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Tender Loving Care: VIFF 2026

The Vancouver International Film Festival returns for their 45th year this October 1-11 for another curated season celebrating the best in independent, Canadian, documentary, and international shorts and features.


Best friends and fellow social workers Amy (Kate O’Flynn) and Rosie (Alice Bailey Johnson) work amidst public crises and a lack of institutional support. Alienated from her own family, Rosie is something like a stepdaughter to Amy’s parents, Birdie (Marion Bailey) and Geoff (Paul Jesson), who round out the foursome at the heart of Tender Loving Care. Surrounded by a rich periphery of lives and struggles, Amy and Rosie approach the dangerous, difficult work of caring for the dispossessed with all the strength they have.

As usual, writer-director Mike Leigh doesn’t plot an arc so much as he constructs lively, provocative vignettes. Some of them are funny, some tragic, and many balance the two. Every performance in the film is superb and infused with the realism Leigh is famous for. Compassionate, keenly perceptive, and graced with a hard-won wisdom, this is a film about struggle and perseverance.

Thursday, October 1
Doors 6:00 pm | Film 6:30 pm *Start time subject to change. Please arrive on time.

Tickets HERE


For detailed Vancouver International Film Fest information, including current showtimes and advance ticketing, please re-direct to www.viff.org.

All ticketing for VIFF events are managed by VIFF. If you have any questions about ticketing and availability, please connect with them directly. The Park Theatre will be unable to provide any ticketing info or purchasing assistance.

Unless otherwise noted, all VIFF screenings and events at the Park Theatre are 19+ only. Please have valid ID with you upon arrival.

VIFF screenings at the Park Theatre will be busy! All seating is General Admission. We encourage all patrons to purchase tickets in advance to ensure entry, and to please come early (20-30 mins at least) to ensure time to locate great seats and purchase drinks and snacks at concession. The Park Theatre has a small lobby, and coming early helps prevent long lines and bottle-necking.

Please note: Park Theatre Groupons and passes are n/a for any VIFF events.


VIFF thanks the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations for their continued stewardship of the unceded and occupied land on which our work takes place. As an organization founded and predominantly directed by settlers and immigrants, we understand our responsibility to seek out and build authentic relationships with Indigenous communities, and to allow this ongoing dialogue to influence our practices. As part of this process, we remain committed to collaborating with and supporting Indigenous artists, filmmakers, curators, and audiences.

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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.

Release Year

Rated

Singapore, United Kingdom, United States of America

Country Of Origin

Mike Leigh

Director

English

Languages

107 minutes

Runtime