Movies: ’Scarborough’ screens in Vancouver’s VIFF
Today (Sunday) at 2:30 PM
Vancouver, B.C.
Showings from Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday
The award-winning film ‘Scarborough’ which stars Filipinx actor Liam Diaz will be screening today (Sunday) at the Vancouver (VIFF) and will continue until Friday with screenings on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
Based on the novel by Filipinx author Catherine Hernandez who wrote the screenplay, it tells of three low-income families struggling to endure within a system that’s set them up for failure. It shows the love and perseverance communities can foster, lifting up families to overcome the obstacles placed in their way.
Taking place over the span of a school year, Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson’s debut narrative feature follows three interwoven families fighting an uphill struggle against debt, addiction, and job insecurity. The directors’ exacting attention to detail frames the vibrant, rapidly changing neighbourhood with a universality and compassion that makes the film strikingly humanistic.
The triptych story centres on three characters: Bing (Lima Diaz), a Filipino boy living under the shadow of his father’s abuse and mental illness; Sylvie, an Indigenous girl whose family struggles to find permanent housing; and Laura, afflicted by her parents’ neglect. The trio is connected through their neighbourhood and the morning school program they all attend, run by Ms. Hina, a caring teacher and a figure of inspiration in their lives.
Scarborough offers a raw yet empathetic glimpse into a diverse community that finds its dignity in unexpected places: a collective refusal to be fractured by individual challenges and instead be brought together through kindness and solidarity. Nakhai and Williamson portray the specific truths of their characters’ daily lives with a big-hearted honesty and accuracy that makes the work so powerful. The film’s quiet sensitivity ultimately forms a major statement, remaining relevant and resonant long after viewing.
The film won a Canadian Screen Awards for Best Actor for Liam Diaz and Best Film Award and Achievement in Film Direction.