Wordfest & Calgary Public Library present Darkest Miriam with Martha Baillie

Wordfest & Calgary Public Library present Darkest Miriam with Martha Baillie

Directed by Naomi Jaye, executive produced by Charlie Kaufman, and adapted from Baillie’s Giller Prize nominated novel The Incident Report, the Hollywood Reporter describes Darkest Miriam as “a small wonder of a film, eloquent and captivating.” Says lead actor Britt Lower (Severance), “When I read this script, I knew Miriam was for me. When I met Naomi and Martha, I knew we were in the same creative family… I can’t wait for you to see this story about a librarian who falls in a hole and opens her heart.” Discover more about the transformation of the book to the film here. 

Following the screening, Martha Baillie will join Wordfest’s Creative Ringleader Shelley Youngblut for a conversation, which includes an audience Q&A. Copies of The Incident Report will be available for purchase, and Dandy Brewing Company will have libations. And yes, there will be complimentary popcorn, courtesy of Calgary Public Library.

We are grateful to Game Theory Films and Tremendous Films for making this special screening possible.

About Darkest Miriam

Nominated in Six Categories at the 2025 Canadian Screen Awards including Best Motion Picture

Haunted by her father’s death, Toronto librarian Miriam (Severance’s Britt Lower) maintains a quiet routine. When a burgeoning romance with an intriguing taxi driver (Tom Mercier, Synonyms) coincides with a series of unsettling letters at the library, Miriam’s carefully constructed world unravels. Directed by Naomi Jaye, executive produced by Charlie Kaufman, and adapted from Martha Baillie’s acclaimed novel The Incident Report, Darkest Miriam is a captivating blend of psychological drama, tender humour, and the surreal. Co-starring Sook Yin-Lee (Paying For It) and Jean Yoon (Kim’s Convenience), Darkest Miriam is a fresh and hauntingly poetic exploration of grief, isolation, and the unexpected paths to freedom.

Darkest Miriam premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival and has won numerous awards.

About Martha Baillie

Martha Baillie’s memoir There Is No Blue won the 2024 Hilary Weston Writer’s Trust Prize for Nonfiction.  Her novels include My Sister Esther, Madame Balashovskaya’s Apartment, The Shape I Gave You, the Giller Prize-nominated The Incident Report, The Search For Heinrich Schlögel, and If Clara. Her nonfiction book Sister Language, co-authored with her sister Christina Baillie, was nominated for the Trillium Prize. Baillie is a fellow of The Dora Maar House. She lives in Toronto.

Be Curiouser

• Watch: Darkest Miriam Official Trailer.
• Watch: Britt Lower and Naomi Jaye on Darkest Miriam. -Cineplex
• Listen: Britt Lower on Severance, the circus, and libraries. -Q with Tom Power
• Listen: Naomi Jaye: Darkest Miriam & the inner life of a public librarian. -Q with Tom Power
• Listen: What it means to call your loved one a ‘corpse.’ –Ideas with Nahlah Ayed
• Review: Britt Lower in a Marvel of a Drama About a Young Librarian’s Loves and Fears. -The Hollywood Reporter
• 8 Highlights of the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival. -Vogue
• Writers’ Trust Award winner Martha Baillie reflects on her memoir There Is No Blue. -The Globe and Mail