Skip to main content
Let Me Go film image

Let Me Go

Laissez-moi

This event has passed

North American Premiere

This erotically charged drama set in the Swiss Alps stars the utterly captivating Jeanne Balibar (Memoria) as a mature single woman seeking companionship through intimate encounters with men staying at a remote mountain chalet. In a game of seduction well known to the staff, she zeroes in on a gentleman of interest and engages in guarded but pointed small talk in her pursuit of pleasure behind closed doors. She then re-buttons her dress and returns to caring for her disabled son. Until one day she picks someone who plans to stick around.

Maxime Rappaz makes a stunning feature debut reminiscent of the polished works of Tom Ford and Paul Thomas Anderson with this modern take on a classic love story that explores desire at an age rarely depicted on screen. Transitioning from a career in fashion, his background lends itself naturally to a portrait of an enigmatic, meticulously put-together dame full of fiery yearning, while Balibar adds a touch of charm and elegance that will never go out of style.

 

Presented by

Supported by

Community Partner

Director
Cast

Jeanne Balibar, Thomas Sarbacher, Pierre-Antoine Dubey, Véronique Mermoud, Adrien Savigny

Credits
Country of Origin

Switzerland/France/Belgium

Year

2023

Series

Vanguard

Language

In French with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+
92 min
Drama Romance

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits

Producer

Gabriela Bussmann, Yan Decoppet,Camile Genaud

Screenwriter

Maxime Rappaz, Marion Vernoux, Florence Seyvos

Cinematography

Benoit Dervaux

Editor

Caroline Detournay

Production Design

Ivan Niclass, Rekha Musale

Original Music

Antoine Bodson

Director

Maxime Rappaz headshot

Maxime Rappaz

Born in 1986 in Geneva, Maxime Rappaz worked in the fashion world before turning to cinema. In 2016, he obtained a master’s degree in cinema and screenwriting, he then directed the short film L’été tendresse. His first feature film Laissez-Moi, starring Jeanne Balibar, will be released in 2023. Maxime Rappaz is currently writing his second feature film.

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Tangles
Tangles film image; two people hugging in a garden

Tangles

Dir. Leah Nelson
102 min

Based on the graphic memoir by Vancouver artist Sarah Leavitt, Tangles is a stunning, hand-drawn animated feature about a cartoonist coming to terms with her mom’s early-onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Nominated for the Caméra d’Or at Cannes 2026.

Vancouver Playhouse The Park Theatre The Rio Theatre
Death Has No Master
Death Has No Master film image; woman standing under a tree

Death Has No Master

Dir. Jorge Thielen Armand
106 min

When Caro returns to Venezuela to sell her late father’s cacao plantation, she finds the family mansion occupied by its former staff, who have no intention of leaving. After legal action proves ineffectual, Caro decides to dispense justice herself.

The Rio Theatre International Village 10

Once Upon a Time in Harlem

Dir. William Greaves, David Greaves
100 min

Once Upon a Time in Harlem splices together footage shot by William Greaves in 1972 of a group of Harlem Renaissance luminaries in conversation at Duke Ellington’s townhouse. The film is a living archive of memory, disagreement, style, and Black genius.

Fifth Avenue Cinema - 19+ only

Coward

Dir. Lukas Dhont
120 min

With the First World War raging, two young Belgian soldiers develop an explosive chemistry while serving in their company’s theatre troupe. Coward is a reminder that transformative moments of tenderness can occur even amid the darkest circumstances.

The Park Theatre
Nuisance Bear
Nuisance Bear film image; silhouette of a bear at night

Nuisance Bear

Dir. Gabriela Osio Vanden, Jack Weisman
90 min

Winner of the highly coveted Sundance Grand Jury Prize for Documentary, Nuisance Bear follows a polar bear through Churchill, Manitoba, where the town profits from bears as spectacle while treating their arrival as a problem.

SFU Woodwards Fifth Avenue Cinema - 19+ only Alliance Francaise
Yasha
Yasha film image; woman with a bloody nose

Yasha

Dir. Naghi Nemati
88 min

Yasha follows Hana, a young teacher in desperate need of money for her son's life-saving operation. Sidestepping melodrama, Naghi Nemati offers a compelling portrait of a strong woman fighting against impossible odds.

Alliance Francaise International Village 10