Join Paris-born Vancouver-based writer/director (and recently appointed UBC film professor) Antoine Bourges for a screening of his estimable 2017 feature debut Fail to Appear.

Canadian new wave fixture Deragh Campbell (Anne at 13,000 ft, Never Eat Alone) shines as an inexperienced Toronto caseworker navigating an arduous and impersonal mental-health system. Still acclimating to her new job, Isolde (Campbell) is assigned to a despondent, middle-aged man awaiting a court hearing for petty theft (Nathan Roder). As Isolde grapples with inadequate resources, bureaucratic protocols, and professional insecurity, she struggles to foster a trusting bond with her client.

Bourges, returning to the frontlines of social safety net services previously explored in his Downtown Eastside trilogy, frames the quiet drama in measured, uninterrupted static shots.