Splinters

Two decades after his successful debut film, The Hanging Garden, Thom Fitzgerald revisits the relationship between sexual orientation and family life in a small Nova Scotia town.
Belle, a young independent woman with a rebellious streak, returns to her picturesque hometown following the sudden death of her father. She left home and headed to the big city after she’d come out as a lesbian and her mother, Nancy, subsequently disowned her. Belle neglects to mention that for the past two years, she’s in fact been dating a young man named Rob who shows up for a surprise visit. However, also popping up from the past is Belle’s ex-girlfriend who reawakens desires in Belle which she believed were long gone. Belle must now prepare to come out – yet again – as bisexual.
Splinters, based on a play by Lee-Anne Poole, is particularly moving thanks to the multilayered performances of Shelley Thompson and Sofia Banzhaf – two strong women who paint an intimate, yet complex portrait of a mother-daughter relationship.