Impacts in Documentary Film

Québec documentaries: when reality transcends fiction

*This article was originally published on the Le DevoirThis link will open in a new window website

Auteur documentaries play a crucial role in our society, and with the proliferation of viewing platforms, they are more accessible than ever. In the wake of the Montreal International Documentary Festival, we spoke with three leading figures of this essential branch of cinema, whose work has received support from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ).

 

Forcing us to look reality square in the eye by giving a voice to the marginalized, calling out injustice, or lifting the veil on itinerancy and abuse, documentary film in an incredible tool for social change. Yet, its artists spend much of their time flying under the radar. Far from the spotlight, they work in the shadows and deal with precarious budgets.

This is where the CALQ comes in. For over 25 years, this state-owned enterprise has supported the artistic efforts of local creators and provided exposure for their work. Its financial contribution enables auteur documentaries to gain exposure at home and internationally and to win prestigious prizes. This success can be explained by a rich cultural past related to the NFB, the great diversity of points of view offered by our artists, whether Quebecers born in the province, Indigenous peoples, or immigrants, the increased presence of women in directing and producing, and particularly innovative offerings from emerging creators. There are so many good reasons to explore this topical form of film, starting with three outstanding features, presented by their creators.

Errance sans retour (2020) - Director: Olivier Higgins, with Mélanie Carrier

This powerful film tells the story of 700,000 Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar for asylum in the Kutupalong camp, in Bangladesh. It is an open-air prison, which has the unfortunate reputation of being the most populated in the world. Hostages of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, the members of this persecuted Muslim community threatened with genocide show how they spend their days, buffeted between a past they can’t put behind them, a present of despair, and an uncertain future. Photographer Renaud Philippe, back from a stay at the camp, provided the idea for the film to Olivier Higgins and Mélanie Carrier, his spouse and partner in work. “His photos moved us; we proposed going back with him to Bangladesh,” the director explained. The experience made its mark. “What is happening there goes beyond injustice; it’s a human tragedy.”

To convey this distress, he takes the approach of poetry rather than reporting, letting the exceptionally powerful images do much of the talking. He believes that, without the invaluable contribution of the CALQ, this artistic effort probably would have been eliminated at editing. The winner of several prizes at the Festival de cinéma de la ville de Québec, the Festival de cinéma international en Acadie, and the DocsMx in Mexico, the documentary was selected during the Montréal International Documentary Festival. “We appreciate all that, but it’s hard to celebrate given the gravity of the subject matter. What we want more than anything is for this film to raise awareness.”

Sur les toits Havane (2018) - Réalisation : Pedro Ruiz

The glaring lack of housing in the downtown of the Cuban capital has given rise to the phenomenon of vertical migration: resilient citizens moving to the roofs, where they live hidden from view. With sumptuous cinematography and spellbinding music, Pedro Ruiz’s film depicts how they seek happiness between the ground and the sky, while enjoying a unique point of view on their city. After several trips to Havana, the documentary filmmaker comments on the ruses used by exiles from the countryside to inhabit the uninhabitable. “My film is an inside look at these people who live on the rooftops of the city. I move through the cracks and ruins of makeshift dwellings, as well as through their most intimate homes, that of their very being.” Pablo Ruiz’s unforgettable images transcend the beauty of Havana, revealing its fractures.

The creator, a graduate in social communication, was a photojournalist before dedicating himself to film. A lover of words, he refines his scripts by consulting with author Monique Proulx. “Every week, I speak to her for an hour, and every hour is worth a year of university!” Sur les toits Havane has made the rounds of the film planet and won the jury prize at the American Documentary Film Festival in Palm Springs, as well as a Genie Awards and a Prix Iris, among others. “I was born in Venezuela, and I now live in Québec, and I find it incredible that we can receive support to carry out projects we care about.

To get the film : mazonequebec.com This link will open in a new window

Le dernier souffle, au coeur de l'hôtel Dieu de Montréal (2017) - Director: Annabel Loyola

With this moving film, Annabel Loyola captures the final moments of Hôtel-Dieu, 375 years after it was founded by Jeanne Mance. She plunges into a world where life and death co-exist in close quarters and shows how the founding principles of this institution – compassion, devotion, humanity – transcended the centuries. The connecting thread: the pioneer Jeanne Mance, to whom the documentary filmmaker has already devoted two other productions. How was her interest in Jeanne Mance born? “In 2006, a conference for the 400^th anniversary of the birth of Jeanne Mance allowed me to discover that she not only founded Hôtel-Dieu, but she also co-founded Montréal with the funds from the institution. That’s what made me want to set out on her trail.”

The documentary filmmaker, who is originally from Langes, Jeanne Mance’s birthplace in Champagne, was stunned by the 2013 announcement that the institution would be sold once the patients were transferred to the CHUM. “It is the soul of Montréal. It’s where everything started! So, I decided to capture the living memory of this institution before it all came to a standstill.” From there was born Le dernier souffle, au coeur de l’Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal, which had a warm reception from Montréal to Shanghai. “I make Hôtel-Dieu a character: it is sick, we hear its pulse, it is still breathing. Its history permeates every room, because the spirit of Jeanne Mance, carried on by the sisters and her heirs, is still there.”

A window to the world

Three engaged artists, three unforgettable features: this is just an overview of Québec’s rich documentary heritage. Year after year, visionaries such as Kyoka Tsukamoto, Dominic Leclerc, and Thierry Loah and his virtual reality creations – not to mention Hubert Caron-Guay and Christian Fournier, who made their mark with remarkable films on the phenomenon of migration – won prestigious prizes and were featured in the program of the most prominent festivals in the world. CALQ is proud to have invested in their imagination and contributed to the creation of works that open us to the world and that enable the international community to discover ours.