VTIFF Program Guide 2025 - Flipbook - Page 12
FILMS A TO Z
FH: FILM HOUSE | BB: BLACK BOX THEATER | SR: SCREENING ROOM • All at Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center, Burlington
FUCKTOYS
HEADS OR FAILS
Directed by Annapurna Sriram
U.S. | 2025 | Fiction | 106 min | English
Directed by Harpo Guit and Lenny Guit
Belgium, France | 2024 | Fiction | 86 min | French w/subtitles
Sponsored by: Erika Senft Miller and John Miller
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19 | 4:30 PM | BB
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24 | 4:30 PM | BB
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23 | 9:30 PM | FH
Fucktoys may take place in the Deep South, in the uncouth underbelly of the fictional
Trashtown—all humid industrial landscapes and pastel cotton candy skies—but a piece
of its heart lives in the Green Mountain State, since writer/director/star Annapurna
Sriram was born in Burlington. In this reimagining of the Fool’s journey from the Major
Arcana of the Tarot, Sriram plays AP, a sex-worker who finds out she is hexed. She and
bruiser BFF Danni set out to cleanse her aura and hustle some quick cash along the way.
Sriram looks fabulous in all her hats; both in front of and behind the camera, she’s a
winning presence and a game comedienne, and she makes the film kinetic and sticky.
Fucktoys earned comparisons to John Waters, and also recalls early Pedro Almodóvar as
well as Anna Biller. From the moment Big Freedia shows up in the opening scene, it’s
clear that Fucktoys is a cult classic in the making. ~OO
Heads or Fails is an ode to chaos theory and to gross-out comedy. The Guit brothers’—
Lenny and Harpo—sophomore effort, after the cult Sundance hit Mother Schmuckers, is
a wonderful sugar rush of a movie. Full of pizzazz and lo-fi visual wit, this cubic zirconia
gem is one of the year’s funniest and most kinetic comedies.
Shot in the Guits’ gleefully garish digital style, with an oversaturated color palette that
tastes like melted Jolly Ranchers, the film follows Armande Pigeon, self-proclaimed
Queen of Shenanigans. Love her or hate her, there’s no denying that she’s a brilliant
comic creation from actress Maria Cavalier-Bazan. Armande doesn’t have a job, owes
months of back rent, and is on the verge of getting kicked out of her squalid flat. After
exhausting all the friends she can scam, she teams up with recent hook-up Ronnie to get
into a high-stakes card game. What could go wrong? ~OO
HEDDA
Directed by Nia DaCosta
U.S. | 2025 | Fiction | 108 min | English
MONDAY, OCTOBER 20 | 1 PM | FH
Some parties are doomed to end badly, but you wouldn’t
miss them for the world. Hedda, a vibrant update/re-telling
of Ibsen’s classic Hedda Gabler by director Nia DaCosta
(Candyman), uses such a party as its centerpiece. Newly
wed and deeply dissatisfied, thrill-seeking Hedda (Tessa
Thompson) encourages her weak husband to throw a party
they can’t afford. One of the attendees is none other than
Hedda’s former flame, Eileen Lovborg (Nina Hoss). Sparks
fly, guns are fired, papers are burned, tears are shed,
hearts are broken. Thompson is fabulous, holding her own
amidst the lavish sets and costumes. Thanks to
cinematographer Sean Bobbitt (12 Years a Slave), Hedda
is bathed in soft candlelight even as its message is harsh
and cutting. But lots of fun, too. ~SM
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VTIFF.ORG | VERMONT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2025
