Directed by renowned theatre artist and film director Marie Clements, Lay Down Your Heart is a touching tribute to Niall McNeil, a multi-talented artist in theatre and various other mediums, who happens to be a person living with Down Syndrome. From having grown up in Caravan Farm Theatre, and co-writing plays like King Arthur’s Night, McNeil has established himself as an integral part of the Vancouver theatre scene. We are introduced to the artist’s rich inner world and meet his ‘family members’—who may not be blood relations, but are surely heart relations. Very much a labour of love, this documentary features well-known figures and collaborators from the theatre and artistic community, all voicing praise and affection for McNeil. Shot mostly in front of an all-white backdrop with McNeil’s drawings animated on-screen, the film has a distinctly playful visual style. Colourful, full of joy, and possessing an imaginative spirit, Lay Down Your Heart is a heartwarming celebration of a local artist who has succeeded on his own terms.
Q&A Oct 6 & Oct 9
Media Partner
Canada
2022
English
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Art of Adventure
The unbelievable adventure story of how painter Robert Bateman and ecologist Bristol Foster drove a Land Rover from Africa to Australia in 1957, developing a love of nature to last a lifetime. An inspirational love letter to the adventure of life itself.
Montreal, ma belle
In this Valentine to discovering love later in life, the ever-elegant Joan Chen plays Feng Xia, a 53-year-old Chinese immigrant and mother in Montreal whose world is turned upside down when she meets and falls in love with a young Quebecoise.
Agatha's Almanac
Shot over six years on vibrant 16mm film, Agatha’s Almanac is an artful documentary portrait of filmmaker Amalie Atkin’s octogenarian aunt, who has fashioned herself an endearingly simple and self-sustaining lifestyle on her Manitoba farm.
The Painted Life of E.J. Hughes
A beautiful portrait of E.J. Hughes, who quietly helped reshape the artistic landscape of British Columbia in the 20th century. This extraordinary documentary explores Hughes’s legacy not only as an artist, but as a devoted, humble human being.
Credits
Executive Producer
Shirley Vercruysse
Producer
Shirley Vercruysse
Screenwriter
Marie Clements, Niall McNeill
Cinematography
Mike McKinlay
Editor
Sarah Hedar
Production Design
James Boatman
Original Music
Wayne Lavallee
Director
Marie Clements
A writer, director, and producer whose career has spanned film, TV, radio, and live performance, Marie Clements is a Dene/Métis filmmaker and the founder of Marie Clements Media, a production company specializing in the creation and production of media works that ignite an Indigenous and intercultural reality. Her dramatic feature debut Red Snow (2019) received numerous awards including Most Popular Canadian Feature at VIFF and Best Director at the American Indian Film Festival. Clements’ 2017 documentary The Road Forward opened the DOXA Documentary Film Festival, received multiple awards, and has screened at more than 300 venues in North America.
Filmography: The Road Forward (2017); Red Snow (2019)