Livestream Q+A with director Caleb Ryan starts at 1:30 pm
February 28 at 12:00 pm until March 7 at 11:59 pm
Director: Caleb Ryan
Featuring: Luke Oparah, Ana Isabella Piñero, Joseph C. Ryan
Language: English
Runtime: 84 minutes
Rating: most audiences; alcohol use
*Films premiere at a set time and are followed by a livestream Q+A. If you miss the premiere, you can still watch the movie (and a recording of the Q+A) anytime until the end of the festival! Still a bit unclear? Check out our 2021 Glossary & FAQ for details.
The vulnerability of people living on the streets in Canada’s big cities is made powerfully clear by this remarkable and affecting drama, a self-funded feature debut by Calgary’s Caleb Ryan. The deserving winner of an acting prize at the ReelWorld festival last fall, Luke Oparah anchors the film with his compelling performance as Frank, a homeless man and alcoholic doing what he can to survive Calgary’s harsh winters. Though new opportunities and new connections (including one with a dog in equally dire straits) may lead to better times for Frank, the pains of his past threaten to isolate him again. Eschewing easy sentimentality and easy solutions by focusing on a complicated and often combative character, Ryan has crafted a raw, urgent and authentic portrait of a life at the margins.