A Woman Escapes
Audrey Benac (Deragh Campbell) lives alone in Paris after having moved there to tend to the home of her recently deceased friend, Juliane. She struggles to find her footing in the world, moving through the days without any clear motivation or sense of purpose. Audrey forges a correspondence with two male filmmakers —Burak, who lives in Istanbul, and Blake, who lives in Toronto—and entertains their efforts to help her get through this sorrowful and directionless time. A Woman Escapes is a fusion in every sense, combining various shooting formats (16mm, 3D, & 2K), genres (diary film, video correspondence, psychodrama, & essay film), shooting locations (France, Turkey, & Canada), and each director’s distinct creative sensibility. Through its dynamic, hyper-hybridized structure and workflow, the film explores our collective curiosities about isolation, grief, spirituality, contemporary means of communication, and the increasingly variegated nature of the modern world.
Sofia Bohdanowicz
Director
Casts & Crew
Deragh Campbell
Audrey Benac
Also Directed by Sofia Bohdanowicz
Explore the legend of Hollywood’s most celebrated cat, Orangey, in this adaptation of Dan Sallitt’s essay of the same name. The prolific feline actor’s 16-year filmography includes roles in Rhubarb (1951), The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), and Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)—or did it? The protege of star animal trainer Frank Inn, Orangey’s storied career leads Sallitt – who shares the screen here with another curious co-star – on the trail of a mystery.
In 30 carefully constructed segments, Maison du bonheur paints an endearing picture of the everyday life of 77-year-old Juliane Sellam, a long-time resident of Paris. Alone in her Montmartre apartment, Sellam enjoys the little things in life. As we listen to her muse about her life as an astrologer, Sellam moves through her daily routine: making her morning coffee, watering plants, putting on makeup. Each segment is narrated by Sellam or the filmmaker herself, slowly constructing a dual portrait of two very different but equally charming women. In the restrained formalist style of Chantal Akerman and with the deeply personal approach of Agnès Varda, Sofia Bohdanowicz presents a unique voice that confirms her as a strong observer and artist of the everyday. Maison du Bonheur is an experimental documentary rich in personal details, intelligent in its narration and playful in its tone.
The corridors, stairways and platforms of a subway station are juxtaposed with the human body, each broken into parts and positioned in an existential consideration of the transient spaces we unconsciously traverse everyday.
Audrey delves into the archives of the New York Public Library in search of a rare recording produced in 1909.
Never Eat Alone is an unorthodox, feature length docu-fiction that subtly explores an expired romance. Constructed with minimal narrative, the film follows an elderly woman's interest in connecting with an ex-lover from long ago.
After being appointed literary executor, Audrey Benac (Deragh Campbell) uncovers a series of letters that her great-grandmother had written to a fellow poet. Both displaced from Poland, Zofia Bohdanowiczowa and Nobel Prize nominee Jozef Wittlin corresponded from 1957-1964 between Toronto, Wales and New York City. Over the course of three days, Audrey embarks on a journey to Houghton Library at Harvard University to translate and make sense of Zofia’s words.
A delirious puppet-theatre libretto that depicts two lovers nostalgically yearning for the good-old-primordial-soup days of yore.
A short film investigating the interior of a recently emptied home.
Modlitwa follows a widowed woman taking care of her home as she meditates on God, labour and nature.
