Canadian Premiere
Kim Ilrhan’s documentary takes an unconventional form, as befits a work about two brave souls defying convention. The first section focuses on Alice, a trans woman who works as a lighting director on films (including, in a self-reflexive twist, this one). Alice is a dedicated craftswoman, and she pushes her tenacity further in pursuit of her real dream: to become a dancer. Eventually, the focus switches to Edhi, a counsellor who is preparing for gender-affirming surgery. Facing down skepticism from others as well as internal trepidation, Edhi undergoes the procedure, and Kim documents her post-operation life in which she feels, as she puts it, “lighter”.
Besides its gentleness and obvious affection for its two subjects, what gives Edhi Alice: Take its distinction is Kim’s attention to detail, both physical and psychological. From the specifics of post-op dilation to the pain of repression, she explores trans identity with curiosity and deep respect. Her subjects repay that respect, disclosing their thoughts and feelings with commendable honesty.
Oct 4 & 5: Q&A
Presented by
Cooperating Organizations
Media Partner
Community Partner
Alice, Edhi
South Korea
2024
In Korean with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Credits & Director
Producer
Jo Sona
Cinematography
Heo Chulnyung, Jeong Saebyeol
Editor
Kimsan, Lee Hakmin
Original Music
Lee Minhwi
Kim Ilrhan 김일란
Kim Ilrhan is an award-winning filmmaker and founder of PINKS, a collective dedicated to queer and women’s narratives. Her debut film, Mamasang: Remember Me This Way (2004), won the Women’s News Award. Two Doors (2011) drew over 70,000 viewers in just 14 theaters and was named one of the top 100 Korean films. She also produced Miracle on Jongno Street (2010), Korea’s first documentary on gay coming out, and Nora Noh (2013), which premiered at IDFA.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Tokyo Godfathers
Shinjuku, Tokyo, Christmas Eve. Middle-aged has-been Gin, aging drag artist Hana, and teenage runaway Miyuki are three homeless friends who stumble across an abandoned baby and do their best to care for the infant over the course of a long and perilous night.
Auction
Inspired by a true story, writer-director Pascal Bonitzer has crafted an inquiring, witty drama about the art market. When a long-lost Egon Schiele masterpiece reemerges, art appraiser Alex is initially skeptical. And yet...
The Librarians
Dispatches from the front line of America's culture wars (and ours too): librarians speak out about the war against ideas, history, freedom of expression and sexual identity, a campaign in which an open mind is the ultimate enemy.
The Secret Agent
Having run afoul of an influential bureaucrat in Brazil’s military dictatorship circa 1977, Marcelo decamps to Recife to live under an assumed name — but he’ll soon come to understand precisely how rampant the country’s corruption has become.
Sinners
This year's unexpected box office sleeper is that rare beast, a genre movie full of bold invention and surprise. We are in Mississippi in the early 1930s, and the opening of a new blues joint on the edge of town is the signal for all hell to break out.