About The Festival
The Vancouver International Black Film Festival (VIBFF) is dedicated to giving unique voices in cinema the opportunity to present audiences with new ways of looking at the world. The ambition is to encourage the development of the independent film industry and to promote more films on the reality of Black people from around the Globe.
11-15 December 2026 Vancouver, CA
Festival Schedule
Laundry Uhlanjululo (Opening Film)
oppression crushes Black ambition and threatens to destroy everything he loves.
Navigating Independent Documentary Production with the CBC
The Future is Creative: Following Your Passion & Creating Your Own Path
Short Film Series (In Theatre)
VIBFF Vancouver Black Filmmaker Spotlight
Diya (In Theatre Only)
Vertical Dramas: The Future of Short-Form Storytelling
Being Black in Canada VANCOUVER (followed by a q&a), HALIFAX & Toronto (In Theatre)
VIBFF Networking Session
Meet film and television industry professionals, exchange ideas, discover new projects, and explore exciting opportunities for collaboration.
The Eyes of Ghana (In Theatre Only)
Meet film and television industry professionals, exchange ideas, discover new projects, and explore exciting opportunities for collaboration.
Canadian Spotlight (Online)
Short Film Series (Online)
WORKSHOP - Barriers Facing BIPOC People in Film and the Arts
VIBFF2026 Being Black In Canada 2025 Cohort (Online)
Black Market
Navigating Independent Documentary Production with the CBC
This discussion will focus on the systemic challenges faced by Black filmmakers in the Vancouver film industry.
The Future is Creative: Following Your Passion & Creating Your Own Path
This discussion will focus on the systemic challenges faced by Black filmmakers in the Vancouver film industry.
VIBFF Vancouver Black Filmmaker Spotlight
This discussion will focus on the systemic challenges faced by Black filmmakers in the Vancouver film industry.
Vertical Dramas: The Future of Short-Form Storytelling
This workshop will explore the creative and business opportunities behind vertical dramas
VIBFF NETWORKING SESSION
Meet film and television industry professionals, exchange ideas, discover new projects, and explore exciting opportunities for collaboration.
Barriers Facing BIPOC People in Film and the Arts (Online on Facebook)
Being Black In Canada
JAPA (TOR) (In Theatre & Online)
When two young Nigerians leave home to settle in Toronto, Canada, hoping to build a better life, they face challenges far harsher than expected and are forced to decide whether to evolve or abandon the dream they travelled so far to pursue.
KINGS TO STRANGERS: THE CLIMB BACK (TOR) (In Theatre & Online)
“Kings to Strangers: The Climb Back” follows immigrants in Canada as they navigate loss of status, identity, and certainty. Through quiet moments of struggle and resilience, the film reveals how dignity, family, and perseverance fuel the long climb toward rebuilding purpose in a new land.
CROWNED (HLX) (In Theatre & Online)
“Crowned” shines a light on Black women rewriting narratives formed in their earlier years. Through raw, intimate reflections, they reveal how shame targeted at Afro-textured hair has transformed into knowledge, pride, and radical self-love – encouraging audiences to unapologetically embrace themselves in their natural state.
HYPHENATED (HLX) (In Theatre & Online)
“Hyphenated” examines identity among Canadians with hyphenated cultural identities. It explores tensions between heritage and home, language and belonging, pride and pressure. Centring young people’s experiences through interviews, “”Hyphenated”” asks: what does it mean to be Canadian, and what does home mean; capturing the quiet reality of existing in the-between.
TAKING UP SPACE (VAN) (In Theatre & Online)
Up-and-coming improvisers Alex, Frankie and Felix form a BPOC (Black and People of Colour) comedy group called the “Diversity Hires.” Part of improving their practice comes from participating in improv jams, where they experience the high energy and oftentimes ridiculous nature of making up stories with friends and strangers.
THE MODERN TALE OF VANCOUVER ANIMATORS (VAN) (In Theatre & Online)
The art of animation is beloved by all but do we know who is behind the moving drawings that makes us dream? “The Modern Tale of Vancouver Animators” drops the veil on the current state of the animation industry, letting us know of the obstacles it can be facing.
PARALLAX BODIES (VAN) (In Theatre & Online)
Two African immigrants in Canada trace the roots that shape them as artists. By exploring memory and present-day practice, they reveal their rituals and moments of doubt when vision slips, showing how creative output is possibility and perception refracted through time.
SENA (MTL FR) (Online Only)
“Sena” follows a young woman who works in a library while developing her artistic practice through dance and drawing. The documentary accompanies her daily life, between work and creation, at a pivotal moment in her journey.







