Thirty-something Ali (Ekin Koç) leads a seemingly stable life. He teaches a course at a university in Ankara, is attempting to conceive a child with his wife, and tends a garden on the city’s outskirts — a task for which he enlists the help of a mysterious but capable stranger. However, when his ailing mother dies under ambiguous circumstances, Ali’s life starts to unravel, resulting in an act that shatters our understanding of his person.
Winner of the Directing Award in Sundance’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition, Iranian writer-director Alireza Khatami (Terrestrial Verses) delivers a tense psychological thriller with the shadowy ambiance of a classic noir and a boldly conceived twist on the vagaries of personal identity. “No one is resentful by nature,” remarks Ali’s newly hired gardener. An unsparing look at generational cycles of violence and corruption, this is a film that examines just how resentment arises, probing the demons we carry within us.
Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic Competition, Sundance 2025; Oscar Submission: Canada
Oct 3 & 4: Q&A
Supported by
Community Partner
Selen Kurtaran, Idil Engindeniz, Güliz Şirinyan, Aysan Sümercan Ölmez
France/Poland/Canada/Turkey
2025
In Turkish with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Naomi Despres, Michèle Marshall (Desmar), ErcanKesal
Producer
Elisa Sepulveda-Ruddoff, Cyriac Auriol, Mariusz Włodarski, Alireza Khatami, Michael Salomon
Screenwriter
Alireza Khatami
Cinematography
Bartosz Świniarski
Editor
Selda Taşkın, Alireza Khatami
Production Design
Meral Aktan
Alireza Khatami
Alireza Khatami is an award-winning writer, director, and producer based in Canada. Born into the indigenous Khamse tribe in southeastern Iran, Khatami draws from the rich oral storytelling traditions of his heritage, and his works are notable for melding magic realism with sharp social commentary. His debut feature, Oblivion Verses, premiered at the 2017 Venice Film Festival, garnering critical acclaim and winning multiple awards; his second feature, Terrestrial Verses (2023, co-directed with Ali Asgari), premiered in the Un Certain Regard competition at the Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews and has been theatrically released in more than 15 countries.
Filmography: Oblivion Verses (2017); Terrestrial Verses (2023)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Blue Trail
77-year-old Tereza makes a break for the Brazilian jungle in this trippy septuagenarian fantasy, the latest from Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro is a quirky picaresque, lushly photographed and filled with mordant humour.
Two Prosecutors
In the midst of Stalin’s purges, a naïve prosecutor sets out to investigate a prisoner’s innocence, unaware of the labyrinthine bureaucracy awaiting him. A Kafkaesque procedural thriller about the pursuit of justice in the face of corruption.
Image: © SBS Productions
Calle Málaga
Seventy-nine-year-old María Ángeles lives independently in Tangier's Spanish quarter. When her daughter pressures her into selling her apartment, she refuses to give in, finding in her old age a new resilience and an unexpected romantic connection.
El Suavecito
Victor Parra is Roberto, "el Suavecito", the smoothie. Sprinkling his Spanish with slang and English, and sporting a Zoot suit, he's a gangster-wannabe, an obnoxious macho who isn't quite as tough as he likes to make out...
Krystle dos Santos + Dawn Pemberton: Meet Me at Vie's + Union Street
Enjoy a sneak preview of Krystle dos Santos's upcoming musical celebration of the Hogan's Alley Black community in Strathcona, with songs performed by Krystle and Dawn Pemberton, followed by Jamila Pomeroy's documentary Union Street.
