Hi reddit. I'm Sophy Romvari, writer-director of BLUE HERON, my feature directorial debut. It's screened at TIFF and Locarno and dozens of other festivals, and now Janus Films is releasing it in theaters! It opens on 4/17 in NYC, 4/24 in LA/Toronto, and then wider after that!
Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeWg8wUlQVo
Synopsis:
In the late 1990s, eight-year-old Sasha and her family relocate to a new home on Vancouver Island, but their fresh start is interrupted by increasingly dangerous behavior from the eldest son, Jeremy. At wit’s end, their parents are presented with a shattering choice. Award-winning director Sophy Romvari’s feature debut is a lyrical and profound testament to the things we carry with us, masterfully chronicling the haze of a languid summer and the hyaline clarity of the moments that defined it.
Cast: Eylul Guven, Iringó Réti, Adam Tompa, Edik Beddoes, Amy Zimmer
The New Yorker's Review
My bio:
Sophy Romvari is a Canadian-Hungarian filmmaker based in Toronto. Her critically-acclaimed short films have travelled the international festival circuit and earned her a reputation as a leading young talent. She has screened at TIFF, Hot Docs, Sheffield, and True/False, and has received a retrospective at the Museum of the Moving Image. She has also directed films for CBC Short Docs and Kino Lorber. In 2020, Sophy completed her Master’s at York University. Her thesis film Still Processing premiered at TIFF in September 2020, was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award, and was featured in a collection of Sophy’s eight short films on the Criterion Channel. Her latest short film, IT’S WHAT EACH PERSON NEEDS is available on The New Yorker and MUBI. BLUE HERON is her feature debut.
Tickets & info here: blueheron.film
Ask me anything! I'll come back at 2 PM ET today (Wednesday 4/15) to answer questions.
by SophyRomvari
16 Comments
Hi 👋
What’s one moment during filming Blue Heron that didn’t go as planned but ended up making the film better?
Hello there!
So my question is: How did you decide what to leave out of Blue Heron, especially when the story is so closely tied to real memory? Was there a moment where restraint mattered more than honesty?
Thanks and gave a good one!
What are your top 5 fav movies?
What would you say are the biggest challenges which up-and-coming Canadian filmmakers face today? And what advice would you give to overcome those obstacles?
What has it been like touring with the film? Any standout moments at certain festivals or just experiences in cities you have visited or interesting film related people you have met? BTW I watched it during TIFF Top 10 and glad I was able to see it on the big screen!
Moving from short films to feature length, did you find your process changed more than “we’re going to be here longer”?
What’s the most ambitious movie idea you have that you dream of maybe making one day?
Hi Sophy, thanks for joining us!
Look forward to watching the movie again. Saw it at TIFF but the subtitles were not working so I feel I may have missed a few things haha.
I was wondering what some of your favorite Canadian movies of all time? And what’s your favorite film festival to attend in person?
What’s the pipeline for a feature look like? Like how do you get funding in Canada and how do you obtain distribution?
Were there any films that inspired Blue Heron either stylistically or thematically?
Was Hector a real diva on set?
Hello Sophy – if you had to make a starter pack of six Canadian films released since COVID what’s going in there? Trying to explore the recent national cinema more 🙂
Having seen Blue Heron I was wondering if you’re familiar with psychodrama therapy? in which people restage scenes from their past. It almost felt like you were creating a cinematic version of it in the last act.
I also felt this way with other recent media like Nathan Fielder’s ‘The Rehearsal,’ but that’s more in a comedy context. Do you think there’s a reason why this theme of recreation or direct staging of memory has come up more lately?
Thank you for your beautiful film 🙂
Were there any parts to the film in which your memory of the events differs from your family? If so, how did you process this with them?
On the Canadian movie spectrum of Videodrome to Strange Brew, where does your style fall?
What budget constraints did you chiefly worry about when making an indie? Did this lead to any surprising innovations during production? And what advice would you give to aspiring indie directors?
Thanks for answering questions!