MAISON DU BONHEUR (Sofia Bohdanowicz, Canada). 64 minutes. Rating: NNNN
The first feature documentary by Sofia Bohdanowicz lands somewhere between portraiture and character study, as the Toronto filmmaker spends a month in Paris with 77-year-old Juliane Lumbroso-Sellam.
Lumbroso-Sellam is a great subject, telling lively stories about her childhood and her career as an astrologer. She’s also more than eager to play life coach to Bohdanowicz whenever the opportunity arises, which lets her guest add a layer of self-reflection to the piece.
It’s entirely in line with the director’s body of short films – images of calm rooms and cafés are have with a melancholy undercurrent, a meditation on the gap between the young and old. At a point where documentaries are becoming increasingly flashy and frantic, watching Maison Du Bonheur feels like arriving at an oasis.
May 3, 8:45 pm, TIFF 4 May 4, 10:15 am, TIFF 3 May 5, 3:45 pm, TIFF 3
