The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open

The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open
Film poster
Directed byElle-Máijá Tailfeathers
Kathleen Hepburn
Written byKathleen Hepburn
Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
Produced byTyler Hagan
Lori Lozinski
Alan R. Milligan
StarringElle-Máijá Tailfeathers
Violet Nelson
CinematographyNorm Li
Edited byChristian Siebenherz
Production
companies
Experimental Forest Films
Violator Films
Distributed bylevelFILM
Release date
  • February 9, 2019 (2019-02-09) (Berlin)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open (Kwakʼwala: Malkʼwalaʼmida uḵwineʼ leʼołeʼ yax̱idixa̱nʼs ʼnalax̱, Northern Sami: Rumaš muitá go máilbmi rahtasii, Blackfoot: Koistominno saakaisksinima ksaahkomm otsitsikowohpihpi) is a 2019 Canadian drama film written and directed by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn.[1]

The film centres on a chance interaction between two Indigenous women of contrasting lived experience and socio-economic position, Áila (Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers) and Rosie (Violet Nelson), as they navigate the effects of intimate partner violence.[1] The majority of the film consists of a single, continuous long take.

The film premiered at the 2019 Berlin Film Festival in the Generation program,[2] and had its Canadian premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.[3] It was nominated for six Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Motion Picture, and won three, including Best Director.[4] In 2020 the film won the Toronto Film Critics Association's Rogers Best Canadian Film Award, Canada's most prestigious film award.

  1. ^ a b Jason Asenap (June 24, 2019). "No happy ending in 'The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open'". High Country News.
  2. ^ "Berlin Film Festival: First Generation Section Films Unveiled". Variety. September 19, 2018.
  3. ^ Peter Howell (July 31, 2019). "Indigenous films highlight Canadian slate at TIFF 2019". Toronto Star.
  4. ^ "Toronto film critics award 'The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open' - CityNews Toronto". toronto.citynews.ca. Retrieved 2021-06-12.