Among the massive concrete block towers of Toronto’s Thorncliffe Park neighborhood, a Syrian doctor struggles to hold on to his cultural identity as his family begins to grow roots in their new community. Working as an unlicensed physician for his neighbors in an attempt to cling to his old identity, tensions rise and begin to threaten his fragile marriage.
Understated cinematography and a patient camera disguise the fraught drama at the heart of Antoine Bourges’ (Fail to Appear) sophomore feature. Bressonian in its approach, employing minimalism, non-professional actors, and a deceptively simple plot, the film blends fact and fiction into a quietly gripping drama with an unshakeable sense of realism. Anchored by the lead performances and a pair of unforgettable scenes in an English as a Second Language class, Bourges crafts a tender portrait that asks if adjusting to a new culture always costs one a piece of their identity.
Q&A Oct 3 & Oct 5
Presented by
Media Partner
Hussam Douhna, Amani Ibrahim, Abdullah Nadaf, Lynn Nantume
Canada
2022
In English and Arabic with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Love
This warm, thoughtful piece offers shrewd comic observations on modern dating as it trains a quizzical eye on the trysts of a female doctor, Marianne (Andrea Bræin Hovig), and her colleague, a gay male nurse, Tor (Tayo Cittadella Jacobsen).
Sex
Two chimney sweeps living in heterosexual marriages find their views on sexuality and gender challenged by a series of unexpected events. In a set of sharply scripted conversations, both men confront heretofore unexplored aspects of their identity.
3 Faces
Iranian filmmaker Panahi and actress Behnaz Jafari, both playing themselves, receive a video in which a distraught teenaged girl, whose acting dreams have been quashed appears to kill herself. Panahi and Jafari decide to investigate...
Dreams
The third installment in the Sex/Dreams/Love trilogy is another rich, absorbing tale. 17-year-old Johanne writes a confessional about her flirtation with a (female) teacher. But the writing is too good to stay private...
Transit
Trust the director of Phoenix and Barbara to re-imagine a WWII romantic intrigue into something unsettlingly contemporary. With occupying forces closing in, a German refugee (Franz Rogowski) assumes a dead writer's identity and flees to Marseille.
Credits
Producer
Shehrezade Mian
Screenwriter
Antoine Bourges, Teyama Alkamli
Cinematography
Nikolay Michaylov
Editor
Lindsay Allikas
Production Design
Amir Kiani
Director
Antoine Bourges
Antoine Bourges is a Paris-born filmmaker currently based between Toronto and Vancouver. He is an alumnus of Berlinale Talents, TIFF Filmmaker lab, and the New York Film Festival’s Artist Academy. His shorts, Woman Waiting (2010) and William in White Shirt (2015), along with his mid-length film East Hastings Pharmacy (2012), have screened at the Berlinale, TIFF, Viennale, Ann Arbor Film Festival, and NY Museum of Moving Images. His first feature, Fail to Appear (2017), was presented at Art of the Real, Cinéma du Réel, and BAFICI, among other festivals. It was released theatrically in Canada in 2018.
Filmography: East Hastings Pharmacy (2012); Fail to Appear (2017)