Tag: film

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Ar(t)chives Arts

The displacement and forced assimilation of thousands of children in North America: Daughter of a Lost Bird film review

Filmmaker Brooke Swaney-Perpion Meg Acosta/ @city__ghost

The film explores the ongoing cultural genocide of Indigenous peoples specifically through adoption policies

The feature documentary Daughter of a Lost Bird, directed by Brooke Pepion Swaney,  centers the story of Kendra Potter as she reconnects with her biological mother. Growing up in a white family with a white culture, she knew she was adopted, but it was only later in life that she learned she had native blood. 

Daughter of a Lost Bird is Swaney’s first feature documentary. She is from the Blackfeet nation, which was cut off from the border forming process. Swaney is most known for helping produce the first season of the All My Relations podcast, along with Matika Wilbur and Adrienne Keene. 

The term “Lost Bird” refers to native children that were adopted out of their nations, mostly by force, and never returned.

This film explores Potter’s search for her mother, understanding the forced adoption of her mother, and coming to terms that she is a direct product of forced assimilation in the ongoing cultural genocide against Indigenous peoples across Canada and the US. 

“When someone says you are Lummi, I can’t wrap my mind around that, I don’t know what that means,” states April, Kendra’s mother in the film. She was raised far from her nation, so though she finds identity in being Lummi she cannot quite comprehend it. 

The film took seven years to make, between concretely finding Potter’s mother April, breaks for mental health, and the actual shooting of the film. 

Though the film is set in what is known as the US, adoption policies and methods of Indigenous erasure were very similar to those that transpire in Canada. 

The Q&A was composed of the Swaney and Na’kuset. Na’kuset has been the executive director of the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal since 1999, and is from Saskatchewan, Treaty 6. 

Q&A of Brooke Swaney Pepion and Na’kuset, MEG ACOSTA/@city__ghost)

“Because it’s an American film, the assimilation policy that they had was named differently than it is in Canada, but the harm is the same,” Na’kuset noted. 

The assimilation of Indigenous peoples in Canada was known under the name of the Adopt Indian and Métis Project (AIM) project. On record, there were 20,000 children displaced, but as noted by Na’kuset, “the numbers are larger than that.” 

Swaney and Potter met when Potter was cast as an actress in one of Swaney’s films. It was through learning more about her adoption story and the policies of forced assimilation that Swaney wanted to produce a documentary film about Potter’s life. 

It is noticeable that Potter is a capable actress in certain scenes, as she is very comfortable as she stares directly at the camera. This has the effect that the audience almost feels like she is seeing past the camera, past the spectators, as if daring the audience to judge her.  

It’s in moments of reunification with her mom that the audience feels they are seeing a real version of Potter. She is not as aware of the camera in scenes reuniting with family members she’s meeting for the first time. 

When moving back to Montana after finishing her studies in New York, the filmmaker was able to reconnect with her family. 

“My mom and I grew up off-reservation, it was nice to come home, but also complicated; I have family members who are struggling with addiction, and I have nieces and nephews who are out there in foster care.”

Moving back to Montana let Swaney gain the knowledge that, “all of these topics are close to every Indigenous person, it’s not one’s own personal experience.” It’s a series of colonial policies that have constantly tried to erase and assimilate Indigenous folks. 

This film served to raise awareness about adoption programs in the US, and their direct impact on people’s identities and cultural losses. 

Crowd at Cinema Politica screening, DAVID BEAUDOIN/ @3.2.888

“Where I feel like there’s a huge difference is between our societies, is the native voices are so much more present and louder in Canada than in the States.”

Swaney’s commentary throughout the film provides context to the story. She comments on her discomfort at times of almost projecting what she wants Potter to feel with her mother. She ends the film by stating that Daughter of a Lost Bird is ultimately Potter’s story. 

In her closing notes, Na’kuset discusses one of the projects Native Montreal is working on. It’s a new project for housing women that seeks to offer supportive housing. In relating it to the film, she says: 

“This is how we get our children back.” By supporting native women who need housing, there is the possibility to return forcibly adopted children to their families and cultures. 

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Arts

Canadian whiteness pervades the Montreal International Black Film Festival

INSIDE THE 2022 MONTREAL INTERNATIONAL BLACK FILM FESTIVAL, CATHERINE REYNOLDS/THE CONCORDIAN

Racism in the Great White North just isn’t worth denouncing for those who chose the opening movie of this year’s Festival

The opening of the Montreal International Black Film Festival with the screening of Lovely Jackson on Sept. 20 was nothing less than a pure expression of devious Canadian whiteness. 

Yes, there is such a thing.

A lot of Canadian identity is predicated on not being American. So when it comes to racism, the white Canadian rhetoric is that it’s simply “not as bad as it is in the States.” 

The result is a local form of whiteness that pushes Euro-Canadians to decry racial violence in the United States but harshly deny its existence in their own country, so as to preserve the myth of white innocence, of non-American superiority. I don’t know any Black person in Canada who hasn’t been humiliated by these seemingly contradictory reactions that actually go hand in hand. 

Yes, we are familiar with Canadian whiteness.

I expected more from the Montreal Black Film Festival because it established multiple events and opportunities around the theme of Being Black in Canada. I thus decided to give Lovely Jackson a chance despite the fact that it’s produced by a white male  — first red flag — , and was suspiciously acclaimed by a white Québécois executive of the Festival (who declared in his speech that it was “just so beautiful”) — second red flag.

