The Marmot's Call

The Marmot's Call is a truly heartfelt cry. Colin Nixon lovingly depicts a great upheaval in the history of his grandparents: the sale of the family home, an event precipitated by the relentless presence of an intruder who disrupts the owners' peaceful daily life. 

An unusual work as much in form as in content, the director delivers, here, a short film that is as funny as it is dramatic, following a narrative arc worthy of fiction. Punctuated by sequences obscure in sound and in image, both, a true sense of suspense is established. With slow pans, the camera transports us into the depths of a burrow, revealing a stuffed marmot standing with great dignity, a ferocious adversary. Perceived as a threat to their marital home, Leo defends the house that he built with his own hands. Captured with finesse in still shots, the house seems frozen in time. The interior decor, replete with furniture from a time past, gives a glimpse of the sixty years this family has spent within its walls.

In addition to this comical struggle with absurd overtones, the film leaves room for intimate confessions that address sensitive subjects such as loss, attachment, gratitude, pride, and nostalgia.

The strength of the documentary lies truly in the touching testimonies of each interlocutor. The director’s intimate proximity to his subjects allows him to tenderly disarm difficult moments all while paying tribute to a place that is steeped in a multitude of memories.

Anouk Vallières
Negotiator, urban gleaner & cinephile