La vie rêvée (Dream Life)

When Isabelle (Liliane Lemaître-Auger) starts working at a local film production company, she befriends the animator Virginie (Véronique Le Flaguais). During a sunny summer in Montréal, the two young women find their way through love, work, politics and the endless search for the ideal partner. Gradually, they discover that reality rarely lives up to their dreams. La vie rêvée is a tender portrait of female friendship and youthful ideals.

Rather than telling a conventional story, director Mireille Dansereau captures a time and a place with exceptional warmth and intimacy. The grainy 16mm footage gives the film the feel of an intimate home movie, whilst the playful, collage-like editing constantly shifts between dream and reality. Often compared to the work of Agnès Varda, La vie rêvée is both a milestone in Canadian cinema – the first feature film directed by a woman in Québec – and a hidden gem waiting to be rediscovered.

Few bands capture the film’s dreamy atmosphere quite as well as múm. Since their formation in Reykjavík in the late 1990s, the ever-evolving collective has built a unique musical universe in which gentle melodies, delicate vocals, glitch electronica, field recordings and acoustic instruments blend seamlessly. With eight acclaimed albums, countless collaborations and music for film and theatre, múm have become one of Iceland’s most important and beloved bands.

For this special performance, the group will be joined by the acclaimed composer and cellist Hildur Guðnadóttir, who has maintained a close artistic relationship with múm since their early years. Guðnadóttir has since become one of the leading film composers of her generation, having won an Oscar, a Grammy, a Golden Globe and an Emmy for her music for Joker and Chernobyl, alongside highly acclaimed soundtracks for films such as TÁR and Sicario: Day of the Soldado.

Exclusively for Videodroom, múm and Hildur Guðnadóttir bring this extraordinary film to life with a completely new live soundtrack.