Tag: Film Festivals

A Geek’s Essential Guide to the Sundance Film Festival 2026

Sundance remains one of the few major festivals still offering a meaningful online component. Here are five geek-friendly picks to watch for, from philosophical sci-fi and midnight body horror to an AI documentary that feels uncomfortably timely.

Sundance Film Festival MarqueeFrom one corner of the world to another, Sundance remains one of the few major festivals that still keeps a meaningful online component. For anyone who can’t travel to Salt Lake City, Utah, the at-home run is scheduled for one weekend, from January 29 to February 1, 2026.

Other festivals that have confirmed online offerings include Chattanooga and Panic Fest. Virtual access is often geo-locked due to licensing agreements. Some viewers use VPNs to get around those restrictions, but that’s a personal call, and not one I’m about to moralise for you. For geeks who must see a film, the cleanest option is often the most annoying one: wait until it’s legally available in your region.

With that in mind, here are five essentials I’m keeping my eye on, including one title that should be available online.

In the Blink of an Eye

In the Blink of an Eye Movie PosterThis isn’t necessarily a time travel film, but it plays with time the way memory does. Past, present, and future overlap as three lives cross paths in ways humans can’t fully grasp.

In the distant past, a Neanderthal family struggles to survive after being displaced, doing what they can to protect their children with little more than primitive tools. In the present day, Claire (Rashida Jones), a driven post-grad anthropologist studying proto-human remains, begins a relationship with fellow student Greg (Daveed Diggs). And two centuries later, on a spaceship bound for a distant planet, Coakley (Kate McKinnon) and a sentient onboard computer confront a disease afflicting the ship’s oxygen-producing plants.

This one sounds more philosophical than anything else. Mortality, legacy, maybe reincarnation, it’s all on the table. Life can disappear in the blink of an eye. That’s true whether it’s an asteroid, an illness, or a single choice made at the wrong moment.

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A Quick Look at the 2026 Victoria Film Festival

The 2026 Victoria Film Festival runs Feb 6–15, featuring 91 feature films, 39 shorts, pop-up screenings, immersive art, and special guest appearances across nine venues. The full program is now available online.

2026 Victoria Film Festival Current LogoThe 2026 Victoria Film Festival is ready to roll from February 6 to 15. For its 32nd year, this local event continues to celebrate bold, quirky storytelling from Vancouver Island, across Canada, and around the world. This year’s lineup features 91 feature films and 39 short films screening across nine venues, alongside live music, visual art installations, pop-up screenings, and special guest appearances.

Highlights include onstage conversations with Canadian screen icons Mary Walsh and Sheila McCarthy, a post-screening Q&A with world-renowned artist Robert Bateman, retro-inspired immersive art experiences, and new partnerships that take the festival beyond traditional cinema spaces. Additional surprises and program changes may emerge as the event approaches. Full details and tickets are available at victoriafilmfestival.com.

Beyond the screenings, this year’s festival leans into atmosphere and community. Returning venues sit alongside new spaces, signalling a program that continues to reshape how audiences encounter film, through intimate conversations, retro-tinged art experiments, and neighbourhood-scale micro-cinema events. While genre offerings appear lighter this year, we’ll be sharing our own picks once the guide goes live.

Five 2025 Animated Films That North America Is Missing

International animation in 2025 has produced some of the most ambitious and heartfelt films of the year, yet many remain unseen in North America. What these animated films offer in how they they can be different from traditional narratives.

Animated Films Round the WorldThe global animation scene in 2025 has delivered a spectrum of visually striking and narratively bold films, yet many of these treasures remain unseen in North America. Whether sidelined by limited festival runs, language barriers, or distribution hurdles, some of the year’s animated films from afar are not being screened in North America.

From intimate European adventures to imaginative Asian reinterpretations of classic tales, these international works offer worlds that deserve a broader audience. Here are five animated films from 2025 that North America is missing — and why they’re worth seeking out.

Jumbo

Jumbo (France) Movie Poster🇫🇷 France / 🇧🇪 Belgium
🇱🇺 Luxembourg / 🇮🇩 Indonesia

Directed by Ryan Adriandhy, this tender adventure follows Don, a young boy whose size makes him the object of schoolyard teasing. To prove himself, he creates a play filled with fairies and spirits, blending slice-of-life drama with whimsical fantasy.

Although Jumbo has screened in Indonesia and appeared at select European festivals, it still hasn’t reached North America. Its cross-cultural charm, heartfelt characters, and festival pedigree make it a standout example of a smaller international co-production that deserves far more visibility.

A Magnificent Life

A Magnificent Life Movie Poster🇩🇪 Germany / 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

This imaginative biography reflects on the life of playwright and filmmaker Marcel Pagnol. He’s considered to be one of France’s greatest talents whose works are considered a national treasure. At 60, he finds himself confronted by a vision of his younger self, prompting a meditation on memory, destiny, and the wonder threaded through his work.

Premiering at Cannes, the film represents the kind of sophisticated, festival-leaning European storytelling that too often goes undistributed in North America. Its blend of nostalgia, fantasy, and emotional depth makes it a gem that deserves recognition beyond the festival circuit.

A Chinese Ghost Story 2025

🇨🇳 China

This new animated adaptation revisits the iconic series that have seen countless sequel and remakes. From the first film directed by Tsui Hark to a live-action series, just what it offers is romance, horror, and supernatural intrigue. Just who loves whom more is the trope that gets explored in different ways.

