Canadian Premiere
1970s, in the High Alps. Fifteen-year-old runaway orphan Jeanne (Clara Pacini) finds shelter in a movie studio where a film adaptation of her favourite fairy tale, Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen, is being shot. From her hiding spot behind the stage, Jeanne becomes enthralled with the film’s mysterious and exacting star, Cristina van den Berg (Marion Cotillard). When Jeanne is mistaken for an extra on set, Cristina takes a shine to her. But cold is the heart of the Snow Queen, and she demands sacrifices from those who love her.
This spellbinding fantasy drama from director Lucile Hadžihalilović combines an experimental arthouse aesthetic with stunning wintry landscapes to paint a dark, oneiric world that flows freely between Jeanne’s tactile reality and the Snow Queen’s cinematic fantasy realm. Up-and-comer Clara Pacini shines in her delicate portrayal of teenage vulnerability, while Academy Award–winning actress Marion Cotillard brings masterful nuance to her depiction of the ice-cold screen queen. Winner of the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution at Berlinale.
Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution, Berlinale 2025
Community Partner
Lucile Hadžihalilović
Marion Cotillard, Clara Pacini, August Diehl, Gaspar Noé, Marine Gesbert
France/Germany
2025
In French with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Credits
Producer
Muriel Merlin
Screenwriter
Lucile Hadžihalilović, Geoff Cox
Cinematography
Jonathan Ricquebourg
Editor
Nassim Gordji Tehrani
Production Design
Julia Irribarria
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Lucid
Art student Mia is struggling with a make-or-break assignment, a self-portrait. It's only when grandma lets slip that her mom used to hypnotize her as a child to blank out the bad bits that she realizes the severity of the challenge...
The End of the Internet + Installation & Talk
Forget the cloud. "The net" is a far more accurate metaphor for the www. Filmmaker Dylan Reibling meets the hacktavists around the world fighting for the independent flow of information free from censorship and exploitation.
Two Pianos
Once promising concert pianist Mathias (François Civil) returns to his native Lyon after a long absence. He's here to pay homage to his mentor, Elena (Charlotte Rampling). But a chance encounter with an old flame sends him spiraling.
The Richest Woman in the World
Isabelle Huppert plays cosmetics CEO Marianne in this teasingly ambivalent satire inspired by the Bettancourt Affair, when L'Oreal heir Francoise Bettancourt scandalized France by frittering away her fortune on a notorious celebrity photographer.
