Advance Screening: Women Talking with Sarah Polley
About the Event
Thursday, November 24 at 6:00 p.m. (Doors open at 5:30 p.m.) @ Hyland Cinema
This film screening is open to all students, staff, faculty, and the general public. Tickets are free. First come, first serve.
Western is offering an advanced screening of Women Talking, a film based on the novel by Miriam Toews. The screening of this important and exciting film will be followed by a Q&A with Director and Screenwriter Sarah Polley.
In 2010, the women of an isolated religious community grapple with reconciling their reality with their faith.
Hosted by Student Experience, Law and Feminism Research Group, Faculty of Law, and Arts & Humanities, Western University.
About Women Talking
Statement from Writer/Director Sarah Polley
In Women Talking, a group of women, many of whom disagree on essential things, have a conversation to figure out how they might move forward together to build a better world for themselves and their children.
Though the backstory behind the events in Women Talking is violent, the film is not. We never see the violence that the women have experienced. We see only short glimpses of the aftermath. Instead, we watch a community of women come together as they must decide, in a very short space of time, what their collective response will be.
When I read Miriam Toews’ book, it sunk deep into me, raising questions and thoughts about the world I live in that I had never articulated. Questions about forgiveness, faith, systems of power, trauma, healing, culpability, community, and self-determination. It also left me bewilderingly hopeful.
I imagined this film in the realm of a fable. While the story in the film is specific to a small religious community, I felt that it needed a large canvas, an epic scope through which to reflect the enormity and universality of the questions raised in the film. To this end, it felt imperative that the visual language of the film breathe and expand. I wanted to feel in every frame the endless potential and possibility contained in a conversation about how to remake a broken world.
Movie Info:
Genre: Drama
Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic content including sexual assault,bloody images, and some strong language.
Release Date: In Select Theaters December 2, Expanding December 25
The topics discussed during ReShape events may impact some participants. If you've been impacted by any of the events during the ReShape Series, you can reach out to support@uwo.ca or visit this page for crisis supports.