The movie tells the story of Rickey Jones, an African American man who spent 39 years on death row in Cleveland, Ohio for the murder of a white man that he did not commit. Two white police officers wrongfully convicted him at age 18 by forcing a 12-year-old Black boy — the case’s sole eyewitness — to write a false statement “proving” his guilt.

He was released in 2014 at age 57, years after the Ohio Innocence Project started investigating his case.

As my heart juggled between rage, sadness and admiration for Jackson who boldly shared his incredible journey towards healing and happiness, I grew more and more disgusted at producer Matt Waldeck who carefully washed away the blood off the white criminals’ hands.

In fact, the Festival’s choice of this movie is far more than just disrespectful in the Canadian context as another strategic focus on U.S. racism that overshadows local tyranny. It’s also full of white saviourism. 

That is very clear: all white characters are angels. More blame is put on the poor child who bore the traumatic burden of the officers’ illegal manipulation and coercion for decades than on the policemen responsible for Jackson’s misery. 

The movie includes detailed follow-ups on the life and testimonies of the former, but the latter are completely erased from the story, despite Jackson implying the full extent of their guilt in one brief clip. 

This point-of-view remains unexplored. However, the white prosecutor who was the director of the Ohio Innocence Project gets heroic attention — never mind the fact that he admitted to believing all prisoners were evil until the project’s creator went on sabbatical leave, forcing him into the job.

The movie does not name “racism” or the prison-industrial complex, let alone the roots of the colonial capitalist system that rips families apart and instills planned suffering into Black people’s existence.

I went from being frustrated to holding back tears at the cruelty of this world, exhausted by Waldeck’s distortion of reality that was further empowered by the Canadian whiteness of the Festival.

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Arts

Young Quebecois creators struggle to find funding

Louanne Caron/Léo au féminin

Finding alternative means of fundings in the cinema industry crucial more than ever before

As new cohorts of young creatives, freshly graduated from CEGEPs and universities are developing their own audiovisual works, the world of independent cinema is undergoing a revolution, both creatively and technologically.

New faces are entering the business with the modernized technologies and social networks that have revolutionized the distribution and communication around films and series. One of the challenges that awaits these young people in the film industry, however, is the question of funding.  

When Catherine Quesnel read the script for what was supposed to be a short film sent to her by her friend and classmate Eléonore Delvaux-Beaudoin, she decided to co-direct it with her in the form of a mini web series. One of the obstacles she quickly discovered was the issue of production.

While the inspiration to write and create was not lacking for these two CEGEP students, the question quickly arose as to how they would finance their project.

The duo asked for help from their classmates Lu Sergei Denaud and Léa Desjardins, who became producers on the project. Soon, they were joined by other fellow students to create a production team for the web series Léo au féminin. 

They explained that the first thing that was on their mind when starting was to clearly define how they were going to merge the artistic side with the production side. 

“It was always about constantly defining, ‘How many people do we need? What are all the steps? This takes money, how do we find it?’ ” explained Desjardins. “There is no set rule to follow, you have to constantly be looking, searching for the information.”

The team already had some technical notions of organization and production that they had learned in school during their film classes. 

“We tried to give ourselves a good structure, an organization as soon as we started the pre-production and then we had to ask ourselves the question of how to find funding in Quebec,” said Denaud.

The team first looked at funding opportunities throughout Quebec’s state-funded organizations for the development of arts and culture, such as the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC).

“At the beginning we thought we would go for subsidies, but it was not easy,” said Desjardins. SODEC does offer a funding program for people starting out in the industry. 

However, it proved to be too complicated for the young team to apply for financial aid: “It’s very complicated: you must fill out a lot of documents, you must know which team you have, and you must have UDA members for the actors,” explained Desjardins.

L’Union des artistes (UDA) is a professional union tasked with representing artists who speak French, or any language other than English within Canada.  

However, the team had decided to hire people from their network of young actors and directors to work on the series. None of them had a foot in the door yet and were by no means already unionized. The team’s inexperience was therefore the defining factor that did not make them eligible for the grant.

The production team decided to register the series as an “amateur” not-for-profit production and not a “professional” one, which wouldn’t allow them to ask for subsidies but would give them more freedom.

“We decided to be amateur officially, but as professional as possible in practice. We wanted to give it all anyway,” said Desjardins. Denaud also added that this gave them more freedom on shooting, and release dates.

This freedom, they discovered, was also obtained from the rejections they had received from numerous production companies. This allowed them to stay independent and make the series the way they wanted, without any obligations from a company. 

Nonetheless, from these rejections came the precious help of a producer who decided to be their mentor. They also found the help of a professional film editor who was willing to edit the series voluntarily. 

Jonathan Beaulieu-Cyr, a young independent producer and director from Montreal, explained that it is complicated to find funding for a project as a fresh graduate starting out in the industry. 

“Organizations such as SODEC and Telefilms give generous amounts of money, but you must be very advanced in your career,” said  Beaulieu-Cyr. “I know that I am very lucky personally to be able to make a living exclusively from film, it is very rare.”

Wiebke von Carolsfeld, a film director, writer, editor, and a teacher at Concordia’s Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema agreed with Beaulieu-Cyr.

“You have to pay up before you get paid and that can drag on forever,” she said. “It does put an interesting dilemma in the beginning, for example, how are you going to get experience to get hired?” 

