Image+Nation
Bodyrebuilding

Bodyrebuilding

VIVEK SHRAYA | CANADA | 2025 | 10 MIN | ENGLISH

VIVEK SHRAYA | CANADA | 2025 | 10 MIN | ENGLISH

VIRTUALShortMADE AU CANADACOMPETITION

Synopsis

Vivek navigates the chronic pain caused by the pressures of advocating for diversity, finding healing and strength through weightlifting.

Filmmaker Bio

Vivek Shraya is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans music, literature, visual art, theatre, TV, film, and fashion. A three-time Canadian Screen Award winner, Vivek created and wrote the CBC Gem Original Series How to Fail as a Popstar. She is also a Polaris Music Prize nominee and the author of the best-selling book I’m Afraid of Men.

Producer

The Polygon Gallery

Writer

Vivek Shraya

Image
Image
Image
Image

Also playing with

PosterShort
Supa Cottonelle[MADE AU CANADA]5 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 86 minutes

A celebration of House Mother Cotton and her sisters during Vancouver's ballroom scene of the 2000s. A tribute to the pioneering Canadian LGBTQ+ community and its dazzling legacy.

PosterShort
Salma![MADE AU CANADA]7 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 86 minutes

As Hadi is swept into a flood of childhood memories from Lebanon, he steps into the dreamlike whimsical world of Salma Zahore.

PosterShort
fastLOVE[MADE AU CANADA]16 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 86 minutes

On New Year's Eve, a broke and restless young man is drawn into a risky encounter with a hustler's client at a hotel. After being assaulted and scammed, with no help from the staff, he must face the consequences of his choices.

PosterShort
The Ride10 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 86 minutes

During a late-night drive, Sean and Louis reflect on their shared journey through surrogacy.

PosterShort
Pink Elephant[MADE AU CANADA]13 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 86 minutes

A long-standing friendship faces tension over gender identity, but everything shifts when one friend receives life-changing news, transforming their bond and perspectives forever.

PosterShort
Queen Mother (Inang Reyna)[MADE AU CANADA]14 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 86 minutes

When a mother visits her son, a drag performer, a night of raw confessions forces them to confront the unhealed wounds of their past.

PosterShort
ATLS[MADE AU CANADA]11 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 86 minutes

In a dystopian future, two women flee exploitation and find love in a remote cabin, only to face relentless pursuit and a tragic fate.

PosterShort
Supa Cottonelle[MADE AU CANADA]5 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 86 minutes

A celebration of House Mother Cotton and her sisters during Vancouver's ballroom scene of the 2000s. A tribute to the pioneering Canadian LGBTQ+ community and its dazzling legacy.

PosterShort
Salma![MADE AU CANADA]7 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 86 minutes

As Hadi is swept into a flood of childhood memories from Lebanon, he steps into the dreamlike whimsical world of Salma Zahore.

PosterShort
fastLOVE[MADE AU CANADA]16 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 86 minutes

On New Year's Eve, a broke and restless young man is drawn into a risky encounter with a hustler's client at a hotel. After being assaulted and scammed, with no help from the staff, he must face the consequences of his choices.

PosterShort
The Ride10 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 86 minutes

During a late-night drive, Sean and Louis reflect on their shared journey through surrogacy.

PosterShort
Pink Elephant[MADE AU CANADA]13 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 86 minutes

A long-standing friendship faces tension over gender identity, but everything shifts when one friend receives life-changing news, transforming their bond and perspectives forever.

PosterShort
Queen Mother (Inang Reyna)[MADE AU CANADA]14 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 86 minutes

When a mother visits her son, a drag performer, a night of raw confessions forces them to confront the unhealed wounds of their past.

PosterShort
ATLS[MADE AU CANADA]11 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 86 minutes

In a dystopian future, two women flee exploitation and find love in a remote cabin, only to face relentless pursuit and a tragic fate.

