North American Premiere
Stunning archival footage from Iran and Romania serves as the visual backdrop for this sophomore feature from director Vlad Petri. This is an epistolary tale of two fictional women, Zahra and Maria —the former from Iran, and the latter from Romania— who form a bond potentially transcending friendship at the Medicine University in Bucharest in the 1970s. Drawn to the promise of the Iranian Revolution against the Shah, Zahra returns to her home country, leaving Maria behind. She soon grows fearful of the push for an Islamic Republic that sees her intellectual leftist father disappeared. Meanwhile, in Romania, Maria endures increasing hardship and disillusionment under Ceausescu’s tyrannical communist regime. However, neither Maria’s father, nor the watchful eye of the Secret Police, can dissuade her from writing to Zahra. Inspired by documents from the Romanian Secret Police’s archives, Lavinia Braniște’s script —quoting poems by Nina Cassian and Forugh Farrokhzad— weds a haunting lyricism with ever-pertinent themes of longing for freedom from repressive political and patriarchal systems.
Victoria Stoiciu, Ilinca Harnut
Romania/Croatia/Iran
2023
Spectrum
In Romanian and Farsi with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Producer
Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan
Screenwriter
Lavinia Braniște, Vlad Petri
Editor
Dragoș Apetri, Cătălin Cristuțiu, Vlad Petri
Original Music
Filip Sertic
Director
Vlad Petri
Vlad Petri is a director interested in political and social subjects, often mixing personal images with official archives. His films exist at the border between documentary and fiction. His feature, Where Are You Bucharest? (2014) was nominated for Best Feature Film at the Transilvania International Film Festival. Petri’s most recent film, Between Revolutions (2023) received nominations for both the Caligari Film Award, and the Teddy Award, as well as won the FIPRESCI Prize at Berlinale International Film Festival.
Filmography: New Year’s Eve (2008); Where Are You Bucharest? (2014); La Pas Pe Litoral (2016); Journey Around The Home in 60 Days (2020)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Measures for a Funeral
When a young academic discovers a personal link to Canadian violinist Kathleen Parlow, she is compelled to dig deeper. Her investigations lead her on the trail of an elusive concerto, lost for over a century, but which she is determined to bring to light.
Meadowlarks
Fifty years after being separated during the Sixties Scoop, four Cree siblings reunite for the first time on a long weekend trip to Banff. Tasha Hubbard’s sensitive drama relates an emotional and life-affirming story of kinship and belonging.
Jay Kelly
In Noah Baumbach's wise and witty comedy, George Clooney plays Jay Kelly, a world-famous movie star touring Europe with his friend and manager, Ron (Adam Sandler). Faced with nagging dissatisfaction, Jay starts to ask himself some tough questions.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? + The Soda Crackers
Join us for a fun afternoon of bluegrass music with the Soda Crackers, followed by a special 25th anniversary screening of the Coen brothers' beloved Homeric comedy, O Brother, Where Art Thou? starring George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson.