Fragments

The Patron Saints

Laced with black humor, _The Patron Saints_ is an unorthodox documentary about a home for the aged and disabled. By turns lyrical and unsettling, the directors eschew more traditional approaches to the subject, opting for a mesmerizing atmospheric treatment and turning narration over to the home's youngest patient and his candid confessions.

God Provides

Shot in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and bound by elements of fiction, this unexpected documentary short is a glimpse into faith-based sentiment and inexplicable loss. While a man searches for his kitchen appliances in the bushes, elsewhere a grinning preacher takes souvenir snapshots for his congregation, and a woman with a disability journeys to a quieter place.

Interchange

Straddling the line between photography and cinema, _Interchange_ is a near-wordless observational depiction of life alongside a stark and imposing Montreal highway. _Interchange_ weaves portraits, landscapes, architecture and objects in its reflection on the city’s inhabitants, its traffic jams, the shipping of commercial goods and the nature of time itself.

Drexciya

_Drexciya_ portrays an abandoned swimming pool on Riviera Beach in Accra, Ghana. During the postcolonial era, at the beginning of Kwame Nkrumah's reign, the Riviera Beach Club was a luxurious hotel that thrived until the mid-1970s. The once-Olympic pool, now in a state of advanced disrepair, is now used for other purposes by the local community.

Kwaku Ananse

Drawing upon the rich mythology of Ghana, this magical short film combines semi-autobiographical elements from Owusu's life with local folklore to tell the story of a young American woman who returns to West Africa for her father's funeral.

No Story Here

_No Story Here_, the first film by Jeannine Gagné, co-directed with Michel Lamothe, offers a striking portrait of working-class Montréal in the 1970s. Created without a script and using just 600 feet of film, this student short freely blends images and sounds, the latter serving as echoes of the popular psyche, already foreshadowing _City Dawn_.

We Don't Care About Music Anyway...

While featuring key figures from Tokyo’s avant-garde music scene of the mid-2000s, _We Don’t Care About Music Anyway..._ offers a kaleidoscopic vision of the megacity, juxtaposing music with noise, sound with imagery, representation with reality, and fiction with documentary. Beyond the music and performances, the film explores the future and modes of existence of an entire city and society.

Kings of the Wind & Electric Queens

Since Antiquity, the Sonepur fair in the Indian state of Bihar has been the largest animal market in Asia. Mobilizing all the showmen of this state renowned for its indomitability, it is the place of expression par excellence for Bihari popular culture. The characters in _Kings of the Wind & Electric Queens_ are the custodians of this culture. Like the different figures in a tarot deck, they ar...

This Is No Time for Romance

In the midst of summer pleasures and her children's play, a young woman questions the meaning of her life as a wife and mother, and her chances of happiness. Filmed in the 1960s, this film starring Monique Mercure and Marc Favreau depicts the "female condition" from various perspectives.

Saint-Jérôme

This socially-driven film explores the impact of technological changes on the city of Saint-Jérôme, which faced a severe socio-economic crisis in the 1960s, mirroring issues in other Quebec cities. Citizens from all social classes come together in a monumental effort to address the crisis. The film serves as both a reflection of this situation and a catalyst for action, acting as a mediation to...

Joseph Samuel Jacques Julien

Jacques is 59 years old and has spent his entire career as a salesman in Quebec City. The past few months have been especially challenging for him: mourning the loss of his wife, he finds it difficult to regain his footing. Should he change his life? Change his identity? Amidst a growing political turmoil, the narrator remains hopeful, insisting that Jacques still has reason to hope.

Idle Times

Beginning in the late 19th century, the history of baseball tells the story of the transformation of pastures and mindsets in North America. Slow and repetitive, the game makes ample room for daydreaming and boasting. Full-bodied and mannered, it evokes the vastness of a new continent while also recalling its British origins. Filmed at the Victoria Stadium in Quebec and developed with the colla...