Online cinema
Façade
Carol Nguyen
Four individuals discover that the main element that unites them is also the reason for their isolation.
This Home Is Not Empty
Carol Nguyen
A personal film questioning the ‘lies you tell yourself’ through a metaphorical lens.
Nika tsheka uiten mishkut (Ne le dis pas)
Jani Bellefleur-Kaltush
A life is forever changed by rumors in this raw and sincere portrayal of a woman struggling to make sense of her past.
Tshima it (Amen)
Jani Bellefleur-Kaltush
The Innu language is being lost. You don’t notice the strength of a loss until you stop and admire it.
Gros chat
Jani Bellefleur-Kaltush
Simeon Malec, host of Pakueshikan FM radio, welcomes Marie-Soleil Bellefleur on the air to discuss a new regulation concerning salmon nets. To their dismay, the duo is constantly interrupted by increasingly disturbing calls… It seems that a lion has been spotted in the community!
Zagros
Ariane Lorrain
Zagros follows the creation of hand-made carpets across the Zagros mountains in Western Iran, the land of Bakhtiaris. Wool is the guiding thread that traverses the worlds of weavers, dyers and shepherds, revealing nomadic and sedentary cultures through labour. Carpets weave the social fabric of their lives, giving it form as well as colour. The work is hard, and is gradually being devalued by the outside world – but their lives are redeemed because of the love they feel for their traditions.
Beyrouth! «À défaut d’être mort»
Tahani Rached
A gripping plea against war, a poignant testimony of Lebanese survivors, especially those who escaped the Sabra and Shatila massacres, this film will be of interest not only to those concerned about the situation in Lebanon, but also to all those who are concerned about the consequences of wars on civilian populations – the so-called collateral damage
Haïti (Québec)
Tahani Rached
Feature documentary on the Haitian community in Montreal. There are more than 40,000 Haitians living in Quebec, the vast majority of whom live on the island of Montreal, where they are often the target of prejudice, hostility and contempt. This film aims to catalyze our attention, by taking us to witness this cruel reality. Yet, if they left their homeland, it was to escape repression, poverty, and find a better life elsewhere – here – in Canada. Did they find it? Perhaps they have obtained work here and the right to speak and act freely. But are they understood, loved and respected for all that?
Haïti, Nous là! Nou La!
Tahani Rached
From Haiti, images and testimonies that describe the climate that reigned during the aborted elections of November 29, 1987. A powerful military police in the service of a despotic power terrorized an impoverished people that they wanted to keep submissive. The government had succeeded in ousting Duvalier. However, another dictatorship has taken over, and nothing has changed. However, both on the radio and in the streets, the voice of the Haitians was heard with strength and courage. But what if it was all a sham of democracy?
Médecins de coeur
Tahani Rached
Documentary on AIDS. A deeply human essay that gives another point of view: that of omnipractitioners, researchers, ethics specialists, philosophers and humanists. The disease is omnipresent but does not dominate the discussions. It serves as a revelation of the state of our society. A global approach, unprecedented, that goes far beyond life, far beyond death, far beyond AIDS.
Quatre femmes d’Égypte
Tahani Rached
How do we get along when we have everything to tear each other apart? This feature documentary attempts to answer this question through the friendship of four Egyptian women. Muslim, Christian or independent of any religious practice, their choices are at the antipodes. But these four friends refuse to demonize the other and to coexist in contempt; they listen to each other, they thwart each other without ever breaking the bond that unites them. And they laugh about it. Their confrontation redefines tolerance.
Bam Pay A! – Rends-moi mon pays!
Tahani Rached
In this feature documentary, a Haitian, exiled in Canada for twenty years, returns to his country after the departure of Jean-Claude Duvalier. Through his encounters with former friends, professors and colleagues, the face of this newfound Haiti gradually takes shape… Shot in Haiti after the fall of the Duvalier regime, this film, beyond a simple observation, shares with us the hopes of the Haitian people as well as their fears and uncertainties regarding this country that has yet to be built.
À travers chants
Tahani Rached
This documentary opens the door to the magnificent world of choral music, a world inhabited by exceptional beings with the capacity to experience joy from a single musical note. They sing anywhere and everywhere: at the wheel, in the shower, even in the kitchen. But above all, they sing together, men and women of all ages and various backgrounds, transformed by the radiant glory of song and united under the banner of L’Ensemble vocal d’Outremont.
Soraïda, une femme de Palestine
Tahani Rached
This feature-length film introduces viewers to Soraida, a Palestinian woman who lives in Ramallah. In her neighbourhood the women do not all wear veils, the men do not rattle off empty political slogans, the young people do not strap bombs to their belts, and the children play together like kids everywhere. Taking us into the daily existence of Soraida, her family and neighbours, the film compels us to ask fundamental questions about life in the Middle East.
