Doxa Film Festival

The DOXA Documentary Film Festival features screenings of captivating documentaries in Vancouver. It’s in May at the VIFF Centre and a couple of other theatres.

In 2025 the films ran from May 1st to 11th (the last day of which was on Mother’s Day). Next year’s festival dates are to be confirmed.

This article includes the following information about the festival:

DOXA 2025 Festival | Tickets and How to Watch | Full Programming | Other Information

Vancouver’s DOXA Documentary Film Festival

The DOXA Documentary Film Festival is an annual event that showcases creative documentaries to audiences in Vancouver. The event is organized by The Documentary Media Society which is a Vancouver-based non-profit organization.

The festival has been running since 2001. It features public screenings, live discussions, forums and more. A panel of judges critique all the documentaries and decide on the winners each year. Various awards are usually up for grabs.

In 2025 the DOXA Documentary Film Festival ran from Thursday, May 1st, to Sunday, May 11th.

DOXA Festival

This year there were nearly 70 films to enjoy. Most were mid-length or feature films, but there were 30 short films as well. Some of the screenings included live discussions and question and answer sessions.

The opening film at this year’s festival was Aisha’s Story on May 1st, a film that followed a Palestinian woman living in Jordan who ran her family’s grain mill. The closer was Saints and Warriors on May 11th, which followed the Skidegate Saints basketball team from Haida Gwaii as they fought for the All Native Basketball Tournament championship.

Tickets and How to Watch

Since the movies have not been assessed by Consumer Protection BC, everyone who attends the in-person screenings must be ages 18+ and a member of The Documentary Media Society. A membership costs $2 and the card has to be shown at the theatre.

On top of the membership (which you just buy once) tickets for in-person screenings cost $17 for adults. Seniors and students cost around $15. This year you could also buy a five-ticket pack for $75 which was valid for any five non-special presentation screenings. Full festival passes for access to all film screenings (except for the Opening Gala) cost $195 per person.

2025 Full Programming

This year’s in-person screenings took place at four different venues in Vancouver. They were the Vancouver Playhouse, VIFF Centre, the Cinematheque and the SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. Meanwhile, the social events took place at SFU’s World Arts Centre and The Post at 750.

Featured films at the festival this year included The Pickers, Free Party, Rachel, The Thousand and One Days of Hajj Edmond, Higher Than Acid Clouds, and many more.

There were also various in-person events held throughout the run of the festival. These included case studies, discussions, lectures and more with filmmakers and other festival members.

Click 2025 programming for the full schedule of in-person film screenings and events that happened this year.