festival.vcmedia.org2024 VC Film Fest – Welcome to the 40th VC Film

Fest!Menu Close Festival Info Welcome Festival Renewal How To Fest About Our Art Venues & Parking Community Agreements Programmers Funders Press Accreditation Contact Support Accessibility Notes Programs All Films & Events Festival Sections Free Programs Cinema Musica Armed With a Camera Vol. 2024 Digital Histories 2024 Pacific Cinewaves Reel Life C3:CONVERSE R3:VOLVE Schedule News Parties & Afterhours Program Guide 0 CART $0.00 Welcome to VC Film Fest 2024! HELP US KEEP IT GOING! Visual Communications relies on the growing support of our individual donors each year to keep our programs thriving and available in Los Angeles. DONATE NOW! Previous Next Featured Programs Shorts Program , VC Presents ARMED WITH A CAMERA VOL. 2024 Join us in a special opening night with a program of films by the Armed with a Camera (AWC) Fellowship for Emerging Media Artists class of 2024. View purchasing options for ARMED WITH A CAMERA VOL. 2024 Learn More Shorts Program , VC Presents DIGITAL HISTORIES 2024 Experience the power of storytelling at DIGITAL HISTORIES: CLASS OF ’24—featuring an unprecedented lineup of 15 world premieres! View purchasing options for DIGITAL HISTORIES 2024 Learn More Democracy Series , VC Presents VC ARCHIVES PRESENTS: CA LIBERATION Watch CRUISIN’ J-TOWN and PIECES OF A DREAM, and enjoy a conversation between Duane & Eddie. View purchasing options for VC ARCHIVES PRESENTS: CA LIBERATION Learn More Pacific Cinewaves , Shorts Program PACIFIC CINEWAVES: THE STORIES WE TELL We are grateful to present another edition of Pacific Cinewaves Shorts; celebrating stories that connect generations and lands. View purchasing options for PACIFIC CINEWAVES: THE STORIES WE TELL Learn More Pacific Cinewaves , Shorts Program PACIFIC CINEWAVES: ISLAND HOME An additional Pacific Cinewaves Shorts offering, this program is anchored by 2 different explorations of home. View purchasing options for PACIFIC CINEWAVES: ISLAND HOME Learn More Pacific Cinewaves , Shorts Program INDIGENOUS NOW! They are the original storytellers of their lands, we are grateful to be able to share their continued stories today. View purchasing options for INDIGENOUS NOW! Learn More Special Presentations LA LIBERATION: VC x EWP Watch Artbound episodes L.A. REBELLION: A CINEMATIC MOVEMENT and EAST WEST PLAYERS: A HOME ON STAGE, and relive the early moments of Visual Communications and East West Players. View purchasing options for LA LIBERATION: VC x EWP Learn More Reel Life WISH TREES FOR PEACE: A COMMUNITY ART INSTALLATION At the 40th VC Film Festival, the filmmaking team behind "A Town Called Victoria" presents a community art installation. Several olive "Wish Trees" are installed at select festival venues, with small messages tied to the branches. View purchasing options for WISH TREES FOR PEACE: A COMMUNITY ART INSTALLATION Learn More Democracy Series , Documentary Features AND SO IT BEGINS Amidst the traditional pomp and circumstance of Filipino elections, a quirky people’s movement rises to defend the nation against deepening threats to truth and democracy. In a collective act of joy as a form of resistance, hope flickers against the backdrop of increasing autocracy. View purchasing options for AND SO IT BEGINS Learn More Narrative Features , Special Presentations DÌDI (弟弟) In 2008, during the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns what his family can’t teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your mom. View purchasing options for DÌDI (弟弟) Learn More Narrative Features PAPER MARRIAGE A young professional seeking an U.S. green card enlists the help of a directionless slacker to stage a marriage. The two strangers have less than a year to convince everyone, including themselves, that they are a real couple. View purchasing options for PAPER MARRIAGE Learn More Narrative Features SMOKING TIGERS Over one summer spent at an elite academic bootcamp, a lonely korean-american teenager hides her true identity to fit in with her new friends, only to discover the bittersweet pains of adulthood. View purchasing options for SMOKING TIGERS Learn More Narrative Features NIKAH 2017, Uyghur Region. Dilber, a 27-year-old woman who is still single, has to endure pressure from her family to get married. Her friend Gulnur, who lives in Paris and with whom she shares her daily life by phone, then offers her a solution. View purchasing options for NIKAH Learn More Documentary Features HEAVEN RAIN FLOWS SWEETLY After wildfires force her to leave her home in Oregon, filmmaker Shasha reconnects with the rituals and the landscapes of her maternal tribe in Himalayan China. View purchasing options for HEAVEN RAIN FLOWS SWEETLY Learn More Shorts Program OUR STORYTELLING POWER This short film program is curated from arts organizations that encourage community-centered filmmaking that begins with the community members as the lead creatives. View purchasing options for OUR STORYTELLING POWER Learn More Festival Sections Animation Programs This year’s animated short films highlights intergenerational filmmakers expanding the format with innovative techniques highlighting stories of longing, discovery, community, and the beyond. Though animated, these films are reflections of dreamers of all ages. Animation Programs C3 C3 is a space for creative communities and industry leaders to converge through panels and conversations. C3 Cinema Musica WYD? Want to come over and watch music videos? This year’s opening reception will be a call back to watching music videos at home with friends. This will be a no frills zone; where you can party with friends, grab a drink, and check out 8 new music videos that range from hip hop to lofi pop and beyond. There may also be few surprises from the VC team, too! Bring your friends, it’s going to be a party! Cinema Musica Democracy Series With the rise of anti-democratic movements, the Festival presents these films reflecting our global political experiences in the midst of another major election year in the United States. Democracy Series Documentary Features Documentary storytelling allows us to better connect to each other; a relational bridge built on shared lived experiences. This year’s lineup introduces us to an Ioway and Wampanoag, African American and Cape Verdean, femme lesbian; travels us to discover the Shaka hand sign’s origin, meanings and why it’s the secret to paradise; and takes us to Taiwan, Philippines and beyond. Join us in a cinematic learning experience to better understand each other so that we can navigate life together. Documentary Features Narrative Features Each Narrative Feature brings in a perspective from all over the globe; pockets of imagination created to make you laugh, cry, or jump out of your seat. Meet a widowed school teacher in Pakistan who becomes a viral sensation overnight when she accidentally unleashes her unabashed opinions on social media. Then fall in love with the couple that has to convince everyone that their love is real.Then travel back in time to 2017, where Uyghur people are being arrested without people knowing why. Narrative Features Pacific Cinewaves In our fortified commitment to amplify Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities, Pacific Cinewaves programming celebrates stories and storytellers emerging from Hawai’i, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Guåhan (Guam), Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Samoa, and throughout the Pacific region. Pacific Cinewaves R3:VOLVE Searching for wellness and joy at the Festival continues with our growing practice of Regeneration, Reciprocity, and Renewal. An evolution of the 2023 Festival’s R3:NEWAL series, this year’s R3 revolves around artists and filmworkers through intimate roundtable conversations. R3:VOLVE Reel Life These Festival artist installations and experiences create interactive engagements for us to connect. Reel Life Shorts Program Often led by personal vision, as opposed to achieving financial success,...