Programmer Sonja Baksa has a knack for finding those names. She calls this year’s lineup “an emerging auteur manifesto,” pointing out how several of the selections “make a play on cinematic language and genre traditions while operating within their own cultural framework and vocabulary.” With a few standouts from the Balkans, she adds, “you can feel the new generation of filmmakers pushing through.”

One of her top picks is Gazelle, world-premiering at VIFF. Turkish star Nadir Saribacak plays a music teacher stuck in U.S. immigration limbo, a man whose life has been split into paperwork and waiting rooms. Saribacak doesn’t just headline the film — he also co-directs with Samy Pioneer (Selman), making a behind-the-camera debut Baksa calls “notable” for its precision and empathy. “This is a timely film,” she says, “sharply mining the current sense of global turmoil and displacement… emotionally charged and profoundly moving.”

Gazelle screens Fri, Oct. 3 at 8:30 pm and Sun, Oct. 5 at 1:15 pm at VIFF Centre (VIFF Cinema), and Sun, Oct. 12 at 9:15 pm at International Village 8.

Urška Djukić’s Little Trouble Girls arrives fresh off a lauded Berlinale run — including a FIPRESCI prize in the new Perspectives section — for its Canadian premiere at VIFF. Set in a Slovenian convent, it follows 16-year-old Lucija as she stumbles toward her own sexual awakening amid a weekend choir retreat. Baksa is smitten with its energy: “Urška Djukić has emerged as a major talent to watch with this electric debut feature. Recently announced as Slovenia’s Oscar entry, it’s as erotically charged as it is regionally distinct and cinematically playful.”

Little Trouble Girls screens Tue, Oct. 7 at 3:15 pm at Fifth Avenue Cinema (19+).

Armenian filmmaker Maria Rigel returns with her second feature, Thus Spoke the Wind, a minimalist yet visually spectacular family drama seen through the eyes of a quiet boy torn between loyalty to his aunt and his mother. The film uses small gestures and huge landscapes to build tension. Baksa calls it “a layered, formally impressive drama… a stylistically daring piece of contemporary Armenian social realist cinema that deftly draws on tradition while spinning its own yarn.”

Thus Spoke the Wind screens Thu, Oct. 9 at 8:45 pm and Fri, Oct. 10 at 1:00 pm at VIFF Centre (VIFF Cinema).

If you’re craving stories that feel alive to the world we’re living in — immigration limbo, sexual autonomy, fractured families — this is the year to dive into Vanguard. All three of these films are formally bold but emotionally direct, proof that, as Baksa says, “the strong output from a new generation of filmmakers” is only just beginning.

For tickets and the full Vanguard lineup, visit viff.org.