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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Orbits
Duration: 46 minutes
Subscription access
Marie-Christine, who lost her sight some years ago, explores life in a particularly sensory way—through her fingertips. Through her personal experience, she arouses her son’s curiosity and sense of wonder about the beauty of the universe. Drawing from a constellation of highly textured analogue images and a rich tapestry of sound, _Orbits_ journeys into the sensorial depths of Marie-Christine’s...
Debouttes!
Duration: 48 minutes
Subscription access
_Debouttes!_ is an audio documentary recounting an important and forgotten part of Québec’s history. In 1971, members of the Front de libération des femmes du Québec (FLF) carried out a bold action to denounce the sexist justice system and its Jury Act, which stipulated that only wealthy men could serve on juries in Quebec. Shouting “Discrimination!” and “Justice is bullshit!”, seven women stor...
The Steak
Duration: 1h15
Subscription access
Between two fights, an exploration of the humanity of a modern gladiator. Gaétan Hart fights to "earn his steak," because he is what he does, and because putting on the gloves and giving everything he has—while taking the blows—gives him dignity…
Marie-Paule is moving
Duration: 24 minutes
Subscription access
An intimate portrait of a grandson's grandmother who leaves her home to go and live in a nursing home.
The Rose Family
Duration: 2h08
Subscription access
In October 1970, members of the Front de libération du Québec kidnapped minister Pierre Laporte, unleashing an unprecedented crisis in Quebec. Fifty years later, Félix Rose tries to understand what led his father and uncle to commit these acts. The result of ten years of research, _The Rose Family_ brings to life moments and figures that were previously known only through a few photographs, and...
I Love Everything
Free access
At the age of eight, José invites us to discover his village, Nutashkuan, and everything he loves about it.
Here and There
At the beginning of the summer of their 16th year, Adam, Ana, and Dahlia turn to their families and friends to question their cultural heritage. Through intimate conversations, _Here and There_ juxtaposes the different influences and realities that shape the development of the cultural identities of second and third-generation immigrants.
Leveret Road
Duration: 30 minutes
Jeanne, 10, a neuroatypical with a passion for skateboarding and snowboarding, has been diagnosed with dysorthographia, ADHD, dyscalculia and a developmental coordination disorder. She faces a decline in her academic performance and must learn to maintain her confidence and focus on her strengths.
Where the Grass is greener
Subscription access
This trip on the edge of surrealism transports the audience through the various corners of the suburbs in order to find where the grass is greener. An unsettling exploration of a seemingly peaceful place that takes a look beyond the white picket fence.
The Dissolution of the Landscape
The Dissolution of the Landscape
New product!Subscription access
Through visual metaphors, the film offers an incursion into an inner landscape, a dive into subconscious, a mix of childhood memories and recurrent dreams, between surrealism and automatism.
The Act of Beauty
Subscription access
Nestled at the heart of the Bic mountains, in this territory called Lower St. Lawrence, hides a community of wise and audacious people taking root. The collective farm Sageterre is the work of Jean Bédard, writer, philosopher but most importantly, a peasant. His writing calls for action. His work on the land cultivates ideas. Jean Bédard fights to see a new, more humane world, rise.
Joseph Samuel Jacques Julien
Subscription access
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.
Light Plays
Subscription access
Old footage from 16mm film is scratched, drawn upon, and experimentally animated with a quantum dots solution. The film seems at first about sound, the moon, and exotic birds, but it is more about narration, experimentation, and playfulness.
Upwelling
Subscription access
Twenty young actors are brought together for a creation lab by stage directors Véronique and Gabrielle Côté, to create a collective work at one of the great national theatres. Over a full year, they scour contemporary Québécois poetry to tap into the spirit of the times. Whether in workshop settings or at the four corners of the territory, we watch the creative process of _Upwelling _unfold. Wh...
Grand National
Subscription access
The Grand National at the Saint-Hyacinthe Agricultural Exhibition is the most significant truck and tractor pulling event in Canada. Over three days, in front of 20,000 spectators, more than sixty competitors from across North America compete. This film follows the experience of one competitor amidst this event, highlighting the close bonds between humans and machines.
Faire le pont
Subscription access
A cultural mediation project carried out by Spira and the Joujouthèque de la Basse-ville with the objective to create short films with underprivileged youth and/or youth from immigrant backgrounds from the inner city of Quebec. This project resulted in the short documentary film _Faire le pont_ directed by Clarissa Rebouças and 8 to 9 year olds from the Joujouthèque Basse-Ville.
Waiting for Casimir
Subscription access
In the village of Saint-Casimir, a seniors’ residence houses five people. At the heart of this confined space shaped by daily routines, a parallel world unfolds. Hours pass slowly in an endless waiting, punctuated by the presence of a local community TV station that intrudes into their universe through the television screen. Alternating between the sweetness of childhood memories and the presen...
Idle Times
Subscription access
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...
