Deep under the ocean, the human heart can slow to seven beats per minute. For Jessea Lu, a champion competitive freediver, that’s where she felt most at peace. That is, until she came face to face with death. While attempting a world record dive in the Bahamas in 2018, Jessea lost consciousness and stopped breathing for four minutes, forcing her to confront parts of her life and past she had long buried. Years later, Jessea returns, ready to dive again and become reborn.
An amateur freediver herself, filmmaker Yuqi Kang develops a friendship with Jessea over years of filming. Layering insights on the nature of freediving alongside sublime images of the ocean’s depths, Kang explores Jessea’s obsessive desire to submerge herself, documenting her own inability to be an impartial observer as the lines between friend and filmmaker become murky. Developing an active role in Jessea’s recovery process as they bond over unresolved emotional trauma, Kang captures the search for freedom and the struggle to find a place in the world to feel at home.
Sept 30 & Oct 2: Q&A with director Yuqi Kang
Presented by
Media Partner
Community Partner
Jessea Lu
Canada
2024
In English and Mandarin with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Ina Fichman, Shirley Vercruysse, Anita Lee, Kate Baxter, Neerai Bhargava
Producer
Ina Fichman, Sherien Barsoum
Screenwriter
Yuqi Kang
Cinematography
Kalina Bertin, Alex Lampron
ANIM
Kara Blake
Editor
Dominique Champagne
Original Music
Frannie Holder, Mario Sévigny, Lauren Bélec
Yuqi Kang
Yuqi Kang is a Mongol Chinese Canadian filmmaker. She is driven by a passion for crafting psychological profiles set in extreme circumstances. Her directorial feature debut, A Little Wisdom (2017), premiered at Busan, SXSW, Karlovy Vary, and Hot Docs, where it won Best Canadian Feature. It was released by Amazon Prime worldwide. Yuqi was nominated for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards and the Directors Guild of Canada’s Discovery Award and was awarded 40 Under 40 by DOC NYC.
Filmography: A Little Wisdom (2017)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Miroirs No. 3
Following a car crash that kills her boyfriend, piano student Laura is physically unhurt but emotionally distraught. A local woman takes her in, but she gradually realizes she's in the midst of an eerie, mysterious family situation.
Image: © Schramm Film A4 Kopie
Another Dawn
In this overtly political thriller, a union organizer hides out from corrupt government goons with an old college flame — but the net is closing in...
Nika & Madison
Two young Indigenous women become fugitives following an act of self-defence and are forced to flee into the wilderness. Inspired by Thelma and Louise, this compelling story of unbreakable friendship sheds light on systemic injustices.
The Kneeling Goddess
In which wealthy industrialist Arturo de Cordova purchases the titular nude sculpture of his lover (María Félix) as an anniversary gift for his innocent, adoring wife. Soon enough the wife is dead, though untangling just how and why is part of the fun.
The Skeleton of Mrs Morales
In this delightful black comedy, an avuncular taxidermist (our old amigo Arturo de Córdova) is beloved by many but not his wife (Amparo Rivelles), a religious fanatic who can't bear to be touched. One day she pushes him too far...