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Inedia film image; woman sits among other women

Inedia

Northern Lights

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World Premiere

Liz Cairns (The Horses – Best BC Short Film Award, VIFF 2021) steps into the feature spotlight with this mesmerizing debut about a young woman suffering from mysterious food allergies. When all else fails, she joins a remote island community practicing a lifestyle rooted in the theory of nourishment by light. Initially seduced by its charismatic leader (Susanne Wuest) and other members’ peaceful disposition, she soon realizes that not everything is as it seems when hidden tensions emerge and food deprivation becomes its own distraction.

At its core, Inedia is an eerily profound study of emotional and psychological disturbance and the way it manifests outwardly. It also deftly taps into the ambiguity of fringe communities preying on the fragile, offering healing through scientifically moot, often harmful methods. Complemented by Jeremy Cox’s lush 16mm cinematography and Amy Forsyth’s finely calibrated performance, the film possesses an ethereal mystique that perfectly articulates the hermetic nature of the character’s distress.

 

Sept 27: Q&A with director Liz Cairns and producers Tyler Hagan & Jennifer Chiu

Sept 29: Q&A with producer Tyler Hagan

 

Presented by

Media Partner

           

Community Partner

Director
Cast

Amy Forsyth, Susanne Wuest, Hilda Martin

Credits
Country of Origin

Canada

Year

2024

Language

English

Film Contact
Content Warning

Depiction of eating disorder, including binging and purging

18+
107 min
BC Spotlight Drama Family Relations Q&As at VIFF Women Directors
Experimental Forest Films, Amino Acid Technology

Book Tickets

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Credits & Director

Executive Producer

Daniel Bekerman, Chris Yurkovich

Producer

Tyler Hagan, Jennifer Chiu

Screenwriter

Liz Cairns

Cinematography

Jeremy Cox

Editor

Lisa Pham Flowers

Production Design

Louisa Birkin

Original Music

Jesse Zubot, Josh Zubot

Liz Cairns headshot; Inedia director

Liz Cairns

Liz Cairns is an award-winning writer and director living on unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territory in Vancouver, BC. A graduate of the Director’s Lab at the Canadian Film Centre, Liz’s short films have played at festivals internationally, including TIFF, Austin Film Festival, Interfilm Berlin, Palm Springs, Female Eye Film Festival, and VIFF, among others. Liz’s ability to “elicit remarkable performances” is a critically revered driving force in her craft.

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