Sentimental Value
Monday January 26, 2:00 p.m.
133 min
Season Sponsor: Rastins PharmaChoice Pharmacy
Film Date Sponsor: Ron Lancaster
https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/ancaster-film-fest-january-aft
Norwegian and English with English subtitles
Nora (Renate Reinsve), a gifted stage actress, and her younger sister Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) were abandoned years ago when they were children by their actor father, Gustav Borg (Stellan Skarsgård), who has always prioritized his work. As a child, Agnes played a role in one of her father's movies and is now a married woman with a child.
Nora is conflicted and still angry by her father's abandonment. She wants nothing to do with him so when he comes to her with a script he's written especially with her in mind for the lead, she refuses. He finds a surprising source of support after a Hollywood star, Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning) discovers his films at a festival retrospective.
Expected to be nominated for a number of Oscars.
Winner of the Grand Prize at Cannes and first runner of People’s Choice Award at TIFF.
Nominated for 91 international awards including 8 Golden Globes
Won 13 awards to date
Reviews
Following a failed father and filmmaker attempting to connect with his daughters by turning the former family home into a set, Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value is a subtle yet sweeping tapestry of art, family and connection that takes the breath away. Chase Hutchinson/The Wrap
A story about home, inheritance, and fiction’s ability to reveal truths capable of bringing alienated individuals together, it’s a tumultuous, moving triumph. Nick Schager/The Daily Beast
It’s a movie that sneaks up on you like great fiction, blending theme and character in a way that allows it to live in your mind after you see it, rolling around what it means to both the people in it and your own life. Brian Tallerico/RogerEbert.com
It Was Just An Accident
Monday January 26, 7:15 p.m.
103 min
Season Sponsor: Rastins PharmaChoice Pharmacy
Film Date Sponsor: Ron Lancaster
Persian with English subtitles
https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/ancaster-film-fest-january-evening
Nominated for 45 international awards including 4 Golden Globes
Won 15 awards to date
Vahid, an unassuming mechanic, has a chance encounter with Eghbal, a man he strongly suspects to be his former sadistic jailhouse captor. Panicked, Vahid gathers several former prisoners, all abused by that same captor, to try and confirm Eghbal's identity. As the bickering group drives around Tehran with the captive, they must confront how far to take matters into their own hands with their presumed tormentor. From master filmmaker Jafar Panahicomes a searing moral thriller that engages with complex ideas about the uncertainty of the truth and the choice between revenge and mercy, as Panahi turns his personal dissonance into a profound and galvanizing work of art.
Reviews
If anyone has the right to make a revenge fantasy, it’s Jafar Panahi. And yet, this movie isn’t that. Panahi doesn’t make statement films; he makes question films, designed to instigate soul-searching and debate. Janice Page/Washington Post
Shot in secret under constant threat, [It Was Just an Accident] draws on [Jafar Panahi's] own harrowing experiences, infusing every frame with urgency and authenticity. Peter Howell/Toronto Star
Undoubtedly one of the year's best, It Was Just An Accident is yet another moving, prickly and hopeful morality tale from Panahi about people (and a society) trying to find a way forward while processing the trauma of the past. Redheyan Simonpillai/CBC Radio
Other Items of Interest
AFF Library of Some of Our Past Films
About 170 titles of past Ancaster Film Fest selections are available for loan at Rastin's Pharmacy.
AFF Season 21 - 2026
Screenings will be at 2:00 and 7:15 p.m.
Dates
January 26 Sentimental Value, 2:00 p.m.
January 26 It Was Just An Accident, 7:15 p.m.
February 23
March 30
April 20
May 11
May 25
June 8
September 14
October 5
October 26
November 16
December 7
Guests on our email list will also be informed via email. To contact us email ancasterfilmfest@cogeco.ca.
AFF Library of Some of Our Past Films
About 170 titles are available at Rastin's Pharmacy. Check out our Archive.
AFF Season 20 - 2025
Screenings were at 2:00 and 7:15 p.m. 12 Screening Dates, 22 Films. Approximately 5000 paid attendan
Dates
January 20: Lee, 2:00 p.m.
January 20: Goodrich, 7:15 p.m.
February 24: I'm Still Here, 2:00 p.m.
February 24: Emilia Pérez, 7:15 p.m.
March 17: Small Things Like These, 2:00 p.m.
March 17: No Other Land, 7:15 p.m.
April 7; Bob Trevino Likes It, 2:00 p.m.
April 7: There's Still Tomorrow, 7:15 p.m.
April 28, The Penguin Letters, 2:00 p.m.
April 28: Shepherds, 7:15 p.m.
May 12: Maria Montessori: Une Nouvelle Femme, 2:00 p.m.
May 12: Bad Shabbos, 7:15 p.m.
May 26: So Surreal: Behind the Masks, 2:00 p.m.
May 26: Santosh, 7:15 p.m.
June 9:Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, 2:00 p.m.
June 9: White Bird, 7:15 p.m.
September 22: The Life of Chuck, 2:00 p.m., 7:15 p.m.
October 6: The Marching Band, 2:00 p.m.
October 6: Exhibiting Forgiveness, 7:15 p.m.
November 3: Eleanor the Great, 2:00 p.m.
November 3: TBA, 7:15 p.m.
December 8: Blue Moon, 2:00 p.m.
December 8: TBA 7:15 p.m.
Guests on our email list will also be informed via email. To contact us email ancasterfilmfest@cogeco.ca.
AFF Library of Some of Our Past Films
About 170 titles are available at Rastin's Pharmacy. Check out our Archive.