Lina is 17 years old and lives in Toronto with her mother. For one week during the summer holidays she plans to visit her extended family in Modra, a small town in Slovakia. When Lina is dumped by her boyfriend she instead invites Leco, a cute boy from school.
Not long after arriving in Modra, Lina and Leco discover they have little in common. To make matters worse, Lina’s family assumes that a romance is afoot. So far from home, they are forced to confront one another leading to an explosion of repressed desire and confusion.
Featuring performances by newcomers Hallie Switzer and Alexander Gammal, MODRA is a journey into the heightened emotional chaos of two teenagers, a time when adulthood has not yet arrived, but childhood seems to have already long vanished.
I watched MODRA with a friend of mine who recently traveled back to Tehran for the first time since she immigrated to Canada along with her family 25 years ago. The tag line of the poster is “You have to leave home to find out where you’re from”, and I find that to be true. 1 in 5 people in Toronto are a first or second generation immigrant, everybody here either yearns for a “home” or needs to learn about it.
MODRA is a great film and a must watch on two different levels. First, the film itself which is a beautiful film with a touching story and great acting. Second, the way it was produced. MODRA is true definition and realization of an Indie Film and not what is advertised as “Indie Film” with all the stars and pretentious story, directing and music produced by “divisions” of big studios. Made by her own money, using friends and family as cast and crew, Ingrid Veninger (rightly nicknamed the DIY Queen of Canadian filmmaking), has made a true work of art through a very ethical approach to filmmaking: reducing the cost and increasing the artistic freedom.