Tilda Swinton stars alongside her daughter, Honor Swinton Byrne – a revelation – in Joanna Hogg’s intimate semi-autobiographical drama, which won a Sundance Grand Jury Prize.

An aspiring filmmaker searching for her voice, Julie is a woman newly in love, falling for the rakish charms of older civil servant Anthony. But as their romance plays out, largely in her comfortable London flat in the early 1980s, emotions are laid bare and secrets are exposed – and Julie learns more than she ever expected about life, heartbreak and herself.

Perfectly cast – including the Swintons as mother and daughter, and a scene-stealing Richard Ayoade – The Souvenir is both unmistakably personal and tenderly universal. Joanna Hogg (Exhibition, MIFF 2014; Unrelated, MIFF 2008) has framed and told this deeply personal story with an exacting eye, going so far as to painstakingly recreate the flat she lived in during the era. Executive produced by Martin Scorsese, the film picked up the Sundance Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Dramatic category, and a sequel is already in the works.

“A magnificent self-portrait of love, loss and creative awakening … Honor Swinton Byrne gives a devastatingly naturalistic performance.” – IndieWire