In her early 20s, Irene Gut Opdyke was hired by Wehrmacht Major Eduard Rügemer to work as the housekeeper in the Polish villa he had requisitioned. Risking her life, Irene hid 12 Jews in the cellar… and when Rügemer found out, she bought his complicity by agreeing to become his mistress. Opdyke later won the Nations Medal for her immense courage, and her story became a Broadway play by Dan Gordon in 2008, and now a film, directed by Louise Archibault (And the Birds Rained Down; Gabrielle).
Former child actress Sophie Nélisse (The Book Thief; Yellowjackets) truly comes of age, here, with her heartrending portrait of a young woman whose moral conscience compels her to risk everything to thwart the evils of fascism. Dougray Scott (Ever After: A Cinderella Story; Mission: Impossible II) portrays the German officer. It’s a fascinating complement to Jonathan Glazer’s Zone of Interest, also screening at VIFF.
October 1: Q&A with director Louise Archambault
Sophie Nélisse, Dougray Scott, Andrzej Seweryn, and Maciek Nawrocki
Canada/Poland
2023
Panorama
English
Violence, Antisemitism
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits
Executive Producer
Noah Segal, Laurie May, John K MacDonald, Eleanor Wiebe, Don Depoe, Michael Feehan and Sharon Azrieli
Producer
Nicholas Tabarrok, Beata Pisula, Tim Ringuette, Berry Meyerowitz, Jeff Sackman
Screenwriter
Dan Gordon
Cinematography
Paul Sarossy
Editor
Arthur Tarnowski
Production Design
Joanna Białousz
Original Music
Alexandra Stréliski
Director
Louise Archambault
Screenwriter and director Louise Archambault made her debut with the internationally acclaimed film Atomic Saké. Her first feature film Familia won Best Canadian First Feature Film at TIFF and received a Genie Award. Louise launched her second film Gabrielle at Locarno and won the Audience Award. The film, selected to represent Canada at the Oscars and the Golden Globes in 2014, won many international prizes. In 2019, Louise released two feature films, And the Birds Rained Down, and Merci Pour Tout. These films both got considerable box office, ranking respectively 2nd and 3rd position in Canada. Louise just finished shooting the tv series Survivre À Ses Enfants, a comedy for Radio‐Canada.
Filmography: Familia (2005); Gabrielle (2014); And the Birds Rained Down (2019); Merci pour tout (2019); Le temps d’un été (2023)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
No Other Land
Deemed by many critics one of the essential films of 2024, a multiple festival award winner and Academy Award winner for Best Documentary, No Other Land is a reminder that mass expulsion is by no means a new reality for Palestinians.
The Way, My Way
All manner of pilgrims flock to France and Spain to walk the 800 km Camino de Santiago. One such is Bill, a stroppy sexagenarian Australian filmmaker who's determined to do the Camino with minimal prep, a dickey leg, and no firm idea why.
Resident Orca
Captured in Puget Sound in 1970, killer whale Lolita spent the next half century in a cramped tank in Seaquarium, Miami. The film follows a coalition of Lummi elders, animal lovers and philanthropists on a rescue mission to return her to the ocean.
Misericordia
Edgy, eccentric, and unapologetically queer, this film goes from drama to comedy without putting a foot wrong. Sex and murder are the subjects, and writer-director Alain Guiraudie (Stranger by the Lake) mines them for suspense and outrageous laughs.
The Stand
This rousing doc explores a 1985 dispute over logging in the Haida Gwaii. Taking us from canny retrospective commentary to the thick of the action, director Chris Auchter employs animation and a wealth of archival footage to riveting effect.