National Canadian Film Day (April 15) offers plenty of opportunities to engage in cultural exploration. That’s because free film screenings are being offered across Metro Vancouver, touching on many themes. They range from colonialism to Asian history to what Canada would be like if Farsi replaced English as one of the official languages.
The City of Langley will screen Matthew Rankin’s award-winning absurdist comedy drama, Universal Language (بوقلمون آواز), at 11 a.m. at the Timms Community Centre (20399 Douglas Crescent). In the film, Massoud (Pirouz Nemati) is a tour guide in Winnipeg. In two separate stories, Negan (Esmaeili) and Nazgol (Saba Vahedyousefi) find money frozen in ice and Matthew (Rankin) quits his Quebec government job.
Rankin’s film, which presents Farsi as an official language, will also be screened for free at the Capilano Library (3045 Highland Boulevard) in North Vancouver at 1 p.m. and at the Black Box Studio (1131 Howe Street) in Vancouver at 7 p.m.
Meanwhile, Endless Cookie is at the Timms Community Centre in Langley at 1:30 p.m. and at the North Vancouver City Library at 7 p.m. The 97-minute animated comedy-documentary-drama premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Directed by Seth Scriver and his half-brother and former Shamattawa First Nation chief Peter Scriver, it explores themes of identity, colonial impact, and family.
The third free film at the Timms Community Centre is Boxcutter, a 2024 comedy drama about an aspiring rapper’s search for his stolen laptop. The Reza Dahya-directed movie is set in Toronto.
The VIFF Centre will also present three free showcases on April 15 as part of National Canadian Film Day. They are Intimate Moments: Short Films by Brendan Prost at 5 p.m.; Winter Kept Us Warm by David Secter (6:30 p.m.); and Last Wedding: Jubilee Screening by Bruce Sweeney (7:30 p.m.). Tickets are going quickly so check the website for availability.
The Cinematheque will present Michael Snow’s three-hour experimental 1971 documentary, La Région Centrale. With cinematography by Pierre Abbeloos, it is composed of 17 images of uninhabitated mountainous terrain. Snow’s objective was to make a film with no sign of any human activity.
One of B.C.’s great filmmakers, Anne Marie Fleming, directed The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam. Cinevolution Media Arts Society will present this 2003 documentary about Fleming’s great-grandfather, a touring Chinese magician and acrobat in the early 20th century. It will be screened at 6 p.m. at Richmond Cultural Centre’s Theatre Under the Stairs.
Another film addressing a diasporic theme, Fawzia Mirza’s award-winning The Queen of My Dreams, will be screened at 7 p.m. at Landmark Cinemas Surrey Guildford. Presented by ISAFF, this 2023 feature revolves around a queer Pakistani Muslim grad student (played by Amrit Kaur) in Canada who’s in a difficult relationship with her parents.
Also with an LGBTQ theme, Landmark Cinemas New Westminster will feature Outrageous at 7 p.m. Richard Benner’s 1977 cult classic stars Craig Russell as a female impersonator.
For those interested in women’s sports and roller derby in particular, Mélanie Charbonneau’s feature-length comedy, Les Furies (The Furies), will be screened at the Commercial Drive Royal Canadian Legion at 6:30 p.m. It’s about women in Waterloo fighting for ice time.
Love is in the air at the Burnaby Public Library’s Tommy Douglas branch when it presents Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband) at 1 p.m. Inuk filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk’s drama retells an Inuit legend about two young lovers who are separated after feeling that they are destined to be together. It won the Best Canadian Feature Film Award at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.
Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband) will also be screened at 7 p.m. at Alliance Française Vancouver
On the West Side of Vancouver, the Dunbar Theatre (4555 Dunbar Street) is offering a free double feature on April 15 as part of National Canadian Film Day. Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie screens at 7 p.m. followed by Chandler Levack’s 2025 rom-com Mile End Kicks at 9:10 p.m.
In addition, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie screens at the Vancouver Central Library at 6 p.m. and Mile End Kicks is at Cineplex Odeon International Village at 7 p.m.
Over at East Van Vodville Cinema (1601 Venables Street, fourth window from the alley), there will be free robot beaver rides on Lester Beaver Pearson in the evening. It’s also showing Heritage Minutes and short films throughout the week.
For more information about National Canadian Film Day screenings in other communities, visit the website. Follow Pancouver on X @PancouverMedia and on Instagram @PancouverMedia.
