Despite the hurdles of launching a film festival in 2020, VIFF is returning in just over a week to stream more than 100 features and shorts programs for two weeks to residents of BC. If you had asked me a few months ago about the prospects of a festival this year, I would have expressed concern regarding the general quality of the offerings in such a chaotic year, but as the organizations that are brave enough to engage this year announce their selections, I’ve seen more than enough trailers and previews to know we are in for some cinematic treats, even if we have to enjoy the cinema from home.

Here’s a few narrative films that I’m excited to see at VIFF 2020:

ANOTHER ROUND – Thomas Vinterberg

Thomas Vinterberg’s films are hit and miss, but it’s impossible to deny the brilliance of his 2012 feature The Hunt. Here we see him reunite with Hunt star Mads Mikkelsen in a black comedy about a group of high school teachers who start experimenting with maintaining a base level of intoxication, in hopes of improving their lives.

I’m on the fence about this one, but with another Vinterberg-Mikkelsen collaboration and what looks like the director taking a step back in terms of scope, I am cautiously optimistic.

MOVING ON – Yoon Dan-Bi

First time Korean director Yoon Dan-Bi is already drawing comparisons to some of Asia’s greatest filmmakers in her gorgeous debut Moving On. Just watching the trailer had me tearing up and this film shot to the top of my list. A story about two children dealing with the aftermath of divorce as they learn to live with extended family. There are clear lines to be drawn to the complicated family dynamics in the films of Hirokazu Kore-Eda and an aesthetic that looks straight out of Taiwanese New Cinema. This is the exact kind of discovery I’m looking for when I dig through the yearly cinema offerings.

UNDINE – Christian Petzold

Paula Beer won the Silver Bear at Berlin for her performance in Petzold’s newest film Undine. I don’t know much about the plot of this film, other than that it is a romance and has an air of the supernatural. As a rule, Petzold’s films are not to be missed. I anticipate a tightly paced film that plays with our sense of time and place and featuring strong performances from the central cast. Reviews of this film have been mixed, but I have a feeling that this will be an underrated gem.

VIOLATION – Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli

This one has quite a bit of hype coming out of TIFF and is likely one of those films that would surely be introduced at the festival with a content warning of some kind. I’ve heard some whispers over the last couple months about this one and I’m hopeful that it will transcend it’s genre trappings and deliver a hard-hitting and affecting thriller. Rape/revenge films are pretty overdone at this point, but this one seems to have the right approach and I look forward to seeing a dark, disturbing revenge film that doesn’t glorify the violence it depicts.