Utopia Films and the Rio Theatre presents the second annual OFF-VIFF - a platform for the underground. Featuring the North American Premiere of JAMES, the royal return of KING BABY, the Vancouver Premiere of STRANGE JOURNEY: THE STORY OF ROCKY HORROR, and a screening of the soon-to-be Canadian cult-classic, THE PEE PEE POO POO MAN. Plus short films including BIKE SHORT and FRENCH LESSONS.

With live music! Booze! Popcorn! Grilled cheese sandwiches! Come early to meet and mingle!!

JAMES Shot in striking 4:3 ratio, with inspiration from silent cinema and an aesthetic rooted in the underground fringe, the darkly comic stylistically bold "hoser-noir" arthouse feature 'JAMES' follows a disillusioned East Vancouver nihilist who stumbles upon fleeting purpose after rescuing a discarded racing bike. But when it’s stolen by a cunning collector who knows its true value, James spirals into obsession, hunting through Vancouver’s subcultural underbelly in a surreal, poetic quest for meaning.

"The sort of picture for which the term “quirky” could have been invented, it bears much more similarity to the early works of Jim Jarmusch, especially in its deadpan style. Probably best appreciated at a midnight screening after a few drinks, the Canadian indie is yet another example of the festival discovering a small-scale gem... a low-key, eccentric charmer, at times resembling a vintage silent comedy in its visual humor and central figure who stumbles through life like a modern-day Buster Keaton." (The Hollywood Reporter)

Monday, October 13
Movie 4:45 pm *Start time subject to change. Please arrive on time.

JAMES (Max Train, 2025 / 99 mins / NR) An East Vancouver nihilist finds purpose when he rescues the 'Excalibur' of vintage bicycles from a garbage heap, but his renewed trajectory is threatened when a devious collector steals it, igniting a chase that could lead him back to meaning-or deeper into despair.