The film is inspired by the true-to-life story of the discovery of the long-lost “Opus 28” manuscript from Norwegian composer Johan Halvorsen, originally performed in 1909 by Canadian violinist Kathleen Parlow, to whom the piece was dedicated.
Campbell portrays a student who seeks to complete her thesis on Parlow by organizing a public performance of “Opus 28” from Toronto to Oslo. The cast includes Dueñas, Melanie Scheiner, Eve Duranceau, Maxim Gaudette, Rosa-Johan Uddoh, and Eileen Davies.
Didier Konings’ simmering mediaeval horror Witte Wieven explores the confluence of religion and patriarchy in an excessively puritanical Dutch village. Blamed by her community for being childless, Frieda immerses herself in prayer and ritual. When she returns unscathed from the forbidden forest surrounding the village, having evaded a lecherous butcher, she is condemned as an agent of the devil. Frieda, however, finds new faith in the dark powers that inhabit the woods.
Shot in a reduced colour palette at the edge of visibility, Konings’ gripping film constructs a convincing pre-modern society whose practices it elucidates with patience and attention. Although set in the Middle Ages, Witte Wieven displays an unmistakably contemporary spirit, crafting a feminist parable about women discovering new ways of understanding their lives and the world.
