2020 Focus Québec: Singularité Plurielle

Québec is a land of possibilities. A fertile place where multiple stories deserve to be told. Heard. These remarkable, complex but somehow universal films tell the story of a province, a country (close or distant) and its inhabitants. These cinematographic journeys unknowingly take us back to what we know as a home. Distant voices talk about a lost and unattainable land, a young girl in search of her freedom away from family, a man mysteriously disappears without leaving a trace, a woman fights with determination to leave something behind, and a territory that is formed multiple times before us.

This programme, which is aptly named “singular plurality”, brings together exceptional works of art. It is with immense pride that I present this odyssey composed of five films, which I am sure will take you to a new horizon. I invite you to give in to this programme as you would a journey; with an open heart, and filled with hope.

Artist and filmmaker Malena Szlam upends properties of light, time, form and colour to create a daring reinvention of the landscape study, one that transforms the geological universe of the Andes Mountains into a space both ancient and wholly alien.

As the summer nears its end, Léa desperately needs some room to breathe. How­ever, her brother’s mechanical heart constantly reminds her that life hangs by a thread.

On 1 August 2008, Marc B. was seen for the last time near Dorwin Falls in Rawdon. He vanished without leaving a trace, like thousands of others around the world. They are called “Johatsu”, the Evaporated.

Nadège lacks the confidence to get what she wants from life... until the day she discovers a new passion that awakens the beast inside her.