Toronto-based sales agent Syndicado Film Sales has acquired international rights to Zara Zerny’s feature debut “Echo of You” ahead of its world premiere at Amsterdam’s doc festival IDFA.
Through candid, revealing interviews, “Echo of You” presents a group of Danish men and women, all aged 80 plus. With poignant openness and honesty, they share their thoughts on their life partnerships; lost loves who, one way or another, are no longer with them. They discuss the heartbreak of losing a life partner, and the ways in which life goes on.
Zerny tenderly brings their individual voices together like a choir, interweaving them with abstract, dreamy images, music and artistic interpretations of their inner lives. Together, they form a collection of diverse perspectives on love, life, loneliness and death, merging into a unique body of testimony.
Zerny commented: “With this film I want to illustrate the complexity of sorrow and joy, through life that no longer is here. At the same time it is a portrait of a generation and how they remember their loved ones after a whole life together for better and worse.
“My aim was not to reach a conclusion about whether or not this generation’s view on partnership and love is better than other generations. But there might be something to learn. My generation and the ones after me have become more independent and there are fewer marriages that last 60 years. And I would like younger generations to ask themselves what will be most important for them when they are 95: family, love, work, wealth etc.
“I wanted to give a voice to a dying generation and show the different aspects of that one great love, hoping the audience will reflect on their own lives and views on love. Consequently, I also hope this film will break with our fear of getting old. Because the people in this film are so full of life! Maybe, we can even collectively look forward to a point in our lives where the end isn’t as scary anymore.”
Aleksandar Govedarica from Syndicado Film Sales added: “Unveiling the poetry of enduring romance, this film celebrates the beauty that transcends time, proving that love is not bound by years but strengthened by them.”
Zerny has made several shorts such as “Goodnight Birdy” (winner Best International Short Film at IndieCork, 2015), “Aqua Mamas” (winner Best Short Film at the Mexico International Film Festival, 2018), and “Shoot for the Moon” (Special Mention at the Drama International Short Film Festival, 2014).
“Echo of You” is produced by Maria Møller Kjeldgaard for Danish production company Manna Film.
