Opening Night Gala Presentation: CAN I GET A WITNESS?

Canada2024110 minEnglishDirected By Women, Drama

What would you give up to ensure a world with no war, no poverty, and a stable climate? Your phone? Your car? Your life? That’s the question that looms over Ann Marie Fleming’s near-future fable, where the solution to our world's ills is for humans to die by their 50th year.

It’s not all doom and gloom. For teenage Kiah (Keira Jang), it’s her first day of work as a Documenter. Her world of peace in sun-soaked Powell River, B.C., is all she knows, and she's getting trained by Daniel (Joel Oulette), a seasoned convener of death ceremonies. Meanwhile, Ellie (Sandra Oh) puts on a parent’s brave face for Kiah’s venture into adulthood while making her own empty-nest arrangements.

Veteran director and Reel Asian alum Fleming tackles this existential yarn with warmth and charm, while never avoiding the tough questions: What would you give up? And how do you reconcile the horrors with the beauty of this remarkable world?
– Aram Siu Wai Collier

Cast

Sandra Oh
Keira Jang
Joel Oulette

Recognitions

OFFICIAL SELECTION
Toronto International Film Festival, 2024
Vancouver International Film Festival, 2024
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, 2024

Director Bio

Ann Marie Fleming

Ann Marie Fleming was born in Okinawa and is now based in Vancouver. Her body of work as a filmmaker includes fiction, documentary, and animation. She’s directed short films including You Take Care Now (1990) and Blue Skies (2002), and features such as The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam (2003) and Window Horses (2016). Can I Get a Witness? (2024) is her latest film.

13 Nov, 2024 7:00 pm

Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema

Rating

IN-CINEMA TICKETS

Please be advised that there will be no badgeholder redemptions for opening night. Badgeholders must purchase tickets for this show.

CONTENT ADVISORY
Depictions of death and dying, self-harm

Please find a list of local and affordable resources below that are arranged alphabetically by name, with the focus or format of their support.

Content Advisory & Peer Support

In Person Accessibility

–
Acessible seats available symbol

This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated). Live ASL will be present and projected on screen for the introduction and Q&A. Wheelchair spaces and step-free seating is available for this screening – click below to book accessible seats.

BOOK ACCESSIBLE TICKETS

Online Accessibility

Information on available captions will be added soon, thank you for your patience.

Presenting Partner

With Support From

POST-FILM DISCUSSON: CAN I GET A WITNESS?

Join us for a Q&A immediately after the screening with director Ann Marie Fleming.

Opening Night Gala Party

Join us at CSI Annex for the Opening Night Gala Party after the screening of CAN I GET A WITNESS?.
PWYC at the door!

9:30PM at CSI Annex

Enchanted Booth will be joining us at this year’s gala with their Mirror Photo Booth, so make sure to stop by their booth for a fun photo experience.

Reception Partners

Accessibility for Opening Night Gala Party

–
Acessible seats available symbol Respite Room available icon
This space is wheelchair and step-free accessible via a staff-operated lift.
The rest of the venue, including the accessible washrooms, is all on one level.
This event may include loud music, flashing lights, and crowds. A calmer,
quieter respite room is available for those with environmental
sensitivities.

Please click below to advise us of your access needs for this event.

ACCESSIBILITY INTAKE FORM

You May Also Like...

Reel Ideas

CREATURA: A Journey Into The Unfamiliar

CREATURA is a multimedia cross-programming stream at the 28th Reel Asian Film Festival, spotlighting the strange, wild, and untamed — concepts historically used to marginalize. This session will explore how these concepts manifest through stories of endangered traditions and reimagined realities. The documentary THE LAST OF THE SEA WOMEN provides a vivid portrayal of South Korean fisherwomen preserving an ancient practice amidst modern developments. Meanwhile, UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE, set in a reimagined Canada where Farsi and French are official languages, presents a surreal world where societal norms are upended and loneliness is a common experience. Both films vividly embody the spirit of CREATURA by pushing the boundaries of human experience and challenging conventional perspectives.

Features

THE GLASSWORKER

A young, gifted Vincent and his father Tomas run the finest glass workshop in the country, creating delicate, magnificent pieces of art. Their close bond is soon put to the test with the arrival of an army colonel and his young, aspiring violinist daughter Alliz, to their hometown. Amidst the rumblings of an impending war, Vincent and Alliz eventually fall in love, a relationship that is continually opposed and challenged by their fathers.