Canadian Premiere
Signe (Kristine Kujath Thorp) and Thomas’ (Eirik Sæther) relationship is so toxic that they should probably don hazmat suits. (Sorry, Joachim Trier: these are the worst people in the world.) And when he becomes a cause célèbre in conceptual art circles thanks to his inane installations of stolen chairs, Signe is suddenly starved for attention. What’s a self-aggrandizing narcissist to do but order black market meds from Russia that have been banned for hideous side effects that would leave Cronenberg averting his eyes? As her skin becomes a science experiment gone wrong and she starts coming apart at the seams, social media sympathy is fast to follow.
Taking cues from Tom Waits’ adage, “I like beautiful melodies telling me terrible things,” Kristoffer Borgli helms an immaculately shot and utterly merciless takedown of fame culture. As Signe gorges her pathological need for validation, Borgli’s transgressive satire serves as a wickedly comic reminder of how cringe-inducing the concept of “going viral” should be.
Media Partner
Community Partner
Kristine Kujath Thorp, Eirik Sæther, Fanny Vaager, Fredrik Stenberg Ditlev-Simonsen, Sarah Francesca Brænne, Ingrid Vollan
Norway
2022
In Norwegian with English subtitles
At VIFF Centre — Vancity Theatre
At The Rio
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check Out What's Playing at the VIFF Centre
NAZA
NAZA is a codeword euphemistically used by Israeli intelligence to indicate the number of civilians it expects will be killed in an airstrike. This chilling documentary exposes the policy and process of state-sanctioned mass killings.
My Undesirable Friends: Part II — Exile
Julia Loktev's follow up to last year's film about dissident journalists in Moscow tracks the reporters as they are forced into exile across a four year period, but still striving to counterbalance state propaganda as Putin pursues the war in Ukraine.
Once Upon a Time in Harlem
Once Upon a Time in Harlem splices together footage shot by William Greaves in 1972 of a group of Harlem Renaissance luminaries in conversation at Duke Ellington’s townhouse. The film is a living archive of memory, disagreement, style, and Black genius.
Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie
Alex Gibney's doc relates the near-lethal attack on Salman Rushdie in 2022, the writer's painful rehab and recovery, and his reflections on life before, during and after the publication of The Satanic Verses.
Possible Love
Lee Chang-dong’s first film since Burning (2018) is a sardonic, slow-burning satire about two couples: a documentary filmmaker married to a wealthy businessman, and a working-class family struggling to make ends meet after the husband has been laid off.
You Had to Be There
In a strange quirk of fate, the legendary Toronto '72 production of the musical comedy Jesus hit Godspell launched a constellation of comedy stars, all unknown at the time but now known to us as Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Victor Garber, et al
Credits
Producer
Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Dyveke Bjørkly Graver
Screenwriter
Kristoffer Borgli
Cinematography
Benjamin Loeb
Production Design
Henrik Svensson
Original Music
Turns
Art Director
Mette Haukeland
Director
Photo by Bjarne Bare
Kristoffer Borgli
Kristoffer Borgli is a Los Angeles-based Norwegian writer and director. His numerous works of short and long format films have screened at festivals like Sundance and SXSW.
Filmography: Drib (2017)