Staff Select The Premiere Toast to friendship

The bonds of friendship and love are common elements in the human experience, and it's not hard to argue that they're two of our most basic needs as people. They are the ties which bind us. They keep us together, while simultaneously making us more vulnerable. We fear losing them just as much as we would like to have them in the initial place. The task for filmmakers to capture this duality in all its countless designs is enormous, but in the rare instances that a film addresses emotions that are fragile with honesty, it becomes a powerful instrument for understanding our own experiences. This brings us to the current Staff Pick premiere, Liv Karin Dahlstrom's "Women&Wine," a comedic investigation of self-destructed pride when confronted with a fading friendship. It was the winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2017 Seattle International Film Festival (full information: I served as a juror), "Women&Wine" is both a charming and awkward, and ultimately an evocative portrait of a woman's desperate struggle to hold the friendship of her best friend.

The film begins by introducing Turid (Marit Andreassen) and Signe (Jeanne Bee) who are two females in their mid-life friends, who are planning an extravagant birthday celebration for their acquaintance Grete (Turid Gunnes). After a playful prank becomes a snub that leaves Turid fears she's no longer considered a close friend, jealousy gets in the way of confidence and a hilariously cringeworthy act is the result. A sensitive and honest depiction of human friendships and relationships, the film spans through the spectrum of beautiful as well as silly, to awkward and painful. According to Dahlstrom who co-wrote the screenplay with Thorkild Shrumpf, a similar situation occurred at a party hosted by a close friend that led them consider the "humor in the insecurity and vulnerability people try to cover up when trying to protect themselves from socially difficult situations. We are both very inspired by the human mind and the consequences that occur when our feelings override our rational thinking." In the case of Turid, who is blinded by the notion that Grete doesn't value her friendship, their party turns into a last-ditch effort to show their love and ascend the ladder of friendship while stumbling over others on the way.

The themes of jealousy and friendship might be familiar to you, or like a recipe for a film about unhealthy female friendships, Dahlstrom is consciously avoiding melodrama in favor of a naturalistic approach that prioritizes the dynamic performance of her actors and emotional range. Inspired by the everyday moments of seemingly small moments, Dahlstrom decided that "the camera must follow the actor and their actions, not the other way about." This is why, the film effortlessly moves from scene to scene, revealing the lengths we'll reach to keep our friends, and also our pride.