Vancouver International Film Festival ranks among Canada’s largest audience festivals and serves as an important meeting point for international cinema on the West Coast. Last year, VIFF recorded more than 106,000 festival attendances. Compared with the Toronto International Film Festival, which has a much stronger industry profile as an international industry festival, a major launchpad for the North American awards season and, since 2026, through its own content market, Vancouver places greater emphasis on audiences, curatorial programming and direct exchange between filmmakers and cinema-goers.

In 2026, Germany will receive a special platform with “Focus On New German Cinema: Extreme Tension”. The section builds on the longstanding presence of German cinema at VIFF and specifically highlights a new generation of filmmakers.

Six films form the centrepiece of the program: DEAR FUTURE SELF by Ella Cieslinski and Nina Wesemann, I UNDERSTAND YOUR DISPLEASURE by Kilian Armando Friedrich, PROSECUTION by Faraz Shariat, SOMETIMES, I IMAGINE THEM ALL AT A PARTY by Daniela Magnani Hüller, THE BALLAD FROM WEDNESDAY TO THURSDAY by Christoph Otto, and TRIAL OF HEIN by Kai Stänicke.

Several filmmakers will travel to Vancouver to present their work in person and engage with audiences. Confirmed guests include Ella Cieslinski, Christoph Otto, Kai Stänicke and Daniela Magnani Hüller. The German focus is complemented by the industry program: editor Evelyn Rack will offer insights into her work on fiction and documentary films in the masterclass “Editing As Discovery: Narrative, Instinct, And The Unpredictable”.

Simone Baumann, Managing Director of German Films, on the German focus: “Alongside Toronto, Vancouver is the most important festival in Canada and, for us, a key platform to present German cinema to a young and diverse audience, interested in European cinema. At the same time, Vancouver has a strong infrastructure in the film and media industries and, with its educational institutions, is an important place for the next generation of international filmmakers. VIFF’s decision to focus on debut films and new voices from Germany with the program ‘Focus On New German Cinema: Extreme Tension’ makes this year’s selection especially exciting and forward-looking. We are very pleased that Ella Cieslinski, Christoph Otto, Kai Stänicke and Daniela Magnani Hüller will present their films in person in Vancouver, and that Evelyn Rack will introduce her work as part of a masterclass.”

“German cinema has long been celebrated for its inventive craft and intellectual rigour, but this new generation of filmmakers is distinguished by the unique perspectives and lived experiences they’re bringing to their work,” says Curtis Woloschuk, VIFF Director of Programming. “The thematically complex titles in Extreme Tension grapple with personal and systemic friction in ways that are perceptive and provocative. We are thrilled to partner with German Films to give these extraordinary new voices a prominent stage in Vancouver.”

German cinema is also strongly represented across the wider VIFF program. Particularly prominent are three films that are in the running for Germany for the Academy Award for International Feature Film this year. EVERYTIME by Sandra Wollner, winner of the Un Certain Regard Award at Cannes, was selected by the German selection committee as Germany’s official submission for the 99th Academy Awards. Under the Academy’s new regulations, YELLOW LETTERS by İlker Çatak, winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlinale, and SHAME AND MONEY by Visar Morina, winner of the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at Sundance, have also qualified directly for the category.

At VIFF, EVERYTIME and SHAME AND MONEY will both screen in the Panorama section, while YELLOW LETTERS will be presented in Showcase. THE DREAMED ADVENTURE by Valeska Grisebach, another widely acclaimed German production, is also featured in the section. Panorama will additionally present NO GOOD MEN by Shahrbanoo Sadat, while ROSE by Markus Schleinzer is programmed in Special Presentations.

More German productions and co-productions can be found in the Portraits, Spectrum, Vanguard, VIFF Short Forum and Modes sections. This year’s focus therefore not only provides a dedicated showcase for new German voices, but also forms part of a broad German presence across the overall program of the Vancouver International Film Festival.

