Ten Canadian features will world premiere at this year’s Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF).

The complete lineup for the festival’s 44th edition was unveiled on Wednesday (Aug. 27), including more than 435 screenings. VIFF opens on Oct. 2 with Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague, and runs until Oct. 12.

Seven of the Canadian debuts are part of VIFF’s Northern Lights section, dedicated to the next wave of Canadian and Indigenous filmmakers. Four of the selections are scripted, and three are documentaries.

The scripted features include Akashi (pictured) from Japan-born, Vancouver-based director Mayumi Yoshida. The film is produced by Nach Dudsdeemaytha of Musubi Arts and Tyler Hagan of Experimental Forest Films, in association with Watermark Media. Starring Yoshida, Hana Kino and Ryu Tajima, it tells the story of a struggling artist who returns to Japan, reconnecting with an old love and uncovering a family secret.

Akashi was supported by Telefilm Canada, the Canada Media Fund (CMF) and Creative BC. It was produced in association with Crave and Hollywood Suite.

Another scripted selection is the Canada/Hong Kong coproduction Finch & Midland, from Canada-born, Chinese writer-director Timothy Yeung.

The film follows the lives of Hong Kong immigrants in Toronto’s Finch and Midland neighbourhood, and stars Anthony Wong Chau-sang, Nina Paw Hee-ching, Patrick Tam and Theresa Lee. It is produced by Toronto-based Righteous Alliance Entertainment and F&M Productions.

From Locarno Pro’s First Look section comes Thanks to the Hard Work of the Elephants from Toronto-based filmmaker Bryce Hodgson. Produced by Caitlyn Sponheimer of CouKuma Productions and Katia Shannon of Harrington Studio, the film follows two teenage boys who escape a youth lockdown centre while high on LSD.

Thanks to the Hard Work of the Elephants marks Hodgson’s feature directorial debut, and stars Kevin Nguyen, Hunter Dillon and Fred Nguyen.

The fourth scripted debut is writer-director Brian Daniel Johnson’s A Welcome Distraction. The self-funded feature, produced by Dide Su Bilgin and Maddy Chang, follows a young man drifting through life in the aftermath of a family tragedy. A Welcome Distraction is Johnson’s feature directorial debut, and stars Simon Farrell, Madison Isolina, Adriana Marchand and Liam McCulley.

The Northern Lights documentaries include the Knowledge Network original Treasure of the Rice Terraces from Filipino-Canadian filmmaker Kent Donguines. The Canada/Philippines copro accompanies Donguines as he returns to the Philippines and learns the art of Kalinga tattooing from an 108-year-old artist. It is produced by Donguines, Jacob Crawford and Bailey Wood, with support from Rogers Group of Funds, Creative BC, the Indigenous Screen Office and the CMF.

Another Knowledge Network original is Clan of the Painted Lady from Hakka-Canadian director Jennifer Chiu. The documentary follows Chiu as she traces her past in India and confronts the impact of migration on family and identity. It is produced by Chiu and Mel D’Souza, and was supported by CMF, Telefilm and the Bell Fund, along with tax credits.

The Iran/Canada feature Hemela from Universal Language co-writer and star Pirouz Nemati rounds out the Northern Lights premieres. The French- and Farsi-language film is produced by Nemati, and marks his first as director. It paints a portrait of Hemela Pourafzal, the owner of a staple Iranian restaurant in Montreal.

The only Canadian debut in the festival’s Showcase section is Brishkay Ahmed’s National Film Board of Canada documentary In the Room. The feature is produced by Teri Snelgrove, and follows five Afghan women who take the world stage to reclaim their homeland.

The remaining two Canadian selections are part of the festival’s Portraits section, highlighting art-focused unscripted features.

Directed by Alison Reid, the documentary The Art of Adventure chronicles the 1950s odyssey taken by Canadian wildlife artist Robert Bateman and biologist Bristol Foster in a Land Rover named The Grizzly Torque.

Jenn Strom brings The Painted Life of E.J. Hughes. The film, produced by Strom and Kevin Eastwood in association with Knowledge Network, is inspired by the books of Robert Amos. It explores the life of the painter who depicted B.C.’s landscapes for 70 years before his death in 2007.

The short films debuting at the festival are Dragos Badita’s Inanna, Émile Lavoie’s Living Grounds, Bianca Rose Cheung’s My Dad is an Astronaut, Natalie Murao’s Tears Burn to Ash and Monica Cheema’s To Look, and to Look Again.

Ryan McKenna’s short doc-fiction hybrid Solitudes, which debuted at the Locarno Film Festival, is set for its Canadian premiere at VIFF.

The festival closes with Ido Fluk’s German- and English-language drama Köln 75.

Image courtesy of Musubi Arts