Canadian Premiere
A young girl’s gift for communicating with animals both alive and dead makes her a considerable asset to her guardians, who traverse the Argentinian countryside providing assistance to pet-owners in need. But despite their best efforts to keep her happy and comfortable, the child gets restless as the trio’s journey rolls on.
Winner of the Silver Bear Jury Prize at this year’s Berlinale, Iván Fund’s moving road drama is as pointed as it is improvisational, quietly observing the travelers’ mundane rhythms and moments of camaraderie while disguising any suggestion of unseen forces at play. In its gentle explorations of the characters’ unusual lifestyle, the supernatural remains on the periphery, a presence as ordinary as losing milk teeth. Nevertheless, the otherworldly is reflected in the still, silent interactions with the animals, and foregrounded by the elegant black and white photography and a haunting trumpet theme.
Silver Bear Jury Prize, Berlinale 2025
Oct 3 & 4: Q&A
Mara Bestelli, Marcelo Subiotto, Anika Bootz, Betania Cappato
Argentina/Spain/Uruguay
2025
In Spanish with English subtitles
At International Village
At Fifth Avenue
Book Tickets
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Laura Mara Tablón
Producer
Iván Fund, Laura Mara Tablón, Gustavo Schiaffino
Screenwriter
Iván Fund, Martín Felipe Castagnet
Cinematography
Gustavo Schiaffino
Editor
Iván Fund
Production Design
Adrián Suárez
Original Music
Mauro Mourelos
Iván Fund
Born 1984 in San Cristóbal, Argentina, Fund is a director of his own works as well as a screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, and editor. His films have screened and been awarded at film festivals that include Cannes (Un Certain Regard), Venice, Berlinale, San Sebastian, Rotterdam, Viennale, BFI London, Busan, Havana, Neighboring Scenes at Lincoln Center, Lima, and Mar del Plata, among others. His latest film, The Message, participated in San Sebastian’s WIP Latam 2024 and premiered in the Official Competition of Berlinale 2025.
Filmography: The Lips (2010); Today I Felt No Fear (2011); The Amazement (2014); Toublanc (2017); Soft Rains Will Come (2018); Dusk Stone (2021)
Photo by Betania Cappato
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Köln 75
The true story behind the greatest solo concert in jazz history, this is Keith Jarrett's legendary 1975 Köln Concert — as organized by 18-year-old rebel music promoter Vera Brandes. Fun, inventive and feminist, it's the Bend It Like Beckham of jazz films.
Train Dreams
A lovely, ruminative movie set in the Pacific Northwest in the first half of the last century. Robert (Joel Edgerton) is a lumberjack, a taciturn man who comes to appreciate the life slipping between his fingers.
