Stir is a digital media organization dedicated to covering Vancouver’s arts and culture scene through independent journalism.
Stir is a digital media organization dedicated to covering Vancouver’s arts and culture scene through independent journalism.
VLAFF 2024: La Suprema, Opening Night Film.
Founded in 2003, VLAFF has grown from a weekend showcase to an 11-day festival exhibiting over 90 features, documentaries, and short films representing works from over 17 countries in 11 different languages (always with English subtitles).
Each year VLAFF invites local, national, and international guests to participate in artist talks, Q&As, and panel discussions. It organizes special events with receptions catered by local Latin American restaurants, and music and dance performances. To complement the film programming, over the years the fest has also organized literary readings, art exhibitions, concerts, master classes, and workshops.
An important part of our vision is the creation of a space where people can come together to exchange ideas and be inspired. The interactive discussions following the screenings engage both the audience and the artists, promoting dialogue among diverse communities. By making these films available to the public, VLAFF hopes to increase awareness of the range and complexity of media art coming from Latin American, Latin-Canadian, and Indigenous filmmakers.
Innovative and inclusive programming is at the core of the festival’s mission and in addition to a programming committee, each year VLAFF works with guest curators to bring new visions to the event. VLAFF has developed several signature sections including: the New Directors Competition, Shorts in Competition, Future Ancestors: Indigenous Cinema, ¡Activismo!, Queer Latinx, and Canada Looks South. The organization also welcomes a Youth Jury made up of 20 to 30 students who engage in dialogues with the filmmakers and select the winner of the Best New Director award.
VLAFF screenings are held at The Cinematheque, SFU Woodward’s, Cinewords and Cineplex International Village.
And none of this would be possible without the VLAFF Volunteers—an amazing group of over 100 people, playing a key role in the presentation of the festival and its year-round activities.
The creative force behind Valentina or the Serenity delves into mourning through the perspective of a young girl
Quick takes on La Suprema and Outsider Girls, two energized offerings at the upcoming ode to new cinema
Opening with Colombian director Felipe Holguín Caro’s La Suprema, festival’s 22nd edition celebrates more than two decades of cutting-edge cinema
Multimedia storytelling meets live performance and film screening
Peru’s La Danza de los Mirlos, Mexico’s Love and Mathematics, and Brazil’s Rule 34
Event kicks off with Brazil’s provocative Rule 34 and closes with Pinochet-era-set Chile ‘76
Vancouver Latin American Film Festival presents local premiere of work that stars Carmen Aguirre
It Runs in the Family artfully interweaves archival photos, interviews, animation, and more, while a Mexican-Tzotzil director makes amends with his Mamá
Fest artistic director Christian Sida dives into his first film, a raucous, mezcal-fuelled “docoficción” look at a maverick artist
An indirect look at violence and narco fiction at Vancouver Latin American Film Festival
Ana Katz’s must-see The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet, and more
More than half its films are by women and nonbinary directors, with expanded series of Indigenous works
