Hot Docs

When eight-year-old Ola goes missing from her quiet village in rural Poland, the community is instantly abuzz with gossip and rumours. A cacophony of hearsay provides the soundtrack. Cutaway shots of insects and clouds stand as silent witnesses. Grief-stricken, mom Dorota remains convinced her daughter is alive despite growing evidence to the contrary. She places her faith in fortune tellers, divination and swinging pendulums, indomitable in her hope. Once the police identify a suspect and a confession is made, Dorota must face the likelihood that her little girl is gone for good. A Man Came and Took Her is an accomplished study in doubt. The unthinkable and unknowable details of Ola’s abduction are set against the innocence of an idyllic country setting, a place where these kinds of things just don’t happen. A grisly look at small town insularity, senseless crime, and the shady divide between probability and possibility. - Angie Driscoll

Co-presented with YouNxt and Ekran Polish Film Festival.