Paper Tiger: VIFF 2026
Paper Tiger: 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.
Queens, 1986. Middle-class engineer Irwin Pearl (Miles Teller) and his wife Hester (Scarlett Johansson) are coaxed into a high-stakes business scheme along the Gowanus Canal by Irwin’s charismatic older brother, Gary (Adam Driver). Seeking to capitalize on a lucrative development opportunity, the brothers partner with a ruthless Russian syndicate filling the void left by the Italian mob. But when an innocent misstep ignites deadly paranoia among the gangsters, the Pearls find their family terrorized and their bond tested by the threat of violence.
Returning to the atmospheric crime territory of Little Odessa and We Own the Night, writer-director James Gray explores family, loyalty, and American ambition through another intimate crime story. Joaquín Baca-Asay’s dark, moody cinematography gives the film a constant sense of threat, while the volatile dynamic between Teller’s cautious Irwin and Driver’s more reckless Gary keeps the story grounded in the brothers’ increasingly dangerous choices. Gray has a gift for making criminal worlds feel both intimate and inevitable, and Paper Tiger gradually tightens its grip as a family trying to get ahead finds itself caught in circumstances far beyond its control.
Thursday, October 8
Doors 8:30 pm | Film 9:00 pm *Start time subject to change. Please arrive on time.
Tickets HERE
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.
