A los libros y a las mujeres canto
The civilising role of women and literature is at the forefront of this affectionate documentary about four women and their libraries.
72'
Spain
IFFR 2023
Since both parents have passed on, only Hedvig and her older siblings live in the once-splendid, now-derelict family mansion. Hedvig, at 17 the family’s youngest member, spends her days mainly taking care of a wild duck injured by a neighbour. The other two run a photographic studio in a nearby town that doesn’t seem to feel any need for a business like this. Enter the oldest of the siblings, Karin, who left the house years ago and returns solely to sell the estate. Whatever thinnest of threads held the four children together now snaps.
Nadja Ericsson’s debut is an intimate family drama set in a difficult-to-tell time – it’s the past, suggested by a few details of clothing, furniture, manner of speech, and that’s all we need to know. In the same way that Henrik Ibsen’s eponymous 1884 play is evoked through merely a few specifics like the name Hedvig, the photographic studio, the wild duck, of course, and the dramatic moments of the livsløgn (life's lie) – the delusions people have about themselves and the world that finally destroy them as well as, all too often, the people around them.
Vildanden is classic to the core – a gem of tact and discretion, of breezes more than gusts, of semitones and muted colours.
– Olaf Möller
IFFR 2023
Programme IFFR 2023
A selection of feature-length debuts, characterised by original subject matter and an individual style, representing the cutting edge of contemporary filmmaking.
Read more about this programmeThe civilising role of women and literature is at the forefront of this affectionate documentary about four women and their libraries.
72'
Spain
IFFR 2023
A witty, well-observed portrait of middle-class India’s aspirations and the attendant pressures on its children.
94'
India
IFFR 2023
A deadpan dramedy about four millennials in Istanbul beset by money and social troubles.
88'
Turkey
IFFR 2023