You got to love the amount of short films that Leslie Anne-Coles puts into this world renown film festival called The Female Eye Film Festival in Toronto.  The one short that caught the eye of FERNTV was none other than Toronto director Claudia Hébert’s Denial (Le Déni).  The film follows the obsession of a woman named Sara who is amazingly played by Genèvieve Boivin-Rossy who continues to phone a man by the name of Mathieu in hopes in talking to him.  Unfortunately, Sara can only get his voice recording which makes her resort in leaving messages all the time.  At first her messages were playful but then they become obsessive to the point where she has to see a therapist who recommends her to open up to someone else other than Mathieu.
Denial does make a social comment on how today’s society functions. Â As an audience we are not too sure of whether or not in the beginning of the film if Sara has actually made any real contact with Mathieu. Â He could of have been someone that was on Tinder or Match.com that mistakenly had given his number to Sara. Â Nevertheless in the communicative heavy society that we live in, rejection does not bode well for anyone like Sara. Â When the lines of communication in our lives are completely shut down, as a human instinct we continuously try and try again to open those lines. Â Unfortunately for Sara it becomes an obsession for her that makes her angry and frustrated.Denial is a beautiful depiction of what it is actually like to shut someone out of our lives and why letting go is really difficult.
The film is shot so beautiful and reminiscent of the new and classic films that are coming out of the National Film Board of Canada.  Nothing stands out more than Genèvieve Boivin-Rossy who makes you empathetic towards her situation and more curious of whether or not she will get out of her emotional trenches.  We here on FERNTV would love to see more films with her in the future as we are definitely keeping an eye on her and her growth in acting because she is the difference maker in Denial.
www.femaleeyefilmfestival.com