Von Carolsfeld added that she believes that the most important thing for young creatives is mentorship and access to professionals in the field who are willing to offer their help to navigate the complicated industry.  

This is exactly what allowed the team of Léo au féminin to produce the series. Quesnel explained how creating connections worked to their advantage.  

Louanne Caron/Léo au féminin

“For example, we had a friend who was going to be one of our actors who had friends who did lighting,” said Quesnel. “And those people rented a studio so connecting with them allowed us to have some kind of headquarters and people that were good with lighting and  good with equipment.” 

Through a call for donations on GoFundMe, the team managed to raise funds, gather a social media following in the process and develop a solid network of friends, classmates, and people in the industry that finally led to the success of their project.

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Music

Cynically ranking the 2022 Oscars Best Original Song nominees

 It’s the same thing every year. The best original songs aren’t ever original and the winners never deserve their plaudits. What will the Oscars have the Twitter finger warriors mad about this year?

When springtime creeps up, one event captivates audiences like no other. It’s the talk of the town and dominates the internet — it even turns the common people who usually have no interest in films into armchair experts. The Oscars, otherwise known as a party for the most important people on Earth, is set to take place this month on March 27.

As we know, the Oscars are historically racist, historically sexist, and historically full of controversy. In 2015, the award show was embroiled in the #OscarsSoWhite controversy because of its lack of inclusivity. In 2016, all 20 of the nominated actors were white and just two years ago, no female directors were nominated for best director despite their outstanding work. I haven’t even mentioned the pay gap in the industry yet either. People are fed up and if we’re being honest, did anybody even watch last year’s event? Who won best original song? 

Gone are the days of Barbra Streisand and Lionel Richie, and in are the Gagas and H.E.R.s of the world. If this was high school, they’d probably win prom king and queen everytime. Now, I’m not saying that all of this year’s scores are terrible or even that the quality of music has regressed. That wouldn’t be fair; but the Oscars have never been about who won an award but rather, who beat who in the process.

Although the Oscars are a predominantly film-centered award show, music and film go hand in hand. I personally find this year’s best original song nominees particularly disappointing. “Be Alive” from King Richard, “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto, “Down To Joy” from Belfast, “No Time To Die” from No Time to Die and “Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days are the songs. Here are my honest opinions on each one, ranked from least to most deserving to win in ascending order. 

5. “Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_sSxlIjDzE

“Somehow You Do,” written by Diane Warren and sung by Reba McEntire, speaks about drug addiction, abandonment and the hardships of a seemingly unwinnable battle. Beautifully produced and classic in its slow acoustic progression, Warren, for whom this is her 13th Oscar nomination in this category, knocks the feel of this song out of the park: solitude and uncertainty. That being said, what the song has in vibe, it loses in an overly repetitive chorus and cheesy lyrics. It’s always best to avoid sayings a five year old can come up with. Phrases such as “When you think that the mountain’s too high / And the ocean’s too wide, you’ll never get through / Somehow you do,” are just so incredibly cheesy and unoriginal. It’s like saying that the sun is too bright or the fog is too thick. Thank you Captain Obvious. “Somehow You Do” is a song that reminds me of a new job. The first day is amazing, the first week is great and by the end of the month, you want to get the hell out of there. For a four-minute song about coping with drugs, I would have loved to hear an explosive climax. A moment of triumph, a cry in C5, a moment where we can all let out our anguish and let the music consume us. Without it, this song just doesn’t have enough to be in winning conversations.  

4. “No Time To Die” from No Time to Die

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BboMpayJomw

“No Time To Die” is a song many people think would’ve won last year, had the Bond movie been released on time. So it must be surprising that I have it this low. In all honesty, this isn’t a bad song. But it isn’t amazing and it isn’t something we’ve never heard before. Sorry Billie, but many of your songs kind of sound the same. Again, the vibe is immaculate and while I just hated Billie’s voice, she makes a damn good Bond song. I would have just liked for another four-minute song to have more of a climax; one carried by the vocals rather than by the sounds. A faster tempo and a more intricate bass riff would have helped too. A beautiful glimpse of that can be heard at around the 3:30 mark but that’s it. It’s incomparable to past winner “Skyfall” in my opinion. 

3.”Down to Joy” from Belfast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6R_flCWidw

Belfast is a movie heavily inspired by the childhood of the director Kenneth Branagh during the times of the Troubles in Ireland. Without getting too historical, in many facets, this film and this song can be seen as an anti-war cry. The relevance is undeniable to the current political situation in Ukraine right now. Despite having a sad background, “Down to Joy” is upbeat, youthful, carefree, and bittersweet. Sadly, it is also a song I can plug into the background of about thirty different end credit sequences. It sounds like an all purpose cleanser for my face, body, hair and mouth. A jack of all trades but a master of none.  For a song about facing immense struggles, fighting for your lives, “Down to Joy” lacks what The Cranberries did when they came out with “Zombie.”  A song like that was just what the world needed. This is purely my bias but we can’t even compare the two.

2. “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUGtyj5QlEM

“Dos Oruguitas” roughly translates to “Two Caterpillars.” Listening to this song is like listening to a movie, or reading a book through hearing. Disney songs are always catchy and this song is the definition of an earworm. Singer Sebastián Yatras does an incredible job manipulating his voice. We go from anxiety and sadness to defiance and pride. This rollercoaster of a song takes some getting used to. The first listen is like “ok,” the second listen is “this is kinda good,” and after the third listen, you’re crying your eyes out. The progression, the pre-chorus are all just leading up to what in the end feels like a big hug after a tough day. If it weren’t for the first song on the list, “Dos Oruguitas” would have been my pick for number one. 