Orbits
Duration: 46 minutes
Subscription access
Marie-Christine, who lost her sight some years ago, explores life in a particularly sensory way—through her fingertips. Through her personal experience, she arouses her son’s curiosity and sense of wonder about the beauty of the universe. Drawing from a constellation of highly textured analogue images and a rich tapestry of sound, _Orbits_ journeys into the sensorial depths of Marie-Christine’s...
Debouttes!
Duration: 48 minutes
Subscription access
_Debouttes!_ is an audio documentary recounting an important and forgotten part of Québec’s history. In 1971, members of the Front de libération des femmes du Québec (FLF) carried out a bold action to denounce the sexist justice system and its Jury Act, which stipulated that only wealthy men could serve on juries in Quebec. Shouting “Discrimination!” and “Justice is bullshit!”, seven women stor...
The Steak
Duration: 1h15
Subscription access
Between two fights, an exploration of the humanity of a modern gladiator. Gaétan Hart fights to "earn his steak," because he is what he does, and because putting on the gloves and giving everything he has—while taking the blows—gives him dignity…
Marie-Paule is moving
Duration: 24 minutes
Subscription access
An intimate portrait of a grandson's grandmother who leaves her home to go and live in a nursing home.
The Rose Family
Duration: 2h08
Subscription access
In October 1970, members of the Front de libération du Québec kidnapped minister Pierre Laporte, unleashing an unprecedented crisis in Quebec. Fifty years later, Félix Rose tries to understand what led his father and uncle to commit these acts. The result of ten years of research, _The Rose Family_ brings to life moments and figures that were previously known only through a few photographs, and...
I Love Everything
Free access
At the age of eight, José invites us to discover his village, Nutashkuan, and everything he loves about it.
Here and There
At the beginning of the summer of their 16th year, Adam, Ana, and Dahlia turn to their families and friends to question their cultural heritage. Through intimate conversations, _Here and There_ juxtaposes the different influences and realities that shape the development of the cultural identities of second and third-generation immigrants.
Leveret Road
Duration: 30 minutes
Jeanne, 10, a neuroatypical with a passion for skateboarding and snowboarding, has been diagnosed with dysorthographia, ADHD, dyscalculia and a developmental coordination disorder. She faces a decline in her academic performance and must learn to maintain her confidence and focus on her strengths.
Where the Grass is greener
Subscription access
This trip on the edge of surrealism transports the audience through the various corners of the suburbs in order to find where the grass is greener. An unsettling exploration of a seemingly peaceful place that takes a look beyond the white picket fence.
The Dissolution of the Landscape
The Dissolution of the Landscape
New product!Subscription access
Through visual metaphors, the film offers an incursion into an inner landscape, a dive into subconscious, a mix of childhood memories and recurrent dreams, between surrealism and automatism.
The Act of Beauty
Subscription access
Nestled at the heart of the Bic mountains, in this territory called Lower St. Lawrence, hides a community of wise and audacious people taking root. The collective farm Sageterre is the work of Jean Bédard, writer, philosopher but most importantly, a peasant. His writing calls for action. His work on the land cultivates ideas. Jean Bédard fights to see a new, more humane world, rise.
Joseph Samuel Jacques Julien
Subscription access
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.
Light Plays
Subscription access
Old footage from 16mm film is scratched, drawn upon, and experimentally animated with a quantum dots solution. The film seems at first about sound, the moon, and exotic birds, but it is more about narration, experimentation, and playfulness.
Upwelling
Subscription access
Twenty young actors are brought together for a creation lab by stage directors Véronique and Gabrielle Côté, to create a collective work at one of the great national theatres. Over a full year, they scour contemporary Québécois poetry to tap into the spirit of the times. Whether in workshop settings or at the four corners of the territory, we watch the creative process of _Upwelling _unfold. Wh...
Grand National
Subscription access
The Grand National at the Saint-Hyacinthe Agricultural Exhibition is the most significant truck and tractor pulling event in Canada. Over three days, in front of 20,000 spectators, more than sixty competitors from across North America compete. This film follows the experience of one competitor amidst this event, highlighting the close bonds between humans and machines.
Faire le pont
Subscription access
A cultural mediation project carried out by Spira and the Joujouthèque de la Basse-ville with the objective to create short films with underprivileged youth and/or youth from immigrant backgrounds from the inner city of Quebec. This project resulted in the short documentary film _Faire le pont_ directed by Clarissa Rebouças and 8 to 9 year olds from the Joujouthèque Basse-Ville.
Waiting for Casimir
Subscription access
In the village of Saint-Casimir, a seniors’ residence houses five people. At the heart of this confined space shaped by daily routines, a parallel world unfolds. Hours pass slowly in an endless waiting, punctuated by the presence of a local community TV station that intrudes into their universe through the television screen. Alternating between the sweetness of childhood memories and the presen...
Idle Times
Subscription access
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...
