Québec Contemporary Cinema
Quebec has always had a privileged relationship with documentary cinema, a tremendous melting pot of its artistic, social and political modernity. Nearly 60 years after the birth of direct cinema, juggling continuity and inventiveness, the local filmmakers are still pursuing a rich dialogue with their society. Here, you will find an anthology of contemporary films made by notorious documentary filmmakers or belonging to a new generation. Through a bright diversity of styles and viewpoints, these filmmakers all share a boundless creativity and an uninhibited freedom that question, challenge, reconcile and help to better understand today’s Quebec and the rest of the world
Visual identity created by Moïa Jobin-Paré
The THROUGH OUR LENS page lists all the Quebec films available on Tënk. It allows you to dive into an exploration of Quebec documentary cinema and discover an anthology of films made by both renowned and emerging documentary filmmakers. Through a dazzling diversity of forms and perspectives, these filmmakers have in common an overflowing creativity and an uninhibited freedom that questions, confronts, reconciles and helps us better understand Quebec and the world.
To perform a more detailed search on Quebec films, use our search engine !
Also discover fascinating interviews with local filmmakers in our Fragments section :
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Il n’est pas innocent que le bonheur soit heureux
Il n’est pas innocent que le bonheur soit heureux
New product!Subscription access
Happiness is a tautological state. Why is one happy? Because he or she is happy. It’s very simple. And it smells good. Still happy than one can be happy. This video was produced for Manif d’art 2003 in Québec focussing on happiness and its representation.
Bonbons bijoux
Subscription access
Sylvie Laliberté’s work centers on self-representation and narrative, and is often delivered in a humorously faux-naïve and playful aesthetic. In her first video, _Bonbons bijoux_, the artist speaks directly to the camera about simple, trivial things, delivered in a whimsical and spirited manner. In a succession of brief vignettes, the artist, like a candid half-woman, half-child, tells stories...
Her Scream
Subscription access
Audrey, a woman in her mid-fifties, has never been able to make peace with her tumultuous family history. She now decides to confront her demons. Supported by her son, the director of the documentary, she revisits a striking scene from her past: the moment when she told her parents that her grandfather had sexually assaulted her. Together, through a year-long production process, they transform ...
In My Mother's Garden
Subscription access
"Through conversations regarding my mother’s gardening practice, we explore subjects of loss, growth, and care. Filming her as she weeds, the process of clearing out overgrowth and invasive plants, I follow her around the garden she has upkept these last twenty-five years. Slowly, I begin to realize, what grounds me here isn’t the rosebush I’ve known since infancy, but the person who planted it...
My Memory Walls
Subscription access
Rose G. Lévesque, an almost nonagenarian painter and poet, painted the story of her life on her house's walls to transform it into a museum.
Guidelines
_Guidelines_ explores the world of adolescence through a series of tableaux that illustrate the occasionally trying existence of young people at a rural secondary school. Emphasizing the contrasts between the regulated environment of the classroom and the beckoning freedom of the great outdoors, the film is structured around the teens’ meetings with various authority figures in the institution ...
First Stripes
Over the course of a 12-week intensive training program, young adults are gradually transformed into members of the Canadian Armed Forces. For these future soldiers, the group is now more important than the individual, and the country comes before oneself. Without judgment, _First Stripes_ offers an immersion into the singular world of the military through their basic training. A mandatory step...
Urban Forests
Subscription access
While green spaces have long been neglected in cities, community-led efforts in recent years have helped restore the many benefits of urban forests. Through a number of innovative nature restoration projects in cities across Canada—from Montreal to Vancouver, via Toronto, Laval, Varennes, and New Westminster—this documentary explores initiatives aimed at bringing nature back into the urban envi...
Goodnight Goodnight
Subscription access
With overconsumption of electric light, the resulting light pollution, and the subsequent loss of the night sky, we have effectively rid our lives of context. By suppressing natural temporalities and obscuring our place within the solar system, we are left with a distorted sense of permanence—the permanence of our structures, institutions, and relationships. _Goodnight Goodnight_ is a mid-lengt...
Volleyball
Subscription access
A playful film about volleyball, shot in October 1965 during a match in Montreal between the U.S. and Soviet Olympic teams.
Upstairs With David Amram
Subscription access
Before her illustrious career as one of Canada’s foremost documentary filmmakers, Alanis Obomsawin was an acclaimed singer and musician at the forefront of the Indigenous rights movement in North America. During this unprecedented time, she befriended fellow musician and activist David Amram, often described as the “Renaissance man of American music.” A legendary talent and multi-instrumentalis...
