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The Maiden film image, director Graham Foy

The Maiden

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On the heels of a worldwide festival run that included Venice and Toronto, Graham Foy returns to VIFF with a feature debut that rolls in like a breath of fresh air in its understated, lyrical exploration of teenagers’ inner lives and captures with exquisite softness the emotional reverberations of a generation in mourning.

Reminiscent of early Linklater and Korine, the film opens with an evocative sequence of two boys on a casual suburban prowl. But the air of youthful abandon comes to an abrupt halt as a life is tragically claimed. As the initial shock wears off, another world opens, and we are gradually introduced to a web of delicate teenage bonds in a small suburban community.

Employing a fragmented structure that unfolds like a series of narrative echoes, Foy’s visually arresting and gentle touch reframes the fickle nature of this particularly vulnerable period in life to reveal an achingly tender side of adolescence.

 

BNL for Cinema of the Future Award, Venice 2022 (Giornate degli Autori)

 

Q&A Oct 1 & Oct 3

 

Presented by

Media Partner

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Director
Cast

Jackson Sluiter, Marcel T. Jiménez, Hayley Ness

Credits
Country of Origin

Canada

Year

2022

Language

English

Film Contact
18+
117 min
Award Winners Drama

Book Tickets

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Credits

Producer

Daiva Žalnieriunas, Dan Montgomery

Screenwriter

Graham Foy

Cinematography

Kelly Jeffrey

Editor

Brendan Mills

Production Design

Erika Lobko

Director

Graham Foy headshot, The Maiden director

Photo by Seth Fluker

Graham Foy

Graham Foy is a writer and director based in Toronto. His short film August 22, This Year (2020) was presented at Cannes’ Semaine de la Critique and the New York Film Festival. In 2022, his debut feature The Maiden won the TRT First Cut+ Award for works-in-progress at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival prior to its world premiere in the Venice Film Festival’s Giornate degli Autori.