Impetus

I first met Jennifer Alleyn through the production of her documentary Dix fois Dix (2011). Since then, we have followed each other from afar, crossing paths now and then. Life has a way of bringing us together in beautiful ways around art, even to the point of co-programming on Tënk. It is therefore a privilege to write here about what her work inspires in me.

All of her creations possess the coherence characteristic of great artists. One can discern a creative throughline, a distinctive signature. In her case, it is an unfailing commitment to truth, an unguarded access to the dreamlike, and a pure lightness of being. I had already sensed this quality in the film that marked our first encounter, in which she made the voicing of painter Otto Dix’s words the guiding thread of a series of ten seemingly disparate cinematic tableaux. It appeared again in her powerful installation La Mue (2016), where she laid before us a quilt of written, pieced-together words—because they were impossible to speak aloud. With Impetus (2018), Jennifer propels herself into a new chapter of Québécois cinema, one she weaves almost live before our eyes.

I very much look forward to seeing you at work again, Jennifer.

Marie-Odile Demay
Transmedia producer and creator