This week: following my previous post on the NFB‘s multi-platform project GDP: Measuring the Human Side of the Canadian Economic Crisis, here is an interview with Hélène Choquette, the project’s director and coordinator.
The above image is pulled from the excellent photo essay, Poetic Justice – one of Hélène’s own compositions – featuring the young slam poet Marjolaine Beauchamp.
1. What was the most difficult part or challenge of making this project? The bilingual nature, traversing the “solitudes”, working from coast to coast, or something else?
Bringing together a group of documentarians and photographers from one end of the country to the other for a common year-long project was a challenge in itself. We spent a week together in June 2009: I presented the goals of the project and each and every one could share their own creative point of view.
Over and above bilingualism, GDP puts forth universal stories of humanity. When we look at the origin of the movies Quebecquers are viewing, we can see they are not only viewing movies from here, and it is the same thing is all the provinces. The resilience and demands that a human being must confront when faced with crisis situations are surely universal.
We also discovered that web users recognize themselves in the stories of those people who work in sectors or industries similar to theirs, without regard for geographic location. As a result, the fact that the site is bilingual permits us to counter this linguistic divide.
I also want to share with you the qualities of the Web that we’ve since discovered. We have no restrictions of length, or number of episodes, or the pacing of putting them on line. We are simply following the natural rhythm of our stories, which is frankly marvellous.
2. I find the quality of the small films or reports very uneven. What do you think? Reasons?
GDP is a pilot project where trial and error have their place. When it’s a question of the creative process, this notion of trial and error is precious. It’s what challenged Fernand Dansereau when he discovered GDP last December. This possibility of playing outside a safe and secure box.
We are asking our directors to be one-man-orchestras. They accomplish all at the same time camerawork, sound recording and obviously, the directing. It’s extremely demanding. They are not all on the same level technically but despite some limitations, all end up delving into the universe of their protagonist.
Of course, some stories are stronger, but all have their relevance. Unequal quality is unfortunately often the lot of these group productions. However, because we’re on the Web, the user has the choice to watch only what interests them.
It’s astonishing to see that the most viewed films and essays are not always the best from a technical point or view, and even in terms of narration. That’s where we have a new gift from the Web. The user chooses what he or she pleases. As a documentarian, I would like to cause them to be interested in one story more than another, but I no longer have that privilege with this virtual audience.
3. There are some photographic essays that are particularly well done, do you agree? Reasons?
The photographic essays had as their first goal to document the impacts of the crisis in the far-flung regions. They are small, unique works, and so are a lot easier to watch as one-offs, while the narrative arc of the films evolved over one year, and take their meaning in time. They are a powerful artistic force.
The web effectively gives a new breath to certain mediums that have preceded it. Photography thus finds a new momentum, and the photographers have a chance to push their creativity more to the fore, and that is wonderful to me.
Thanks to Tobi Elliott for her help with this post.