Canadian Premiere
In her elegant feature debut, film artist and choreographer Sarah Friedland delivers a deceptively conventional study of an elderly woman’s transition to assisted living. Filmed at an actual care home, the attention to mundane detail and peripheral workplace dynamics are particularly resonant, anchoring and contextualizing the character’s dementia-driven spiral.
Drawing from her previous, movement-focused work, the director is interested in the physical expression of cognitive decline, mining the moments of stillness, apparent clarity, and repetitive tasks that the body and mind cling to when one starts to lose one’s grip on reality. Kathleen Chalfant commands the screen with absolute poise in her thoughtfully mannered portrait of a woman trying to hold on to her dignity. Each gesture, line, and action are precisely calibrated to convey her altered perception. This is a rare, poignant take on the subject that looks from the inside out with an impressively sober lens.
Best Director: Orizzonti, Venice 2024; Best Actress: Orizzonti, Venice 2024; Lion of the Future Award for Debut Film, Venice 2024
Presented by
Media Partner
Kathleen Chalfant, Carolyn Michelle Smith, Andy McQueen, H. Jon Benjamin
USA
2024
English
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits & Director
Producer
Alexandra Byer, Sarah Friedland, Matthew Thurm
Screenwriter
Sarah Friedland
Cinematography
Gabe C. Elder
Editor
Aacharee “Ohm” UngsriwongEntered
Production Design
Stephanie Osin Cohen
Sarah Friedland
Sarah Friedland is a filmmaker and choreographer working at the intersection of moving images and moving bodies. Her projects have been presented at festivals like the New York Film Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, BAM, and in venues such as MoMA and Performa19 Biennial. A Brown University graduate, she was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film 2023”. Her debut feature, Familiar Touch, premiered at the 81st Venice Film Festival in the Orizzonti Competition.
Photo by Anna Ritsch
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Who by Fire
Jeff, a 17-year-old aspiring filmmaker, goes on vacation with his friend Max and his family to an isolated lodge. Philippe Lesage’s film is a tense, mesmerizing tour de force that is both agonizing and cathartic. A Berlinale award winner.
The Holdovers
Destined to become a seasonal staple, this bittersweet comedy reunites Sideways director and star Alexander Payne and Paul Giamatti in the portrait of a surly classics teacher forced to babysit five "orphans" at boarding school over the holidays.
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Aardman Animation's handcrafted mix of dad jokes, slapstick, mock dramatics and understated emotion makes this return for the claymation odd couple a constant delight. The villainous Feathers McGraw is back to no good, commandeering Norbot the robot. Rated: G
It's a Wonderful Life
Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings. This Christmas classic is whimsical, sure, but it has the depth to stand up to multiple watches, and it really should be a communal experience, because that is what it's about. Rated: G
The Count of Monte Cristo
You can't beat this evergreen Alexandre Dumas tale for adventure, intrigue and romance. This lavish French blockbuster from the writers of the recent Three Musketeers movies pulls you in from the first scene and doesn't let off for the next three hours. Rated: PG