THERE, THERE
a film by Heather Young
FEATURE PRESENTATION
MAY 28, 2025 • 6:30 PM
@ THE BUS STOP THEATRE
(2203 GOTTINGEN STREET, HALIFAX)
2024 / CANADA / 100 mins
A Q&A WITH HEATHER YOUNG WILL FOLLOW THE SCREENING
There, There is the sophomore feature from Halifax filmmaker Heather Young, whose 2019 debut Murmur earned awards and accolades across Canada and beyond, and introduced viewers to a new way of seeing Nova Scotia on film.
In her latest, an elderly woman named Ruth (Marlene Jewell) has her routines disrupted by worsening dementia, while Shannon (Katie Mattattal), her pregnant caretaker, works to track down her baby’s father.
There, There marks a huge step forward in Young’s spare, exacting framing and cut-to-the-bone storytelling. The characters inhabit a small world of heavy, pervasive quiet, one in which each bingo dauber, doily and bedspread has something to say about the particulars of Maritime suffering.
Midway through the film, a doctor asks Ruth where she lives. When the name eludes her, she falls back on a pleasantry instead: “It’s the city I live in. It’s a great city, it’s wonderful.” There, There offers no easy answers on whether these are things we believe or just say to fill the silence.
—Evan Bower
TRAILER
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER
Heather Young
Heather Young is a filmmaker based in Kjipuktuk/Halifax, Nova Scotia. She made the short films HOWARD AND JEAN (2014), FISH (2016) and MILK (2017). Her first feature MURMUR (2019) premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival where it won the FIPRESCI Prize for the Discovery Programme and went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at the Slamdance Film Festival. Her second feature THERE, THERE (2024) premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival and received a Special Jury Mention at Festival du Nouveau Cinéma in Montréal.