1.“Be Alive” from King Richard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wYdZi3tFJ4

King Richard is the story of Venus and Serena Williams and their father Richard Williams. From a struggling neighborhood in California, with willpower and determination, Williams single-handedly pushed and clawed his daughters to stardom. “Be Alive,” performed by Beyoncé, is an anthem for all of those who take inspiration from their story and all those struggling within their own dreams. The voice, powerful. The lyrics, powerful. The imagery, powerful. Beyoncé starts us off with a big slap in the face. Her tone and the projection of her vocals takes us on a journey like only she can. The song is perfect for when you’re in the gym working out or just in need of some acknowledgement. What I take from this song is that no matter what happens, I’m doing great. There’s somebody out there who believes in me and that all my hard work will eventually pay off. The song really lives up to its name. After listening, you really do feel so grateful to be alive. 

In the end, this list is subjective and by no way is this even an accurate attempt at projecting the eventual winners. All the artists did an amazing job and their passion really shone through. Something beautiful happens when movies and music combine and it’s a match made in heaven. 

Always take everything written here with a grain of salt. If I write a book and a hundred people read it, it’s as if I wrote one hundred different books. Everyone has a different opinion and is going to feel a different way. This goes without saying for literature, art, and especially music. Your opinions are valid. These are just mine. 

 

Graphic by Taylor Reddam

 

[spotifyplaybutton play=”https://open.spotify.com/track/1RI4YQVFh7onQD07QuL8ND?si=fb92bf1faa1c458e”]

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Arts

Art Event Roundup: March

By Ashley Fish-Robertson & Veronique Morin

Spend some time this month treating yourself to a variety of exhibitions, performances, and more  

There’s perhaps no better way to usher in spring than with some visits to Montreal’s cultural venues. This month offers events that will especially appeal to the Concordia community. 

Film: 

  • FASA’s Black Cinema Club will be presenting movie screenings for four weeks as part of their Black History Semester programming. The first screening will be of Ganja and Hess, and will take place on March 16 at 6 p.m. Location: 1515 Saint-Catherine St W, EV 1.615.

Exhibitions:

  • The MAI will be presenting Nayla Dabaji’s latest exhibition titled documentaire en dérive from March 16 until April 16. Dabaji’s work centres on themes of migration, temporality, and more. Location: 3680 Jeanne-Mance St., suite 103.  

 

  • A gallery tour and discussion of Manidoowegin with artist Maria Hupfield will take place from March 17 to 19 as part of Concordia’s Conversations in Contemporary Art. Location: 5455 De Gaspé Ave. in room 110. 

 

  • Nicolas Party’s latest exhibition Mauve Twilight is on display at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts until Oct. 16. This exhibition highlights Party’s signature whimsical style, offering over 100 works painted in saturated colours. Tickets can be purchased through the MMFA’s website. 

Dance: 

  • Agora will be presenting NIGHTLIGHT, a virtual dance show by George Stamos from March 11 to 20. Tickets can be purchased through the venue’s website. 

Workshops: 

  • Concordia’s Wellness Ambassadors and the Department of Creative Art Therapies will be virtually presenting The “art” of self-care series. Students will be afforded the opportunity to hop on Zoom and create art in a welcoming virtual environment. This event takes place every Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. until April 12. The link for this series can be found on Concordia’s webpage. 

Theatre: 

  • RAGE – ORESTEIA REVISITED, written by Aeschylus, is a collage performance with an ensemble of Concordia students that will explore rage and revenge. This event will take place from March 16 to 19 at the D.B. Clarke Theatre. Location: 1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W.

 

Visuals courtesy James Fay

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Arts

Art event roundup: February

By Véronique Morin and Ashley Fish-Robertson

Shake off those winter blues with some exciting new art events this month

With midterm season looming in the (very) near future, you might be tempted to make the most of any last-minute free time you have before hitting the books. Here are some noteworthy events that will give you a hearty dose of inspiration needed to ace your assignments. 

In-person exhibitions

  • House of Skin: Artists Sabrina Ratté and Roger Tellier-Craig present an exhibition inspired by David Cronenberg’s films at La Cinémathèque québécoise. Located at  335 De Maisonneuve Blvd. E until March 20.
  • Jouer avec le temps: Photography exhibit featuring circus artists presented at TOHU. Located at 2345 Jarry St. E until March 13. 
  • An Exhibition by Marven Clerveau: Visions Hip-Hop QC: Exhibition of works by painter Marven Clerveau which gives an overview of Quebec’s main hip hop figures at the Phi Centre. Located at 315 Saint-Paul St. W until March 26.
  • Lashing Skies : Audio experience presenting five original stories related to events in New York City on 9/11. Located at the Phi Centre from Feb. 17 to May 15.
  • The Disintegration Loops: Living Sound presents this immersive installation featuring works from composer William Basinski. Located at the Phi Centre from Feb. 17 to May 15.
  • JJ Levine – Queer Photographs : Artist JJ Levine presents his photography work at the McCord Museum this month. The museum will also host an online opening of the show on Feb. 16. Located at 690 Sherbrooke St. W from Feb. 18 to Sept. 18.

