A Woman Escapes

A film by

Canada, Turkey / 82' / 07/2022 / hybrid

Audrey Benac lives alone in Paris after having moved there to tend to the home of her recently deceased friend, Juliane. Moving through the days without any clear motivation or sense of purpose, she tries to re-establish her footing in the world by beginning video corre- spondences with two filmmakers: Burak, who lives in Istanbul, and Blake, who lives in Toronto. This exchange of words and footage initiates a healing process, but the nature of the interaction is not what it seems.

“A Woman Escapes sets out a trajectory that seems to turn cinema into a manifesto for healing.”
Square Eyes - Black - ENG
Square Eyes - MarDelPlata-logo
Square Eyes - FNC_logo-Selection-Competition_FNC51_CompetitionOfficielle_EN
“A Woman Escapes sets out a trajectory that seems to turn cinema into a manifesto for healing.”
Square Eyes - Black - ENG
Square Eyes - MarDelPlata-logo
Square Eyes - FNC_logo-Selection-Competition_FNC51_CompetitionOfficielle_EN

Sofia Bohdanowicz, Burak Çevik, and Blake Williams

Biography Sofia Bohdanowicz

Sofia Bohdanowicz is a Canadian filmmaker. Her experimental shorts and narrative features have screened internationally, including venues such as the Toronto International Film Festival, Locarno Festival, New York Film Festival, the Berlinale, and the Harvard Film Archive. She is the recipient of the Jay Scott Prize (2017) and was recently named as one of “The 22 Most Influential People in Canadian Film” in the Globe and Mail. She is currently in development on her fifth feature film titled Opus 28.

Biography Burak Çevik

Burak Çevik is a filmmaker based in Istanbul. He also founded Fol Cinema Society, curated experimental and arthouse film screenings, and was a lecturer on Non-Fiction at Istanbul Bilgi University be- tween 2018 and 2020. His films The Pillar of Salt and Belonging premiered at Berlinale Forum in 2018 and 2019, respectively. His video works have screened at various festivals, such as Locarno Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and New York Film Festival.

Biography Blake Williams

Blake Williams is Toronto-based artist and filmmaker. He is the co-founder of the production company BlueMagenta Films, and con- tributes criticism to the Canadian film publication Cinema Scope magazine. His shorts, features, and installations have been exhibited internationally, including venues such as the Berlinale, Toronto International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, Locarno Festival, JEONJU International Film Festival, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Combined filmography

  • A Woman Escapes – 2022 – 81’
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Crew

Director: Sofia Bohdanowicz, Burak Çevik, and Blake Williams
Screenplay: Sofia Bohdanowicz, Burak Çevik, and Blake Williams
Producer: Sofia Bohdanowicz, Burak Çevik, and Blake Williams
Executive Producers: Marco Gualtieri, Selman Nacar, Dominga Sotomayor
Composer: Sarah Davachi
Sound mix: Raymundo Ballesteros
Colour correction: Rodrigo Moreno
Cast: Deragh Campbell
Additional cast: Mustafa Akkaya, Mehmet Ayısıg, Burak Çevik, Dorota Lech, Juliane Sellam, Emilia Szydło

Festivals

  • FIDMarseille – International Film Festival Marseille, France (5 – 11 July, 2022)
    International Competition Special Mention CNAP
  • Dokufest – International Documentary and Short Film Festival, Kosovo (5 – 13 August, 2022)
    A View from the World
  • Vancouver International Film Festival, Canada (29 September – 9 October, 2022)
    National Competition
  • Black CanvasContemporary Film Festival, Mexico (30 September – 9 October, 2022)
    International Competition
  • Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, Turkey (1 – 10 October, 2022)
    National Competition
  • Festival Du Nouveau Cinéma, Canada (5 – 16 October, 2022)
    National Competition
  • Doclisboa, Portugal (6 – 16 October, 2022)
    New Visions
  • Valdivia International Film Festival, Chile (10 – 16 October, 2022)
    Official Feature Film Competition Special Mention
  • Lima Alterna Festival Internacional de Cine, Peru (13 – 23 October, 2022)
    International Competition
  • Indie Memphis Film Festival, United States (19 – 24 October, 2022)
    Competition
  • Mar del Plata International Film Festival, Argentina (3 – 13 November, 2022)
    Altered States
  • Cámara Lúcida – Int. Contemporary Film Festival, Ecuador (10 – 18 November, 2022)
    Official Selection
  • Images Festival, Canada (13 – 26 April, 2023)
    Official Selection
  • International Womens’ Film Fest Cologne & Dortmund, Germany (18 – 23 April, 2023)
    Official Selection
  • Jeonju International Film Festival, South Korea (27 April – 6 May, 2023)
    Official Selection
  • Prismatic Ground, United States (3 – 7 May, 2022)
    Official Selection
  • FILMADRID. International Film Festival, Spain (6 – 11 June, 2023)
    Official Competition
  • Taipei Film Festival, Taiwan (22 June – 8 July, 2023)
    Official Selection

Password




Press materials

EPK: Click here

Stills, poster & director’s photos: Click here

Dialogue list English: Click here

Downloadable trailer: Click here

 

Press quotes

“Throughout the film, hope appears in tactile stereoscopic images like roses that unexpectedly climb out of the screen, a cheerful beagle, and a billowing sheet of sheer organza. In a film about loss, these haptic moments feel like bursts of optimism.”
Festival report – Simran Hans – Film Comment

“The result joins a long lineage of personal-correspondence films, this one tinged with the “stuck” feeling of the isolating, screen-heavy stretches of the pandemic.”
‘A Woman Escapes’ Review: Screen Sharing – Nicolas Rapold – The New York Times

“a slice of multi-region pandemic life and toil wrapped in a surprising, stimulating visual presentation”
Festival report – Lou Thomas – BFI