Samantha Chater makes directing debut with 16mm short With You at VIFF
A still from Samantha Chater’s five-minute 16mm short With You, which will have its world premiere at the 2026 Vancouver International Film Festival.
Photo credit: Courtesy of VIFF
Samantha Chater’s first film as director runs five minutes, was shot on 16mm and is structured around archival correspondence. With You will have its world premiere at the 2026 Vancouver International Film Festival, where it is part of the festival’s Short Forum program.
VIFF describes the Canadian short as following a woman’s travels while letters from a man reach her from afar. Chater directed, produced, shot and edited the film, and Steven Harris is the only cast member currently listed by the festival.
The Toronto-based filmmaker and writer arrives at directing after more than a decade working in publicity for independent films in Canada. An Open Roof Festival biography describes Chater as a film and arts publicist whose work has included theatrical releases, exhibitions, festivals and non-profit organizations, and says she previously spent several years with TIFF’s communications team. She remains active in that work: the Toronto Jewish Film Festival lists Chater as its public-relations representative on its 2026 festival team.
Her filmmaking credits had already expanded beyond publicity before With You. Chater shares a story credit with director Kazik Radwanski on the 2024 Canadian feature Matt and Mara and served as one of its associate producers. MDFF’s official credits list Radwanski as the film’s screenwriter, with the story credited to Radwanski and Chater.
Matt and Mara, starring Deragh Campbell and Matt Johnson, premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival before screening at TIFF. VIFF includes both the film and Chater’s associate-producer credit in its biography accompanying With You.
Chater has also spoken about her role in developing Matt and Mara. In a 2025 interview with MUBI’s Notebook, she discussed writing the central characters with Campbell and Johnson in mind.
“We were always writing with both Matt and Deragh and their real-world dynamic in mind,” Chater said.
In the same interview, Chater described the challenge of conveying Mara’s interior life without relying on exposition, saying Campbell could communicate it through a small change in expression.
With You places Chater in several production roles at once, with VIFF crediting her as producer, cinematographer and editor as well as director. The festival identifies the film as her first directing credit.
The short screens as part of Short Forum 4: Immanence, A Life on Oct. 4 at 9 p.m. and Oct. 5 at 1 p.m. at International Village 8. VIFF runs Oct. 1 to 11 in Vancouver.
