The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open

The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open

Winner of the Best Director Award at the 2019 Vancouver International Film Festival and the Canadian Screen Award for Achievement in Direction, The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open is a profoundly intimate and humanistic drama that unfolds in real time. Co-directed by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn, the film offers an unflinching look at the intersection of trauma, compassion, and solidarity between Indigenous women.

Set in Vancouver, the story begins when Áila (Tailfeathers) encounters Rosie (Violet Nelson), a young pregnant woman barefoot and distraught on the street after escaping domestic violence. What follows is a quiet, extended moment of connection as Áila brings Rosie into her home, offering safety, warmth, and empathy while grappling with the limits of what one person can do for another.

Filmed in a single, continuous take that heightens its immediacy and emotional authenticity, the movie rejects sensationalism in favor of deep observation and lived experience. The camera moves gently, almost reverently, through a shared night of fear and fragile hope, capturing the vulnerability of two women bound by circumstance and resilience.

Premiering at the 2019 Berlin International Film Festival and later honored with the Toronto Film Critics Association’s Rogers Best Canadian Film Award, The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open is a quietly radical work of empathy and realism. It is a film about survival, sisterhood, and the unspoken strength it takes to keep moving forward when the world refuses to see you.

Screening With:

Nova

Canadian Shorts Showcase

A teenager unwillingly deletes her best friend in this bittersweet coming-of-age story set ina world where augmented reality has gamified existence.

6 mins
Canada, 2018
Dir. Andreanne Germain
Language: English

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