In Person: March 3
Warsaw, 1939: When the Nazis invade Poland, nurse Irena Gut (Sophie Nélisse, THE BOOK THIEF, ”Yellowjackets”) is displaced and forced to work in support of the German war effort, eventually assigned to run the home of a Nazi commandant. Instead of following the path of least resistance and gambling on her status and ethnicity to keep her safe, Irena risks everything to save a dozen Jewish refugees from persecution and murder, sheltering them under her boss’s nose. IRENA’S VOW is, at its core, a story of simple, moral clarity, anchored by a powerful performance by the empathetic Nélisse, who has grown from a child actor in films like THE BOOK THIEF (2013) to a confident young star. She channels the alternating shock, disbelief, and horror of an innocent who is forced, over and over again, to negotiate an impossible situation: racing to ensure not just her friends’ survival but her own. Audience Award Winner, Vancouver International Film Festival 2023.
Director Bio: View on IMDB
Louise Archambault is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. Her debut feature FAMILIA won Best Canadian First Feature Film at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. In 2013, she created a world sensation with her second feature film, GABRIELLE, Canada’s entry for the 2014 Oscars and Golden Globes. In 2019, she released Il Pleuvait des oiseaux (AND THE BIRDS RAINED DOWN) and Merci pour tout (THANKS FOR EVERYTHING). She is a sought-after TV series director, with Radio-Canada and the CBC to her credit.
Sponsors: Jacquie Bayley
Community Partners: Holocaust Center for Humanity + Seattle Hadassah
