3500+ Films - 2.5 million words – 1 million viewers! Founder and Curator Carmela selects some of our most entertaining, powerful and inspiring films at We Are Moving from Quebec. These include fiction and documentary about young people, women - and diverse short films about real-life stories and animation.
Total length of this section: 20 films.
<YOUNG PEOPLE>
Hutchison - The myths in a young child’s mind come alive when four outsiders unexpectedly cross paths in her, seemingly, unobtrusive Montreal neighbourhood. It’s a story of a strange encounter between a playful 8-year-old girl, an old enchantress and four misguided strangers. Length: 8 minutes. Director Aki Pagratis:
“One Sunday afternoon, as I walked past an old church that my family and I used to visit when I was much younger, a strange and somewhat fascinating event unfolded that completely gripped me. The event involved rich characters, surprising twists, and it shattered a few impressions that I didn’t think existed in my mind. As a filmmaker who works mostly on documentaries, I loved the idea of taking on this complex multilayered story that is based on a real event.”
MAÎTRES NAGEURS (By the pool) - During the heat wave, swimmers flock to a municipal pool. Rain or shine, as the days pass the place takes on a life of its own, and the lifeguards, while immature at times, shoulder considerable responsibilities. Length: 15 minutes. Writer/Director Karine Bélanger:
“First I decided to make a movie on something more personal. I started thinking about memories and then I thought about those summers when I was working at the pool. There was a particular energy inside our group of lifeguards. A kind of little family who spent all summer long together. As I was writing, I realized that in fact the place, this pool, was finally the subject of the story.”
Angel and Alien - Lili has nothing to do with her family: that numb sister and that mother who thinks she's crazy. She will meet The Martian, a maladaptive teenager. Their complicity will grow around their imaginary worlds. Length: 19 minutes 46 seconds. Writer/Director Sandrine Béchade:
“The story is touching, the actors play with truth and the image is beautiful. Ambitious, this 19-minute film brings together stunts and various filming locations in a picturesque village in Quebec (Canada). The distribution of the film is a match of renown actors in Quebec with rising young actors. It is therefore 19 minutes that pass quickly and leaves an impression!!”
The Beep Test - Wojtek, a new student at school, is the perfect prey for Thomas and Philippe, two students in search of entertainment. Not finding the words in front of his assailants, Wojtek will go back to his physical education course to express the substance of his thoughts. Length: 14 minutes 46 seconds. Writer/Director Maxime Aubert:
“First of all, I believe intimidation is a very important subject that we never address too much, as it will never cease to exist in our schools. I like to believe that The Beep Test is a film in which the viewer follows the protagonist in an immersive fashion, almost completely from his own point of view. I opted for long takes and floating camera movements in order to sustain the continuum of real time as much as possible. It is not a satisfying film with well-knitted intrigue and ending, but it’s a film in which you empathize with the main character and experience intimidation with him as the story unfolds.”
<WOMEN’S VOICES>
L'autre rive (A Shore Away) - Newly employed in an emergency shelter for people experiencing homelessness, Genevieve is shaken up to meet again with Camille, a young woman whom she believed to have successfully reinserted while being her social worker. *Shot in a real emergency shelter of Montreal, QC, Canada. Length: 17 minutes 46 seconds. Writer/Director/Producer Gaëlle Graton:
“My film L’AUTRE RIVE is a deeply honest film on injustice, human rights and social solidarity. It’s about women who are caught in the stresses and hardships of deprivation, impoverishment, and a lack of resources.”
Marguerite - An aging woman and her nurse develop a friendship that inspires her to unearth unacknowledged longing and thus help her make peace with her past. Length: 19 minutes 9 seconds. Writer/Director Marianne Farley:
“I think you should watch Marguerite because it will hopefully open up your heart. If I’ve done my job properly ;-) it will make you think about your own life; about your hopes, your loves and your regrets. It will remind you that life is too short to cater to anyone else’s expectations of who you should or shouldn’t be.”
Lunar-Orbit rendezvous - A woman-tampon joins a man-astronaut on a road trip to the moon. Daniel is on a mission to scatter his mother’s ashes and Claude is hoping for her period to make a miraculous return. A modern tale that captures the fever dream of a first voyage to the moon. Length: 14 minutes. Director Melanie Charbonneau:
“Falling in love is the result of synchronicity. Sometimes everything is in place to make it happen (or not!). It’s like the first trip to the moon: NASA wasn’t sure that the technique they were going to use - Lunar Orbit Rendezvous – was really going to get the team up there. But it all worked out in the end.”
death isn't the same anymore - A young woman explores life and death through the relationship with her beds. Length: 5 minutes 39 seconds. Writer/Director/Producer Jennifer Mulligan:
“This film follows a female character through the course of a day, or a life. Audience members may recognize themselves at some point, or remember who they were. It also shows that life is cyclical and that endings are usually beginnings, so it ends on an up note. An audience member should watch this film if they are in the mood to ask themselves some big life questions.”
<SHORT FILMS>
The divine strategy - Frustrated by Catholic Church’s decline, a priest gets help from a strange marketing expert to get people back to church. Length: 18 minutes. Director Martin Forget:
“It’s a story of a priest who wants to make things change, who is tired to have a monotone routine. Everyone can relate to this.”
Never Tear Us Apart - When James approaches a small cabin in the woods, the sweet-natured grandparents he’s looking for turn out to be crazed, backwoods cannibals. Length: 6 minutes 13 seconds. Director Sid Zanforlin:
“This is fun horror with a comedic ending. If you like the balance of horror and comedy with a little of gore thrown in, this film is for you.”
