How to Watch
Isabelle is a mother whose grief over the accidental death of her adopted daughter, Clara, is overwhelming. Acting on an impulse to learn more about the young woman, she travels to Vietnam to try and find her daughter’s birth mother. Canada’s submission to the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film.
Isabelle Brodeur (Anne Dorval) is an oceanographer whose adopted daughter has died. Months later, still reeling from Clara’s death, Isabelle travels to Vietnam, to her daughter’s birthplace, and immerses herself in the culture. Finally she meets her daughter’s former nanny, who leads her to the mother, Thuy Nguyen (Leanna Chea), a tour guide in Hanoi. When Isabelle books a private excursion with Thuy, the two mothers reveal their innermost thoughts. Inspired by Ingmar Bergman’s Persona, director Jean-Philippe Duval has crafted an exquisite film whose many silences convey multitudes. “[A]n emotionally intense drama that harnesses the power of compassion and understanding to reach an elusive resolution.” --Justin Lowe, The Hollywood Reporter
Director Biography
Born in Quebec City in 1968, Jean-Philippe Duval studied Visual Arts and Film Studies at Université de Montréal. His films include the documentaries La Vie a du Charme (1992), Lumière des oiseaux (1999), The Refugees of the Blue Planet (2006) and the features Soho (1994), Matroni et moi (1999), Through the Mist (2009), Chasse-Galerie (2016) and 14 Days, 12 Nights (2019).
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