Thirty years ago, Quentin Lee and Justin Lin turned up in British Columbia with an odd independent film called Shopping for Fangs. It had an almost unknown John Cho playing a Los Angeles resident who suspects he is turning into a werewolf, alongside an unhappily married woman who enters a curious dynamic with a stranger.
That movie opened the very first Vancouver Asian Film Festival back in 1997.
Now, the festival is thirty years old, and it brings the exact same picture back to open its 2026 run. Running from 5 to 15 November, Canada’s longest-running Asian film gathering presents its biggest calendar yet. You get over a hundred titles over eleven days, split between twenty-two cinema screenings at Cineplex Odeon International Village and virtual options accessible across Canada.
The organisers picked the theme Our Legacy. Our Future. for this run, and bringing back their original opening title fits that idea completely.
The Return of Shopping for Fangs
Back in the late nineties, finding independent cinema with an East Asian cast in North American theatres was rare. Lin went on to direct several Fast and Furious blockbusters and Star Trek Beyond, while Lee built a long catalogue as an independent director and producer. Cho became a familiar face worldwide through Harold and Kumar and Hollywood franchise films.
The festival screens the Canadian premiere of the film’s 30th-anniversary edition at 6:30 p.m. on 5 November.
Read more: ‘Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle’ 20 Years On: How a Stoner Comedy Changed Asian American Cinema
Quentin Lee reflected on coming back to the city that first gave the project a platform.
“Justin Lin and I are thrilled to bring the Canadian premiere of the 30th-anniversary edition of Shopping for Fangs to the Vancouver Asian Film Festival as it celebrates its own 30th anniversary. Thirty years later, it’s a full-circle moment—and we couldn’t be prouder to be VAFF alumni,” said director Quentin Lee.
The festival was founded in 1997 by Barbara Lee to build space for Asian Canadian talent on screen. She remains the head of the organisation today.
“Thirty years of VAFF is a story of talent, courage, resilience and community. Our stories have been overlooked and our voices under-represented, but we kept creating, telling our stories and opening doors for those who came next. Today, we are not asking for a place in Canadian cinema. We have earned our place, and we are shaping the future of Canadian and global storytelling,” said VAFF founder Barbara Lee.
Centrepiece and Closing Titles
The festival selected Isle Child for its Centrepiece Spotlight on 7 November. Directed by Thomas Percy Kim and starring Ethan Hwang, the film has its Western Canadian premiere here. It follows a Korean American adoptee who uncovers an old letter showing his biological mother has a terminal illness in South Korea. The revelation forces him to decide between his established life in the United States and the family he left behind.
The closing screening on 14 November shifts focus to the Philippines. Acclaimed director Jun Robles Lana brings Sisa, starring veteran actor Hilda Koronel, for its Canadian premiere. Set in 1902 during the Philippine–American War, the plot centres on a woman whose family is murdered by invading forces. While people in her community assume grief broke her mind, she secretly gathers intelligence for Filipino rebel fighters.
Local British Columbia Stories
The WestCoast Tales branch of the programme focuses entirely on work produced in British Columbia.
Barbara Lee presents the Western Canadian premiere of her documentary Sing My Song. The film follows songwriter Kayee Lee as she attempts to find an artist to record her compositions. While the project starts with a long shot bid to contact Kelly Clarkson, it turns into an examination of growing up on Canada’s west coast without seeing Asian musicians on mainstream television. Confirmed guests attending this screening include Tony Lee, Shon Wong, and Eric Lowe with the Asian Persuasion All Star Band.
Read more: ‘Last Days’ Review: Justin Lin Directs a Film About John Allen Chau and North Sentinel Island
Hong Kong-born director Jimmy Lo presents Give and Take, which tracks a newly married couple—a teacher and an artist—who leave Hong Kong to relocate to Canada. The film looks at the practical realities of setting up a new life abroad.
Vancouver filmmaker Joella Cabalu screens her debut documentary feature, First Come Love: Nakabingwit. Her camera follows three Filipina-white couples who discuss family expectations, cultural boundaries, and the domestic day-to-day work of marriage in British Columbia.
International Highlights Across the Lineup
The broader international slate covers forty international releases and seventy-eight separate premieres.
Canadian filmmaker Min Sook Lee presents her documentary There Are No Words. Lee interviews her father, a former intelligence officer on the Korean Peninsula, to trace how Cold War political divisions affected her family home and contributed to her mother’s suicide.
South Asian Canadian directors contribute several narrative features. Ian Bawa brings Strong Son, a drama about an ex-bodybuilder who returns to his childhood home to serve as the sole carer for his elderly father. Jaskaran Singh presents Jersey Boy, starring Praneet Akilla and Sara Garcia, which deals with a Sikh boy trying to process personal family grief during the months following September 11. Prabhjit Singh Sabharwal screens Crowned Athletes, a documentary short profiling four South Asian athletes competing at the national level across Canada.
Japanese cinema has two family dramas in the programme. Rikiya Mimuro directs Return to Bloom, which follows a man named Kazuki travelling to Bohol Island in the Philippines after his girlfriend Sara vanishes without notice. Yoshihiro Tamura presents A Journey into the World of Dementia, showing an estranged son who takes his father back to their old house after memory loss erases the older man’s recollection of their falling out.
From South Korea, Lee Daehan brings the crime picture DEBONE, tracking a man who killed his father during childhood as he tries to navigate society after prison.
Malaysian filmmaker Joey Lee Choi Kin screens Her Second Act, which examines an ordinary mother whose surprise win in an amateur bicycle race changes her relationship with her husband.
Chinese director Lam Can-zhao presents Where the Sun Shines Bright, which focuses on an eighteen-year-old preparing to leave his village while watching four younger children grow up under similar conditions.
Industry Sessions and Awards
Running alongside the film screenings, VAFF Industry Week takes place between 7 and 14 November. The schedule includes eight public panels and masterclasses covering artificial intelligence in post-production, television development, funding models, and licensing distribution.
The festival also hosts a dedicated program called Stories That Connect, organised in partnership with anti-racism organization Elimin8hate, focused on Canadian Indigenous history and current events.
The entire festival concludes on 15 November with the OVASIAN Awards Gala at Scotiabank Theatre Vancouver at 6:30 p.m., followed by a closing reception at SUMU Restaurant.
How to Get Tickets
Tickets for all twenty-two cinema screenings and digital passes for online streams are on sale through the official festival website at vaff.org. Individual tickets for the Opening Night screening of Shopping for Fangs at Cineplex Odeon International Village and passes for the OVASIAN Awards Gala can be booked directly online prior to 5 November.
