Light Plays

This film, with a title that could sum up Anne-Marie Bouchard's entire filmography, is, as is often the case with her, the outcome of accidents along the way. Or rather, proof that by remaining alert and open to possibilities, it's possible to achieve great things. 

Each explanation of the filmmaker's approach sounds like an adventurer's logbook. "A friend gave me some film reels he'd found in rusty boxes. Even in the way she contextualizes her work, there's a touch of the parnassian. Later, a meeting with a physicist enabled her to try out a new toy: dissolved quantum dots that would take shape in an almost mystical way (for those who are not physicists). The experience impressed her so much that she went on to use it in a subsequent film, Atoms Searching for Immateriality.

An artist, then, with a constantly renewed curiosity, scientific tools and a lyrical sensibility, who incorporates, in these Plays, references to jazz, classical cinema ("Silence partout... moteur!") and a visualization of the soundtrack (an element this filmmaker always works on with the utmost care). Action!

Paul Landriau
Director of Programming
Festival de cinéma de la ville de Québec

1. Jeux de lumière / Light Plays. (2018, 16 janvier). Anne-Marie Bouchard.
Available on : https://annemariereine.com/portfolio/jeux-de-lumiere-light-plays/ (consulted on August 31, 2023)