VIFF 2026: South Asian Post and Filipino Post Support First Comes Love: Nakabingwit

The 45th Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) returns to Vancouver from October 1–11, 2026, bringing audiences an exciting selection of international and Canadian cinema.

This year, South Asian Post and Filipino Post are proud to support First Comes Love: Nakabingwit, a vibrant and deeply personal film that explores love, race, identity and communication within the Filipino diaspora.

A world premiere at VIFF, the film follows Canadian women in the Filipino diaspora as they navigate conversations about race and identity with their white romantic partners. With humour, warmth and plenty of heart, First Comes Love: Nakabingwit looks at the sometimes difficult conversations that arise when love brings people from different cultural and racial backgrounds together.

About First Comes Love: Nakabingwit

The film takes audiences into the lives of three couples in Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto.

In Montreal, Veronica and Mathilde work through differences ranging from everyday lifestyle habits to their perspectives on Duterte’s war on drugs. In Vancouver, Rhea encourages her partner Eric to talk with their mixed-race children about embracing their Filipino heritage and natural beauty. In Toronto, Justine and her British partner Dominic confront questions of white privilege and experiences of racism.

Blending intimate interviews and observational documentary with reenactments inspired by the filmmaker’s own love story, First Comes Love: Nakabingwit adopts the language and playfulness of a romantic comedy while tackling serious questions about race, privilege and belonging.

At its heart, the film asks what it really means to communicate across differences — and how love can create the space for difficult conversations rather than avoiding them.

About the Director

Joella Cabalu is a Filipino Canadian filmmaker whose documentaries explore intimacy, identity and relationships with wit, care and emotional precision.

Her award-winning work brings playfulness and nuance to complex social dynamics. With First Comes Love: Nakabingwit, Cabalu makes her feature-length debut as a writer-director, reshaping the romantic-comedy format into a contemporary documentary about interracial relationships, communication and the courage it takes to truly see one another. Her previous filmography includes It Runs in the Family (2016).

Vancouver Screenings

First Comes Love: Nakabingwit will screen three times during VIFF 2026:

Saturday, October 3 — 5:45 PM
SFU Woodwards

Wednesday, October 7 — 1:30 PM
International Village 10

Saturday, October 10 — 3:45 PM
Alliance Française

The film runs 65 minutes and is presented in English.

Tickets: Book tickets for First Comes Love: Nakabingwit at VIFF

South Asian Post and Filipino Post are proud to support a film that brings Filipino Canadian voices and experiences to the screen, while opening up a broader conversation about love, identity, race and belonging in Canada.