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.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Gaëlle Graton
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Thank you very much! For many different reasons. Firstly, five years ago, I was studying in Sociology in university but I felt more and more driven by a profound desire to work in cinema. I eventually chose to stop pursuing these studies. I wanted to give myself the chance to turn my repressed passion for storytelling into something tangible that I could also share with others. Nevertheless, I remain deeply passionate and informed by the social phenomena I studied, by social justice, climate action, and human rights.
Therefore, I must say that writing and directing the social drama that is L'AUTRE RIVE (A Shore Away) felt challenging but incredibly comfortable. The whole production process from the development to the ongoing distribution process feels like I have arrived home in a way. I mean that this experience finally regrouped so many things I adore from my background as a Sociology student to the art of making cinema. I think I somehow made this film to prove to myself that I could be a storyteller that also participates in raising the awareness on major social issues such as homelessness.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
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. After having done an internship in social work, tackling the theme of social disqualification was important to me. Homelessness affects almost every community around the world and the individual responsibility we attribute to people living in the streets is often wrongful and very hurtful. Homelessness is not a lifestyle choice one makes. It’s the social factors that are external to the human being who finds himself in a sudden situation of precariousness that are responsible.
The factors that are at play can vary from poverty, rejection, domestic violence to the scarcity of affordable housing, foreclosure, the loss of a job, substance abuse, the high healthcare costs, etc. I hope that my film will make some people realize that these men and women living in the streets are also citizens in their own right. We all have the to reach out to them with consideration, a greeting, or a smile. If L'AUTRE RIVE sheds light on the responsibility we carry, I’ll be extremely happy because the time for a change is now.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
They work hand in hand, I guess. Throughout the whole process of crafting the film, I was more interested in tracking the characters’ emotional journey rather than explicitly stating their identity or creating a teaching moment out of their experience. I tried to make place for the viewer to integrate his own reflection in the film and to hopefully have his prenotions on homeless people be challenged. Furthermore, L'AUTRE RIVE is also about something that unites us all as human beings: the fact that we can all dream and have higher aspirations regardless of our socioeconomic status, our material conditions and our past actions that may sometimes weigh on us.
Both female characters in the film aspire to achieve something greater. Personally, when I meet someone with this very quest, I’m always deeply heartened. I also think of the concept of universality as something I must work to achieve through my very new filmmaking journey. I wish for the audience to feel less lonely when they leave the screening or finish watching the film at home. The goal is that the film becomes a shelter for themselves.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
In the summer of 2020 in Montreal (QC), Canada, I walked by a homeless encampment installed next to a busy boulevard. There were around 80 tents up from people of all walks of life. I quickly met with a young girl my age living in the streets. I was deeply moved by our long conversation on our dreams, the chaos of our teenage years as well as by the similarities – both physical and emotional – that united us. I was somehow struck by her. That same evening, I felt truly lucky when I opened the door of my apartment. I felt very inspired to tell a story about our encounter.
I walked by the encampment a few days later and a homeless man I chat with walked me to an emergency shelter located a few blocks away. He showed me this old skating rink of the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighborhood in Montreal that had just been converted into a temporary shelter. As I set foot inside, I immediately discovered a place swarming with people hoping to get a bunk for the night. It felt busy and somewhat chaotic. To this day, I still remember the frenzy… The social workers were overwhelmed with cleaning chores and interventions. They seemed like the purest people, and I was utterly lost for words. I knew right away there was a story to tell but it took me a few weeks to conceptualize it into a short film and convince myself that it could be my first one as a director.
The twist is that the writing process had to be quick because the survival of the shelter was at risk due to lack of government funding. Hence, I wrote the script in the summer of 2020. Therefore, the script evolved rapidly since it was informed with the candid encounters I was doing at the camp and the research that followed at the shelter.
However, in early December 2020, a riot police woefully dismantled the tent city with the help of a garbage truck. The city officials plan was to have everyone under a roof by nightfall, but the plan failed drastically. These homeless people were once more fragilized by the system, having nowhere to go and no more basic amenities to camp in. This event informed my writing and deepened my desire to integrate some sort of a call to action in the film.
