VIFF programmers pick five under-the-radar films worth catching before tickets sell out

The Vancouver International Film Festival runs October 1 to 11. While big names like Jesse Eisenberg's The Debut and Martin McDonagh's closing film Wild Horse Nine have already sold out advance tickets, festival programmers are pointing toward smaller discoveries still likely to have seats available.

Curtis Woloschuk, VIFF's director of programming, recommends The Guest, a Danish feature directed by Mads Mengel in his debut. The film centers on a family gathering at an oceanside resort for a christening, bringing resentment, tension, and mental illness into the mix. Woloschuk says it's "a spiritual successor to Thomas Vinterberg's The Celebration," the standard-bearer for the Dogme 95 movement. It stars Trine Dyrholm, who also appeared in Vinterberg's film. "Helming his debut feature, Mengel demonstrates tremendous assurance as he doles out darkly comic developments while deftly ratcheting up the emotional stakes," Woloschuk said. The Guest screens October 10 at 9 p.m. at Lindsay Family Stage on Granville Island, and October 11 at 1:30 p.m. at International Village.

Clubfoot, a Canadian feature from director Nathan Donovan, centres on two alienated teenagers who intimidate a younger adopted boy. Donovan drew on his own lived experiences growing up with adopted at-risk siblings and witnessing his father's work in the foster care system. Woloschuk called it "one of this year's most significant Canadian first features," adding that it's "formally rigorous yet disarmingly affecting—a challenging work that forgoes tidy resolution in favour of inviting you to continue ruminating over the uncomfortable questions it poses." Screenings: October 4 at 6 p.m. at The Cinematheque, and October 5 at 2:45 p.m. at VIFF Centre.

Ruun Nuur, VIFF's documentary programmer, highlighted Concrete Land, a film by Jordan-born Palestinian filmmaker Asmahan Bkerat about one of Jordan's last Afro-Palestinian-Bedouin families as luxury villas encroach on their grazing land. It screens October 3 at 8 p.m. at SFU Woodward's and October 4 at 12:15 p.m. at Lindsay Family Stage, with director Q&As.

Other big titles like La Gradiva, which won the Grand Prize at Cannes' Critics' Week, were also on standby at last check—meaning tickets are sold out in advance but the festival may release door tickets on screening nights.