Cheap Hugs (Les Câlins Cheaps) - Two strangers, reeling from the loss of their mutual friend, find themselves in an unexpected moment of connection on the streets of Montreal. Length: 15:08. Writer/Director/Producer/Actor Sarah Baskin:
“You don’t have to look far to see that our world is in the midst of a mental health crisis. The National Institute of Mental Health lists suicide as one of the leading causes of death in the United States, particularly among teens and young adults. The film explores the aftermath of suicide, in particular the haunting effect on those left behind.”
Speechless - A man must find the courage to deliver unspeakable news to his girlfriend after she wakes from an accident-induced coma. SPEECHLESS is a sensitive and compelling portrait of the limits of love in confronting loss and grief. Length: 13 minutes. Director Alexis Fortier Gauthier:
“People have been really touched by the story. It’s a heavy film, that can be claustrophobic at times, but its heart is at the right place. There is a softness about it.”
The Worm - Inheriting the family home is a chance for Jules and his partner, Alice, to write their own page in his family history. But they are thwarted by a strange force that spreads insidiously throughout the house. Is nostalgia driving Jules into madness? Length: 14 minutes 52 seconds. Writer/Director/Editor Charles Grenier:
“I believe that a secret, a personal story or an intimate thought becomes somewhat universal as soon as it is revealed or shared. The most complex idea can then become universal even though you do not have all the tools to fully grasp its meaning.
The Worm explores heritage and the opinion that it conveys is that the obsession of keeping things as they were is inefficient and tiring.”
Pro Pool - Freshly graduated with a bachelor's degree in history and civilization, Charles-Olivier struggles to find a job in his field and must rely on a clerk job in a pool shop. Feeling down, he navigates his gig as best he can. Length: 8 minutes. Writer/Director Alec Pronovost:
“it was actually a great conversation starter with people about their own experiences when they were just out of school or trying to do something more with their lives.”
<REAL-LIFE STORIES>
Il était 6 fois (Once Upon 6 Times) - An intimate portrait of a mother on a quest for the most effective educational platform for her young son. Length: 80 or 52 minutes (TV version). Director/Producer Liane Simard:
“you will be touched to see 6 children grow up for 6 years before your eyes. To see them evolve in their thoughts, in their way of seeing life and to see their personality and confidence grow. To see them become who they are. You will be touched to see them express themselves with so much freshness and freedom. You will see your own children through them, or you will see yourself as a child again.”
Innu Nikamu: Resist & Sing - The Innu Nikamu Native Music Festival through the eyes of its founders and musicians. A story of healing, a duty of remembrance. Length: 1 hour 32 minutes. Writer/Director Kevin Bacon Hervieux:
“Although the aboriginal issues has been raised in Canada for a few years, there are few films of this magnitude dealing with it that have been fully written, directed and produced by aboriginal people themselves. It therefore has an authentic and very personal look.”
Decypher is a documentary on the evolution of Breaking (breakdance) in Montreal, and traces the arrival of this dance in the Quebec metropolis, in the 80s, and its recent evolution. Length: 50 minutes 24 seconds. Director/Producer/Actor/Editor Léo Caron:
“I think you should watch this film if you want to know about Montreal, and all its cultural potential. Even more, if you want to learn about the marginal underground dance culture that is breaking and its evolution since the 80s.”
Flat Rocks - 79-year-old Louis Diabo battles against the construction of Canada’s St. Lawrence Seaway during the 1950s to save his farm and the Kahnawake Mohawk community. Flat Rocks weaves together breathtaking present-day footage of Kahnawake with archival photos dating back over 80 years revealing the community’s way of life threatened by the Seaway. A poetic narration in the Mohawk language voices the community’s connection to the water. Length: 10 minutes. Writer/Director/Co-Producer Courtney Montour:
“Even though Flat Rocks traces a story from the 1950s, it remains relevant today. There are so many instances of expropriation of Indigenous lands for fracking, mining, etc. Standing Rock and the Dakota Access Pipeline is just one example that received lots of media attention. After all these years has anything changed? We’re all impacted by these environmental changes and Flat Rocks adds to this dialogue.”
<ANIMATION>
Winds of Spring (Un Printemps) - Unfolding with the rhythm of the seasons, Winds of Spring tells the tender story of a young girl who, driven by the irrepressible need for self-fulfillment, decides to leave the family nest. Keyu Chen employs her signature style of fluid transitions and fine, spare lines inspired by Chinese ink painting in her delicately crafted first film. Length: 6 minutes 7 seconds. Writer/Director Keyu Chen:
“The film is my own personal story, but leaving home is something most people can relate to. Everyone has their own story. I made the film without narration in the hopes that the feelings could be conveyed directly through image, sound and movement.”
The Subject - An animator dissects his own body, extracting memories, emotions and fears that will nurture his work. As he cuts into his skin with a scalpel, various symbolic objects recalling his past emerge. Reaching the heart after cracking his ribs, he succeeds in identifying the burden he’s been dying to cast off. Length: 10 minutes. Writer/Animator/Director Patrick Bouchard:
“My life, my encounters, my joys and sorrows, even current events—all of these fed into the process. Because of that, The Subject is specific to a certain period, which is an approach I find interesting in context. If I had to do it again today, it would be a completely different film.”