DOXA Documentary Film Festival unveils program of 40 features, including live, opening-night cinematic performance Bella Sutra
Running April 30 to May 10, 25th annual event features a South Korean spotlight, Fire of Love director Sara Dosa’s Iceland-set Time and Water, and world premieres Under the Red Roof, Illustrated Legacies: Graveyard of the Pacific, and more
Bella Sutra
Time and Water
A SOUTH KOREAN spotlight, a live cinematic performance, and several B.C.–centred offerings will help DOXA Documentary Film Festival celebrate its 25th anniversary from April 30 to May 10.
The fest unveiled its entire 2026 lineup today, encompassing 40 features, 29 short or mid-length films, and 27 Canadian films alongside those from 41 other countries.
The Opening Gala on April 30 features a screening-performance at the Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre at SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, centring around Bella Sutra, described as “a personal essay about life as an innkeeper in Bella Coola, B.C.”, and touches on the myth of progress. Directed and narrated by OK Pedersen, it’s accompanied by musicians Eden Glasman and Jakob Tokarczyk.
A Mid-Week Gala presentation on May 6 at the VIFF Centre features the B.C. premiere of Concrete Turned to Sand. Directed by local filmmakers Jessica Johnson and Ryan Ermacora, it follows oyster farmers on Cortes Island, B.C., and weaves in the pressures of ocean warming and acidification. The duo will also participate in an earlier Industry Panel on May 2 at 3pm at SFU’s World Art Centre.
The Closing Gala marks the B.C. premiere of Time and Water, from Oscar-nominated director Sara Dosa (Fire of Love), May 9 at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. It’s a poetic meditation on climate change, glaciers, and personal history through the eyes of Icelandic author Andri Snær Magnason
World premieres at DOXA 2026 include Under the Red Roof by Yushi Nagamatsu, Illustrated Legacies: Graveyard of the Pacific by Tanner Zurkoski, The Flower and the Flood by Elisa González, and Bubba by Kayli Koonar. Screenings will take place at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, The Cinematheque, and the VIFF Centre, with industry events held at SFU’s World Art Centre and The Post at 750.
Saigon Story: Two Shootings in the Forest Kingdom
Other highlights include Saigon Story: Two Shootings in the Forest Kingdom, a Noble Films and NFB coproduction by Kim Nguyen, whose War Witch (2012) was nominated for an Oscar for best international feature film. Spanning continents and decades, it traces a connection between two far-flung families caused by one iconic photo: Saigon Execution, taken during the Vietnam War. It screens May 1 at the VIFF Centre as part of this year’s Justice Forum, focusing on resistance, environmental justice, and human rights. Also from the NFB at DOXA on May 3 at SFU Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema: There Are No Words, recently nominated for Best Cinematography in a Feature Length Documentary at the Canadian Screen Awards; it’s a deeply personal look at how Cold War militarism on the Korean Peninsula affects one family, as filmmaker Min Sook Lee turns a lens on her father—a former intelligence officer—and the silences surrounding her mother’s suicide.
In addition, DOXA has named South Korea as the country of honour for this year’s fest, with guest curation by Byungwon Jang, head programmer of the DMZ International Documentary Film Festival (DMZ Docs) and a former editor-in-chief of the Korean film weekly FILM2.0. His choices include feature films Untold and Beyond Now, Nyein.
Elsewhere, look out for such timely works as AMERICAN DOCTOR, an unflinching look at a trio of U.S. physicians who volunteered in Gaza; Who Is Still Alive, about nine Gaza residents who share their stories through chalk drawings of their neighborhoods; and Traces, a unique documentary that follows six Ukrainian women who survived conflict-related sexual violence and torture. Sundance and Hot Docs’ The Oldest Person in the World, meanwhile, focuses on a 10-year worldwide exploration tracking successive holders of the title of oldest living person.
DOXA’s Rated Y for Youth also returns, with a program of films curated to foster media literacy, as well the popular paraDOXA program, spotlighting experimental and boundary-pushing documentaries.
There's much more. All tickets and festival passes are on sale now at doxafestival.ca. 
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