Béthièle when she was five.
A documentary filmmaker in Canada today might be forgiven for being discouraged. The combined impact of the crisis of television, the more general economic crisis, and the Conservative government’s policies are having a devastating impact on our traditional sources of funding. There is definitely a ‘paradigm shift’ underway. New models of production and financing will surely emerge, but the transition is in many ways painful and the future uncertain. One way or the other I strongly believe there will still be a place and a role for documenting what goes on in society, and for making films which will contribute to public debate. And I would say, observing my own decision-making process so to speak, that I am in the process of finding new directions. In addition to one more traditional film project, I am beginning to explore multi-platform production ( more on that another day) and filmmaking for the web. In this process, I am learning a lot from my younger colleagues and not the least my interns.
I meant to participate in the short film competition about public service, organized by the CSN – deadline a few days ago. But my plans fell through due to the absolutely exceptional circumstance of no substantial snow fall in Montreal for almost a month. ( Last year we had four meters of snow !) Nonetheless, I extend my heartfelt thanks to the Société de Transport de Montréal and their employees who generously helped me prepare for a shoot which had to be put off to another year. On the other hand i will participate in the short film competition Roots, organized by RCI. This is a terrific idea, an initiative which will allow Canadian citizens from different background to tell their stories – or the stories of others, as you can already see on their web site. My contribution will be a video-letter to my daughter Béthièle who was born in Haiti and whose tenth birthday pretty much coincides with the competition deadline.
Thanks to Jessica Berglund for the help with this blog.
