Lenses - Vancouver Indie IFF

About

Lenses will be presenting 7 best of best films at Beta Collective Burnaby on 27th of July including Q&A with authors, workshop, filmmakers networking and spirit of creation.

destination

In the shadow of coastal cedars and the glint of glass towers, where the Pacific’s breath mingles with alpine air, *Lenses - Vancouver Indie IFF* emerges as a prism for the unseen. Like the Salish Sea’s tidal currents—carrying whispers of ancient forests and the clamor of gold rush dreams—this festival becomes a conduit for narratives that refract through time, space, and soul.

destination

Each film is a droplet on the festival’s panoramic window—a transient distortion that clarifies as it rolls. Imagine the indie spirit as Gastown’s steam clock: unassuming, persistent, marking moments mainstream chronometers ignore. Even the city’s infamous rain becomes a metaphor: here films don’t just ‘show’—they ‘rinse’, revealing worlds where celluloid and cedar share the same grain.

destination

Lenses - is not another film festival. It’s a lighthouse on the edge of the known, casting beams that turn ripples into tsunamis. Because in a city built on trade routes and tectonic whispers, every frame is a bridge. Every story, a compass. Let your story be the one that lays down the route

Awards

Experience Breathtaking Views and Unique Perspectives

Best Short Narrative

Best Feature Film

Best Experimental

Best Music Video

Best Director

Best Actor

Best Cinematography

AWARD WINNERS

BUSHIDO. The choice.

Directors: Marcin Tomaszewski

Best Mid-Length Film (25–60 min)

The Carbonfools – Dejá Vu

Directors: Vidovics Ádám

Best Music Video

BLINK

Directors: Barto Muñoz

Best Short Screenplay

The Last Call

Directors: Danny Szam

Best Actress, Best Short Narrative

Travelers

Directors: Noah Tucker

Best Director Of Photography Final

Destiny

Directors: Jayme McMillan

Best Animation

Destiny

Directors: MARTIN BASTIAN

Best Director

Buddy Check for Jesse: Helping Coaches Support Youth Mental Health

Directors: MARTIN BASTIAN

Best Documentary

3 BILLION

Directors: Michael Anthony

Best Drama, Thriller, Sci-Fi and others

Two Old Libbies

Directors: Yolanda Torres

Best Feature Screenplay

Rules

1.Selected for screening works should provide film in .mov/.mp4 format

2. Global Stories, Local Lens Films must be independently produced

3. No Hate in the Frame
Content promoting discrimination, hate speech, or exploitation is disqualified. This festival, like the city’s seawall, is a space for connection, not division.

4. Premiere Priority
While not mandatory, preference goes to films that have not screened publicly in Vancouver.

5. Closed Captions as Coastlines
All submissions must include closed captions or subtitles.

6. Rights of Passage
Filmmakers must hold full rights to their work.

7. Eco-Conscious Reels Physical press kits are discouraged; digital materials only.

8. Post-Screening Dialogue
Selected for screening filmmakers must try to commit to a live Q&A.