You might also like

PosterDocumentaryVIRTUAL EXCLUSIVE
A CULINARY UPRISING: THE STORY OF BLOODROOT[Test]82 minutes

In the '70s and '80s, there were over 230 feminist restaurants, cafes, and coffeehouses throughout the United States and Canada. Bloodroot, located in Bridgeport, Connecticut, is now the oldest and longest-lasting of those spaces, in continuous operation for over 46 years. A Culinary Uprising: The Story of Bloodroot is a documentary that explores this feminist, queer, vegan restaurant and bookstore, and illuminates the legacy of its pioneering proprietors, Selma Miriam and Noel Furie. The film shares the history of Bloodroot, its place in the landscape of American feminist thought, and the impact it has had on the local community. It follows the restaurant’s founders, Selma and Noel, as well as the staff and customers, who reveal why Bloodroot is much more than just a restaurant. Audiences get an intimate look inside these women’s 46-year working partnership, along with how they navigate sexism, homophobia, and the reality of getting older. Despite challenges, Bloodroot has endured as a beloved space for generations of feminists, vegans, and queer people who keep coming back.

PosterShort
Supa Cottonelle[MADE AU CANADA]5 minutes

A celebration of House Mother Cotton and her sisters during Vancouver's ballroom scene of the 2000s. A tribute to the pioneering Canadian LGBTQ+ community and its dazzling legacy.

PosterFeature
QUEERPANORAMA[COMPETITION]87 minutes

The protean central character of Queerpanorama has built a sex life for himself as an unreliable narrator. Curious about Hong Kong’s international tourists and struggling immigrants, this native Hongkonger briefly infiltrates their bubbles in the guise of other men he has bedded. In an open relationship with an American boyfriend—who, like his other writerly conjurings, may or may not exist—the anonymous ‘I’ (Jayden Cheung) uses his freedom to educate himself on the “complicated universe.” From vast urban spaces to remote beaches, and many a quiet restaurant and architectural marvel in between, ‘I’ bumps up against vastly different lifestyles and circumstances. Copulating and conversing with men who, like him, are searching for grounding or simply to lose themselves. For everyone seems to have reasons to be someone else—even if just for the length of their next encounter. Actor-turned-writer-director Jun Li renders his sexual odyssey in silky black and white, lending its contemporary subject matter a timeless, heightened air. With the noirish romanticism of In the Mood for Love and the beautifully framed melancholy of Lost in Translation, he depicts shifting ideas of normalcy and the burdens we bear or share.

PosterShort
Itty Bitty Betty[MADE AU CANADA]12 minutes

Betty, driven by fear of rejection, lives isolated at home among her miniature figurines. When she meets a woman she can’t stop thinking about, she faces a difficult choice: remain in her safe, private world or step outside and risk vulnerability for a real connection.

PosterShort
La première marche (No Contest)[COMPETITION]18 minutes

When Victoire, a young trans judoka, reaches the finals of a local competition, her opponent Sonia refuses to face her. A confrontation that transcends sport, questioning prejudice, courage, and the right to simply exist.

PosterShort
Dragfox[COMPETITION]8 minutes

Sam's search for identity is interrupted by a mysterious neighborhood fox. Together, they embark on a magical journey to the attic, discovering unexpected commonalities and how to celebrate their differences.

PosterFeatureVIRTUAL EXCLUSIVE
IN ASHES (EN) [COMPETITION]82 minutes

DANISH • ENGLISH ST | With In Ashes, writer-director Ludvig Christian Næsted Poulsen grippingly toys with genre. He inflects one Danish collegian’s immersion in frantic hook-up culture amidst a relationship mysteriously ended with elements of psychological horror and the tension of a spy thriller. In 2017 Copenhagen, baby-faced Christian (Rex Leonard, a nervy knockout) is glued to his camera, determined to capture every giddy moment he spends with his long-distance boyfriend Aske (Lior Cohen). Flash forward to 2022 Aarhus, “the most wonderful city in the world,” and a scruffier Christian seems less than content. He interrogates his schoolmate’s perspective and confronts strangers over assumed slights. He’s plagued by an unspoken ailment. And Aske seems nowhere to be found. With each empty tryst, each hungrily inhaled cigarette, Christian descends into a type of madness. Or is it clarity? Aske’s reappearance, arriving with the jolt of a jump scare, may hold the key to that question, as desperation congeals into starry-eyed determination. For those drawn in by the enigmatic pull of All of Us Strangers, In Ashes will have you guessing ‘is this a romance or a tragedy’ until the very last second—perhaps, even, long after.

