World Premiere
In Tbilisi, Georgia, an apartment tower sits in a liminal state, its construction halted at a critical juncture by the global pandemic. In its shadowy alcoves, Viktor (Matt Shally), a legendary drag queen, and Tarzan (Maqzime Rauch), a teenage drifter, have embraced their collective purgatorial languor, subsisting on brief instances of intimacy. While intermittent television reports apprise them of developments from the outside world, it’s increasingly unclear whether they’re still inhabiting this plane of existence.
The first solo directorial effort from multihyphenate Felix Kalmenson (of the acclaimed Pejvak artist collective), Gamodi employs stunning chiaroscuro, exacting compositions, and intriguing sound design to conjure a legitimately dreamlike milieu. Practically every pristine shot in Kalmenson’s poetic fable invites admiration and rewards careful examination. Equally informed by the material and spiritual, Gamodi casts an enthralling spell as it unfurls, and lingers in the subconscious long after it draws to its haunting close.
October 3 & 5: Q&A with director Felix Kalmenson
Media Partner
Matt Shally, Maqsime Rauch, Luka Chachxiani
Canada/Georgia
2023
Panorama
In English and Georgian with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Executive Producer
Felix Kalmenson
Producer
Felix Kalmenson, Ketevan Kipiani, Alexandre Jordania
Screenwriter
Felix Kalmenson, Ana Gzirishvili
Cinematography
Zarina Kodzati
Editor
Sasha Putsyato
Original Music
Manana Menabde
Art Director
Polina Zhurovkova
Director
Felix Kalmenson
Felix Kalmenson (b. Saint Petersburg, Russia, 1987) is a non-binary Canadian artist and filmmaker. Their films have screened in numerous international film festivals including at São Paulo International Film Festival, Doclisboa, Sharjah Film Platform, and Kasseler Dokfest , winning awards including the Prix George at Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, 2020. Many of their works are made in collaboration with artist and filmmaker Rouzbeh Akhbari under the collective name ‘Pejvak’.
Filmography: Threshold (2020)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
You Got Gold: A Celebration of John Prine
A remarkable line up of artists come together to share their love for the great American singer-songwriter John Prine, including Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Bonnie Raitt, Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell, Kurt Vile and Kasey Musgraves.
The Nutcracker at Wethersfield
Back in the long, dark Covid winter of 2020, there was no way the New York City Ballet could mount their traditional Christmas production of Tchaikovsky's fairytale. But choreographer Troy Schumacher had a dream to save the show -- reimagining a classic.
The Secret Agent
Having run afoul of an influential bureaucrat in Brazil’s military dictatorship circa 1977, Marcelo decamps to Recife to live under an assumed name — but he’ll soon come to understand precisely how rampant the country’s corruption has become.
Pictures of Ghosts
A companion piece to Mendonça Filho's The Secret Agent, Pictures of Ghosts is a lovely, relaxed, ruminative riff on movies, memory, the imaginative space conferred by that place we call Cinema, seasoned with love and boundless anecdotes.