Canadian Premiere
Tereza Nvotová follows up her critically acclaimed feature debut, Filthy, with this lush, atmospheric genre piece that masterfully mines regional superstitions and witch lore as she continues to interrogate female trauma and toxic patriarchal structures at the heart of destructive social dynamics.
The film centers on Šarlota, a young woman that shows up in a remote Slovakian mountain village looking for answers about her tragic family past. But her sudden presence is met with suspicion and mistrust from the small community. This draws out Mira, a local loner who takes an interest in the mysterious newcomer and decides to take her under her wing. As the two women bond and start challenging the wider status quo, their fearless and independent ways ruffle some feathers, and it’s not long before the pitchforks are out for them.
A heady mix of arresting visuals, genre thrills, rich character dynamics, and sharp social commentary, Nightsiren occupies that coveted space of mainstream appeal and intimate, character-driven storytelling that casts a potent cinematic spell.
Pardo d’oro for Best Film, Locarno 2022
Presented by
Natália Germáni, Eva Mores, Juliána Brutovská, Iva Bittová, Jana Oľhová, Marek Geišberg
Slovakia/Czech Republic
2022
In Slovak with English subtitles
Gender or Sexual Discrimination
At VIFF Centre — Vancity Theatre
At The Rio
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Georgia O'Keeffe: the Brightness of Light
Drawing on her copious correspondence and the world's leading scholars, this is a definitive documentary on the life and work of "the mother of American Modernism."
Shall We Dance?
Masayuki Suô's delightful and charming 1996 film was a box office smash and won 14 Japanese Academy Awards including Best Film. It's the story of a married salaryman who falls in love with... dance.
Drop Dead City
New York, 1975. The city is minutes away from bankruptcy and President Gerald Ford wants no part of it. Sanitation workers are on strike and cops are telling tourists it's not safe to visit. The town is going up in flames and they can't pay the firemen.
Inedia
Liz Cairns makes a mesmerizing feature debut that sees a young woman suffering from mysterious food allergies join a remote island community practicing alternative healing methods. She soon realizes that not everything is as it seems.
The Fugitive Kind
Sidney Lumet's movie brings together two of the greatest actors of the period, Brando and Anna Magnani, reason enough to check out this underrated poetical drama about a handsome musician who washes up in a small southern town.
Credits
Producer
Miloš Lochman
Screenwriter
Barbora Námerová, Tereza Nvotová
Cinematography
Federico Cesca
Editor
Pavel Hrdlička, Thibault Hague
Production Design
Tomáš Berka
Original Music
Pjoni, Rob
Director
Tereza Nvotová
Tereza Nvotová was born in Trnava, Czechoslovakia in 1988. Her debut film, Filthy (2017), premiered at International Film Festival Rotterdam and won many awards at festivals worldwide. Her HBO documentary, The Lust for Power (2017), was critically acclaimed and has caused heated debate about populism and corruption in politics. She is currently working on her third feature, Father, and the TV miniseries Convictions and The Nurse.
Filmography: Filthy (2017); The Lust for Power (2017)