SPIRA will be participating in the 25th edition of the Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) with the premiere of four local films and the presentation of a special program on one of the organizations behind SPIRA, Vidéo Femmes.

The feature film David Against Goliath by David B. Ricard will be shown as a World Premiere. Haunted by three unfinished films, a filmmaker seeks to demystify his relationship with failure through encounters with past collaborators. He confronts his demons surrounded by musicians, dancers and his accomplices from that time. With the help of digital reprinting processes, he revisits the images of these abandoned short fiction films. He parallels his quest with that of David’s mythical battle with the giant Goliath, offering us a sensitive film about cinema, mental health and success.

Screening as a Canadian Premiere, the medium-length film A Night Song by Félix Lamarche follows the last days of the life of Noëlla, an elderly woman preparing herself to receive medical aid in dying at home. She is assisted by her caregiver, Pierre, who looks after the daily necessities. As summer light brushes dappled shadows in the apartment, the film reveals the tight weave that intertwines these seemingly infinitely repeated gestures to the ephemeral nature of our existence.

Another World Premiere, the medium-length film Boris by Iphigénie Marcoux-Fortier and Chloë Saint-Denis is a story about finding meaning after loss, and the power of nature to heal and unite us. With a contrast of laughter and tears, we follow the family of Boris, a Ukrainian-Canadian mountaineer. They embark on their first expedition without him, as they take his ashes to Patagonia, a place Boris considered Heaven on Earth.

Also, a World Premiere, the short film NDDJ (Notre-Dame-du-Jambon) by Grace Singh and Sita Singh follows two brothers raised in a marginal environment, who creatively find ways to occupy their time. One summer morning, they find money in their father’s workshop and head to the village convenience store. Follows a walk in the sun, in the heart of the Appalachians, to the sound of cows and birds. The film is an ode to the power of reality and fiction, about the love of two brothers, and the countryside’s beauty.

VIDÉO FEMMES: FRAGMENTS OF A FEMINIST LEGACY

SPIRA is pleased to collaborate with the RIDM to present the special program Vidéo Femmes: Fragments of a Feminist Legacy. Founded in 1973 by Hélène Roy, Nicole Giguère and Helen Doyle, Vidéo Femmes was one of the first centres for the production and distribution of feminist video works in Quebec. Until its merger with Spirafilm to become SPIRA in 2015, the organization established itself as an essential reference on the Quebec feminist artistic scene, with a catalogue of more than 400 works focusing largely on the status of women.

Not to be missed: Vidéo Femmes par Vidéo Femmes by Nicole Giguère and Lynda Roy, Une nef… et ses sorcières by Hélène Roy, Chaperons rouges by Helen Doyle and Hélène Bourgault, On fait toutes du show-business by Nicole Giguère, Le sida au féminin by Lise Bonenfant, Histoire infâme by Nicole Giguère and C’est une bonne journée by Johanne Fournier and Françoise Dugré. The screenings will be followed by discussions with the directors and several guests.

Julia Minne, Marina Gallet, Nicolas Dulac, Nicole Giguère, Helen Doyle, and Johanne Fournier will also participate in the Roundtable: Archiving and Remediation event on Thursday, November 24 at 3 p.m. in the Fernand-Seguin screening room of the Cinémathèque québécoise. This roundtable aims to bear witness to the collective experience of editorializing the archives and creating narratives around the first few years of Video Femmes (1973–1993). Additionally, it will address the ethical, technical, and theoretical questions raised by the remediation of such a body of work.

DAVID AGAINST GOLIATH by David B. Ricard

Panorama – Horizons Section

Quebec. 96 minutes. Original French version with English subtitles

Premiere: Thursday, November 24 at 5:45 p.m. at Cinéma Cineplex Odeon Quartier Latin (Theatre 10)
2nd screening: Saturday, November 26 at 1:15 p.m. at Cinéma Cineplex Odeon Quartier Latin (Theatre10)

David Against Goliath will open in theatres in Spring 2023.

A NIGHT SONG by Félix Lamarche

National Short and Medium-Length Competition

Quebec. 44 minutes. Original French version with English subtitles.

Premiere: Saturday, November 19 at 2:45 p.m. at the Cinémathèque québécoise (Crave Hall)

2nd screening: Thursday, November 24 at 3 p.m. at Cinéma du Musée

BORIS by Iphigénie Marcoux-Fortier and Chloë Saint-Denis

Panorama – Horizons Section

Quebec. 41 minutes. Original English, French, Russian and Spanish version with French or English subtitles.

Production: Veronika Bridgman, Iphigénie Marcoux-Fortier, and Chloë Saint-Denis

Premiere: Saturday, November 19 at 3:30 p.m. at Cinéma du Musée

2nd screening: Wednesday, November 23 at 8 p.m. at Cinéma du Musée

NDDJ (Notre-Dame-du-Jambon) by Grace Singh and Sita Singh

La soirée de la relève Radio-Canada

Quebec. 18 minutes. Original French version with English subtitles.

Premiere: Sunday, November 20 at 7:30 p.m. at Cinéma Cineplex Odeon Quartier Latin (Theatre 10)

*Free admission, upon reservation