Holding up a mirror to the world is what the International Documentary Meetings of Montreal have been doing for 25 years. This piece of history will be highlighted in particular by discussions between filmmakers of different generations and this anniversary edition, held from November 17 to 27, will also celebrate the 35th anniversary of the feminist collective Vidéo Femmes.
Posted at 10:45 a.m.
On paper, the next International Documentary Meetings of Montreal (RIDM) look like an edition like the others: more than 130 films from nearly 50 countries will occupy screens scattered in five cinemas downtown. The objective: to offer “a reflection of the state of the world”. But in 2022, with the pandemic losing steam, the organization intends to mark its 25 years of existence by emphasizing these meetings inscribed in its name.
Series Doc-to-doc is part of this component which will rely on discussions in front of an audience. The RIDM invited five local filmmakers who are showing a recent film this year to program a documentary work that has had an influence on their approach. In addition to coming to present their choice, they will discuss with the author(s) of the documentary they have selected.
“It’s really an intergenerational dialogue,” says Marc Gauthier, general manager of the RIDM. Simon Plouffe, Zaynê Akyol, Dominique Chaumont, Carlos Ferrand and Sofia Brockenshire are among the “programmer filmmakers” and Andrea Bussmann, Sylvain L’Espérance, Marie-Claude Loiselle, Jean-François Caissy, François Jacob and Robert Morin are the “inspirations”. .
In addition to a focus on Brazil, the RIDM will mark the 35th anniversary of Vidéo Femmes by presenting a selection of films made during the feminist collective’s first 15 years of existence. “It’s really a retrospective of outstanding works,” says Marc Gauthier. A nave… and its witches by Hélène Roy, We all do show business by Nicole Giguère and female AIDS by Lise Bonenfant are among the works from the catalog (more than 400 titles) of Video Femmes.
Deconstruct the gaze
The RIDM will open on November 17 with the screening of Rewind & Play by Alain Gomis, a “quite brilliant” film, in the opinion of Marc Gauthier, which tells the behind-the-scenes of the shooting, in 1969, of a French television program devoted to the jazz pianist Thelonius Monk. “The film only shows what happens on set and what is shown on screen. It can be two realities, two completely different universes, ”he specifies.
The show devoted to Monk lasted 30 minutes. However, it is about 2 h 30 of tapes that Alain Gomis discovered and used for his film which shows, according to him, the point of view of Monk. His calm and kindness in the face of the interviewer’s awkward questions, as well as the prejudices and ignorance they implied. Marc Gauthier goes further: “It’s really a colonialist view,” he says. It opens your eyes to how a black American person like Monk could be seen by another person who can be considered quite haughty. »
Several other films will deal with the relations between peoples or the struggles of different communities, including Anhell69 by Theo Montoya (Colombian queer youth), who is part of the official competition with among others One Take Grace (Lindiwe Matshikiza), Way Out Ahead Of Us (Rob Rice), 5 Dreamers and a Horse (Vahagn Khachatryan and Aren Malakyan), Eami (Paz Encina) and Dry Ground Burning (Joana Pimenta and Adirley Queiros).
The film I placed my mother by Denys Desjardins is part of the national competition devoted to feature films with Rojek by Zayne Akyol, Concrete Valley by Antoine Bourges, The Dependents by Sofia Brockenshire My Two Voices by Lina Rodríguez, Self Portrait by Joëlle Walinga and Geographies Of Solitude by Jacquelyn Mills.