Film: 

  • NFB Film Festival: Several special events are underway courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada to celebrate Black History Month, including screenings and Q&A sessions. This year’s theme is centred around Black Health and Wellness. 
  • Silver Screen Sundays: Cinéma du Musée and The Film Society will return with their biweekly screenings of classic films. They will be showing the cult classic Casablanca on Feb. 20.

Dance:

  • 18 P_R_A_C_T_I_C_E_S: Artist and performer Andrew Turner presents a 60-minute show that offers a hearty dose of humour, moments of absurdity, and a sharp tone. Presented at La Chappelle Scènes Contemporaines, located at 3700 St-Dominique St. from Feb. 16 to 19.
  • Marie-Pascale Bélanger + Jordan Brown: This double program features the work of Bélanger, inspired by tales she was told as a child, and Brown’s choreography, structured around wool and knitting. Presented by Tangente Danse at Edifice Wilder – Espace danse, located at 1435 De Bleury St. from Feb. 19 to 22.

 

Visual courtesy Galerie Robertson Arès

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Arts

Art Event Roundup: February

By Véronique Morin and Ashley Fish-Robertson

Make the most of this dreary month by treating yourself to some well-deserved art outings. Feeling a bit lazy? No problem, we’ve also got some virtual events to feed your creative soul!

In-person exhibitions:

  • House of Skin: Artists Sabrina Ratté and Roger Tellier-Craig present an exhibition inspired by David Cronenberg’s films at La Cinémathèque québécoise. Located at  335 De Maisonneuve Blvd. E until March 20.
  • The Sum of Our Shared Selves: Concordia’s FOFA gallery presents its annual undergraduate student exhibition which showcases the work of 27 total artists. Located at 1515 Ste-Catherine St. W. EV 1-715 until Feb. 25.
  • Techno//Mysticism: Exhibition featuring works that explore reflections on new technologies, and is art gallery Eastern Bloc’s first show in their new space. Located at 53 Louvain St. W. until Feb. 26. 
  • Jouer avec le temps: Photography exhibit featuring circus artists presented at TOHU. Located at 2345 Jarry St. E. until March 13. 
  • les liens: Exhibition organized by dance artist Thierry Huard on the theme of power in relationships. The event, presented at the MAI (Montréal Arts Interculturels), is part of the Queer Performance Camp. Located at 3680 Jeanne-Mance St. until Feb. 26.
  • Just Semantics: Group exhibition featuring work that highlights everyday objects that have been stripped of their banality. Located at 1490 Sherbrooke W. until Feb. 11.
  • An Exhibition by Marven Clerveau: Visions Hip-Hop QC: Exhibition of works by painter Marven Clerveau which gives an overview of Quebec’s main hip hop figures at Phi Centre. Located at 315 Saint-Paul Street W. from Feb. 11 to March 26.

Film:

  • NFB Film Festival: Several special events are underway courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada to celebrate Black History Month, including screenings and Q&A sessions. This year’s theme is centered around Black Health and Wellness. 
  • Massimadi: The renowned Afroqueer arts and film festival returns for its 14th edition. Free online events will take place from Feb. 11 to March 11. 

Dance:  

  • 18 P_R_A_C_T_I_C_E_S: Artist and performer Andrew Turner presents a 60-minute show that offers a hearty dose of humour, moments of absurdity, and a sharp tone. Presented at La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines, located at 3700 Saint-Dominique St. from Feb. 16 to 19.

 

Visual courtesy of Netflix (press)

 

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Arts

Art events roundup: fifth wave edition

By Véronique Morin & Ashley Fish-Robertson

This month’s roundup offers options for both virtual and in-person events

With Quebec’s everchanging COVID-19 restrictions due to the current surge in Omicron cases, many of the city’s art events have either been postponed or have transitioned to a virtual format. Here are several events taking place this month, both in-person and online.

Virtual events

Theatre:

  •  Manuel de la vie sauvage: Theatre piece inspired by the reality of young entrepreneurs. The work is based on the novel of the same name by Jean-Philippe Baril Guérard. Available through Duceppe Theatre’s website until March 30.
  • L’amour est un dumpling: Theatre creation by Mathieu Quesnel and Nathalie Doummar that features reflections on life goals and ambitions. Available through Duceppe Theatre’s website until March 30.

Film:

  • Festival Plein(s) Écran(s): Online film festival presenting four or more different short films every day on their website until Jan. 22.
  • C.R.A.Z.Y. (new restored edition): The cult film by Jean-Marc Vallée is available to rent on Cinéma Public’s website. While the theatre is closed, their website features a small selection of films available to watch from home for a small fee.
  • The Lonely Battle of Thomas Reid: Cinema Politica also has a selection of films to watch from home, like this film from filmmaker Feargal Ward.

Other:

  • Saturday Salon: The Centaur Theatre Company will host an online conversation with the artists behind Talking Treaties: Tiohtià:ke as part of their Artistic Diversity Discussion. The event is accessible through their Facebook or YouTube page on Jan. 22 at 2 p.m.
  • Writers Read – Joy Priest: A reading, conversation and audience Q&A with the author of Horsepower. On Jan. 19 at 10:30 a.m.

