Documentary Field Notes and Flashpoints

Last Friday night, Ole Gjerstad‘s and Joelie Sanguya‘s film Qimmit: A Clash of Two Truths premiered at the Cinéma Parallèle as part of the Présence autochtone aboriginal film festival. Co-produced by Piksuk Media Inc. and the National Film Board of Canada, the film won the Rigoberta Menchu Second Prize at the 20th First Peoples’ Festival [...]

I have heard many people say that multi-platform production is ‘just another way to tell a story.’ It sounds simple, clear-cut, reassuring. But is that it? I think not. There is a huge difference in the way you can communicate content with a multi-platform project. When you tell a linear story, you are grappling with [...]

I went to see Garry Beitel’s film The Socalled Movie when it premiered in Montreal a few days ago. A terrific evening: great film, great audience, all very Montreal. The post-screening Q & A was followed by a concert by the film’s main character, musician Socalled (aka Josh Dolgin) with his band. Socalled is a [...]

This is a still taken from an excellent interactive web documentary, Prison Valley by David Dufresne & Philippe Brault, produced by arte.tv and upian.com, in partnership with FranceInter, Libération.fr and Yahoo.com. The world of documentary production is in the midst of an upheaval, the likes of which have not been seen since the coming of [...]

There is a reason why I write this in English. Most francophones in Quebec who take an interest in cinema will already be aware of what I’m about to tell you. “There are adults who have antennas for the secret pain of our little ones – forms of suffering that are often taken to be [...]

Jocelyne Clarke qui contribue régulièrement à ce blogue nous parle d’une cinéaste très engagée, aussi basée à Montréal. À Vues d’Afrique cette année, j’ai vu un film important réalisé par Erica Pomerance, « Opération survie », sur un sujet pas très « sexy » mais o combien pertinent pour les femmes africaines, la fistule obstétrique. [...]

Monica and David I was at Hot Docs in Toronto, now one of the world’s leading documentary festivals, all of last week. I wasn’t able to see some of the films I really wanted to see because of meetings. But here are a few screening notes. The most surprising film I saw was Feathered Cocaine, [...]

I just saw the film The Informant! labeled a dark comedy, directed by Steven Soderbergh, starring Matt Damon, based on the 2000 non-fiction book by the same name by journalist Kurt Eichenwald. It tells the story of a bumbling whistleblower who takes on the management of the giant agribusiness corporation he works for, but who [...]

A couple of days ago, I had the opportunity to once again see Burma VJ, one of the most remarkable documentaries from last year. The film documents the use of small digital cameras by courageous Video Journalists – VJ’s – to reveal what goes on inside the Burmese dictatorship. With digital cameras and satellite uploads [...]

This is about a film which was nominated in three categories at the recent Rencontres internatinales du documentaire de Montreal, and which I saw at Cinema Parallèle the other day. Very much à propos, as the Copenhagen climate change conference enters the real negotiating stage. The film, H2Oil by Shannon Walsh (Loaded Pictures), is about [...]