Skip to main content
A Woman Escapes film image, co-directors Sofia Bohdanowicz, Burak Çevik, Blake Williams

A Woman Escapes

This event has passed

North American Premiere

Sitting by the window of a Parisian apartment willed to her by a late friend, a young woman observes the world passing her by. Trapped by her grief and untethered from the world, she begins a series of video correspondences with two filmmakers, Blake Williams in Toronto and Burak Çevik in Istanbul, whose words and images begin to form a kind of escape.

With co-directors Çevik and Williams, director Sofia Bohdanowicz crafts a spiritual sequel to her 2017 film Maison du bonheur. Here, Bohdanowicz once again employs cinematic alter-ego Audrey Benac, blurring lines between diary film and traditional narrative. The film unfolds like an epistolary novel, each correspondence filmed and narrated by the filmmakers using their respective cinematic approaches: saturated, foggy 16 millimeter; icy sharp 4K HD; and the simulated depth of stereoscopic 3D images.

With a loving fondness for Bressonian techniques, Bohdanowicz, Williams, and Çevik offer a collaborative meditation on grief and the vital role of community in healing.

 

Q&A Oct 2

Directors
Cast

Deragh Campbell, Mustafa Akkaya, Mehmet Ayısıgı, Burak Çevik, Dorota Lech, Juliane Sellam, Emilia Szydło

Credits
Country of Origin

Canada/Turkey

Year

2022

Language

In English and Turkish with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+
81 min
Drama Women Directors

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Marcel the Shell With Shoes On

Dir. Dean Fleischer-Camp
121 min

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is a heartwarming film for all ages. Marcel, a tiny shell, lives with his grandmother Connie in a human house. When a filmmaker discovers Marcel, they team up to search for his long-lost relatives. Rated: G

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Wedding Banquet

Dir. Andrew Ahn
103 min

This joyful comedy cleverly updates Ang Lee's 1993 gay marriage comedy and transports the action to contemporary Seattle (actually, Vancouver).

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Tornado

Dir. John Maclean
91 min

Scotland in the 1790s, travelling circus samurai Tornado (Kōki) runs afoul of a band of murderous brigands led by Tim Roth and his ambitious son, Jack Lowden. Mayhem ensues.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Two Women

Dir. Chloé Robichaud
100 min

In this light-hearted, emancipatory take on a classic sex farce, two neglected married women discover the joys of casual sex and get their plumbing fixed.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
Nechako: It Will Be a Big River Again
Nechako: It Will Be a Big River Again film; overhead shot of churning water

Nechako: It Will Be a Big River Again

Dir. Lyana Patrick
91 min

In the face of environmental destruction, two Nations fight to restore their river and a way of life.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Fairy Creek

Dir. Jen Muranetz
86 min

Considered the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history, the Fairy Creek blockade led to more than 1200 arrests. What Jen Muranetz's film gives us is the story from the front line from the activists' point of view (often, from the treetops).

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Credits

Executive Producer

Marco Gualtieri, Selman Nacar, Dominga Sotomayor

Producer

Sofia Bohdanowicz, Burak Çevik, Blake Williams

Screenwriter

Sofia Bohdanowicz, Burak Çevik, Blake Williams

Cinematography

Sofia Bohdanowicz, Burak Çevik, Blake Williams

Editor

Blake Williams

Original Music

Sarah Davachi

Art Director

Dorota Lech

Directors

Sofia Bohdanowicz headshot, A Woman Escapes co-director

Sofia Bohdanowicz

Sofia Bohdanowicz is a Canadian filmmaker. Her experimental shorts and narrative features have screened internationally, including venues such as the Toronto International Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, New York Film Festival, the Berlinale, and the Harvard Film Archive. She is the recipient of the Jay Scott Prize (2017) and was recently named as one of The 22 Most Influential People in Canadian Film in The Globe and Mail. She is currently in development on her fifth feature film titled Opus 28.

Filmography: Never Eat Alone (2016); Maison du bonheur (2017); MS Slavic 7 (2019)

Burak Çevik headshot, A Woman Escapes co-director

Burak Çevik

Burak Çevik is a filmmaker based in Istanbul. He founded Fol Cinema Society, curated experimental and arthouse film screenings, and was a lecturer at Istanbul Bilgi University between 2018 and 2020. His films The Pillar of Salt (2018) and Belonging (2019) premiered at Berlinale Forum. His video works have screened at various festivals, such as Locarno Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and New York Film Festival.

Filmography: The Pillar of Salt (2018); Belonging (2019)

Blake Williams headshot, A Woman Escapes co-director

Blake Williams

Blake Williams is a Toronto-based artist and filmmaker. He is the co-founder of the production company BlueMagenta Films, and contributes criticism to the Canadian film publication Cinema Scope magazine. His shorts, features, and installations have been exhibited internationally, including venues such as the Berlinale, Toronto International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, Jeonju International Film Festival, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Filmography: Prototype (2017)