
World Premiere
“I don’t think I’m doing very well,” Ruth Mackie (Marlene Jewell) tells her doctor during a cognitive exam. An elderly Nova Scotian woman struggling with dementia, Ruth likes feeding pigeons and playing TV bingo. She believes that her home is infested with bugs and that they live inside her, too. Ruth’s pregnant young caretaker, Shannon (Katie Mattattal) is grappling with her abandonment by the baby’s father, a race-car driver. As Ruth’s cognition deteriorates, these two women overlooked by society leave an indelible impression on each other.
Winner of the Emerging Canadian Director Award for Murmur at VIFF 2019, writer/director Heather Young once again brings exceptional nuance to themes of loneliness and isolation. A realist drama with contemplative pacing, There, There deploys formal restraint through its static shots and naturalistic dialogue to deliver a bittersweet portrayal of the universal need for companionship. With a tender performance by Katie Mattattal, Young’s sophomore feature endears us to the unsung caregivers who bring an essential human touch to the lives of others.
Sept 29 & 30: Q&A with director Heather Young and producer Martha Cooley
Presented by
Media Partner
Marlene Jewell, Katie Mattatall
Canada
2024
English
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Producer
Britt Kerr, Martha Cooley, Heather Young
Screenwriter
Heather Young
Cinematography
Catherine Lutes
Editor
Heather Young
Production Design
Michael Pierson

Heather Young
Heather Young is a filmmaker based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She made the short films Howard and Jean (2014), Fish (2016), and Milk (2017). Her first feature, Murmur (2019), premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival where it won the FIPRESCI Prize for the Discovery Programme and went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at the Slamdance Film Festival. There, There is her second feature.
Filmography: Murmur (2019)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Gloria
Gena Rowlands was nominated for Best Actress for her portrait of gangster's moll Gloria Swenson: a tough, chain-smoking broad who finds herself running from her former friends in the mob to protect her next door neighbour's orphaned six-year-old kid.
The Encampments
When pro-Palestine protests took hold of Columbia last year, the filmmakers were there from the beginning. This documentary charts the mounting tensions between students and the administration, as the protests were picked up across North America.
Caught by the Tides
Over two decades, across China’s rapidly changing landscape, two lovers meet and part and meet again. In this magisterial film, Jia Zhangke refracts the 21st century through a reflexive, retrospective look at his era-defining filmography.
Sabbath Queen
The dynastic heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis, including the Chief Rabbis of Israel, Amichai Lau-Lavie is what you might call the black sheep of the family. His sexuality led him down a different path, but its destination is surprising...
Kryptic
Oozing psycho-sexual anxiety, Kourtney Roy's fascinating feminist horror movie feints toward creature-feature quirk, but morphs into something much stranger. Chloe Pirrie plays a double role, or maybe Everywoman, adrift in a world of men and monsters.