Thursday, March 14 / 9:00 pm / Ottawa Art Gallery

Program: The Company We Keep, Driving Mum
Guest: Wojtek Jakubiec, director of The Company We Keep

This program is presented in partnership with the Embassy of Iceland and the Embassy of Estonia.

Feature presentation \

death \ family \ humour

Isolated in the far reaches of Iceland, Jon lives a simple life with his elderly mother. Despite his senior age, there are no signs of a life lived any differently; no spouse, children, or past career, just him and his mother. The pair earn their meagre living by knitting sweaters while they listen to taped radio broadcasts. Neither seem particularly happy with their arrangement, merely accepting their lot in life. After overbearing Mama, seemingly out of nowhere, makes her final wishes about what Jon should do after she passes, she does indeed die of natural causes. A devoted son, Jon sets off to adhere to her wishes by taking her body to her hometown for burial. And so begins a late-in-life coming-of-age road trip, wherein Jon, along with his loyal dog, will meet a curious variety of fellow travellers and contend with their fair share of mishaps- all while Mama continues to have her say. The Icelandic landscapes in crisp black and white provide the perfect backdrop, along with the award-winning discordant score, for the dark comedy. Winner of Best Film at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Hilmar Oddsson’s Driving Mum brings a distinctly Icelandic take to the road movie genre.

- Tish Black

Short film \

The Company We Keep

2023 / 5 minutes / Quebec
Director: Wojtek Jakubiec
Language: English

An intimate portrait of an artist and her dog.

 The Company We Keep provides a unique approach to the artist-as-subject genre of documentary, using lusciously stylized imagery to capture an artist in her private space as she contemplates the inspirations that inform her practice.

This program is presented in partnership with the Embassy of Iceland and the Embassy of Estonia.