Bella Sutra kicks off this year's DOXA Documentary Film Festival at an Opening Gala, April 30

Director OK Pedersen narrates the cine-concert featuring violinist Eden Glasman and pianist Jakub Tokarczyk

SPONSORED POST BY DOXA Documentary Film Festival

DOXA Documentary Film Festival recently announced the lineup for its 25th edition, launching with an Opening Gala featuring the B.C. premiere of Bella Sutra. Directed by OK Pedersen, the cine-concert performance will take place on April 30 at 7 pm, in the Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts.

A multidisciplinary experience that pairs screen and performance art, Bella Sutra explores the complex relationships between humans and the non-human world. Shot on hand-processed 16mm film in Bella Coola, the work combines humour, live narration, and a musical ensemble to reflect on life in a remote mountain village.

This screening features a live score, immersing audiences in the rhythms of the cinematic world. Pedersen will narrate as violinist Eden Glasman and pianist Jakub Tokarczyk play onstage. Across 43 minutes, the director’s essayistic approach to Bella Sutra meditates on community and the tension between rural and urban perspectives, offering a deeply personal yet resonant portrait of human connection.

Pedersen is a Chicago-born photographer and filmmaker of Middle Eastern descent, now living in Montreal. She holds a master of fine arts degree in photography from Concordia University. As an image-maker, her work addresses the truth of the moment, the architecture of memory, and people’s relationships to the unseen. She was the 2022–23 recipient of Montreal-based exhibition centre Dazibao’s Jeune tête d’affiche prize with her inkjet-print series Paper Monuments, which consists of seven inkjet prints on kozo, a type of Japanese paper made from mulberry tree bark. Her recent films include Orchard Station Road, “La salle d’attente”, and Cloud Gate 2.

A 30-minute Q&A with the artists will take place directly following the screening of Bella Sutra. VIP ticketholders are also invited to a special reception afterwards to celebrate the launch of the DOXA Documentary Film Festival, which takes place from April 30 to May 10.

Tickets to the Opening Gala are available here. Learn more about the rest of this year’s films, browse a calendar of screenings, and explore the different ticket packs and passes that are now on sale by visiting the festival website.

Post sponsored by DOXA Documentary Film Festival.

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SCREENStir VancouverApril 17, 2026Partner Content, DOXA Documentary Film Festival, DOXA

Bella Sutra kicks off this year's DOXA Documentary Film Festival at an Opening Gala, April 30

Director OK Pedersen narrates the cine-concert featuring violinist Eden Glasman and pianist Jakub Tokarczyk

A 30-minute Q&A with the artists will take place directly following the screening of Bella Sutra. VIP ticketholders are also invited to a special reception afterwards to celebrate the launch of the DOXA Documentary Film Festival, which takes place from April 30 to May 10.

Tickets to the Opening Gala are available here. Learn more about the rest of this year’s films, browse a calendar of screenings, and explore the different ticket packs and passes that are now on sale by visiting the festival website.

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