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THE MOTHER AND THE BEAR

Canada, Chile2024100 minEnglish, KoreanComedy, Romance

After a mysterious encounter leaves her daughter Sumi in a coma, Sara rushes from South Korea to Winnipeg to be by her side. As Sumi heals, Sara begins to unpack details of her life that her daughter never shared with her. On a mission to find a husband to take care of Sumi when she wakes, Sara ventures into the daunting unknowns of dating apps and Winnipeg winters, and finds out more about herself than she planned.

Triangulated somewhere between K-drama, telenovela, and rom-com is Johnny Ma’s feel-good film about a mother becoming her own woman again, unshackled by the roles of “wife” or “mother." After festival-favourite dramas Old Stone (2016) and To Live To Sing (RA 2019), Ma swerves into cross-cultural zaniness while grounding his characters with the same soul of his previous films, and shows us it’s never too late to explore oneself.

– Aram Siu Wai Collier

Cast

Kim Ho-jung
Lee Won-jae
Jonathan Kim

Recognitions

OFFICIAL SELECTION

Toronto International Film Festival, 2024

Director Bio

Johnny Ma

Johnny Ma was born in Shanghai and immigrated to Toronto at age 10. Johnny’s first feature, Old Stone, debuted at the 2016 Berlin Film Festival. His second feature, To Live To Sing, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival 2019. The Mother and The Bear is his third film, and the first produced outside of China.

16 Nov, 2024 2:30 pm

TIFF Lightbox C4

Rating

AA

IN-CINEMA TICKETS

CONTENT ADVISORY
Nudity

In Person Accessibility


Wheelchair/Step-Free seating available icon

This film is scheduled to be presented with English subtitles only (no subtitles for English dialogue).  Wheelchair spaces and step-free seating is available for this screening – click below to book accessible seats.

Community Supporter

JAYU

Shoes Off Collective

POST-FILM DISCUSSION: THE MOTHER AND THE BEAR

Join us for a Q&A immediately after the screening with director Johnny Ma and actor Jonathan Kim.

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