''MS Slavic 7'' is a 2019 Canadian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Sofia Bohdanowicz Sofia Bohdanowicz is a Canadian filmmaker. She is known for her collaborations with Deragh Campbell and made her List of directorial debuts, feature film directorial debut in 2016 with ''Never Eat Alone''. Her second feature film, ''Maison du Bonh ...

and

Deragh Campbell Deragh Campbell is a Canadian actress and filmmaker. She is known for her acclaimed performances in independent Canadian cinema. Her collaborations with filmmaker Sofia Bohdanowicz—'' Never Eat Alone'' (2016), '' Veslemøy's Song'' (2018), '' M ...

. It stars Campbell as a young woman who discovers a series of letters in a

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

archive between her great-grandmother and a fellow Polish poet. The film derives its name from the library call number for the box that holds the letters. It had its world premiere at the

69th Berlin International Film Festival The 69th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place from 7 to 17 February 2019. French actress Juliette Binoche served as the Jury President. Lone Scherfig's drama film ''The Kindness of Strangers (film), The Kindness of Strangers'' op ...

on February 14, 2019, and screened at New Directors/New Films on March 30, 2019.

Plot

After being appointed literary executor, a young woman named Audrey Benac uncovers a series of letters that her great-grandmother had written to a fellow poet. Both displaced from Poland, Zofia Bohdanowiczowa and

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

nominee

Józef Wittlin Józef Wittlin (1896–1976) was a Polish novelist, poet and translator. Life After graduating from a classical gimnazjum in Lwów, Wittlin joined the volunteer military formation of the Polish Legion in August 1914. His unit was however soon ...

corresponded from 1957 to 1964 between

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Set over the course of three days, Audrey embarks on a journey to

Houghton Library Houghton Library, on the south side of Harvard Yard adjacent to Widener Library, is Harvard University's primary repository for rare books and manuscripts. It is part of the Harvard College Library, the library system of Harvard's Faculty of Art ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

to translate and make sense of Zofia's words. Coming up against her aunt's disapproval as well as complications of access to the material, Audrey struggles to dig into an intimate past while facing her own existentially troubled present. Between silent segments of handling the letters at the archive and discursive monologues that articulate her findings, the film traces the emotional movement through the research process.

Cast

as Audrey Benac * Aaron Danby as Grzegorz * Elizabeth Rucker as Anya * Mariusz Sibiga as Noah

Production

Campbell plays Audrey Benac, a character she has inhabited twice before for Bohdanowicz in the films '' Never Eat Alone'' (2016) and '' Veslemøy's Song'' (2018).

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 9033304 2019 films English-language Canadian films Canadian drama films Canadian independent films Films directed by Sofia Bohdanowicz 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films