MOTHER VERA
Great Britain | 2024 | 91 min | bn
In the deafening silence of an orthodox monastery in Belarus, a nun walks brisky towards the prayers place. Half-concealed behind the wide folds of her black tunic, she kneels and emits a deep sigh, beginning to tell the story of an unexpected journey that departs from the expiation of an obscure past and continues through a fascinating quest of one’s identity. Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson follow with discretion the protagonist’s mesmerizing evolution, depicting the activities that give a rhythm to her daily life and gradually revealing the most intimate and secret facets of her story. Shot in a sophisticated black and white, with a rigorous and balanced formal structure, Mother Vera outlines a unique, surprising woman’s portrait that explores universal themes, including redemption and the search for freedom. (s.e.c.)
Local Time
- Timezone: America/New_York
- Date: 05 Nov 2024
- Time: 11:15
Location
- Cinema La Compagnia - Via Camillo Cavour, 50/R, 50121 Florence
Organizer
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Alys Tomlinson, Cécile Embleton
Alys Tomlinson (Brighton, 1975) is a British photographer. She has published the books: Following Broadway (2013), Ex-Voto (2019), Lost Summer (2020) and The Islanders (2022). For Ex-Voto she won the Photographer of the Year award at the 2018 Sony World Photography Awards. Portraits from Lost Summer won First prize in the 2020 Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize. | Cécile Embleton's passion for cinema stems from her love of Art and Literature. The project Mother Vera, her first feature-length documentary, was supported by the Sundance Institute and won the First Look Prize at the Hot Docs Forum in 2021 and the first prize at the Locarno First Look in 2023. The film had its world premiere at the 2024 edition of Vision du Réel.
