Event

Fail to Appear

Wed Apr 04: 7.30pm

Antoine Bourges
Canada
2017
1h 25m
Series - Future//Present: Canadas New Wave
About
Deragh Campbell stars as Isolde, a support caseworker trainee working in Toronto. Shes still adjusting to the protocols and challenges of her job when shes assigned to Eric, a man charged with theft and awaiting a court hearing. As Isolde prepares for the hearing, she finds herself struggling. In her efforts to get Eric released she has to cope with the paucity of resources granted to her, with the rules of the legal system to which she is beholden, and with one of the more delicate components of her mandate: creating bonds of trust with those shes assisting, which, with Eric, proves easier said than done.

Filmmaker Antoine Bourges previously made a trilogy of short films about Vancouvers Downtown Eastside, and here he again points his camera at spaces rarely articulated in cinema, exploring the inner workings and human elements of institutions and support systems as well as the intangible gaps that exist between people. A moving and formally assured feature debut, Fail to Appear is a portrayal of those who quietly fall through the cracks in society and the few people trying to help them. Its both a studious analysis of the social systems in place and a poignant reflection on the difficulty of human connection across social strata.