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The Heirloom film image; smiling man and woman pose next to each other

The Heirloom

Northern Lights

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Canadian Premiere

Eric (Ben Petrie) is a filmmaker struggling to finish his screenplay during the COVID lockdown. His girlfriend Allie (Grace Glowicki) wants to get a dog and he reluctantly agrees. After extensive research and planning, they adopt Milly, a traumatized rescue from the Dominican Republic. Complete opposites, the pair clash over pet-raising ideals. Feeling conflicted between work and family, Eric refocuses his creative energy and neuroses towards making a film about Allie, Milly, and himself.

Following in the footsteps of their 2016 cringe-comedy short Her Friend Adam, real-life partners Petrie and Glowicki return with another hilarious piece about a couple in disarray. As Milly suffers from gastrointestinal issues and cracks show in their relationship, The Heirloom evolves from a domestic comedy to a clever, metatextual piece of autofiction. Harkening back to the days of quarantine, Petrie’s debut feature asks you to slow down and appreciate the profound serenity of walking through the snowy streets, glasses fogged over, and cleaning up after your dog.

 

Sept 28 & 29: Q&A with director Ben Petrie and actor Grace Glowicki

 

Presented by

Media Partner

   

Director
Cast

Grace Glowicki, Ben Petrie

Credits
Country of Origin

Canada

Year

2024

Language

English

Film Contact
Links
18+
87 min
Comedy Q&As at VIFF Talent to Watch
Cheekdance Spectacular

Book Tickets

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Credits & Director

Producer

Ben Petrie, Grace Glowicki, Justin Elchakieh

Screenwriter

Ben Petrie

Cinematography

Kelly Jeffrey

Editor

Michael Harmon, Brendan Mills, Ben Petrie

Production Design

Chareese McLaughlin

Original Music

Casey Manierka-Quaile

Ben Petrie headshot; The Heirloom director

Ben Petrie

Ben Petrie is a Canadian filmmaker who has been featured in Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film.” His film Her Friend Adam (2016) won the Sundance Short Film Special Jury Award for Outstanding Performance for Grace Glowicki, and was named Best Comedy of the Year by Vimeo. Ben’s recent acting credits include Blackberry (Dir. Matt Johnson, Berlinale 2023); The All Golden (Dir. Nate Wilson; Fantastic Fest 2023); and Tito (Dir. Grace Glowicki, SXSW 2019).

 

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