FAIL TO APPEAR
Writer/Director: Antoine Bourges
Producer: Karen Harnisch, Dan Montgomery / MDFF / Film Forge
Cast: Deragh Campbell, Nathan Roder
Canada / 70 minutes / 1.85:1
Isolde is a caseworker adjusting to the challenges of her new job when she is assigned to a man charged with theft and facing an upcoming court hearing. She does her best to help, but when the two meet she struggles to connect. Antoine Bourges’ film is many things at once: a portrait of those who fall through the cracks and the few who try to help them, a studious analysis of the systems in place and how they operate, and a poignant reflection on the difficulty of human connection across social strata.
PRESS
The top 10 Canadian films of 2018, The Globe and Mail, 2018
Review: indie film Fail To Appear is simple yet powerful, NOW Magazine, 2018
Fail to Appear is an utterly watchable piece of experimental Canadian film, The Globe and Mail, 2018
Call of Duty: A Film Critic Goes Before the Camera, TIFF, 2018
An Interview With: Antoine Bourges, Toronto Film Critics Association, 2018
Fail to Appear, screening at VIFF, showcases a new wave of Toronto talent, The Globe and Mail, 2017
Paying Attention: Antoine Bourges Discusses “Fail to Appear”, MUBI, 2017
Northern Streams: Future//Present at VIFF 2017, MUBI, 2017
VIFF 2017 – Fail to Appear, Sad Hill Media, 2017
VIFF: Fail to Appear, BPM (Beats Per Minute), The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Next Projection, 2017
VIFF 2017: Fail to Appear goes normcore with Toronto social worker drama, The Georgia Straight, 2017
FESTIVALS
*Art of the Reel, New York 2018
*Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema, Buenos Aires 2018
*Cinéma du Réel, Paris 2018
*Tenemos Que Ver Festival, Uruguay, 2018
*NW Film Forum, Seattle, 2018
*Black Canvas Festival de Cine Contemporáneo, Mexico 2018
*Rencontres Internationales Du Documentaire De Montréal, Montréal 2018
*Vancouver International Film Festival, Vancouver 2017