Starting in late September each year, Vancouver is home to one of North America’s biggest film festivals. There’s no question that Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is a heavy-hitter, with more than 140,000 film fans enjoying 380 movies screened in the 16-day festival. But unlike other film festivals that can seem more like celebrities walking red carpets, VIFF is staged for those that love and make films. All you have to do to get into a showing is buy a ticket at the box office.

The festival is one of the largest showcases of Canadian films in the world, but the event also has a decidedly international flavour, screening films from over 70 countries. As you browse the program, you’ll also notice the largest selection of East Asian films—the most of any festival outside of that region, and a stellar line-up of documentary films. For film lovers, VIFF is an exciting time to be in Vancouver, but even casual movie fans will love the diversity and exploration that the festival encourages.

This year, VIFF continues to expand the frame to create multi-experiential streams that include some of the best cinema from around the world fused with related talks and events in a unique Film+ model.

In addition to some of the best movies and documentaries from leading new and established directors and producers, VIFF is expanding the frame to incorporate and celebrate some of the exciting new aspects of visual storytelling through its Buffer Festival Program which showcases some of the winning entries of this years You-Tube content competition, Expanding Frontiers of Story Telling, which will transport attendees into the new mediums of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality and VIFF live which will feature the legendary Kronos Quartet perform a live score to the Green Fog.

Pushing boundaries and bridging cultures – VIFF 2017 will engage and inspire.