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.

A series of Black French women sit before the camera, answering questions about identity, history, and character — both real and fictive. From this intimate starting point, Dao embarks on a multidirectional journey, sweeping the viewer along through two cultural events featuring Nour (D’Johé Kouadio) and her mother Gloria (Katy Correa): a mourning ceremony in Guinea-Bissau, and a wedding in France. Nour is the French bride, whose rites in Guinea-Bissau mark her first visit to the village of her ancestors.

Director Alain Gomis is equally adept at artifice and realism: he directs professional and non-professional actors so skillfully that the line between being and performing becomes blurred, if not invisible. The mourning ceremony, with its mixture of strict ritual and wild abandon, is a vehicle for catharsis and tribute; the wedding, while more familiar in its outlines, is full of fascinating cultural inflections. Artifice and reality, tradition and modernity, race and gender — they make for an intoxicating mix in this joyful evocation of life.

Saturday, October 10
Doors 1:45 pm | Film 2:15 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.