Blue Heron (ENG SUBS)

It is the mid-1990s when a Hungarian immigrant family moves to Vancouver Island. Surrounded by beautiful landscapes and carefree days on the beach, eight-year-old Sasha (Eylul Guven) settles into her new idyllic surroundings. However, beneath the apparent tranquillity, a less rosy danger looms. When Sasha’s older brother Jeremy (Edik Beddoes) suddenly begins to display dangerous behaviour, the rest of the family searches earnestly for the cause and a solution. In a rare moment of connection, Jeremy gives his little sister a stolen piece of jewellery. A fragile symbol of love, loss and a longing for understanding.

In Blue Heron, the feature film debut of the Canadian-Hungarian filmmaker Sophy Romvari, memory and imagination merge in a multi-layered family portrait. The film is partly based on Romvari’s own childhood, and follows Sasha not only as a child, but also as an adult attempting to reconstruct her youth through archive footage. With this kaleidoscopic narrative structure, Blue Heron breaks with the conventions of the traditional coming-of-age story, creating an intimate quest for memory, loss and compassion.