2025 film festival
qathet international film festival March 7 – 16, 2025
Our 24th annual film festival was our best program yet, with audience attendance growing by 40% from last year. Our raffles received tremendous support, almost doubling year over year. The audience choice award goes to The Monk and the Gun, with a score of 4.81 out of 5 – followed by The Stand and So Surreal to round out the top 3. Huge thanks to our sponsors, our staff, and our volunteers. Kudos to Andrew Bradley, photographer, for capturing some wonderful moments.
Can I Get a Witness?
Friday March 7
Opening party 6 pm SOLD OUT
Film 7 pm RUSH SEATS ONLY!
Encore screening seats available
Sunday March 16 – 7pm
1 hr 50 min
Sci-Fi/Drama
Director Ann Marie Fleming & Crew in attendance
Country of origin: Canada
Language: English
Released 2024
Not Rated
Preceded by Big Trees
Directed by Ann Marie Fleming
All We Imagine As Light
Saturday March 8
Film 1:30 pm
1 hr 58 min
Drama / Romance
Director: Payal Kapadia
Countries of Origin: France, India, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy
Languages: Malayalam, Hindi, Marathi
Released 2024
Not Rated
Bird
Saturday March 8
Film 7 pm
1 hr 59 min
Drama
Director: Andrea Arnold
Countries of Origin: United Kingdom, France
Language: English
Released 2024
Not Rated
Preceded by Saturday
Directed by Jessica Hall
Flow
Sunday March 9 SOLD OUT
Film 1:30 pm RUSH SEATS ONLY
Encore screening seats available
Monday March 17 – 7pm
1 hr 25 min
Animation / Adventure / Family / Fantasy
Director: Gints Zilbalodis
Countries of Origin: Latvia
Languages: None
Released 2024
Rated G
Preceded by Maybe Elephants
Directed by Torill Cove
So Surreal: Behind the Masks
Sunday March 9
Film 7 pm
1 hr 28 min
Documentary
Directors: Neil Diamond, Joanne Robertson
Country of Origin: Canada
Language: English
Released 2024
Not Rated
Preceded by təm kʷaθ nan Namesake teaser
Directed by Eileen Francis and Dr. Evan Adams
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Monday March 10
Performance 6:30pm
Film 7 pm
2 hr 30 min
Documentary
Director: Johan Grimonprez
Countries of Origin: Belgium, France, Netherlands
Languages: French, English, Dutch, Russian
Released 2024
Not Rated
Preceded by Performance by Brooks Jazz Vocal Ensemble
Evil Does Not Exist
Tuesday March 11
Film 7 pm
1 hr 46 min
Drama
Director: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Country of Origin: Japan
Language: Japanese
Released 2024
Not Rated
Preceded by Inkwo: For When the Starving Returns
Directed by Amanda Strong
Diving Into the Darkness
Wednesday March 12
Film 1:30 pm
1 hr 36 min
Documentary / Drama
Director: Nays Baghai
Country of Origin: Australia
Language: English
Released 2024
Not Rated
Preceded by The Beginning
Directed by Cristóbal Ruiz
Universal Language
Wednesday March 12
Film 7 pm
1 hr 29 min
Comedy/Drama
Director: Matthew Rankin
Co-writer & actor Pirouz Nemati in attendance
Country of origin: Canada
Language: Persian, French
Released 2024
Rated G
Preceded by Samaa
Directed by Ehsan Gharib
Queens (Reinas)
Thursday March 13
Film 1:30 pm
1 hr 45 min
Drama
Director: Klaudia Reynicke
Country of Origin: Switzerland, Peru, Spain
Language: Spanish, Quechua
Released 2024
Not Rated
Preceded by Hairy Legs
Directed by Andrea Dorfman
The Room Next Door
Thursday March 13
Film 7 pm
1 hr 47 min
Drama
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Country of Origin: Spain
Language: English
Released 2024
Not Rated
Preceded by Loca
Directed by Véronique Paquette
The Monk and the Gun
Friday March 14
Film 1:30 pm
1 hr 47 min
Comedy / Drama
Director: Pawo Choyning Dorji
Countries of origin: Bhutan, France, Taiwan, USA
Language: Dzongkha, English
Released 2023
Not Rated
Preceded by JoJo’s Pebbles
Directed by Wendy Van Riesen & Sandy Cochrane
Queer
Friday March 14
Film 7 pm
2 hr 17 min
Bio / Drama
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Countries of Origin: USA, Italy
Languages: English & Spanish
Released 2024
Rated 18A
The Stand
Saturday March 15
Film 1:30 pm
1 hr 34 min
Archival Documentary
Director: Christopher Auchter
Country of origin: Canada
Language: English
Released 2024
Not Rated
Preceded by Tu DesDes, Paddling the Pelly
Directed by Jeremy Williams
Kneecap
Saturday March 15
Closing party 6 pm
Film 7 pm
1 hr 47 min
Comedy / Drama / Music / Biography
Director: Rich Peppiatt
Country of Origin: Ireland
Language: Irish, English
Released 2024
Rated 14A
Can I Get a Witness?
