Audience members are in for a unique experience at a special screening of The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open, an award-winning film about a chance encounter between two Indigenous women from contrasting backgrounds.

The film will be screened on Sunday, March 3, 5 p.m. at the Landmark Cinemas in Courtenay.

Kwakwa瘫ka瘫始wakw actor Violet Nelson will be on hand, along with the film鈥檚 co-director and producer, for a dialogue with the audience following the screening.

The screening is a co-presentation of the Comox Valley International Film Festival and the Comox Valley Art Gallery.

Set in Vancouver, the film tells the story of a chance encounter between a young Kwakwa瘫ka瘫始wakw woman named Rosie (Violet Nelson) and 脕ila (Elle-M谩ij谩 Tailfeathers).

When 脕ila encounters Rosie, barefoot and crying in the rain on the side of a busy street, she soon discovers that this young woman has just escaped a violent assault at the hands of her boyfriend. 脕ila decides to bring Rosie home with her and over the course of the evening, the two navigate the aftermath of this traumatic event.

Inspired by a real and transformative moment in co-director Elle-M谩ij谩 Tailfeather鈥檚 life, The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open weaves an intricately complex, while at the same time simple, story of a chance encounter between two Indigenous women with drastically different lived experience, navigating the aftermath of domestic abuse.

The majority of this unique film consists of a single long take.

Released in 2019, The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open received the Toronto Film Critics Association and Vancouver Film Critics Circle awards for Best Canadian Feature Film. It was also nominated for six Canadian Screen Awards, and directors Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn received the CSAs for best direction and best original screenplay.

Co-director Hepburn, producer Tyler Hagen, and lead actor Violet Nelson will be in attendance. Stay after the screening for a Q + A.

Find out more about the film, and the upcoming Comox Valley International Film Festival, at cviff.ca

Tickets cost $17 and can be purchased online at cvag.tickit.ca

Find out more about the film, and the upcoming Comox Valley International Film Festival, at cviff.ca