Le roi du drum
Subscription access
_Le roi du drum_ tells the story of a beloved folk hero from Montreal's East End: Guy Nadon, a gifted self-taught jazz musician whose only misfortune was being born in Quebec in the 1930s. A marginalized artist—often misunderstood and seldom supported—Nadon never stopped nurturing his boundless imagination as a percussionist and performer, all while remaining deeply rooted in his neighbourhood....
Chronicle of a Crisis
Subscription access
Sarah and Simon, a couple of young millennials are facing the repossession of their apartment in the midst of an unprecedented housing crisis in the province of Quebec. They decide to turn the camera on themselves to document their daily life during their challenging search for a new affordable place to live in. Filmed in close intimacy, this portrait depicts the struggle of a generation confro...
Después del Silencio
If an abuser’s power lies in the victim’s silence, speaking out is an essential weapon for the victim to break free. After the silence comes the journey toward liberation.
Clémence
This documentary gives voice to the parents and close friends of Clémence Beaulieu-Patry, who was the victim of a femicide in 2016. Through memories and tributes, we dive into the complexity of mourning a loved one who has disappeared in violence. With great sensitivity, we accompany her loved ones as they share with us the importance of talking about her while celebrating her life.
The Andrea Doria's Last Message
The Andrea Doria's Last Message
Duration: 6 minutesAn Italian grandmother tells the story of her immigration to North America, shaped by a last-minute decision that altered her fate. By changing her journey, she narrowly avoids a tragic voyage tied to the Andrea Doria, revealing how a single choice can shape generations.
Johnny Libertella : One Million Smiles
Johnny Libertella : One Million Smiles
Duration: 20 minutesSixty-year-old Johnny Libertella has spent his entire life in the Rosemont–La-Petite-Patrie neighbourhood. Like his parents before him, he lives just above his shop on Plaza St-Hubert. An introvert by nature, he has chosen to devote himself to his business. For over three decades, he has religiously manned the counter of his footwear shop that specializes in cowboy boots, only straying away fro...
Alfred DesRochers, poète
Subscription access
A portrait of the great poet Alfred DesRochers, who was also a journalist for _La Tribune_ in Sherbrooke and enjoyed his moment of fame before the Second World War. Here, he shares his reflections on the difficult conditions of literary life in French Canada.
Whose Language You Don’t Understand
Whose Language You Don’t Understand
Duration: 1h01_Whose Language You Don’t Understand_, named after a novel by the late Austrian writer Marianne Fritz (1948-2007) is a video cycle exploring the limits of language. Fritz spent most of her life, over 30 years, working on a cycle of dense and complex novels she called _The Fortress_, consisting of over 10,000 pages and still unfinished at the time of her death. Her project is an unusual and asto...
Il n’est pas innocent que le bonheur soit heureux
Il n’est pas innocent que le bonheur soit heureux
New product!Subscription access
Happiness is a tautological state. Why is one happy? Because he or she is happy. It’s very simple. And it smells good. Still happy than one can be happy. This video was produced for Manif d’art 2003 in Québec focussing on happiness and its representation.
Bonbons bijoux
Subscription access
Sylvie Laliberté’s work centers on self-representation and narrative, and is often delivered in a humorously faux-naïve and playful aesthetic. In her first video, _Bonbons bijoux_, the artist speaks directly to the camera about simple, trivial things, delivered in a whimsical and spirited manner. In a succession of brief vignettes, the artist, like a candid half-woman, half-child, tells stories...
Her Scream
Subscription access
Audrey, a woman in her mid-fifties, has never been able to make peace with her tumultuous family history. She now decides to confront her demons. Supported by her son, the director of the documentary, she revisits a striking scene from her past: the moment when she told her parents that her grandfather had sexually assaulted her. Together, through a year-long production process, they transform ...
In My Mother's Garden
Subscription access
"Through conversations regarding my mother’s gardening practice, we explore subjects of loss, growth, and care. Filming her as she weeds, the process of clearing out overgrowth and invasive plants, I follow her around the garden she has upkept these last twenty-five years. Slowly, I begin to realize, what grounds me here isn’t the rosebush I’ve known since infancy, but the person who planted it...
My Memory Walls
Subscription access
Rose G. Lévesque, an almost nonagenarian painter and poet, painted the story of her life on her house's walls to transform it into a museum.
