River

[projekktor id=’23351′]

River is a Canadian drama written and directed by Jamie M. Dagg. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year and won the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television’s Claude Jutra Award for best first time feature. The film stars Rossif Sutherland, Douangmany Soliphanh, Sara Botsford, and Vithaya Pansringarm.

After refusing to obey a senior surgeon, JOHN LAKE, an American volunteer doctor in Laos, is instructed to take a leave of absence. To regroup, he travels to a remote island in the south of Laos. The solace of the island is shattered when John intervenes in the sexual assault of a young Laotian woman, accidentally killing her assailant. Horrified by the violence and the prospect of being sent to prison, John panics and flees. He soon discovers that he’s wanted not only for the murder of an Australian Senator’s son, but also for the rape of the very woman he saved. What follows is a harrowing journey through the Laotian interior that will test and transform John in profound ways.

The shoot proved to be a difficult but rewarding experience for Dagg and his crew. “Faced with infighting, scorching heat, illness, a relentless schedule, and an authoritarian government with the power to shut us down on a whim, our crew of thirty people from seven countries pulled off the first North American film shot in Laos.”

River is rated 14A.