Canadian Premiere
Lokita is trying to satisfy the authorities that yes, she tracked down her eight-year-old younger brother Tori in a West African orphanage and recognized him—despite not having seen him since he was a baby—and her anxiety is palpable. She’s not a convincing witness. And indeed, Tori is not a blood relation; the pair met up on their grueling odyssey across Europe. But their bond runs deeper than mere opportunism. In a hostile and dangerous environment, they offer one another unstinting love and support. Billeted temporarily in a state-run centre, they work nights side-by-side in an Italian restaurant, and then run “errands” (drugs) for the chef.
The Dardenne brothers work with such consistency at the highest level (Two Days, One Night; The Kid with a Bike; L’enfant), there is a temptation to take their films for granted. That would be a mistake. When so much of cinema is dominated by escapist fantasies of power and strength, the Dardennes have grounded their stories in social realism and empathy for the vulnerable and the weak. Their latest ratchets up the tension and pummels the heart.
Media Partner
Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
Pablo Schils, Joely Mbundu, Alban Ukaj, Tijmen Govaerts, Charlotte De Bruyne, Nadège Ouedraogo, Marc Zinga
Belgium
2022
In French with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The American Friend
Wim Wenders' take on Patricia Highsmith's Ripley's Game is the real deal, an authentic mittel-European neo-noir, with Dennis Hopper as the original American psycho, Tom Ripley. This Film Studies screening is introduced by Patricia Gruben.
Turner & Constable
Filmed as a supplement to a blockbuster exhibition at Tate Britain happening right now, this doc in the popular Exhibition on Screen series allows us to view these competitive, complementary English landscape artists side by side.
The President's Cake
Nine year old Lamia and her friend Saeed venture into the city to scrounge ingredients for a cake to celebrate Sadaam Hussein's birthday — a quest fraught with real peril in precarious times. Winner, Camera d'Or, Cannes.
Credits
Producer
Jean-Pierre et Luc Dardenne, Delphine Tomson, Denis Freyd
Screenwriter
Jean-Pierre et Luc Dardenne
Cinematography
Benoit Dervaux
Editor
Marie-Hélène Dozo
Production Design
Igor Gabriel