestrin)
3:15 pm | Sun Oct 12 | Vancouver Playhouse

More information and VIFF’s complete 2025 programming can be found at viff.org.