All German productions and co-productions in Vancouver at a glance:

Focus on New German Cinema: Extreme Tension
DEAR FUTURE SELF (ERZÄHL MIR DEIN MORGEN) by Ella Cieslinski, Nina Wesemann (Freundinnen Film)
I UNDERSTAND YOUR DISPLEASURE (ICH VERSTEHE IHREN UNMUT) by Kilian Armando Friedrich (WennDann Film)
PROSECUTION (STAATSSCHUTZ) by Faraz Shariat (Jünglinge Film) 
SOMETIMES, I IMAGINE THEM ALL AT A PARTY (WAS AN EMPFINDSAMKEIT BLEIBT) by Daniela Magnani Hüller (Bildersturm Filmproduktion)
THE BALLAD FROM WEDNESDAY TO THURSDAY (DIE BALLADE VON MITTWOCH AUF DONNERSTAG) by Christoph Otto (Monte Kalk Film)
TRIAL OF HEIN (DER HEIMATLOSE) by Kai Stänicke (Tamtam Film, Lupa Film) 

Special Presentations
ALL OF A SUDDEN by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (FR/JP/DE/BE, Heimatfilm)
FATHERLAND (VATERLAND) by Pawel Pawlikowski (PL/DE/IT/FR, Nine Hours)
MINOTAUR by Andrey Zvyagintsev (FR/DE/LV, Razor Film Produktion) 
ROSE by Markus Schleinzer (DE/AT, Walker+Worm, ROW Pictures) 

Panorama
ELEPHANTS IN THE FOG (ELEFANTEN IM NEBEL) by Abinash Bikram Shah (NP/DE/BR/FR/NO, Die Gesellschaft DGS, Zischlermann Filmproduktion) 
EVERYTIME by Sandra Wollner (DE/AT, The Barricades), German Oscar Submission BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
NO GOOD MEN by Shahrbanoo Sadat (DE/FR/NO/DK/AF, Adomeit Film, Amerikafilm) 
SHAME AND MONEY by Visar Morina (DE/XK/SI/AL/MK/BE, Schuldenberg Films, Vicky Bane) German Oscar Submission BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
THE DIFFICULT BRIDE by Rubaiyat Hossain (FR/BD/PT/NO/DE, Tandem Production) 

Portraits
REBECCA HORN – THE SECRET LIFE OF THINGS (REBECCA HORN – THE SECRET LIFE OF THINGS) by Claudia Müller (Missing Films)

Showcase
GENTLE MONSTER by Marie Kreutzer (AT/DE/FR, Komplizen Film) 
THE DREAMED ADVENTURE (DAS GETRÄUMTE ABENTEUER) by Valeska Grisebach (DE/FR/BG/AT, Komplizen Film, New Matter Films) 
YELLOW LETTERS (GELBE BRIEFE) by Ilker Çatak (DE/FR/TR, if…productions) German Oscar Submission BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

Spectrum
AFTERLIVES by Kevin B. Lee (pong Film)

Vanguard
I PLANT MY HAND IN THE GARDEN by Hoda Taheri und Boris Hadžija (DE/RS/US, German Film and Television Academy Berlin)

VIFF Short Forum
DAUGHTERS OF THE LATE COLONEL by Elizabeth Hobbs (GB/DE, Fabian&Fred)
GOING HOME by Kamal Aljafari (DE/PS/FR, Kamal Aljafari Productions)
“VATERLAND” OR A BULE NAMED YANTO („VATERLAND" ODER EIN BULE NAMENS YANTO) by Berthold Wahjudi (DE/ID, madfilms, University of Television and Film Munich)

Modes
DISPLAY NATURE by Nicolas Gebbe
TOGETHER by NEOZOON

VIFF – Industry
Editing as Discovery: Narrative, Instinct, and the Unpredictable, Masterclass: Editor Evelyn Rack (Editor, SOUND OF FALLING by Mascha Schilinski)