THE PLACE OF NO WORDS
Philly native Mark Webber has crafted a reflective, adventurous meditation on childhood, family, and mortality with this unique fusion of fantasy and realist drama.
In the vein of acclaimed features like The End of Love and Flesh and Blood (PFF26), Mark Webber expands on what he describes as “reality cinema” with The Place of No Words, casting himself and members of his family to tell an intensely intimate, remarkably authentic story. The film shifts between two distinct realms, both of which build toward a powerful exploration of the bond between a father and his young son. In present-day Los Angeles, Mark and Teresa (Webber’s real wife Teresa Palmer) struggle to explain to their precocious, three-year-old son (the couple’s son Bodhi Palmer) that Mark is battling a terminal illness. Taking its cue from the overactive, ingeniously creative imagination of a child, the film switches between realism and whimsical fantasy. These elaborate adventure sequences, in which Bodhi and his “Viking daddy” encounter fairies, farting swamps, and laser gun-wielding robots, mirror the very real tribulations facing the family. Boosted by an adorable, emotionally open performance from Bodhi Palmer, The Place of No Words is a poignant and profoundly original journey into the unknown.
CAST: MARK WEBBER, TERESA PALMER, BODHI PALMER, NICOLE ELIZABETH BERGER
In Competition: Pinkenson Award
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