Montreal International Documentary Festival

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Schedule

15 - 26 Nov. 2023

Cinéma Cineplex Odeon Quartier Latin - Salle 10
Cinéma du Musée
Cinéma du Parc - Salle 2
Cinémathèque québécoise - Salle Crave
Cinémathèque québécoise - Salle Fernand-Seguin
Cinémathèque québécoise - Salle Norman-McLaren
8h
9h
10h
11h
12h
13h
14h
15h
16h
17h
18h
19h
20h
21h
22h
23h
24h
1h
19:30 The soirée de la relève Radio-Canada*
(1) Casa Bonjardim
Camille Salvetti | 2022 | Portuguese, Italian, French | S.T. French

A woman sweeps the street, and a fishmonger opens her car trunk. From a window, a neighbour looks on as workers smash the bricks of Casa Bonjardim.

See full details
(2) Clémence
Myriam Ben Saïd | 2023 | French | S.T. English

Weaving together accounts from Clémence’s family and friends, the director exposes the grief that follows the young woman’s death by femicide.

See full details
(3) It Is What It Is
Nicole Doummar | 2023 | French, English | S.T. French

Nicole pays a visit to her mother, camera in tow. With great warmth and intimacy, she shares a look into a home inhabited by the memories of a resilient woman.

See full details
(4) La ravissante
Diego Gros-Louis | 2023 | French, Wendat | S.T. French

Through a poetic letter to its nation, this short film reveals a strong community and the bond of the young generation to its culture.

See full details
(5) Where Motion Has Not Yet Ceased
Juliette Balthazard | 2023 | Russian, Ukrainian | S.T. French

Ukrainian women exiled in Prague tell their stories as they attempt to rebuild their lives; meanwhile, the war seeps into the voices of the men who have stayed behind.

See full details
(6) ZEITGEIST
Louise Blancheteau | 2023 | - Without dialogue

Between day and night, rave culture creates a suspended moment in which bodies come together, moving intuitively to the pulse of music and strobe lights.

See full details
19:30 The Soirée de la relève Radio-Canada
The Soirée de la relève Radio-Canada

Every year, the Soirée de la relève Radio-Canada is a chance to discover short documentaries from Quebec’s emerging filmmakers. This is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for audiences to appreciate the talents of the voices set to shine brightly on our screens.

Radio-Canada will award a $10,000 grant to the winner of the Soirée de la relève Radio-Canada to support the production of a project. A jury of documentary professionals will choose the prize winner. The soirée de la relève’s shortlisted films will also be available to stream free of charge on ICI Tou.tv starting November 20, 2023.

This activity is free (by reservation) and will be held in French.

See full details
15:00 Stolen Time (Le temps dérobé) *
Helene Klodawsky | 2023 | English | S.T French

Hard-hitting and necessary, this film follows the tradition of investigative documentaries to chronicle a lawyer's crusade against the for-profit nursing home industry.

See full details
17:45 Mambar Pierrette *
Rosine Mbakam | 2023 | bamileke, pidjin, French | S.T French

A woman constantly juggles her resources to provide for her son. Imbued with sensitivity, this film captures both the tough realities of life in Cameroon and the resilience of its people.

See full details
20:30 Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson | 2023 | English

An intimate portrait of a woman whose unsettling candor has made her one of the most influential voices in the movements for social justice and equality in the United States.

See full details
14:00 WaaPaKe (Demain)
Jules Arita Koostachin | 2023 | English | S.T French

Voices of a mother, a son, and friends unite in an attempt to understand the repercussions of the intergenerational trauma caused by Indigenous residential schools and to rebuild their identity.

See full details
16:15 Aqueronte / Vision of Paradise / Cold and Dark*
(1) Aqueronte
Manuel Muñoz Rivas | 2023 | Spanish | S.T English

During a ferry ride, the space between two shores allows us to observe ferry passengers under a fog both literal and suggestive of time suspended.

