Victoria is one of few hotspots for the film industry in Canada, and is frequently used in blockbuster movies, hit TV shows as well as locally made film projects.
For some of these locally made projects, it can be hard to release a film to a wide audience except by way of having it premiered in a local film festival.
Luckily for those in the capital region, the Victoria Film Festival (VFF) consistently champions projects with ties to the city.
During this year’s VFF, which runs from February 6th to 15th, there will be a total of five projects made by filmmakers from Greater Victoria—two of which are short films, while three are feature-length.
Leaving Beringia by Barbara Todd Hager
The first local feature-length film being shown at VFF is Leaving Beringia (2025), which was directed and co-written by local Sidney filmmaker Barbara Todd Hager.
This film is a documentary that follows Hager in her search to find the stories of her Metis/Cree ancestors’ origins.
In her efforts for discovery, Hager travels to eight of the oldest Indigenous sites in the Americas to find a connection between origin stories and scientific research.
Leaving Beringia is showing at The Vic Theatre in Victoria on Tuesday, February 10th at 5 p.m. All screenings at The Vic are 19+ only, as it is a licensed venue.
Midlife by Cory Thibert
The second of the feature-length films, Midlife (2025), was made by local Victoria filmmaker Cory Thibert, who wrote, directed and starred in the project.
The plot follows a drummer, whose world is thrown off-beat when his girlfriend wants to leave their small town just as he’s struggling to care for his parents.
Mildlife is described as a coming-of-age film for an older crowd, as Lawrence (Thibert) navigates many not-so-simple decisions.
This film will be playing at The Roxy Theatre in Victoria on February 11th at 7:30 p.m.
Lucid by Deanna Milligan and Ramsey Fendallare
Lastly, Victoria residents Deanna Milligan and Ramsey Fendallare co-wrote and co-directed Lucid (2025), which already has one of its showings sold out at VFF.
The film follows Mia (Caitlin Acken Taylor), who is stuck in a creative art hole.
After discovering an elixir that promises to cure it all, she’s pulled into a psychedelic whirlwind of surreal demons, dreams and delusions as she struggles to define what it truly means to become an artist.
There are still some tickets to see Lucid screening at The Vic Theatre on Friday, February 13th, at 10 p.m. Again, all screenings at The Vic are 19+ only.
Field Notes From An Apocalypse by Brett Gaylor
Field Notes From An Apocalypse (2025) is a short film by local Victorian documentarian Brett Gaylor that runs just over 25 minutes.
The short follows Gaylor and some of his friends as they join science fiction writer Christopher Brown on adventures through Austin’s urban fringes.
There, forgotten spaces offer visions of tomorrow as Brown writes a story about a world where animals hold rights as legal persons.
The film blends live action and animated sequences to interlace the natural and civil worlds, showing the futures that might still be possible.
Field Notes From An Apocalypse will be playing at VFF as part of their ‘This Really Happened’ short film series. The runtime of the series is around 113 minutes.
It will be playing at Intrepid Theatre in Victoria on Tuesday, February 10th at 7:30 p.m. and on Friday, February 13th at 5 p.m.
Weeping Fig by Sohee Hong
Weeping Fig (2025) is an 18-minute short that was directed and co-written by local filmmaker Sohee Hong.
The film is described as a reverse fairytale, a cautionary tale not for children, but for adults.
It is a mystical and eerie psychological drama that follows a father and a daughter whose relationship is drifting apart. The father has been making his own decisions about raising his child in the midst of trouble, unaware of how deeply his emotions shape her world.
Weeping Fig will also be shown with a number of other short films as a part of VFF’s ‘This, That, There and Where?’ series, which runs approximately 82 minutes.
It will be showing at Intrepid Theatre in Victoria on Thursday, February 12th and Saturday, February 14th, at 5 p.m.
Related:
- Victoria Film Festival releases official guide for 32nd annual celebration of film
- Victoria Film Fest collaborate to host pop-up film screenings featuring local bands
Aside from these five films by local directors, there will be 88 other feature-length films playing at VFF and 37 other short films.
Check out the VFF guide online here to see what else is playing and to buy tickets.
