Vancouver Asian Film Festival Turns 30 on Nov. 5
If your movie nights usually end with 40 minutes of scrolling and nothing picked, let a festival do the choosing. The Vancouver Asian Film Festival runs its 30th edition from November 5 to 15, 2026, and opens Thursday, November 5 at 6:30pm at Cineplex Odeon International Village with Shopping for Fangs, the Quentin Lee and Justin Lin feature that the festival says returns three decades on as its opening night program. Tickets were on sale at $20 on November 2.
What opening night is showing
The festival bills Shopping for Fangs as an urban psychological thriller set in a 90s city full of angst and desire. Phil, lonely and longing for romance, develops a strange hair problem and becomes convinced he is turning into a werewolf. Meanwhile Katherine, unhappy in her marriage, sets off after Trinh, a waitress who wears a blond wig and sunglasses 24 hours a day, with a jealous husband following. The cast includes Jeanne Chinn and John Cho.
A werewolf, a wig and a husband with a gun is a lot of plot for 90 minutes, and that is the appeal. The festival describes it as hopping between drama, comedy, thriller and horror, and lists this screening as the Canadian premiere of the 30th anniversary edition. The film runs 90 minutes, but the opening program is listed at 120 and is presented in multiple parts, so budget about two hours in Auditorium 9.
Tickets, passes and the opening weekend
On the festival's box office page, opening night is $20 for general admission and $12 for students and seniors, so two adult seats come to $40. If one night turns into a habit, the $200 in-theatre pass covers 24 programs on November 5 to 8 and November 14, and the $350 premier pass adds the virtual screenings, industry talks and special events. A $40 e-pass covers the virtual films from November 9 to 14 for viewers anywhere in Canada, which is the couch version for the weeknights in between.
Two more evening programs anchor the opening weekend, both at 6:30pm in the same auditorium. Friday, November 6 is the 30th special anniversary presentation, Barbara Lee's Sing My Song, a Western Canada premiere. Saturday, November 7 is the centrepiece, Thomas Percy Kim's Isle Child, also a Western Canada premiere.
How we would plan the night
International Village sits on the edge of Chinatown, which makes the rest of the evening easy. A 6:30pm start and a two-hour listing should put you back outside around 8:30pm, right when Keefer Street is at its best. Bao Bei is a few minutes' walk for shared plates, and The Keefer Bar is on the same block if the debate about the ending needs a nightcap. Skip it if you want a polished studio thriller. Go if you like a film that starts a friendly argument on the walk to dinner.
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