North American Premiere
A meditative, hybrid documentary centered on the resilient Afrin, a nomadic orphan living on rapidly eroding mud islands in the Brahmaputra River, who decides to embark on a quest to find her father. Director Angelos Rallis spent five years living with Afrin, collaborating with her on the film, abandoning the assumptions of objectivity for an unscripted, semi-fictionalized story, as she makes the onerous journey to Bangladesh’s capital city of Dhaka. Its ingenious style and structure allows for an immersive, empowering epic one moment, and a sobering vision of the effects of climate change and poverty across the landscape of Bangladesh the next. From the floodplains of the Brahmaputra River to the harsh city streets of Dhaka, this stunning hybrid-documentary captures the catastrophic effects of climate change upon the country’s people and landscape. The tale of twelve-year-old orphan Afrin and her personal odyssey becomes an allegory for the plight of millions of climate refugees across Bangladesh. A profound blend between intimate, verité documentary and the power of epic mythmaking.
WFF Award for Best Environmental Film, Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival
September 29 & 30: Q&A with director Angelos Rallis & crew
Greece/France/Germany
2023
Spectrum
In Bengali with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits
Executive Producer
David Piperni, Daniel Cantagallos, Hafiz Uddin Munna, Giorgos Rallis
Producer
Maria del Mar Rodriguez, Angelos Rallis
Screenwriter
Angelos Rallis
Cinematography
Angelos Rallis
Editor
Nadia Ben Rachid, Angelos Rallis
Original Music
Alexis Rault
Director
Angelos Rallis
Angelos Rallis started his career in TV and theatre in Greece before moving to Sweden and the UK to complete his graduate and post-graduate studies in Film, Anthropology and Photography. In 2006 he became an elected member of the International Federation of Journalists (UK). His early work in video and photography has been published in international newspapers such as Ethnos and The Guardian and has been used by press agencies and NGOs around the world. Angelos has also worked as a director for the Greek National Television (ERT).
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Teacher
In this potent thriller, English teacher Basem witnesses the murder of a teenager by a Israeli settler. While the subsequent investigation rolls slowly towards a foregone conclusion, the teacher is caught up in a parallel kidnapping case...
Bob Trevino Likes It
When her toxic, narcissistic dad cuts her out of his life, Lily Trevino looks him up on Facebook and happens across his namesake, Bob (John Leguizamo), a gentle, genial contractor who lives nearby, and who proves an altogether better dad...
The Encampments
When pro-Palestine protests took hold of Columbia last year, the filmmakers were there from the beginning. This documentary charts the mounting tensions between students and the administration, as the protests were picked up across North America.
Shepherds
Mathyas quits his marketing job in Montreal and goes to France with the romantic notion of becoming a shepherd. He's in for a rude awakening... Based on a true story, Deraspe's stirring film plays spiritual uplift off against some 3000 sheep and a donkey.
Our Lady of the Nile
Veronica and Virginia are inseparable friends at an elite Catholic boarding school, Our Lady of the Nile, but what binds them together is the very thing that separates them forever. We are in Rwanda, 1973, and tribal tensions are simmering ominously.
Faces
Ten years after his landmark debut, Shadows, John Cassavetes returned to the indie model, self-financing this wrenching portrait of the sexual mores and miseries of American middle class. Gena Rowlands is luminous as Jeannie, the film's emotional barometer.