Portage Films inc.

Émilie Serri was born in Canada. She had only visited Syria, her father’s country, a few times prior to the start of the civil war. Following her grandmother’s death, a desire grew within her to form a stronger connection to this country of which she knew so little. Serri studied old family photos and films, interviewed members of her family and other Syrians forced to flee their homeland, and in this documentary mixes her own memories with theirs. For some, Syria remains as alive and present as the scent of jasmine, while others' memories have already faded. They don’t usually talk about it, wishing to spare their children the traumas of the past: “They must look to the future.”

In her deeply personal debut feature, award-winning filmmaker Carol Nguyen charts her family’s first reunion since her uncle’s mysterious death. Travelling together to Vietnam, the family embarks on a revelatory—and at times uncanny—journey through intergenerational trauma and many-layered loss. With care and probing curiosity, Nguyen guides her loved ones as they navigate unsealed medical records and a decades-long silence, ultimately leading them back to each other. A metaphysical poem for complex mourning, Still Night, Burning House shows how storytelling can transform grief into collective healing.