PosterFeature
BEARCAVE (ARKOUDOTRYPA)[COMPETITION]128 minutes

Passionate, provocative, and powerful—it’s easy to see why Bearcave was awarded the Europa Cinema Label at the 2025 Venice Film Festival. Set in a fictional remote village in the Balkan Mountains of Greece, a love story between two lifelong friends unfolds—but will their relationship survive the call of womanhood? Argyro is a farm girl—hard-working, unpretentious, and wholesome while Anneta is … in a bit of trouble. Whisked away by her law enforcement beau (and carrying his child) Anneta’s move to the city threatens to sever her friendship with Argyro for good, but their understated glances from across the crowd at a party one night tells a different story. The whisper of sweet nothings and foggy windows in Argyro’s pickup truck soon fade to memory, leaving behind a cloud of confusion and heartbreak, that is—until Anneta’s side of the story unfolds. Set against a backdrop of sweeping landscapes, a mystical cave, and nettle bushes, Bearcave is a film that’s steeped in tradition, then abruptly subverted, and not only by a sapphic love story, but a hybrid soundscape of folkloric and contemporary music, as well as ethereal sequences of cinematographic magic.

PosterShort
Rosa's Flowers[MADE AU CANADA]18 minutes

In 1998 Indonesia, two girls promised to be friends forever. Twenty-five years later, a traumatic event resurfaces memories of their shared childhood.

PosterShort
ATLS[MADE AU CANADA]11 minutes

In a dystopian future, two women flee exploitation and find love in a remote cabin, only to face relentless pursuit and a tragic fate.

PosterDocumentaryVIRTUAL EXCLUSIVE
A CULINARY UPRISING: THE STORY OF BLOODROOT[Test]82 minutes

In the '70s and '80s, there were over 230 feminist restaurants, cafes, and coffeehouses throughout the United States and Canada. Bloodroot, located in Bridgeport, Connecticut, is now the oldest and longest-lasting of those spaces, in continuous operation for over 46 years. A Culinary Uprising: The Story of Bloodroot is a documentary that explores this feminist, queer, vegan restaurant and bookstore, and illuminates the legacy of its pioneering proprietors, Selma Miriam and Noel Furie. The film shares the history of Bloodroot, its place in the landscape of American feminist thought, and the impact it has had on the local community. It follows the restaurant’s founders, Selma and Noel, as well as the staff and customers, who reveal why Bloodroot is much more than just a restaurant. Audiences get an intimate look inside these women’s 46-year working partnership, along with how they navigate sexism, homophobia, and the reality of getting older. Despite challenges, Bloodroot has endured as a beloved space for generations of feminists, vegans, and queer people who keep coming back.

PosterShort
Supa Cottonelle[MADE AU CANADA]5 minutes

A celebration of House Mother Cotton and her sisters during Vancouver's ballroom scene of the 2000s. A tribute to the pioneering Canadian LGBTQ+ community and its dazzling legacy.

PosterFeature
QUEERPANORAMA[COMPETITION]87 minutes

The protean central character of Queerpanorama has built a sex life for himself as an unreliable narrator. Curious about Hong Kong’s international tourists and struggling immigrants, this native Hongkonger briefly infiltrates their bubbles in the guise of other men he has bedded. In an open relationship with an American boyfriend—who, like his other writerly conjurings, may or may not exist—the anonymous ‘I’ (Jayden Cheung) uses his freedom to educate himself on the “complicated universe.” From vast urban spaces to remote beaches, and many a quiet restaurant and architectural marvel in between, ‘I’ bumps up against vastly different lifestyles and circumstances. Copulating and conversing with men who, like him, are searching for grounding or simply to lose themselves. For everyone seems to have reasons to be someone else—even if just for the length of their next encounter. Actor-turned-writer-director Jun Li renders his sexual odyssey in silky black and white, lending its contemporary subject matter a timeless, heightened air. With the noirish romanticism of In the Mood for Love and the beautifully framed melancholy of Lost in Translation, he depicts shifting ideas of normalcy and the burdens we bear or share.

