Canadian Premiere
Hedgehog (Panos Papadopoulos) is desperate after the loss of his mother. Eager to bring her back from the dead, he and his brothers Dummy and Japan put their heads together to build a time machine out of odds and ends in her wardrobe. Initial tests prove horrific failures, as the brothers lose a pig and half of a chicken to the rickety machine. Hedgehog is convinced he needs a human test subject and when Dummy’s girlfriend comes by to party, he sees his opportunity.
Yannis Veslemes (Norway, 2014) mixes pitch-black comedy with sticky body horror to delirious effect in this fantastical freakshow. His penchant for surreal, hallucinatory visuals and jarring tonal shifts flourishes as the brothers unleash a hellish cosmic horror into their reality. More than cheap thrills, She Loved Blossoms More is a grotesque portrait of grief from one of the most twisted minds from the Greek Weird Wave.
Supported by
Media Partner
Panos Papadopoulos, Julio Giorgos Katsis, Aris Balis, Dominique Pinon
Greece/France
2024
In Greek and French with English subtitles
At International Village
At The Rio
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, Ant Timpson, Andreas Zoupanos Kritikos
Producer
Fenia Costovista
Screenwriter
Yannis Veslemes, Dimitris Emmanouilidis
Cinematography
Christos Karamanis
Editor
Yorgos Mavropsaridis
Production Design
Elena Vardava
Original Music
Yannis Veslemes
Yannis Veslemes
Born in Athens in 1979, Yannis Veslemes is a film director and music composer. He has directed feature films such as She Loved Blossoms More (2024, Tribeca premiere), The Field Guide to Evil (2018, SXSW premiere), and Norway (2014, Karlovy Vary premiere). He has released music records with international labels such as Optimo Music, Invisible Inc., and Macadam Mambo. His soundtrack composition work includes the films Wednesday 04:45, Suntan, Cosmic Candy, and more.
Filmography: The Field Guide to Evil (2018); Norway (2014)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Franz
Veteran Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland takes the bull by the horns to craft a Kafka biopic that's Kafkaesque and then some, artfully layering scenes from Kafka's life and works along with ironic present-day footage for a truly surreal counterpoint.
Late Fame
Based on a novella by Arthur Schnitzler (Eyes Wide Shut) this is a sly, poignant comedy about vanity and art from director Kent Jones, starring Willem Dafoe as a mailman belatedly acclaimed for a book of poetry he wrote in his youth.
Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World
Sasha Waters' documentary takes us through the life of America's best-selling late twentieth century poet, a private woman who shared her innermost thoughts and made them indispensable.
American Doctor
One of the most powerful documentaries of the year, this puts us smack in the open wound that is Gaza, filtered through the eyes of three American surgeons (of Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian backgrounds) compelled to do their utmost to alleviate harm.
Election
Tracy Flick (Reece Witherspoon) is running for Student President, but Mr. McAllister (Matthew Broderick) has other ideas... This remarkably sour millennial comedy from Alexander Payne (The Holdovers; Sideways; The Descendents) hits twice as hard today.
Memory of Princess Mumbi
In 2093, a filmmaker arrives in the African village of Umata, where he meets Princess Mumbi, a woman torn between love, legacy, and the future of storytelling. It's a fabulous genre-blending fable about memory, invention and cinematic resistance.