20th Annual Festival Live In Nanaimo - May 1st - 3rd!
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General Submissions Closed
Youth Submissions Closed.
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Full Festival Passes & Individual Programs
See you at the 2025 VISFF!
FESTIVAL
Live & Streamed
May 1st – May 3rd 2025!
ONLY 36 DAYS!

Celebrating 20 years of cinema, our 2025 festival features a 19-film Anniversary Short Film Showcase. Additionally, our esteemed selection committee, composed of filmmakers and cinephiles, has curated 18 exceptional short films in two unique, new programs. View the full schedule below.

The 20th Vancouver Island Short Film Festival will be on May 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.

Get your tickets today!

 

20th Anniversary Short Film Showcase (Thursday, May 1st, 7pm)

Suspend your Disbelief (Graham Stark – BC, Canada)

Android 207  (Paul Whittington – BC, Canada)

Eyewitness Accounts (Graham Stark – BC, Canada)

What Suffers Inside Me (Jennifer Hardy – ON, Canada)

30 Minutes or Less: The Secret of the Sauce (Graham Stark – BC, Canada)

How to Get a Man to Love You Forever  (Sara Homer – BC, Canada)

Close Your Eyes (Todd Jones – BC, Canada)

The Money Pet  (Gary Hawes – BC, Canada)

Bone Gnomski (Curtis L Wiebe – MB, Canada)

Crazy Love (Mathieu Charest and Helena Marie – BC, Canada)

Lost  (Michael Chen – BC, Canada)

Ingrid & The Black Hole (Leah Johnston – NS, Canada)

Breakdown (Greg Tudela – France)

How to Hide a Dead Body (John Gardiner – BC, Canada)

Sonatina (Wong Hoi – China)

Before the Beauty is Gone (Mackai Sharp – BC, Canada)

Are You My Mommy (Gavin Michael Booth – United States)

For Roy (Vivian Cheung – BC, Canada)

Chat Mort (Annie-Claude Caron, Danick Audet – QC, Canada)

 

Shorts Program 1 (Friday, May 2nd, 7pm)

Répercuté  (Lindsay Owen Pierre – ON, Canada)

Shoes and Hooves  (Viktória Traub – Hungary) 

Ya Hanouni  (Lyna Tadount & Sofian Chouaib – France)

We Were (Jonah Haber – ON, Canada)

Chicken Broth Soup (Deniz Büyükkırlı – Turkey)

Helikopter (Jesper Sichlau – Denmark)

The Loving Couple (Mhairi Kerr – ON, Canada)

Our Table (Steve Sxwithul’txw – BC, Canada)

Holy Heavêness (Farnoosh Abedi Renani & Negah Khezre Fardyardad – Iran)

 

Shorts Program 2 (Saturday, May 3rd, 7pm)

Tiny (Ritchie Hemphill & Ryan Haché – BC, Canada)

The Bird in My Backyard (Ryan Wilkes – BC, Canada)

La Langue (Béla Baptiste – United States)

Zoé (Rémi St-Michel – QC, Canada)

The Death of James (Sam Chou – On, Canada)

Hatch (Alireza Kazemipour & Panta Mosleh – BC, Canada)

Lichtblick (Glimmer of Hope)  (Sophia Tamaro – Germany)

Chandelle / Candle (Jérémi Roy – QC, Canada)

My Name is Arnold (Arnold Lim – BC, Canada)

 

Youth Showcase (Saturday, May 3rd, 1pm)

Films to be announced! Stay tuned!

 

CURRENT FILMS
Répercuté Lindsay Owen Pierre

Répercuté

Lindsay Owen Pierre - Toronto, Canada
Drama / Comedy (15:00)
A man comes home to his lover on their anniversary expecting a romantic night of celebration only to...
Shoes and Hooves Viktória Traub

Shoes and Hooves

Viktória Traub - Hungary
Animation (14:53)
A pedicurist in a small-town, Paula the centaur-girl longs to have human feet. When she meets Arnold...
Ya Hanouni Lyna Tadount | Sofian Chouaib

Ya Hanouni

Lyna Tadount & Sofian Chouaib - France
Drama (03:00)
While the Mom and the Dad try to put their baby to sleep, a competition arises between them: who wil...
We Were Jonah Haber

We Were

Jonah Haber - Toronto, Canada
Drama (10:58)
“We Were” follows David from childhood to adulthood, tracing relationships and moments across th...
Chicken Broth Soup Deniz Büyükkırlı

Chicken Broth Soup

Deniz Büyükkırlı - Turkey
Drama (18:00)
The doctor comes across unusual symptoms at the man said to have died of a heart attack when he exam...
Helikopter Jesper Sichlau

Helikopter

Jesper Sichlau - Denmark
Comedy (09:30)
When Rikke brings home a guy she’s just met, her night takes an unexpected turn. Soon she finds he...
The Loving Couple Mhairi Kerr

The Loving Couple

Mhairi Kerr - Toronto, Canada
Animation (6:27)
A long-term relationship can seem picture-perfect on the outside, but as this couple celebrates thei...
Our Table Steve Sxwithul’txw

Our Table

Steve Sxwithul’txw - Penelakut Island, BC
Documentary (14:00)
A First Nation works to educate others about the importance of protecting their beaches from outside...
Holy Heavêness Farnoosh Abedi Renani | Negah Khezre Fardyardad

Holy Heavêness

Farnoosh Abedi Renani - Iran
Animation (10:00)
The unbearable lightness of the death of loved ones… There are wounds in life that eat away at you...

Tiny

Ritchie Hemphill & Ryan Haché - Victoria, BC
Claymation / Animation (16:21)
Tiny is a contemplative stop motion film which tells the story of ‘Nakwaxda’xw Elder Colleen Hem...
The Bird in My Backyard Ryan Wilkes

The Bird in My Backyard

Ryan Wilkes - Vancouver Island, BC
Documentary (19:59)
In an urban backyard on Canada’s West Coast, a window salesman has created a living laboratory for...
La Langue Béla Baptiste

La Langue

Béla Baptiste - United States
Comedy (0:53)
Picture this: you’re about to watch a video on YouTube, but first, you have to sit through a force...
Zoé Rémi St-Michel

Zoé

Rémi St-Michel - Quebec
Horror / Drama (15:52)
The remaining shreds of Zoe's mind desperately cling to her vague memories of better feelings.
The Death of James Sam Chou

The Death of James

Samuel Chou -
Animation (13:40)
Based on a true story, "The Death of James" tells the unique journey of two young friends grappling ...
Hatch Alireza Kazemipour | Panta Mosleh

Hatch

Alireza Kazemipour & Panta Mosleh - Vancouver, BC
Drama (10:57)
An Afghan refugee boy hides with his mother inside a moving water tanker trying to cross the border ...
Lichtblick (Glimmer of Hope) - Sophia Tamaro

Lichtblick (Glimmer of Hope)

Sophia Tamaro - Germany
Drama / Comedy (5:00)
A cashier’s monotonous day is transformed when the women in the queue form an impromptu choir to s...
Candle (Chandelle) Jérémi Roy

Candle (Chandelle)

Jérémi Roy - Montreal, QC
Drama / Romance (9:04)
One autumn evening, a significant power outage occurs. Leonard is awaiting the arrival of David, his...
My Name is Arnold Arnold Lim

My Name is Arnold

Arnold Lim - Victoria, BC
Drama / Comedy (15:55)
A Korean-Canadian boy struggles adapting to his new life after moving with his single mother to a sm...