Urgence! Deuxième souffle
Tahani Rached
Emergency! A Critical Situation explores the reality of an evening shift in the emergency room of the Centre hospitalier Pierre-Boucher and reveals the daily lives of the nurses who work in this essential service to the population. The camera follows in the footsteps of these professionals and reveals what they have to endure in order to cope with the demands of their work, which is sometimes carried out under intense stress, at the limit of what is bearable. From the triage room to the shock room, from the patients lined up in the corridor to the waiting room, they run to put out fires, often with only one priority: the preservation of life. It is urgent, urgent to listen to these women who resist and succeed, despite the difficulties, in keeping human dignity at the center of their concerns.
Au Chic Resto Pop
Tahani Rached
This feature-length film about poverty in Montreal is set against a soundtrack that includes rap, blues, rock, and country and western music. The film deals with the universal themes of hunger, hope and love and is named after an actual Montreal restaurant that’s been serving those in need for over 25 years.
The Lower Plateau
Liz Singh
A formerly successful Montreal musician trudges through the darkest days of winter, armed with a backpack full of weed and a repertoire of Alanis Morissette covers. Dogged by her ex-band mate’s new hit song, Jaine mourns the loss of her career, her band and her self respect. In the heart of the city’s independent music scene, the snow covered Plateau, Jaine encounters both allies and obstacles, including her best friend-slash-roommate Mari, her married ex-lover-slash-manager David, and her charming new customer-slash-potential love interest, Darren. When a glittering opportunity in the Emerald City of Toronto threatens to lure her into a shiny new life, Jaine struggles to sever old ties. Her ex wants her to move on, her mom wants her to move to Toronto, her best friend wants things to stay the same forever, and her clients just want weed, but Jaine has other plans.
Amoureuses
Louise Sigouin
For the first time, cloistered nuns agree to be filmed for a year in all aspects of their lives. The nuns of Berthierville, the only French-speaking community of Dominican nuns in North America for nearly a century, reveal themselves in a rare and unique documentary in which testimonies and exceptional archives are interwoven. We invite you on a spiritual journey to the heart of the monastery’s intimacy.
Sisters: Dream & Variations
Catherine Legault
Tyr and Jasa grew up in an artistic household where art was a way of life. Quirky and insightful sisters, Tyr is a musician and singer while Jasa is an interdisciplinary artist. Inspired by their great-grandmother’s recordings of Icelandic folk songs, they have developed artistic practices that draw on their colourful imaginations and Icelandic roots. Their exploration leads them to journey to Iceland for the first time and collaborate on a project that brings together their artistic disciplines and cultural heritage. In her debut feature film Sisters: Dream & Variations, Catherine Legault immerses us in an oneiric world made up of animation, performances and cinema vérité. More than a portrait, the film is an inspiring look at the artistic approach, its various forms and how it can simultaneously express and explore who we are.
Qu’un au revoir
Geneviève Poulette
In a letter, a grandfather confides in his grandson, recalling the Normandy landings in 1944.
Geek Girls
Gina Haraszti
Nerdy women – the “hidden half” of fan culture – open up about their lives in the world of conventions, video games, and other rife-with-misogyny pop culture touchstones. While geek communities have recently risen to prominence, very little attention is paid to geek women. Filmmaker Gina Hara, struggling with her own geek identity, explores the issue with a cast of women who live geek life up to the hilt: A feminist geek blogger, a convention-trotting cosplayer, a professional gamer, a video-game designer, and a NASA engineer. Through their personal experiences in the rich cultural explosion of nerdom, Geek Girls shows both the exhilaration of newfound community and the ennui of being ostracized. These women, striving in their respective professions and passions, face the cyberbullying, harassment, and sexism that permeate the culture and the industry at large. A rich conversation-starter for any class on Pop Culture and Feminism.
Your Place or Minecraft?
Gina Haraszti
Your Place or Minecraft? is a machinima documentary webseries that follows the virtual lives of a handful academics playing Minecraft together. An online adventure of fun, smarts and drama. The show takes place in the virtual land of the ‘mLab server,’ one of the most modded Minecraft servers in the world. But what makes it really special is that it is owned by academic game research centres of Concordia University where the players—students and professors—all work together in real life. Their real life friendships, objectives and conflicts result in fascinating, self-reflexive and sometimes explosive gameplay.
TacTic
Gina Haraszti
Do you really feel free? Have you ever had the feeling of running in circles or that you were being hunted? In which direction do you feel the world is chasing you? Tactic is an experimental video about escape and confrontation which could help to make clear whether you are chasing or being chased. Even if there is no escape, try to look around and while running, gain a view of the world!
Milcham
Gina Haraszti
Milcham is a Hebrew name of the Phoenix bird. The film tells the story of Mrs Endre Akarat (Ani) and her niece, the artist Nicole Zádor. Nicole came to Hungary for the first time in 2003. Her parents had escaped to the USA during the revolution in 1956. When she arrived in Hungary, Nicole started to search for her relatives but she only found a suitcase, full of memories from the second world war. The suitcase had belonged to her Aunt Ani, who had been deported to Auschwitz in 1944 when she was 31 years old. Anni’s suitcase was the only trace of Nicole’s heritage. This documentary reveals the path, laid by the photos and letters contained in the suitcase, that Nicole followed to discover her and her family’s hidden past.