In-person exhibitions:

    • Terror Contagion: The MAC’s current exhibition based on the research of the Forensic Architecture group. Located at 1 Place Ville Marie until April 18.
    • Situated Gazes: Conceptual art group exhibition at Centre des arts actuels Skol. Located at 372 Sainte-Catherine St. W until Feb. 19.
    • soothsay: Exhibition featuring sculptures by artist Gabi Dao and paintings by geetha thurairajah at Centre Clark. Located at 5455 de Gaspé Ave. until  Feb. 12.
    • We move, just shifting: Concordia graduate Brandon Brookbank presents this photo exhibition at Centre Clark. Presented until Feb. 12.
    • Alambics: Art Mȗr will be presenting the work of Ginette Legaré. This exhibition will explore the past lives of everyday objects and consider their potential when repurposed as art materials. Located at 5826 St-Hubert St. from Jan. 15 to Feb. 26.

 

Graphic by James Fay

 

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Arts

Four Shorts at the Queer for Palestine Film Festival

The five-day festival was part of a larger global screening aimed at drawing attention to the intersection of pinkwashing, queerness, and the nuances of Arab identity

Four short but powerful films composed the Nov. 15 screening at the Queer for Palestine film festival at La Sala Rossa, located at 4848 Saint-Laurent Blvd.

Spanning from six to 41 minutes long, the films, in order of appearance, were Houria (2011) by Raafat Hattab, Blessed Blessed Oblivion (2010) by Jumana Manna, Mondial 2010 (2014) by Roy Dib, and Cinema Al Fouad (1993) by Mohamed Soueid.

With films chosen by members of Regards palestiniens, a Montreal collective composed of researchers, artists and activists, the festival was meant to raise awareness and celebrate the experiences of queer Arabs, in solidarity with Palestinians and as a part of the global festival, Queer Cinema for Palestine. The collective aims to organize cinema events that draw attention to the multifaceted lived realities of Palestinians and highlight the community’s creativity and engagement. Cinema Politica and the Feminist Media Studio were involved in the production as well.

The curators of the Queer for Palestine festival were Farah Atoui, Razan AlSalah, Muhammad Nour Elkhairy, and Viviane Saglier.

Speaking as a collective to The Concordian, the curators explained the rationale behind the choice of films. “We were looking for films that explore sexual and gender identity as part of the larger struggle for Palestinian liberation. […] These films expand queerness beyond an individual or collective identity into a political life project. These films also retell Palestinian history from a queer perspective.”

La Sala Rossa has a history of hosting progressive cultural events, beginning in the early 1930s as a gathering place for the left-wing Jewish community in Montreal.

The Nov. 15 live screening was followed by a discussion hosted by members of the Montreal chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement, a grassroots organization of young Palestinians and their allies dedicated to the liberation of Palestine. Colonialism and western imperialism were discussed in relation to the films, as well as the intersecting experiences of queerness, Arab and Muslim identity.

The choice of short films versus long ones was conscious on the curators’ part, aimed at fostering conversation. “We hesitated between a long-feature and a program of shorts. We opted for a program of shorts because it offers a diversity and multiplicity of perspectives, as well as presents different aesthetic approaches, and thus makes for a richer and more layered reflection and discussion.”

The film festival also had a virtual component: the screening was available online until  Nov. 20, featuring a pre-recorded discussion between two of the filmmakers, Dib and Hattab.

Queer Cinema for Palestine also hosted screenings worldwide from Nov. 11 to 20 partially featuring works from Palestinians, North Africans, and South-West Asian directors and artists. It spanned five continents, the virtual world and the physical one, as well as the line between film and documentary. The festival, in its first edition, was a 10-day long queer solidarity initiative that used art to combat the violence of Israeli apartheid and pinkwashing.

Pinkwashing is a form of propaganda that portrays (in this context) the Israeli government as being inclusive to the queer community (in contrast to the Palestinian government), though that isn’t necessarily accurate to reality.

The festival was meant to “offer a space for artists and filmmakers who have pulled their films from TLVFest, a government-sponsored LGBT film festival that plays a key role in pinkwashing Israel’s regime of military occupation and apartheid. The TLVFest portrays Israel as [a] safe haven for queer folks while justifying the oppression of queer Palestinians,” explained the curators.

The stereotype of Arabs and Muslims as being anti-LGBTQIA2S+ has also been employed in relation to pinkwashing efforts by the Israeli government. Western media doesn’t proportionally highlight these groups, which in turns help to support the Islamophobic propaganda that positions queerness and being Arab and/or Muslim as totally non-existent. Initiaves like the film festivals help to counter pinkwashing by showing that not only do queer Arabs or Muslims exist, but they are mutli-facted within those categories.

Houria by Raafat Hattab was perhaps the least accessible in terms of its message. It was the shortest at six minutes, and the emotional scenes featuring Hattab’s grandmother, Yousra, were more compelling than the conceptual ones featuring a merman on a beach. These were meant to explore his conflicting feelings surrounding identity, in part due to the family’s displacement during the 1948 Nakba. Yousra, who came across as strong and sympathetic, detailed how she was expelled from the village she’d grown up, Jasmeen Al-Garbi, by Zionist paramilitary.

Blessed Blessed Oblivion by Jumana Manna was the standout of the festival. Her film combined visual collage and documentary techniques to create a powerful portrait of masculinity in occupied East Jerusalem. Manna entered into spaces usually occupied by males to film, and the result was an interesting, thoughtful, and at times satirically funny comment on the way men behave around women, and the expression of gender roles in the Arab world. The musical score was notably fantastic, opening with “Ya Raytak (I Wish of You)” by Uthanyna Al Ali, a slow, slightly sinister track that helped to ground the opening scenes of visual collage.

