North American Premiere
Edith (Force Majeure’s Lisa Loven Kongsli), a journalist in her 40s, chose to become a single mother through an anonymous sperm donor, believing she could build a life on her own terms. She is now the happy mother of a five-year-old son. But the emotional weight of parenting alone begins to wear on her, and doubts creep in. When she unexpectedly discovers the donor’s identity—a nearby successful game developer named Niels (The Worst Person in the World’s Herbert Nordrum)—curiosity leads her to meet him on the pretext of an interview. What begins as a calculated encounter gradually deepens into a genuine connection, driving Edith to sink deeper into lies and endanger the fragile balance of the life she has built.
Janicke Askevold’s well-observed, wryly entertaining debut feature deftly explores the emotional minefield of modern motherhood. And it finds an ideal lead in Kongsli, who is deeply expressive, even when silent and still. Her anxieties and ethical dilemmas are palpable, resulting in a wholly authentic and highly engrossing human drama.
Community Partner
Janicke Askevold
Lisa Loven Kongsli, Herbert Nordrum
Norway/Latvia/Lithuania/
Denmark/Finland
2025
In Norwegian and English with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Credits
Executive Producer
Magne Lyngner
Producer
Rebekka Rognøy, Gary Cranner, Magnus Nygaard Albertsen
Screenwriter
Janicke Askevold, Jørgen Færøy Flasnes, Mads Stegger
Cinematography
Torjus Thesen
Editor
Patrick Larsgaard
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other
This intimate and candid film by a younger husband and wife artist team is a delicate and immensely moving dual portrait of two artists, husband and wife, together and apart, at that point in life when the end casts a shadow over even the sunniest day.
Image: © Manon et Jacob and Final Cut For Real
Blue Road - The Edna O'Brien Story
Judging by this candid, funny, passionate biographical documentary, it would have been a wild ride to have been Irish novelist Edna O'Brien, or even to have been in her circle of friends and lovers. Well, for an hour and a half we can pretend we were.
Erupcja
Charli xcx headlines this indie gem about a young English couple coming unmoored over a few days in Warsaw. Will means to propose. Beth has cold feet -- and an escape hatch she has barely admitted to herself... Think Before Sunrise 2025.
Tony Wilson's The Homeless Project
Combining music, text, still photography, and film to shine a sympathetic light on Canada's urban dispossessed, The Homeless Project is the third in composer, guitarist Tony Wilson's series of multimedia projects addressing pressing social issues.