Vancouver International Film Festival

Organization Type: Arts, Culture & Heritage
Address: 1181 seymour st, Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 3M7
Website: http://www.viff.org/

Founded in 1982, The Greater Vancouver International Film Festival Society is a not-for-profit cultural organization that operates the internationally acclaimed Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF), the annual VIFF Industry Conference and the year-round programming of the Vancity Theatre at the Vancouver International Film Centre.

Mandate

The Greater Vancouver International Film Festival Society (“Society”) is a not-for-profit cultural society whose mandate is to:
1.Encourage understanding of the world’s cultures through the art of cinema, to foster the art of cinema, to facilitate the meeting in British Columbia of cinema professionals from around the world, and to stimulate the motion picture industry in British Columbia.
2.Operate an annual Vancouver International Film Festival, a public celebration bringing the best in contemporary Canadian and international cinema and retrospective programs to British Columbia.
3.Operate the Vancouver International Film Centre and Vancity Theatre, providing the public and film community with an excellent facility for the appreciation of cinema and related art forms throughout the year.

Both in terms of admissions and number of films screened (144,000 and 349 respectively in 2014) VIFF is among the five largest film festivals in North America. We screen films from more than 70 countries on nine screens, including the pick of the world’s top film fests and many undiscovered gems.

Three main programming platforms make our festival unique: we screen one of the largest selections of East Asian films outside of that region, we are one of the biggest showcases of Canadian film in the world and we have a large and vibrant nonfiction program.

Attracting a large, attentive and enthusiastic audience the festival remains accessible, friendly and culturally diverse. As the critics say, VIFF is very much a festival “designed for the benefit of people who love films and people who make them.”