Sunday March 16
Repeat Screening
Film 1:30 pm
1 hr 50 min
Sci-Fi/Drama
Director: Ann Marie Fleming
Country of origin: Canada
Language: English
Released 2024
Not Rated
Preceded by Big Trees
Directed by Ann Marie Fleming
Following the films Behind the Scenes
Directed by Tony Papa
Texada
Available to view VR Documentary Throughout the Festival
17 min
Virtual Reality Documentary
Directed by Josephine Anderson and Claire Sanford
Country of origin: Canada
Language: English
Released 2024
Not Rated
at the festival
Special Guests at qiff 2025
qiff 2025 kicks off at the PR Public Library on Tuesday, March 4, 7pm with Claire Sanford and Josephine Anderson talking about their VR Texada, which is on view during our festival at the qathet Art Gallery March 23–April 4.
On opening night of the festival, March 7 at 7pm, special guests Director Ann Marie Fleming, Producer Raymond Massey, and crew from Vancouver, with local actor Kymo Van Oers and associate producer Tony Papa, talk about the locally fi lmed Can I Get A Witness?
For International Women’s Day on March 8, the afternoon screening will feature Claire Sanford and Josephine Anderson, who will tell us about creating their Virtual Reality production, Texada and describe their VR workshop to be held on Monday, March 10 at 1:30pm.
In the evening, our MP Rachel Blaney will speak about the enduring importance of IWD, along with Yukon filmmaker Jessica Hall, who will go into the challenges of making a film inside the doll houses her sister lovingly constructed for Saturday.
On Sunday March 9 at 7pm, Eileen Francis, Peg Campbell, Angela Kendall, Davis McKenzie, Claudia Medina, and Emily White, will introduce the teaser for their documentary təm kʷaθ nan Namesake that will be released later this year.
Director Cristóbal Ruiz plus crew will talk with Paul Demers about filming base jumping in the mountains under dire conditions for the short film The Beginning, at 1:30 on March 12th.
At 1:30 on March 14th, local filmmaker Jeremy Williams will introduce his short film, Paddling Tu DesDes.
Local DJ Minerva (Claudia Medina) will be at our closing party, spinning Indigenous tunes to get us in the mood for the Gaeilge punk of Kneecap.
Our guests will be at the Morning-After Film Salons to talk more about their films and their insights into the other films we’ve screened. Hope you can join us for these stimulating discussions!
Film Salon Update
This year’s Film Festival welcomes the return of our popular Morning-After Film Salons.
They take place upstairs in our new Screening Room and will be led by a variety of local film lovers. These Salons are open to anyone attending
films at the festival and are a welcoming place for discussion of the previous day’s screenings.
Visiting filmmakers will also attend.
The Salons take place at 12pm on every day that has an afternoon matinee scheduled. The Morning-After Film Salons run for approximately an hour, depending on the depth of discussion, and participants can go directly to the 1:30 matinee after the discussion.
Coffee and treats will be supplied. Special thanks to 32 Lakes Café and Bakery for their support. This is a great opportunity to deepen your understanding of the films at the Festival and to share your thoughts with other film lovers.
2024 Memories
2024 Memories
Restorations to the Historic Patricia Theatre are nearing completion
The auditorium saw major improvements made during our recent restorations and renovations. The ceiling was repaired and repainted, with new high-efficiency ceiling fans installed and a heat pump system for cooling and heating. The murals were lovingly repaired and restored. And the icing on the cake – new seats, relieving the pain of sitting through what seems to be increasingly long movies.