A romantic comedy that starts with a vasectomy and climaxes with rock’n‘roll rabbis. A professional gambler, divorced father, and a ladies’ man declares himself through with love then runs into an old college flame. Needless to say, she will call his bluff.

Comedy about five long-time friends (Jane Fonda, Geraldine Chaplin, Claude Rich, Pierre Richard, Guy Bedos), decide to move in together. Under the watch of their younger caretaker, an anthropology student, they confront hidden issues from their shared past while struggling to cope with ageing. U.S. Premiere!

Jean-Marc Vallée (C.R.A.Z.Y, The Young Victoria) has produced a deeply personal film with two parallel stories that run through the film. With a Pink Floyd on the soundtrack and a major plot twist late in the film, Vallée proves his remarkable talent for “breathtaking visuals, music-fuelled magic and inspired editing”, to quote one critic.

Actor Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty) turns in one of the best performances of his career as a former Britpop star working on an American farm, who is forced to confront his own past while facing deportation. Writer/Director Marshall Lewy creates a thoroughly engaging story supported by simple, beautiful filmmaking.-K.M.

Azarbayjani is a filmmaker from Iran who should be closely watched. This is her narrative debut featuring the first Iranian transgender character (played by Shayesteh Irani – leading actress in Panahi’s Offside). It is the story of how an unlikely friendship develops between two women from opposite backgrounds. This is an uplifting drama enthusiastically received by critics and audiences at numerous festivals.-M.N.

“Peaceful, almost biblical and completely absorbing, this film is a masterpiece. The daily reality of Guerrero village life is realized with lyricism and lack of sentimentality. Columbia University Cinema grad Mendez Esparaza’s cast of non-actors give reticent performances. In a time when cinematic images are often frantic and hysterical, the film stands out […]” – Indiewire
w/producer Ori Gratch

South Korean master Hong Sang-soo teams with French superstar Isabelle Huppert for this formally inventive and wonderfully witty three-part film in which she plays 3 different characters who each interact with the same group of characters in a seaside town. Hong is considered one of Korea’s new cinema auteurs.
w/intro and Q&A by Hyon Joo Yoo, Assist. Prof Film & Television Studies, University of Vermont

Shot on location in Havana, this zom-com is stylish and truly funny. But its political message elevates it to another level. A cult film in Cuba, it has now emerged from underground venues. Director’s statement: “Cuba is a country that has been preparing itself for a confrontation with the United States during the last 50 years. So, what if instead of that, we have to confront zombies?” Halloween Special

Lucien and Regina are foragers – they gather wild mushrooms and sell them to New York restaurants. Their lifestyle is simple, their income unstable. As Regina seeks more stability and Lucien wants to devote himself to full-time nomadic foraging, their individual desires put the marriage to a test. A food lovers’ film.

This may well be one of the best films in VTIFF this year, balancing themes of loneliness and disconnection with an absurd comic tone reminiscent of the films of Aki Kaurismaki or Jim Jarmusch. In the center is a lonely pawnbroker whose life changes radically when someone abandons a baby on his bed. He turns to his neighbor, a devotee of October’s feast of our Lord of the Miracles, for help. Avoiding all melodramatic traps, the Vada Brothers craft an emotionally rich and stylish fresh look at contemporary Lima.-M.N.

In 1970s American suburbia, Maggie and her three younger siblings spend the night weaving a fantastic story upstairs, while downstairs their parents create an alcohol-soaked intrigue of their own. With John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone) and Molly Parker (Deadwood).
w/filmmaker Julia Dyer.

Paris, a pivotal day lived by Bianca, Thalat and Pierre.
Filmmaker Armel Hostiou and actress Jasmina Sijercic will be present. Q&A moderated by Anthony Grudin, Assist Professor of Art History at UVM. Art Forum review

Canadian director Émile Gaudreault (Surviving My Mother, Mambo Italiano) delivers yet another killer comedy with a very original plot about two stand-up comedians who tour across Québec playing to small town crowds. Part of their shtick every night is to pick a victim and make fun of him. Until they choose Roger, who turns out to be a serial killer. He takes them hostage and wants to be trained how to be funny…-M.N.

The story of an unlikely cross-generational friendship between a porn star, 21 year-old Jane played by Dree Hemingway, (Ernest Hemingway’s great-granddaughter and Mariel’s daughter), and an 85 year-old widow, Sadie played by Basedka Johnson in her startling screen debut.

Shot in the aquatic community of Dal Lake, considered the crown jewel of Kashmir, this award-winning film blends fiction and documentary to tell a story of love, war and the devastating effects of pollution on the lake. Lush cinematography heightens the region’s visual splendor. Followed by guest speaker: Buzz Hoerr, CEO ElectroCell Technologies.

The extraordinary story of the iconic poet, musician and folksinger Violeta Parra, whose songs have become hymns for Chileans and Latin Americans alike. Director Andrés Wood (Machuca) traces the intensity and explosive vitality of her life, from humble origins to international fame, her defense of indigenous cultures and devotion to her art. Chile’s official entry to the Oscars.

The one that almost got away! VTIFF is proud to present Where Do We Go Now? the hilarious and moving film from one of Lebanon’s leading writer/actor/director’s Nadine Labaki.
When tensions flare in Beirut between Christians and Muslims, the women of a remote village go to great lengths to keep their men from plunging their fragile community into violence. Labaki’s film is a one of a kind, Middle Eastern musical antiwar comedy. VTIFF fans are in for a huge treat.