Vancouver South African Film Festival

The Vancouver South African Film Festival is a non-profit event showcasing films about the history and culture of South Africa.

Vancouver South African Film Festival

The Vancouver South African Film Festival (VSAFF) celebrated its 15th year in 2025. The VSAFF featured documentaries and films about life in South Africa and the history and politics that have affected the country.

There were virtual and in-person events last year. In-person screenings took place at the Goldcorp Centre for the Arts at 149 West Hastings Street, as well as at The Cinematheque at 1131 Howe Street.

2026 festival details are to be confirmed.

Film Festival Prices

Regular films at the South African Film Festival typically cost between about $16 and $22 per movie. When it happens, an opening night gala usually costs about $58 plus the accompanying opening night film. Festival passes that allow guests to see all shows over the two-day screening are also available most years.

There are typically two price options for full festival passes, with one including the gala and another for just the festival. A pass for the festival, including the gala, usually costs about $153. A pass for just the festival without the gala costs about $116. These passes provide access to all the films screened in Vancouver.

2025 Festival Schedule

For an idea of what to expect in 2026, below were the in-person screenings in Vancouver for the South African Film Festival in 2025. (Note: Times, locations and other details were subject to change.)

Thursday, November 6th, 2025

6:30 pm – doors open for today’s events at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
7:00 pm – screening of The Showerhead
8:55 pm – questions and answers with Zapiro and Craig Tanner
9:20 pm – gala reception

Tuesday, November 11th, 2025

6:30 pm – doors open for today’s event at The Cinematheque
7:00 pm – screenings of The Last Ranger and The Friendship Bench

AFRICAN BREESE IS A PROUD SPONSOR

African Breese is an online specialty food store with physical locations at 3654 West 4th Avenue in Vancouver as well as at 1054 Marine Drive in North Vancouver. Run by a South African-Canadian family, the locally-owned company is a sponsor of the film festival’s Opening Gala. It is also proud to support the Vancouver South African Film Festival by being a sponsor of this article.

Education without Borders

Education without Borders is a Vancouver-based non-profit organization that provides access to educational resources for disadvantaged children and youth in both Canada and South Africa. Founded in 1971, the charity has assisted with building a school in South Africa and implemented many after-school educational programs including ones about math, English, science and leadership.

In Canada, Education without Borders has partnered with other organizations to create the Indigenous Storybook Canada Project which works to translate books into local Indigenous languages.

To date, the Vancouver South African Film Festival has raised around $100,000 for Education without Borders.