Mondial 2010 by Roy Dib was interesting and touching in a way that left it living in my mind days later. It featured a Lebanese gay couple travelling through Ramallah, an occupied town in Palestine. A feeling of unease was present throughout the film, in part connected to the character’s experience of colonialism, by the military policing of the Israeli apartheid state. While the characters are not Palestinian, they are queer Arabs who also face abuse and discrimination in occupied Palestine.

Mondial 2010 was also an example of excellent filmmaking, because it was able to elegantly translate an ephemeral, hard to pin down feeling of loneliness and disconnection around someone you love.

Cinema Al Fouad by Mohamed Soueid was unlike any film I’d ever seen before in terms of subject matter. It was a touching and personal portrayal of a Syrian trans woman trying to raise funds for a gender affirming operation. You see her as a cabaret dancer, soldier, and then in certain other scenes, smoking sensually and intimately at the camera, sharing her experiences of being gender non-conforming. Definitely the sort of film that makes you remember why documentaries are so important, while also feeling more like a portrait has been painted than a subject ‘captured’ by a distant, uncaring documentarian.

The curators shared what they wanted the public to take away from the festival. “It is our hope to generate a more nuanced conversation about queerness that steps away from the individualist identity. By highlighting Palestinian and Lebanese artists and filmmakers, we want to foreground queerness as an act of self-determination that is inseparable from the larger social and political context.”

 

Photo courtesy of Mohamad Soueid (Cinema Al Fouad – 1993)

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Arts

Holiday art events roundup

Treat yourself to a well-deserved break as you soak up some of Montreal’s most noteworthy events

What better way to spend the holiday break than to explore some of Montreal’s unique art happenings? Our Arts Editor and Assistant Arts Editor have compiled a list of current and upcoming events that are sure to appease the senses and, hopefully, get you into a festive mood.

Film:

  • Sisters with Transistors : A film about electronic music’s pioneers, presented by Cinéma Public in collaboration with Suoni Per Il Popolo. Located at 505 Jean-Talon St. E on Nov. 26 and 28, as well as Dec. 1 and 4.

Exhibitions: 

Theatre:

  • Awards : Theater piece mixing music and text from Collectif Tôle. 1345 Lalonde Ave. from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4.
  • Je suis un produit : A play from the Simoniaques Théâtre company. Located at 4559 Papineau Ave. from Nov. 23 to Dec. 18.
    • Antioche : Online theatre piece by Talisman Theatre. From Dec. 13 to 19.
  • Jonathan: A Seagull Parable: Surreal theatre piece directed by Jon Lachlan Stewart. Located at the Fred-Barry Hall of the Denise-Pelletier Theatre (4353 Saint-Catherine St. E) from Nov. 23 to Dec.11.

Dance:

  • Confessions Publiques : Solo performance by Angélique Willkie for the MAYDAY dance company. Located at 3700 Saint-Dominique St., from Nov. 29 to Dec. 4.
  • What Will Come : Dance performance by Julia B. Laperrière and Sébastien Provencher. Located at 1435 De Bleury St. from Dec. 2 to 5.
  • Pomegranate: Solo performance by Heather Mah. Located at 3680 Jeanne-Mance from Dec. 2 to 4.
  • Babel 7.16 : Online multidisciplinary performance choreographed by Belgian artists Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet. From Dec. 8 to Dec. 19.

 

Visual courtesy of James Fay

 

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Arts

Cinema Politica returns with the powerful film BEANS

On Nov. 1, The Cinema Politica team wanted to generate conversations on the themes of land and reconciliation with this screening about the Oka crisis

Cinema Politica kicked off its fall programming on Nov.1 with a screening of the award-winning movie BEANS. The film by director Tracey Deer premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2020. BEANS recounts the story of the Oka Crisis through the eyes of 12-year-old Tekehentahkhwa, nicknamed Beans, played by Kiawenti:io. The screening was followed by a discussion with actress Brittany LeBorgne who plays Karahwen’hawi, a member of the Mohawk community, in the film.

“The occupation of an ancient pine forest on the Mohawk reserve of Kanesatake is in its fourth month. The people here are protecting a burial ground from being levelled for a golf course expansion by the neighbouring town of Oka,” explained a voice in the movie’s trailer. The Oka Crisis occured in 1990 in response to a golf course expansion project, which immediately faced resistance from the Mohawk community. The official start date of the crisis was July 11, 1990, when Quebec’s police force intervened in the conflict. The Mohawks had been blocking the road leading to the piece of land since March, and the city of Oka had tried pressuring them to bring their barricade down, without any success.

The Mohawks of Kahnawake were also involved in the conflict, as they blocked the Honoré Mercier bridge in support of the Kanesatake community. In August, the Canadian army came in to provide back-up to the local police force. The events created tension between the residents of the surrounding cities and the Mohawk communities. The violent crisis concluded on Sept. 26, 1990, when the Mohawk resistance came to an agreement with the army.

