Montreal International Documentary Film Festival - 310
Made in collaboration with the teenage inmates of Laval Child and Youth Protection Centre, 310 is a virtual reality work that immerses you in the life of a temporary home that inspires all kinds of soul-searching.
Interview with Co-director and Co-writer Emily Laliberté
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
310 is part of a Coup d'éclats Porte-Voix project, a co-creative series we have been working on since 2012 in various youth centers. The purpose of our projects is to create safe spaces for teenagers under youth protection to express themselves on sociopolitical issues they are concerned with.
In 310, we worked with a group of teenagers leaving in Laval Youth Center. Their objective was to create a piece that would put the audience in their shoes for a brief moment. The immersive experience confronts the audience to the difference between a life inside and outside the center. They use VR as a strategy to open a dialogue on their reality and a reflection on their lack of a proper preparation for adulthood.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
To discover a hidden reality! 310 proposes not only a rare incursion into the center but into the thoughts and perspective of the teenagers experiencing it first hand. The everyday experience of teenagers in youth centers is often described through a moralistic and pessimistic lens in the media. I think the audience deserves a fairer perspective on their reality, one that both exposes some of the discrepancies between institutionalized life and "real life," and offers positive solutions through the teens’ own testimonies.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
I think that 310 is a movie addressing universal topics such as family, love and fear. It leads us to that passage between teenagehood and adulthood we can all relate to. Teenagers keep confronting the audience with issues that affect them – as Emily said, fear, love, family, the evolution into adulthood – but the public is made to relate to them in the very specific shape they can take in the youth center. These universal themes quickly get more embodied and personal through the testimonies, which allows the viewer to get a grasp what it means to become an adult when you’re a teenager living in the institution.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
As it's a co-creative project, our team mediates workshops to build the story. The script evolved through various critical thinking activities in order to achieve a sociopolitical goal. In that case, we wanted to confront the senior official of the youth center to influence the implementation and creation of better programs and politics. In addition, as three of our young people were getting close to the age of 18, their release was imminent and they were actively experiencing this fear of not being ready to become adults. Over time, I think they understood how important the film project could become for future residents of the youth centers. Thus, they were constantly putting their texts and proposed solutions back on the drawing board in order for their message to have a maximum impact and cause real change.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
We presented it inside the institution first and the feedback was better then expected. Everybody was under shock after the first screening. Director and educators were moved by the level of honesty and intelligence the collective putted in their script. It was a call for action that actually led to the creation of a committee that is actually working around the script to propose concrete change inside the youth center.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
I think we were all moved by the actual impact we were able to have with the piece and to see the extent of the mobilization.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
Coup d'éclats wish to share untold stories and aim to provide empowerment tools to marginalized communities. All our projects support social change by and for communities. By having our film visible on our platform we simply want to reach a broader audience and make sure the voices of the collective are heard worldwide. Our team also works with a distinctive approach that we believe could have major impact if reproduced by and for other communities.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Film festival director and journalist, to make sure that story is told and shared as much as possible.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
Our first desire is to see concrete changes inside the institution which we are hopeful about. Secondly, we would like for those changes to be implemented in other youth centers. Ultimately, we also wish for this film to be a demystifying tool on the realities teenager in youth center experience.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
When the state chooses to become a parent, how do we make sure the children and teenager get everything they need to become the best version of themselves?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Coup d'éclats is working on a major retrospective exhibition that will present 6 years of work in youth centers and continue its co-creative projects with various communities such as youth experiencing mental heath issues and refugees.
Interview: November 2018
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
310
Made in collaboration with the teenage inmates of Laval Child and Youth Protection Centre, 310 is a virtual reality work that immerses you in the life of a temporary home that inspires all kinds of soul-searching.
Length: 23 min
Director: Emily Laliberté
Writer: Emily Laliberté
Looking for: film festival directors and journalists
Facebook: @creations.coupdeclats
Funders: Canada Art Council, PRIM
Made in association with: Laval Child and Youth Protection Centre
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? RIDM, UXdoc Room