Vancouver’s marquee film fest is ramping up its mentorship and professional training. Today, VIFF announced a new Institute for the Moving Image led by Chilean-Palestinian film producer Ana Belén Asfura.
“By shifting from festival-centric development to the creative Institute model, VIFF aims to become a far more valuable resource to filmmakers from BC and across Canada,” VIFF executive director Kyle Fostner said in a statement. “We’re passionate about the calibre of filmmaking talent we see in Canada, and we feel VIFF has a responsibility to be a keystone partner in their future success.
“This new Institute model will allow us to radically expand our artistic development programs, and to significantly deepen our impact on the careers and artistic practices of future Canadian and Indigenous filmmakers.”
The Institute for the Moving Image will focus on strengthening the quality of work being made, according to VIFF. In addition, it will try to leverage VIFF’s role as an international film festival “to provide attending filmmakers with access to a global platform and connections with peer programs worldwide”.
Belén Asfura, founder of Suimanga Films, has supported projects in co-production, financing, and distribution across international film markets.
“Cinema speaks across borders and cultures,” Belén Asfura said in the VIFF stayement. “It is a universal language—not of sameness, but of connection across difference. In a world that often feels fragmented and dehumanized, reclaiming this universality is an ethical act.”
Then, she added: “The Institute for the Moving Image is built on this belief: a space where voices converge and coexist, where disciplines and cultures meet not in hierarchy but in collaboration. A place where ideas, experiences, and emotions flow freely, where artists are nurtured, challenged, and empowered to claim authorship of their own narratives.”
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