PosterShort
Itty Bitty Betty[MADE AU CANADA]12 minutes

Betty, driven by fear of rejection, lives isolated at home among her miniature figurines. When she meets a woman she can’t stop thinking about, she faces a difficult choice: remain in her safe, private world or step outside and risk vulnerability for a real connection.

PosterShort
La première marche (No Contest)[COMPETITION]18 minutes

When Victoire, a young trans judoka, reaches the finals of a local competition, her opponent Sonia refuses to face her. A confrontation that transcends sport, questioning prejudice, courage, and the right to simply exist.

PosterShort
Dragfox[COMPETITION]8 minutes

Sam's search for identity is interrupted by a mysterious neighborhood fox. Together, they embark on a magical journey to the attic, discovering unexpected commonalities and how to celebrate their differences.

PosterFeatureVIRTUAL EXCLUSIVE
IN ASHES (EN) [COMPETITION]82 minutes

DANISH • ENGLISH ST | With In Ashes, writer-director Ludvig Christian Næsted Poulsen grippingly toys with genre. He inflects one Danish collegian’s immersion in frantic hook-up culture amidst a relationship mysteriously ended with elements of psychological horror and the tension of a spy thriller. In 2017 Copenhagen, baby-faced Christian (Rex Leonard, a nervy knockout) is glued to his camera, determined to capture every giddy moment he spends with his long-distance boyfriend Aske (Lior Cohen). Flash forward to 2022 Aarhus, “the most wonderful city in the world,” and a scruffier Christian seems less than content. He interrogates his schoolmate’s perspective and confronts strangers over assumed slights. He’s plagued by an unspoken ailment. And Aske seems nowhere to be found. With each empty tryst, each hungrily inhaled cigarette, Christian descends into a type of madness. Or is it clarity? Aske’s reappearance, arriving with the jolt of a jump scare, may hold the key to that question, as desperation congeals into starry-eyed determination. For those drawn in by the enigmatic pull of All of Us Strangers, In Ashes will have you guessing ‘is this a romance or a tragedy’ until the very last second—perhaps, even, long after.

PosterFeature
BEARCAVE (ARKOUDOTRYPA)[COMPETITION]128 minutes

Passionate, provocative, and powerful—it’s easy to see why Bearcave was awarded the Europa Cinema Label at the 2025 Venice Film Festival. Set in a fictional remote village in the Balkan Mountains of Greece, a love story between two lifelong friends unfolds—but will their relationship survive the call of womanhood? Argyro is a farm girl—hard-working, unpretentious, and wholesome while Anneta is … in a bit of trouble. Whisked away by her law enforcement beau (and carrying his child) Anneta’s move to the city threatens to sever her friendship with Argyro for good, but their understated glances from across the crowd at a party one night tells a different story. The whisper of sweet nothings and foggy windows in Argyro’s pickup truck soon fade to memory, leaving behind a cloud of confusion and heartbreak, that is—until Anneta’s side of the story unfolds. Set against a backdrop of sweeping landscapes, a mystical cave, and nettle bushes, Bearcave is a film that’s steeped in tradition, then abruptly subverted, and not only by a sapphic love story, but a hybrid soundscape of folkloric and contemporary music, as well as ethereal sequences of cinematographic magic.

PosterShort
Rosa's Flowers[MADE AU CANADA]18 minutes

In 1998 Indonesia, two girls promised to be friends forever. Twenty-five years later, a traumatic event resurfaces memories of their shared childhood.

PosterShort
ATLS[MADE AU CANADA]11 minutes

In a dystopian future, two women flee exploitation and find love in a remote cabin, only to face relentless pursuit and a tragic fate.