With no marketing, inclujding a poster release, and it looking like vapourware, maybe it never saw release at all. The sources consulted for this entry are suspicously minimal, even when checking Chinese reports. Despite maybe being offered at the wrong time due to a competing work, this work did not get the love it deserves, and for long time fans, it still needs to be seen!

Strange Tales: Lan Ruo Temple

Curious Tales of a Temple Official Movie Poster🇨🇳 China

Inspired by Strange Tales of a Chinese Studio, this adaptation may not cover the full breadth of the anthology, but it captures some of its best-known stories. Paired with larger-scale works like A Chinese Ghost Story 2025, it highlights the range and ambition of contemporary Chinese animation.

Its absence from the American and Canadian markets reveals a recurring distribution gap: even studios with proven North American success — such as those behind Chang’an — still struggle to secure releases for follow-up projects.

Balentes

Balentes Movie Poster🇮🇹 Italy / 🇩🇪 Germany

Set in Sardinia in 1940, this painterly, somber film follows Ventura and Michele, two young boys who discover that a herd of local horses is being sold to the army. Driven by idealism and a fierce sense of honour — balentes means “bravery” in Sardinian — they plot to free the horses before they reach the battlefield.

Despite a strong presence at European festivals throughout the year, there is no confirmed North American release. It’s a familiar fate for smaller European animated features, particularly those that favour personal themes or painterly experimentation over commercial formulas.

A Spotlight on Whistler Film Festival’s Three Animated Features of 2025

The Whistler Film Festival brings its strongest animated lineup yet, debuting Arco, Scarlet, and The Lost Tiger for audiences eager to discover bold storytelling before it hits theatres.

Whistler Film Festival 20253Although the Whistler Film Festival is not super well known for debuts of animated features, this year caught my attention with three animated works. Whether there’ll be enough snowfall to get in some skiing depends on conditions, but for those wanting an early preview of what’s making the art house screening run, these three films stand out. It’s safe to say Hosoda’s Scarlet is coming in hot after its home country debut (Nov 21, 2025). There will be a full theatrical distribution. Please see below for further information.

Arco

WFF Arco Movie StillSaturday, December 6 3:15pm
Rainbow Theatre

In the year 2075, 10-year-old Iris lives a quiet life with her robot caretaker, Mikki, while her parents are consumed by their research. Her world changes when a mysterious boy named Arco, dressed in a rainbow-coloured suit, falls from the sky. Arco is a time traveller from a distant, utopian future, accidentally sent to Iris’s time. Together, they embark on an adventure to help Arco return home, all while evading those who seek to exploit his origins.

Drawing inspiration from the works of Moebius and Hayao Miyazaki, this French film written and directed by Ugo Bienvenu offers a poignant exploration of friendship, hope, and the resilience of the human spirit. In order to qualify for Oscar nomination, there was a limited release in early November. A wider release is expected in early 2026.

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TheNFB’s Hothouse 15 Shorts Now Streaming: Fresh Voices in Canadian Animation

Experience the creativity of Hothouse 15, the National Film Board of Canada’s program showcasing emerging Canadian animators. Six eclectic shorts, each exploring the theme People Watching, are now streaming worldwide, offering a glimpse at the future of Canadian animation.

National Film Board of Canada logo promoting Hothouse 15 editionThe National Film Board of Canada’s long-running animation program has once again opened its doors to new talent. Beginning today, six shorts from Hothouse 15 are streaming worldwide, showcasing a range of visual styles and stories tied together by this year’s theme: People Watching.

Each filmmaker had just 12 weeks to complete a one-minute piece, and the results are as eclectic as ever. For those unfamiliar, Hothouse was created in 2003 to nurture emerging animators, and it has since launched the careers of over 90 talents. Names like Patrick Doyon (Dimanche), Howie Shia (Marco’s Oriental Noodles), and Eva Cvijanovic (Hedgehog’s Home) all honed their craft here before gaining international recognition.

The NFB Lineup

Get a Grip
Abbey Collings (Boylston, Nova Scotia)

A charming stop-motion short featuring Gus MacDuffin, a puffin who discovers his wings are actually hands—and learns to embrace his uniqueness. The film explores how watching others shapes self-beliefs and identity, all while staying true to oneself. Its gentle story plays out with endearing visuals and subtle humor. A delightful blend of whimsy and introspection.

Stop-motion puffin with hand-like wings in Abbey Collings’ short Get a Grip

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The Animated Selections of Fantasia 2025 Guide

When this year’s slate of animated films is terrific, perhaps it’s time to travel to Quebec for Fantasia 2025!

Fantasia 2025 Movie PosterFantasia 2025 will soon be here, and this year looks very promising because of its animation slate. I always gravitate to this section since the films are often quick to continue playing at other events and head to distribution faster than the live-action works. Plus, when instant fans of the first entry in this list can see it even without attending, the presence is more than feline.

That’s because I’m a cat enthusiast. And when Takashi Miike is involved, just what’s offered may well top what last year’s Night of the Zoopocalypse did! This particular film (movie review link) did not screen at Fantasia, but I’m sure it would have been a contender had it finished post-production. Without further ramblings, I offer a list of feature length animated works to look forward to at this event at Montreal, Quebec.

Once when the event releases its full guide, I’ll also offer a top ten picks on what to see too.

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