Vancouver International Film Festival 2020 (VIFF) announced the complete programming lineup for the Contemporary World Cinema and True North film series for its 39th edition taking place September 24–October 7, 2020. Contemporary World Cinema features narrative films from around the globe, showcasing works from both new and established filmmakers. True North celebrates the craft and creativity of Canadian storytellers and includes the opening film and world premiere of Monkey Beach by Loretta Sarah Todd.

Contemporary World Cinema showcases 11 North American premieres and eight Canadian premieres. Highlights include: Tales of the Lockdown, a look at life in Spain during COVID-19 quarantines by Fernando Colomo, Álvaro Fernández-Armero, David Marqués, Miguel Bardem and Juan Diego Botto; the Canadian premiere of Berlinale Golden Bear winner There Is No Evil by Mohammad Rasoulof about a dissident filmmaker in Iran; the Canadian premiere of the award-winning found footage film My Mexican Bretzel by Nuria Giménez; and the North American premiere of the satirical My Wonderful Wanda by Bettina Oberli, a look at a single mom who works as a live-in carer.

True North includes six BC-made features and the world premieres of nine Canadian features. Highlights include: the world premiere of Jennifer Abbott’s The Magnitude of All Things, an intimate look at both personal and planetary grief; the feature debut and world premiere of Indigenous female filmmaker Jessie Anthony’s Brother, I Cry, a drama about a family who struggles through intergenerational trauma, spiritual connections and addictions; and the world premiere of the debut feature by Andrew Stanley, Flowers of the Field, a powerful portrait of a young man who attends a reparative therapy retreat for his sexual orientation.

CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA

Narrative films from around the globe

Highlights include the world premiere of Yellow Sunglasses (dir. Iván Mora Manzano, Ecuador), the Canadian premiere of Golden Bear winner There Is No Evil (dir. Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran/Czech Republic/Germany), the Canadian premiere of the award-winning found footage film My Mexican Bretzel (dir. Nuria Giménez, Spain), the Cannes 2020 Label Here We Are (dir. Nir Bergman, Israel) and Merkel – Anatomy of a Crisis (dir. Stephan Wagner, Germany), a look at the critical moments of the Syrian refugee crisis in 2015.

Another Round (dir. Thomas Vinterberg, Denmark)
Bad Tales (dirs. The D’Innocenzo Brothers, Italy/Switzerland) | North American Premiere
Black Bear (dir. Lawrence Michael Levine, USA)
Falling (dir. Viggo Mortensen, UK/Canada)
Father (dir. Srdan Golubović, Serbia/France/Germany/Croatia/Slovenia/Bosnia and Herzegovina)
The Father (dir. Florian Zeller, UK/France)
Hammamet (dir. Gianni Amelio, Italy) | North American Premiere
Here We Are (dir. Nir Bergman, Israel) | North American Premiere
In the Name of the Land (dir. Édouard Bergeon, France)
Kala azar (dir. Janis Rafa, Netherlands/Greece) | Canadian Premiere
Last and First Men (dir. Jóhann Jóhannsson, Iceland) | Canadian Premiere
Merkel – Anatomy of a Crisis (dir. Stephan Wagner, Germany)
A Metamorphosis of the Birds (dir. Catarina Vasconcelos, Portugal) | Canadian Premiere
Mogul Mowgli (dir. Bassam Tariq, UK/USA)
My Donkey, My Lover & I (dir. Caroline Vignal, France)
My Mexican Bretzel (dir. Nuria Giménez, Spain) | Canadian Premiere
My Wonderful Wanda (dir. Bettina Oberli, Switzerland) | North American Premiere
On the Quiet (dir. Zoltán Nagy, Hungary) | Canadian Premiere
The Pencil (dir. Natalya Nazarova, Russia) | Canadian Premiere
The Restoration (dir. Alonso Llosa, Peru) | Canadian Premiere
Sarita (dir. Sergio Basso, Italy/Germany) | North American Premiere
Servants (dir. Ivan Ostrochovsky, Slovakia/Romania/Czech Republic/Ireland) | North American Premiere
The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs (dir. Pushpendra Singh, India) | North American Premiere
Siberia (dir. Abel Ferrara, Italy/Germany/Mexico)
Summer of 85 (dir. François Ozon, France)
Tales of the Lockdown (dirs. Fernando Colomo, Álvaro Fernández-Armero, David Marqués, Miguel Bardem, Juan Diego Botto, Spain) | North American Premiere
There Is No Evil (dir. Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran/Czech Republic/Germany) | Canadian Premiere
This Is My Desire (dirs. Arie & Chuko, Nigeria) | North American Premiere
Uncle (dir. Frelle Petersen, Denmark) | North American Premiere
Undine (dir. Christian Petzold, Germany) | North American Premiere
Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness (dir. Massoud Bakhshi, France/Germany/Switzerland/Luxembourg/Lebanon/Iran) | Canadian Premiere
Yellow Sunglasses (dir. Iván Mora Manzano, Ecuador/Brazil) | World Premiere

TRUE NORTH

A celebration of the creativity and craft demonstrated by Canadian storytellers

Akilla’s Escape (dir. Charles Officer, Canada)
Beans (dir. Tracey Deer, Canada)
Brother, I Cry (dir. Jessie Anthony, Canada) | World Premiere | BC Feature
Call Me Human (dir. Kim O’Bomsawin, Canada)
Chained (dir. Titus Heckel, Canada) | World Premiere | BC Feature
Events Transpiring Before, During and After a High School Basketball Game (dir. Ted Stenson, Canada) | World Premiere
First We Eat (dir. Suzanne Crocker, Canada)
Flowers of the Field (dir. Andrew Stanley, Canada) | World Premiere
Fucking Idiots (dir. David Milchard, Canada) | World Premiere | BC Feature
Happy Place (dir. Helen Shaver, Canada)
Inconvenient Indian (dir. Michelle Latimer, Canada)
John Ware Reclaimed (dir. Cheryl Foggo, Canada)
The Magnitude of All Things (dir. Jennifer Abbott, Canada) | World Premiere | BC Feature
Monkey Beach (dir. Loretta Sarah Todd), Canada | World Premiere | BC Feature | Opening Film
My Salinger Year (dir. Philippe Falardeau, Canada/Ireland)
Nadia, Butterfly (dir. Pascal Plante, Canada)
The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel (dirs. Joel Bakan, Jennifer Abbott, Canada/USA/Belgium/UK/Switzerland/Kenya/Spain/Australia) | BC Feature
No Ordinary Man (dirs. Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt, Canada)
No Visible Trauma (dirs. Marc Serpa Francoeur, Robinder Uppal, Canada) | World Premiere
Pink Lake (dirs. Emily Gan, Daniel Schachter, Canada) | World Premiere
Prayer for a Lost Mitten (dir. Jean-François Lesage, Canada)
Saint-Narcisse (dir. Bruce LaBruce, Canada) | North American Premiere