Levers starts with a bang as a crowd gathers in an unnamed Manitoban city for the unveiling of a new sculpture. Later that evening, a large blast erupts and ushers in a day of darkness. Worldwide, people huddle around the warm glow of their television screens eagerly awaiting a new sun to rise. Determined to satiate her curiosity surrounding recent events, an intrepid civil servant undertakes an odyssey into a world shrouded in mystery.
Developed from a script of poetry, filmed on location throughout the Red River Valley on broken Bolex cameras, and mixing in-camera effects with a delicate eye for natural beauty, Rhayne Vermette’s sophomore feature conveys an ominous story through a potent mixture of bewitching fantasy and the idleness of the everyday.
Val Vint, Andrina Turenne, Will George
Canada
2025
In English and French with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Credits & Director
Producer
Rhayne Vermette, Oliver King, Charlene Moore
Screenwriter
Rhayne Vermette
Cinematography
Rhayne Vermette, Ryan Steel, Heidi Phillips, Kristiane Church
Animation
Elise Simard
Production Design
Janelle Tougas
Original Music
Bret Parenteau
Rhayne Vermette
Rhayne Vermette, born in Notre Dame de Lourdes, Manitoba, is a primarily self-taught artist and filmmaker whose work explores place, time, and rhythm through collage, photography, and analog film. Her films have screened internationally, including at TIFF, Berlinale, and New York Film Festival. In 2024, she was shortlisted for the Sobey Art Award. Her debut feature Ste. Anne (2021) received critical acclaim, winning TIFF’s Amplify Voices Award. Rhayne lives and works in Winnipeg.
Filmography: Ste. Anne (2021)
Photo by Calvin Thomas
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American Doctor
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