Smash Forward: Growing the Vancouver Esports Scene

As the world’s first all quadriplegic esports gaming team, the Quad Gods are fierce competitors in this captivating story that challenges assumptions about disability, and spotlights the restorative power of resilience, passion and found community

NiiSoTeWak means “walking the path together.” Tapwewin and Pawaken are 10-year-old brothers trying to make sense of the world, their family and each other. They’re already grappling with some heady questions about identity. What does it mean to be a twin? What does it mean to be Cree? How do you define yourself when you’re forever linked to someone else? The twins discuss these questions with their two elder brothers — 22-year-old actor Asivak and 20-year-old basketball player Mahiigan — and their parents, Jules and Jake.

In thirty years, the video game has conquered an increasingly wide audience. Drawing on the recent work of economists, sociologists, experts and interviewing major players in this field, this investigation unravels the overwhelming domination of this new mass media.

Can exercise sharpen the brightest minds? In this ground-breaking experiment, four world-class gamers, competing in eSports, Chess, Mahjong and Memory Games, put this to the test.

Sundance award-winning director Julia Kwan’s documentary Everything Will Be captures the subtle nuances of a culturally diverse neighbourhood—Vancouver’s once thriving Chinatown—in the midst of transformation. The community’s oldest and newest members offer their intimate perspectives on the shifting landscape as they reflect on change, memory and legacy. Night and day, a neon sign that reads "EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT" looms over Chinatown. Everything is going to be alright, indeed, but the big question is for whom?

In the picture-postcard community of North Vancouver, filmmaker Murray Siple follows men who have turned bottle-picking, their primary source of income, into the extreme sport of shopping cart racing. Enduring hardships from everyday life on the streets of Vancouver, this sub-culture depicts street life as much more than stereotypes portrayed in mainstream media. The films takes a deep look into the lives of the men who race carts, the adversity they face, and the appeal of cart racing despite the risk.

The life of pop superstar Sarah McLachlan comes alive in this intimate documentary that has McLachlan talking about her fame, her loves, her family and her music. Learn about her relationship with her adoptive parents, when she first discovered her musical talent, and how she came up with the idea for the Lilith Fair music festival. The film also includes performances of hits "Building a Mystery," "Into the Fire" and "I Will Remember You."

Live / Play is a documentary that tells the stories of five different players from around the world, woven together by one unifying passion: League of Legends. In Sao Paulo, Brazil, Mariana transforms into Mafia Jinx during one of the country’s biggest cosplay competition, while over 10,000 kilometers away, Eyjo battles across Summoner’s Rift on a boat drifting off the coast of Stykkishólmur, Iceland. In Cairo, Egypt, Amin connects with other cultures through League just as Braeden, a pro League player known as PorpoisePops, hones his skills, practicing up to 12 hours a day, in Los Angeles, USA. Across the globe, robotics hobbyist Yong-Seung displays his latest creation, a massive remote controlled Baron Nashor, at Maker’s Faire in Seoul, South Korea.

A documentary about a musical about the hilarious gay owners of an insult diner.

A behind-the-scenes documentary that examines the role of NDP campaign volunteers in the Vancouver riding of Little Mountain.

As we start a new era with Counter-Strike 2, we remember the golden years of CS:GO and it's heroes. The past 10 years have taken us from bedrooms to sold out arenas. But how did this all come to be? A journey that began all the way back in 2012 with the release of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

This documentary offers an honest look at our fraught, complex relationship to video games from the perspectives of gamers and their concerned parents.

Opening Ceremony

Closing Ceremony

GAMECHANGERS: Dreams of Blizzcon enters the unexplored realm of professional esports through the eyes of two of the world’s top StarCraft II players.

Today, there are more people in the world who play League of Legends than there are people who live in France. We wanted to look inside this rapidly expanding world of competitive gaming, so VICE host Matt Shea flew to South Korea, a country where so-called "eSports" can either make you rich and famous or land you in rehab.

Over the course of a year, film follows Vancouver Pride Society president Ken Coolen to various international Pride events, including Poland, Hungary, Russia, Sri Lanka and others where there is great opposition to pride parades. In North America, Pride is complicated by commercialization and a sense that the festivals are turning away from their political roots toward tourism, party promotion and entertainment. Christie documents the ways larger, more mainstream Pride events have supported the global Pride movement and how human rights components are being added to more established events. In the New York sequence, leaders organize an alternative Pride parade, the Drag March, set up to protest the corporatization of New York Pride. A parade in São Paulo, the world's largest Pride festival, itself includes a completely empty float, meant to symbolize all those lost to HIV and to anti-gay violence.

With the 2010 Olympics approaching, will the world get to know Vancouver's darkest secret? 'Streets of Plenty' chronicles one man's perilous journey to live in Vancouver's downtown east side ghetto. The rules of this twisted social experiment? Starting with only a pair of underwear, he must survive the harsh winter streets for 31 days. He has no money, no friends, no family, and most importantly, no home. He must navigate the institutions, policies and services alongside the thousands of people that call Vancouver's streets home.

Magic: The Gathering is the most popular collectible card game in the world. At Magic's Pro Tour, players from around the globe compete to prove who is the best. They are writers, game theorists, jewelry apprentices, female pioneers, and teenage geniuses.

The documentary follows one woman's quest to overcome anxiety, depression, and opioid addiction through the use of psychedelic medicines.