We shot it in March 2021 (in the midst of the Covid crisis) by virtue of a short but successful crowdfunding campaign. The beauty of it all is that my team and I had the great chance to shoot in the very shelter I walked in and did my research at. We put in many efforts to preserve the look of the place and work with it to craft an authentic world that the audience can really dive into. And I feel like this is precisely because nothing is forced, that the film has the power of creating new connections and introduce new conversations.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
We receive consistent feedback from people curious about the location as well as positive comments on the authentic depiction of homelessness which is a subject rarely portrayed in fiction. The realistic performances are also often acclaimed. I salute the work of both actresses: Judith Baribeau as Geneviève, a heart-rending former social worker living a tough live herself, and Rosalie Fortier as Camille, a young homeless adult animated by a sort of childish mischievousness and the inhibited ardor of people for which there only remains a slight slender of hope. For Camille, I wanted someone who would give me trouble for real… I wanted an actress who would not appear to be acting at all but be herself and Rosalie work sublimely to give me that. And I think that with Judith’s kindness, deployed through the hardships both characters face, the audience can grasp the promise of hope that arises between the two characters.
Overall, we are very happy with our debut. We had our world premiere at REGARD where L’AUTRE RIVE won an Audience Award. The film also won four awards at Prends Ça Court (QC) and was recently selected in competition at FANTASIA International Film Festival.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
With L’AUTRE RIVE being my first film, I’m not used to having such direct feedback but I’m always extremely moved when people come up to me after watching the film or send me a message to express how it affected them. After the world premiere screening, one elderly woman came to up me and whispered: ‘’I was crying my eyes out my dear and now I’m left with no words but ‘’f*ck’’...’’ I started tearing up and did not know what to answer aside from a heartfelt thank you for her sensitivity to cinema and the subject matter…
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
It’s always such a pleasure to share the film with a wider audience. I hope that by watching L’AUTRE RIVE, audiences will connect with the story and start thinking of homeless people as humans, not statistics.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Anybody who can come on board to fight for human rights and access to lodging for all is more than welcomed. The right to shelter, to have one’s own bed to sleep in, a roof over one’s head, a place where one’s person and possessions are safe is a fundamental human right. It is essential to the preservation of one’s dignity and health which means that housing providers, service providers and employers should consider different ways of accommodating people with a past or present experience of homelessness. If active participants of the film industry want to partake in the spreading of this message by sharing about L’AUTRE RIVE, I think that it is greatly beneficial considering that they all reach different audiences.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I wish that the film allows at least one viewer to perceive the homeless population in a different light than how it is often portrayed in the media. Particularly girls and women living in the streets since they are even more disqualified. I’m optimistic that the film can be effective at changing people’s perceptions and spark discussions about this ongoing humanitarian crisis. Tell me that I am naive but I think that movies and art can certainly change the world.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
That’s such a great question… I think that it would be: ‘’what attitude can you adopt or what behavior can you change to better the lives of the homeless people you cross paths with?’’
Would you like to add anything else?
I’m so grateful to wearemovingstories.com for supporting new voices in film. Thank you so much!
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I am currently developing two short films, one of which is JUPONS produced by UGO Media. I am also developing SOIF, a feature film that I’m co-writing with Judith Baribeau. It’s produced by Les Films Camera Oscura. Lastly, I’m also collaborating on a handful of other projects as an independent producer. There is no greater joy than the joy of creating something for the big screen.
Interview: June 2022
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
L'autre rive (A Shore Away)
Length:
17:46
Cast:
Judith Baribeau (Genevieve), Rosalie Fortier (Camille), Olivier Aubin (M. Sinclair)
Writer/Director/Producer
Gaëlle Graton is an emerging director/screenwriter and producer from Montreal (QC), Canada. Her first short film L'AUTRE RIVE won an Audience Award at Festival REGARD and distinguishes itself in the festival circuit. Gaëlle is currently developing her second short film JUPONS produced by UGO Média. She also co-writes a feature film titled SOIF with screenwriter/actress Judith Baribeau (Les Nôtres), produced by Les Films Camera Oscura. Gaëlle also produced LUEURS (in postproduction) by writer-director Rebecca Vachon and works in feature film distribution at h264.
Key cast:
Judith Baribeau (Genevieve), Rosalie Fortier (Camille), Olivier Aubin (M. Sinclair)
Looking for:
journalists, film festival directors, buyers
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/GaelleGraton
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/lautrerivefilm
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/lautre_rive_shortfilm/
Hashtags used:
#lautreriveshortfilm
More info:
https://gaellegraton.wixsite.com/accueil
Where can I watch it?
Fantasia International Film Festival
L'autre rive (A Shore Away) in is competition in the program OUR WORLD
Screening on Sunday, July 17th, 20:00 at Cinéma du Musée in Montreal, QC, Canada.