Israeli filmmaker Guy Nattiv’s new film, The Liberation, had its world premiere on September 4 at the prestigious Telluride Film Festival in Colorado.
It will have its Canadian premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, which runs September 10-20.
The psychological drama, written by Nattiv and Noa Berman-Herzberg, was inspired by a true story from Nattiv’s family.
It centers on Rita, a character based on his Holocaust-survivor grandmother, who falls under the spell of a charismatic cult leader and leaves her family to join an isolated women’s commune.
When Rita’s daughters unexpectedly arrive to convince her to come home, they too are drawn into the cult’s manipulative and emotionally charged world, forcing Rita to choose between the new life she has embraced and the family she left behind.
Nattiv is no stranger to film awards and festivals
Nattiv’s previous films include Tatami, a portrait of female Iranian judokas at odds with the Iranian regime; Golda, a drama starring Helen Mirren about Golda Meir during the Yom Kippur War; and the feature-length movie about an American skinhead, Skin, starring Jamie Bell, and the Oscar-winning short film of the same name.
In The Liberation, Nattiv has assembled a high-profile cast. Carrie Coon (The White Lotus, The Gilded Age) stars as Rita, with Bella Ramsey (The Last of Us) and Odessa Young (Mothering Sunday) playing her daughters.
Lily James (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, and Cinderella) portrays the cult leader, while actor and playwright Tracy Letts, Coon’s husband in real life, plays her husband onscreen.
Jaime Ray Newman, Nattiv’s wife and longtime producing partner, also appears in the film.
The film, originally titled Harmony, was announced as part of Telluride’s lineup on September 3, in keeping with the festival’s tradition of keeping its tightly curated program secret until just before opening day.