The most acclaimed and widely honoured feature debut by a Canadian director in many years, this extraordinary film by Sophy Romvari charts a very personal pathway between the past and the present. Drawing closely from her own experience growing up on Vancouver Island in the late 1990s, Romvari captures the daily life of a Hungarian-Canadian family as seen from the perspective of its youngest member, eight-year-old Sasha (Eylul Guven). She’s too young to fully understand a growing crisis that will have a profound effect on them all, leaving a mystery that must be investigated years later. Just as she has done in her remarkable body of shorts, Romvari blurs the boundaries between documentary and fiction to create a work that’s ultimately as formally inventive as it is emotionally affecting. The winner of prizes at TIFF, VIFF and Festival du Nouveau Cinéma in Montreal, it’s simply not to be missed.

Director: Sophy Romvari

Cast: Eylul Guven, Amy Zimmer, Iringó Réti

Language: English, Hungarian, with English subtitles

Runtime: 90 minutes

Content warning: discussions of sexual violence

Ryan Bobkin, Producer

Ryan Bobkin is a Toronto-based independent producer who specializes in new project development, packaging, casting, financing, and business affairs. Named Playback’s 10 to Watch in 2022, he has worked extensively in the United States and Canada for companies such as Animal Kingdom, Elevation Pictures and most recently Film Forge, where he has served as the Head of Development.

An experienced associate and co-producer on feature films that have screened at Sundance, the Berlinale and TIFF including Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool (NEON and Focus Features), Amar Wala’s Shook, Maxwell McCabe-Lokos’ Stanleyville (Oscilloscope), Lindsay Gossling’s 13 Minutes (Quiver Distribution) and Haya Waseem’s Quickening (levelFilm), he is currently in post-production on Sophy Romvari’s Blue Heron (MEMORY).