Recovering from a suicide attempt in a Cape Breton hospital, Star (Sarah Walker), a neurodiverse teen, is drawn into the orbit of An (Ziyin Zheng), a genderqueer volunteer. Despite their disparate backgrounds (An has recently arrived from Shanghai), the pair operate on identical idiosyncratic frequencies, fortifying their bond through a flurry of text messages and unguarded declarations. After disclosing her aspiration of becoming a trophy wife to An, Star incants, “You’re sinning… making me evil.”
In reality, there’s nothing sinister afoot in Ashley McKenzie’s (Werewolf, 2016) extraordinary sophomore feature. Rather, it’s a disarmingly open-hearted, formally exhilarating ode to a fairy tale friendship. A heady mix of unvarnished-yet-eloquent dialogue, transportive electronic compositions by Yu Su and Cecile Believe, and visual flourishes that meld social media, animation, and VR, the film sees McKenzie adhering to her social realist principles while exploring a more expansive, sensorially rich brand of cinema. Unfolding in society’s margins, Queens of the Qing Dynasty burns as incandescently as its two stars.
Q&A Oct 5 & Oct 7
Sarah Walker, Ziyin Zheng, Wendy Wishart, Jana Reddick, Yao Xue, Cherlena Brake
Canada
2022
In English, Mandarin, and Russian with English subtitles
Self Harm
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Vengeance Is Mine
Michael Roemer’s Vengeance Is Mine follows Jo, a troubled young woman returning to her Rhode Island hometown to confront childhood wounds. An attempt to confront one family's past gradually becomes entangled with another family's dysfunction.
Idda
Childhood friends Adele and Sofia reconnect after years apart. Vowing to finally complete their long-planned climb to Mount Etna, the two set out on a strenuous journey up the Sicilian mountainside, where their friendship will be tested and redefined.
Closure
In Closure, Michał Marczak follows Daniel, a father searching the Vistula River after his teenage son disappears from Warsaw’s Gdański Bridge. Resisting true-crime spectacle, this is a film questions whether hope can sometimes keep you trapped.
Short Forum 9: Big Time Sensuality
Explorations of desire and intimacy serve both pain and pleasure.
All of a Sudden
An eldercare manager (Virginie Efira) forms a life-changing bond with a terminally ill playwright (Tao Okamoto) in Ryûsuke Hamaguchi's All of a Sudden, a tender, philosophically rich meditation on mortality, care, and what we owe one another.
Credits
Producer
Ashley McKenzie, Britt Kerr, Nelson MacDonald
Screenwriter
Ashley McKenzie
Cinematography
Scott Moore
Editor
Ashley McKenzie, Scott Moore
Production Design
Michael Pierson
Original Music
Yu Su, Cecile Believe
Director
Ashley McKenzie
Ashley McKenzie (she/they) is a filmmaker based in Unama’ki (Cape Breton Island). Her debut feature Werewolf (2016) won the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award from the Toronto Film Critics Association in 2017. Film Comment called Werewolf “an austere, marvelously focused debut feature,” while The New Yorker named it to their Best Movies of 2018 list. Ashley’s films have screened at the Berlinale, Toronto International Film Festival, Maryland Film Festival, and Sydney Film Festival, and have been curated by the Criterion Channel, MUBI, and Anthology Film Archives.
Filmography: Werewolf (2016)