The film presents these historical events through the coming-of-age story of Beans who lives in the Mohawk community of Kanesatake. The young girl is building her identity as she hopes to enter a private high school, and tries to fit in with a group of older teenagers. She is faced with the reality of the Oka crisis, with the film showing the anger and fear growing within her as she experiences the violence taking place during the summer of 1990. The lives of Beans and her family, including her mother Lily and little sister Ruby played by Rainbow Dickerson and Violah Beauvais respectively, as well as the greater community are complemented by archival videos of the actual events.

In BEANS, Deer highlights the violence and racism experienced by the Mohawks. The film is an eye-opening and touching depiction of the reality of the conflict. The director was inspired by her personal experience of the Oka crisis. “I was Beans. I was twelve-years-old when I lived through an armed stand-off between my people and the Quebec and Canadian governments known as The Oka Crisis. The Mohawk Nation of Kanesatake and Kahnawà:ke stood up to a formidable bully — and won. That summer I knew I wanted to become a filmmaker and vowed to one day tell this story,” wrote Deer in her notes on the film.

Deer received the TIFF Emerging Talent Award 2020 after releasing BEANS. The film was part of the festival’s Top Ten for Canada list and won The Best Motion Picture Award at the Canadian Screen Awards, among other accolades.

For Rania Salawdeh, assistant coordinator for Cinema Politica, BEANS touched on important current issues. “We really wanted to have this kind of conversation around the lands that we currently live in, so everyone relates to it to a certain extent because it’s a locationality that they know, it’s a place that they’re aware of, it’s a history that they do not know but that they are positioned in. And I think that was a feeling that we wanted to provoke in the audiences,” she said.

Since 2003, Cinema Politica’s mission has been to present political films from independent creators that touch on current themes and issues. For Salawdeh, the conversation following the screening of a film is an important part of the experience. “We also need not only to consume films but also contextualize films and see how we as audiences can interact with the film materials as well. […] There’s that relation I think, between seeing a political film and having a political conversation,” she said.

Cinema Politica will be presenting its next screening on Nov. 15 at La Sala Rossa. Titled Queer for Palestine, the program will feature several short films created by artists from Palestine and Lebanon. The presentation is part of the 10-day Queer Cinema for Palestine Festival.

 

Visual courtesy of Maia Iotzova

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Arts

Dune: Villeneuve delves back into sci-Fi

Denis Villeneuve offers a masterclass in world-building, but falls short emotionally

Denis Villeneuve’s last film before Dune, Blade Runner 2049, demonstrated the director’s mastery of sci-fi world-building and emotionally engaging filmmaking. It left a tremendous impact on me, and I couldn’t wait to see him transport audiences yet again to another expansive, futuristic universe. Dune focuses on Paul Atreides, son of Duke Leto Atreides and Jessica Atreides, a Bene Gesserit. In this universe, the Bene Gesserit are a creed of spiritual women with supernatural abilities passed down from daughter to daughter. However, Jessica believes that Paul may be the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy, a boy with incredible abilities, including being able to accurately see the future. In the film, this boy is referred to as Kwisatz Haderach.

House Atreides, one of the many wealthy and powerful families within the Galactic Padishah Empire, is ordered by the emperor of the known universe sent to occupy Arrakis and take over the production of spice. Spice is an invaluable substance that allows for interplanetary travel, but acts as a psychoactive drug when consumed on its own. Arrakis was previously controlled by House Harkonnen, an oppressive, tyrannical family who cared little about the native people, called Fremen. Duke Leto wishes to change this dynamic and have peace with the Fremen, while still occupying their land for profit.

Denis Villeneuve is very skilled at world-building, which is one of the aspects of the film I enjoyed the most. The cinematography is not only beautiful, but the slow editing speed allows the audience to explore the spaces at their own pace. This is especially true for all the outdoor sequences on Arrakis, which elegantly present the endless desert landscape and the potential of finding the coveted spice that conceals itself in the sand. Villeneuve’s portrayal of Dune is carefully constructed, and the visual details that go into each scene lead me to appreciate the setting even more.

But Dune isn’t all style and no substance. In the film, Villeneuve explores the novel’s themes of colonialism, as well as destiny and fate, as Paul attempts to understand his place in Arrakis as the apparent messiah of the Fremen. Of course, the aspect of Dune where Paul explores his abilities and his place in the prophecy works in tandem with the thematic exploration of colonialism. Dune is a very thought-provoking film, as it offers a deeply detailed construction of a sci-fi world, but also doubles as a criticism of the harm associated with how 21st century countries have come into being.

Additionally, actors Oscar Isaac and Rebecca Ferguson, who portray Duke Leto and Jessica, deliver masterful, gripping performances, which were definitely highlights of the film for me. They had excellent chemistry as loving parents, but also as individuals with loyalties to old orders, ensuring that their son takes on both roles that they expect of him as the future duke and Kwisatz Haderach.

However, the film did fall short on engagement towards the latter half. A lot of lore and backstory from the novel was left out, and yet the film still felt incredibly long. It had some emotional elements missing in the sense that I stopped feeling connected to the characters. After House Atreides is faced with extreme danger, and after the world of Dune and its politics are introduced, the film becomes a little less captivating. I imagine that the film will make more sense with the release of the sequel, but without it, it is oddly structured as a stand-alone film.

Overall, Dune offers incredible cinematography, and Villeneuve builds a beautiful and fascinating world, but falls short when it comes to keeping the audience engaged after a certain point. I would still recommend seeing it for yourself, especially for fans of science-fiction and fantasy.

 

Screenshot taken by Catherine Reynolds

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