Institute History
Description
We are proud to welcome back Denis Villeneuve, director of Maelström and the short film Next Floor, which screened at Sundance in 2001 and 2009, respectively. Incendies, Villeneuve’s fourth feature film and Canada's Oscar submission, is his most masterful, riveting work to date.
In Montreal, twins Jeanne and Simon must deal with their mother’s dying wish: locate their father, who they believed was dead, and the brother they never knew existed. Jeanne travels to the Middle East to piece together her mother’s mysterious personal history. On a parallel quest, set in the past, the twin's mother searches for the son who was taken from her at birth during a civil war between the Christians and the Palestinians. As the twins unravel their mother’s story, truths crescendo into a series of startling revelations.
Haunting images intensify this spellbinding classical narrative, based on Wadji Mouawad’s acclaimed play, as Villeneuve crafts an epic, ferocious journey through brutality, truth, and, ultimately, reconciliation.