Angel at Sea
June 5, 7:00pm
Pacific Place

Life is charmed for 12-year-old Louis in this debut feature from Belgian writer/director Frédéric Dumont, who tells the compelling story solely from a child’s perspective. Sumptuous camerawork evokes images of an idyllic and carefree childhood, the sea just outside the family’s front door; Quentin, Louis’ older brother and companion; and soccer games with friends. His beloved father Bruno, an overworked European bureaucrat based at the nearby lighthouse, is severely depressed and cannot hide it from his family. One evening he shares his deepest, darkest secret with Louis, shattering, in an instant, the boy’s innocence and the world as he once loved it. With a thematic twist on father-son relationships, the film focuses on the newfound emotional depths Louis discovers as he bears the burden of responsibilities he never could have imagined. Through subtle shifts, the film visually evolves toward the impressionistic, conveying Louis’ and his brother’s struggle to cope and understand through symbols revealed in their once safe and sheltering surroundings. The nuanced lens work and superb all-around performances invite us, beguilingly, into this interior world.

Director Fréderic Dumont is scheduled to attend

To watch trailer and read more about the screening, please visit: http://www.siff.net/festival/film/detail.aspx?id=38472&FID=166