Guidelines
_Guidelines_ explores the world of adolescence through a series of tableaux that illustrate the occasionally trying existence of young people at a rural secondary school. Emphasizing the contrasts between the regulated environment of the classroom and the beckoning freedom of the great outdoors, the film is structured around the teens’ meetings with various authority figures in the institution ...
First Stripes
Over the course of a 12-week intensive training program, young adults are gradually transformed into members of the Canadian Armed Forces. For these future soldiers, the group is now more important than the individual, and the country comes before oneself. Without judgment, _First Stripes_ offers an immersion into the singular world of the military through their basic training. A mandatory step...
Urban Forests
Subscription access
While green spaces have long been neglected in cities, community-led efforts in recent years have helped restore the many benefits of urban forests. Through a number of innovative nature restoration projects in cities across Canada—from Montreal to Vancouver, via Toronto, Laval, Varennes, and New Westminster—this documentary explores initiatives aimed at bringing nature back into the urban envi...
Goodnight Goodnight
Subscription access
With overconsumption of electric light, the resulting light pollution, and the subsequent loss of the night sky, we have effectively rid our lives of context. By suppressing natural temporalities and obscuring our place within the solar system, we are left with a distorted sense of permanence—the permanence of our structures, institutions, and relationships. _Goodnight Goodnight_ is a mid-lengt...
Volleyball
Subscription access
A playful film about volleyball, shot in October 1965 during a match in Montreal between the U.S. and Soviet Olympic teams.
Upstairs With David Amram
Subscription access
Before her illustrious career as one of Canada’s foremost documentary filmmakers, Alanis Obomsawin was an acclaimed singer and musician at the forefront of the Indigenous rights movement in North America. During this unprecedented time, she befriended fellow musician and activist David Amram, often described as the “Renaissance man of American music.” A legendary talent and multi-instrumentalis...
Le roi du drum
Subscription access
_Le roi du drum_ tells the story of a beloved folk hero from Montreal's East End: Guy Nadon, a gifted self-taught jazz musician whose only misfortune was being born in Quebec in the 1930s. A marginalized artist—often misunderstood and seldom supported—Nadon never stopped nurturing his boundless imagination as a percussionist and performer, all while remaining deeply rooted in his neighbourhood....
Chronicle of a Crisis
Subscription access
Sarah and Simon, a couple of young millennials are facing the repossession of their apartment in the midst of an unprecedented housing crisis in the province of Quebec. They decide to turn the camera on themselves to document their daily life during their challenging search for a new affordable place to live in. Filmed in close intimacy, this portrait depicts the struggle of a generation confro...
Después del Silencio
If an abuser’s power lies in the victim’s silence, speaking out is an essential weapon for the victim to break free. After the silence comes the journey toward liberation.
Clémence
This documentary gives voice to the parents and close friends of Clémence Beaulieu-Patry, who was the victim of a femicide in 2016. Through memories and tributes, we dive into the complexity of mourning a loved one who has disappeared in violence. With great sensitivity, we accompany her loved ones as they share with us the importance of talking about her while celebrating her life.
The Andrea Doria's Last Message
The Andrea Doria's Last Message
Duration: 6 minutesAn Italian grandmother tells the story of her immigration to North America, shaped by a last-minute decision that altered her fate. By changing her journey, she narrowly avoids a tragic voyage tied to the Andrea Doria, revealing how a single choice can shape generations.
Johnny Libertella : One Million Smiles
Johnny Libertella : One Million Smiles
Duration: 20 minutesSixty-year-old Johnny Libertella has spent his entire life in the Rosemont–La-Petite-Patrie neighbourhood. Like his parents before him, he lives just above his shop on Plaza St-Hubert. An introvert by nature, he has chosen to devote himself to his business. For over three decades, he has religiously manned the counter of his footwear shop that specializes in cowboy boots, only straying away fro...
Alfred DesRochers, poète
Subscription access
A portrait of the great poet Alfred DesRochers, who was also a journalist for _La Tribune_ in Sherbrooke and enjoyed his moment of fame before the Second World War. Here, he shares his reflections on the difficult conditions of literary life in French Canada.
Whose Language You Don’t Understand
Whose Language You Don’t Understand
Duration: 1h01_Whose Language You Don’t Understand_, named after a novel by the late Austrian writer Marianne Fritz (1948-2007) is a video cycle exploring the limits of language. Fritz spent most of her life, over 30 years, working on a cycle of dense and complex novels she called _The Fortress_, consisting of over 10,000 pages and still unfinished at the time of her death. Her project is an unusual and asto...
