The 2021 Vancouver International Film Festival, the 40th event in the history of the

Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Fest ...

, was held from October 1 to October 11, 2021.Dana Gee
"VIFF back in theatres for 40th anniversary festival"
''

The Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the '' Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's on ...

'', September 8, 2021. Unlike the

2020 Vancouver International Film Festival The 2020 Vancouver International Film Festival, the 39th event in the history of the Vancouver International Film Festival, was held from September 24 to October 7, 2020. On September 3, organizers announced a lineup of 180 films; due to the COVID- ...

, which was staged entirely online due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the 2021 festival featured in-person screenings at the

VIFF Centre The VIFF Centre (formerly the Vancouver International Film Centre and the Vancity Theatre) is a movie theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, which houses the 175-seat Vancity Theatre, the 41-seat Studio Theatre, as well as the offices fo ...

and other venues, although most titles were also available on the online VIFF Connects platform. The festival opened with the film ''

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain ''The Electrical Life of Louis Wain'' is a 2021 biographical film, biographical comedy-drama film directed by Will Sharpe, from a story by Simon Stephenson, and screenplay by Stephenson and Sharpe. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch (as the ecce ...

'', and closed with the film ''

Petite Maman ''Petite Maman'' is a 2021 French fantasy drama film, written and directed by Céline Sciamma. Starring Joséphine Sanz, Gabrielle Sanz, Stéphane Varupenne, Nina Meurisse and Margo Abascal, the film follows a young girl coping with the death ...

''. 190 films from 51 countries where screened in the festival constituting 113 features, 77 shorts, 80 narrative features and 33 documentary features. In addition, the festival screened some titles outside Vancouver, including in

Terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk an ...

and Powell River.Craig Takeuchi
"Vancouver International Film Festival returns to cinemas for 40th-anniversary edition"
''

The Georgia Straight ''The Georgia Straight'' is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Overstory Media Group. Often known simply as ''The Straight'', it is delivered to newsboxes, post-secondary schools, ...

'', September 8, 2021. Some, but not all, titles on the online platform were available for viewing across Canada rather than being geoblocked to British Columbia.

Awards

Audience-voted awards were announced on October 13 following the end of the festival; however, the juried award winners were announced during the festival as a technique to help publicize and promote the winning films.Steve Newton
"Vancouver International Film Fest announces award winners"
''

'', October 13, 2021.

Films

Special presentations

Contemporary World Cinema

True North

Gateway

Impact

Insights

M/A/D

Modes

Altered States

Short Forum

International Shorts

Reel Youth

References

{{VIFF

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

Vancouver International Film Festival