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Measures for a Funeral film image; woman stands between two buildings

Measures for a Funeral

Panorama

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When Audrey Benac (Deragh Campbell) discovers a personal connection to legendary Canadian violinist Kathleen Parlow, she is compelled to dig deeper. Emotionally adrift, Audrey soon finds herself retracing Parlow’s steps, embarking on a journey from Toronto to London, Oslo, and finally Montreal. At the heart of it all is an elusive concerto, Opus 28, dedicated to Parlow and seemingly lost for over a century, but which Audrey is determined to bring to light—no matter the cost to her personal life. As Parlow herself once remarked, “Music begins where love leaves off.”

In Measures for a Funeral, the latest collaboration between actress Campbell and filmmaker Sofia Bohdanowicz, a real-life piece of music history comes thrillingly alive. Expanding the documentary-fiction elements of Veslemøy’s Song (2018) and MS Slavic 7 (2019) to a far greater emotional and narrative scale, this is a plangent exploration of time and memory. At once a ghost story, detective yarn, and archival investigation, it is a film about the mysterious power of music to move us.

 

Sept 30 & Oct 1: Q&A with director Sofia Bohdanowicz

Director
Cast

Deragh Campbell, Melanie Scheiner, María Dueñas, Maxim Gaudette, Eileen Davies

Credits
Country of Origin

Canada/Norway/UK

Year

2024

Language

English

Film Contact
18+

At International Village

19+

At Fifth Avenue

142 min
Art, Music & Photography Drama Family Relations Q&As at VIFF Women Directors
Green Ground Productions, Maison du Bonheur Films

Book Tickets

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Credits & Director

Executive Producer

Ryan Krisvoshey, Simone Urdl, Mustafa Uzuner

Producer

Aonan Yang, Andreas Mendritzki, Sofia Bohdanowicz

Screenwriter

Sofia Bohdanowicz, Deragh Campbell

Cinematography

Nikolay Michaylov

Editor

Pablo Alvarez-Mesa, Sofia Bohdanowicz

Production Design

Jessica Hart

Original Music

Olivier Alary

Sofia Bohdanowicz headshot; Measures for a Funeral director

Sofia Bohdanowicz

Sofia Bohdanowicz is a Toronto-based, award-winning filmmaker. Her films have been showcased at prestigious festivals such as BFI, NYFF, Locarno, Berlinale, and TIFF. She received the 2017 Jay Scott Prize from the Toronto Film Critics Association, and her documentary Maison du bonheur was nominated for the Rogers Prize in 2018. Bohdanowicz is an alumna of Berlinale Talents and the TIFF Talent Accelerator. Her films are currently available on the Criterion Channel.

Filmography: Never Eat Alone (2016); Maison du bonheur (2017); MS Slavic 7 (2019); A Woman Escapes (2022)

 

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