The films of Sofia Bohdanowicz
Tënk offers a Fragments selection of three films from the rich body of work of Sofia Bohdanowicz.
Internationally recognized and recently named one of the 22 most influential artists in Canadian cinema, the Toronto filmmaker has had a singular artistic trajectory that unfolds on the fringe of the industry, fueled by creative dialogues - which sometimes lead to unpremeditated co-productions - and fruitful experimentation. Sofia Bohdanowicz takes up all the roles, explores different formats, and strives to bypass any possible compromises that might be imposed on her by an organized creative system, often working in small teams, surrounded by a loyal creative family. Although this approach was initially dependent on the lack of financial means, the filmmaker emphasizes the freedom and autonomy that this method has guaranteed her.
Her work creates a dialogue between past and present, oscillates between fiction and documentary, presence and absence, unveils the implicit, the intimate, and blurs the reference points of the material world in order to transfigure the complexity of memory processes, the meanders of mourning and nostalgia. Based on a poem by Gillian Sze, A Drownful Brilliance of Wings (2016) subtly explores this boundary by creating mechanisms of resonance between cinema and poetry. The filmmaker then focuses on the figure, central to her work, of the elderly woman, in Maison du bonheur (2017) and Never Eat Alone (2016) and transforms the habits of domestic life into a space of symbols and rituals. Rather than investigating the theme of tempus fugit, Sofia Bohdanowicz succeeds, through her work, to really represent the meaning of time.
3 products
Never Eat Alone
Joan has a dream and shares a secret with her granddaughter: before she met her grandfather, she loved a man with whom she starred in a TV show in the 50s. He almost followed her to the altar. Joan wants Audrey to find this man. Written by the two actresses, Joan Benac and Deragh Campbell, and filmmaker Sofia Bohdanowicz, \*Never Eat Alone\* is a film that navigates the spaces of loneliness and...
A Drownful Brilliance of Wings
A Drownful Brilliance of Wings
Duration: 16 minutesBased on the poem _Arriving_ by Gillian Sze, the film delves into her family’s history and studies the relationship between her father, grandfather and herself. Through the examining of an inherited stamp collection, the cultivating of plants and the preparing of wonton soup, the piece investigates the mechanics of capture and the interwoven resonances between film and poetry.
Maison du bonheur
About to turn 30, with 30 rolls of film, a Bolex, and a sound recorder in her suitcase, a woman (Sofia) decides to capture the domestic day-to-day in the Maison du Bonheur over the course of 30 days. The guardian of this good home is Juliane, an astrologer who has lived in the Haussmannian apartment for over 50 years. Her balconies are drenched with hydrangeas to cheer onlookers and to keep the...
Never Eat Alone
Joan has a dream and shares a secret with her granddaughter: before she met her grandfather, she loved a man with whom she starred in a TV show in the 50s. He almost followed her to the altar. Joan wants Audrey to find this man. Written by the two actresses, Joan Benac and Deragh Campbell, and filmmaker Sofia Bohdanowicz, \*Never Eat Alone\* is a film that navigates the spaces of loneliness and...
A Drownful Brilliance of Wings
A Drownful Brilliance of Wings
Duration: 16 minutesBased on the poem _Arriving_ by Gillian Sze, the film delves into her family’s history and studies the relationship between her father, grandfather and herself. Through the examining of an inherited stamp collection, the cultivating of plants and the preparing of wonton soup, the piece investigates the mechanics of capture and the interwoven resonances between film and poetry.
Maison du bonheur
About to turn 30, with 30 rolls of film, a Bolex, and a sound recorder in her suitcase, a woman (Sofia) decides to capture the domestic day-to-day in the Maison du Bonheur over the course of 30 days. The guardian of this good home is Juliane, an astrologer who has lived in the Haussmannian apartment for over 50 years. Her balconies are drenched with hydrangeas to cheer onlookers and to keep the...
