The Cinematheque

Director Q&A

An Audience Award winner at VIFF 2020, this droll comedy-drama about a privileged family’s unravelling is the latest crowd-pleaser from gifted Swiss writer-director Bettina Oberli. Titular wunder Wanda (Agnieszka Grochowska) is a Polish single mom of two, working at a lakeside villa in Switzerland as a live-in caregiver for Josef (André Jung), an aging businessman who has suffered a stroke. She feeds him, bathes him, and, on the sly, sleeps with him for extra cash. When Wanda gets pregnant, a bombshell to all, the already fraught dynamics between Josef, his wife (Marthe Keller, superb), and their failure-to-launch children turn frantic. Told in three acts, each staged in the same setting, Oberli’s wry, cunningly plotted satire—of family infighting, of class disparity—rewards by upping its narrative and emotional stakes at each unpredictable turn. The film had the distinction of being the first female-directed work to open the Zurich Film Festival. In German and Polish with English subtitles.

Most Popular International Narrative
Vancouver International Film Festival 2020

Nora Ephron Prize – Special Mention
Tribeca Film Festival 2020

Presented with the Consulate General of Switzerland in Vancouver.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, writer-director Bettina Oberli will no longer appear in person. She will instead join us remotely for a virtual Q&A following the screening.