Festivals | Our suggestions for RIDM

Difficult to choose between 138 documentary films from 47 countries and broadcast in 12 days, as proposed by the 26^e edition of the Montreal International Documentary Meetings (RIDM)? The Press closely scrutinized the programming. Here are our suggestions.

Bye Bye Tiberias

In the opening film, Bye Bye Tiberias, director Lina Soualem paints the portrait of her mother, the Palestinian actress Hiam Abbass, who has a prolific career on both sides of the Atlantic. With his daughter, Hiam returns to his village in Galilee, an opportunity to see that family ties have resisted exile. The choice of film was made before the war between Israel and Hamas and presents another side of the region. “It’s a very touching, intimate film about the women in Lina’s family. The political question remains in the background,” says Marlene Edoyan, co-artistic director of the RIDM.

In competition

Divided into 5 sections, 47 films, 18 feature-length and 29 short and medium-length films, are entered in competition. The film Caiti Blues is notably entered in the national feature film competition with three other promising Quebec works. Claude Demers (The ladies in blue) propose Diary of a father, where authorship is explored through archive footage. After the exceptional Black sunsJulien Elie pushes his reflection on Mexico further with The White Guard. There we meet people with the courage to stand up against the colonialism devoid of humanity which colors part of Mexican society. Finally, in Má Sài Gòn (Mother Saigon), Khoa Lê follows in the footsteps of the LGBTQ+ community in Vietnam, her country of origin.

Live from Cannes, Berlin, Nyon…

A festival also finds its meaning in some gems and sure values ​​released in recent months at major events in the seventh art. From the official competition in Cannes, arrives Youth (Spring) by director Wang Bing, who turns his camera on young textile workers in China. Also presented in Cannes, the very musical Caiti Blues by Franco-Québécoise Justine Harbonnier is interested in the fate of a young singer seeking success in deep America. Left the Berlinale with two prizes in the Encounters section, The Echo by Tatiana Huezo narrates, with elements of fiction, the daily life of a remote village in Mexico where the children take care of the elders. We will also take a look at Pure Unknown by Valentina Cicogna and Mattia Colombo, film presented at Visions du Réel (Nyon) and dedicated to the fate of migrants in the Mediterranean.

Dance and choreography

Dance and choreography have long been part of the cultural history of Quebec, as evidenced by two RIDM documentaries exploring two distinct eras. In The Canadian sequelfilmmaker Olivier Godin, at Fantasia last summer with Ireland, blue notebook, films the work of choreographer Adam Kinner who highlights the famous ballet created in 1958 by Ludmilla Chiriaeff. A triple mise en abyme in which the actress Eve Duranceau participates. Furthermore, the filmmaker Karl Lemieux offers, with Somehow Continue, an extraordinary and fascinating formal and sonic exploration. His 16mm black and white film is devoted to choreographer Dana Gingras as the latter coordinates the preparation of an open-air show in a Mile End park.

From the Eastby Chantal Akerman

It was a time of passage and transition. Of uncertainty and worry. In Eastern Europe, at the beginning of the 1990s, the communist bloc collapsed. The inhabitants, subscribed to strict rules of life, suddenly experience more freedom. The economies of these countries are looking for benchmarks. But is everything suddenly turned upside down? With a 16mm camera, filmmaker Chantal Akerman crosses this suspended world, from East Germany at the end of summer to Russia in the depths of winter. Contemplative, From the East is woven with long, slow sequence shots, starting from the countryside and heading towards the cities and their long, paralyzed queues in gloomy settings. A unique screening of this film in restored version is included in the program.

ONF: at the heart of social concerns

Finally, the National Film Board (NFB) is offering four films where major social concerns resonate. Recently graduated in cinema, Romane Garant Chartrand presents Aftermath, an empathetic and pathos-free short film about the daily lives of residents in a home for abused women. In Koromousso – Big sister by Habibata Ouarme and Jim Donovan, Canadian women of African origin demonstrate with candor and abandon their desire to live and regain their bodies after excision. Toronto lawyer Mellisa Miller fiercely defends elderly people abused in Stolen time by Helene Klodawsky. While WaaPaKe (Tomorrow) by Jules Arita Koostachin is woven with moving testimonies from victims of residential schools. Despite the heaviness of the subjects, hope reigns everywhere.

The RIDM takes place from November 15 to 26.