See full details
(2) Vision of Paradise
Leonardo Pirondi | 2022 | Portuguese, English | S.T English

Comparing the exploratory voyages of the 15th century with the ambitions of virtual reality, this film suggests a common goal of expanding reality.

See full details
(3) Cold and Dark
Peter Hošták | 2023 | Slovak | S.T English

Deeply atmospheric and textural, Cold and Dark explores the challenges faced by a small group of Slovakian loggers and their workhorse, Kubo.

See full details
18:30 Hummingbirds
Silvia Del Carmen Castaños, Estefanía "Beba" Contreras | 2023 | English, Spanish | S.T English

In this coming-of-age pop tale, two friends enjoy summer in Laredo, Texas, trying to overcome their anxieties around an uncertain future.

See full details
20:15 Silvicola *
Jean-Philippe Marquis | 2023 | English | S.T French

In a vivid mosaic of portraits, women and men working closely with thousand-year-old trees speak with lucid urgency about their connection with these endangered giants.

See full details
13:00 Four Mile Creek / Nocturne for a Forest / Mast-del...*
(1) Four Mile Creek
Ryan McKenna | 2023 | English | S.T English

Reconstructions, archives, and interviews come together as family members explore the death of a woman who died of smallpox at the turn of the 20th century.

See full details
(2) Nocturne for a Forest
Catarina Vasconcelos | 2023 | Portuguese | S.T English

Between reality and allegory, this film reappropriates a forest once forbidden to women, reimagining it from the perspective of those lost to the stake.

See full details
(3) Mast-del
Maryam Tafakory | 2023 | - Without dialogue | S.T English

A story unfolds through written words. Two women lie in bed; between their embraces and tender words, one confides in the other an experience about an interrupted rendezvous in Tehran.

See full details
(4) Jill, Uncredited
Anthony Ing | 2022 | English | S.T English

This collage of excerpts from over 50 years of film and television is a tribute to those who have always been in the background - but above all, it's a tribute to Jill.

See full details
15:15 Another Spring
Mladen Kovacevic | 2022 | Serbian, Albanian, English | S.T English

In a historical review of the 1972 smallpox epidemic in Yugoslavia, archival images are paired with narration from a doctor who vividly recalls life at the time.

See full details
17:30 Má Sài Gòn (Mère Saigon)*
(1) 6 minutes/km
Catherine Boivin | 2022 | Atikamekw | S.T English

In a visual exploration through multiple angles and perspectives, the multidisciplinary artist Catherine Boivin travels the road of personal reflection, following in her ancestors’ footsteps.

See full details
(2) Má Sài Gòn (Mère Saigon)
Khoa Lê | 2023 | Vietnamese | S.T English

Under the bright lights of Saigon, this film celebrates the authenticity and emotional bonds of members of the Vietnamese queer community in their quest for love and belonging.

See full details
20:15 Notes from Eremocene *
Viera Cákanyová | 2023 | English, Slovak | S.T English

Through a thoughtful interweaving of analogue and digital images, along with a conversation with an AI, this documentary essay delves into a dystopian future.

See full details
10:00 First Sight
First Sight

First Sight is a series of screenings of experimental films geared toward young audiences (ages 5 to 17). The program is organized by la lumière collective, a Montreal-based artists’ studio, curatorial program and micro-cinema. The screenings highlight experimental, poetic, abstract, and handmade cinema – in particular, works that fall under the umbrella of art cinema, rather than films made expressly for younger viewers. Through this initiative, la lumière collective aims to make experimental film more accessible and to sensitize young audiences to a wide range of images and filmic content, contributing to the development of their critical thinking and knowledge.

Presented as part of the RIDM, the program “Une approximative légèreté” (“an approximate lightness”) will be hosted by Montreal-based filmmaker and curator Guillaume Vallée. After the screening, Vallée will run a painting-on-celluloid workshop with the audience. The films will then be digitized at La lumière collective and the resulting video will then be sent to participants.

In this program :
One and one is Life
The Other
Going back home
4min15 au révélateur
Dancing in the New York Public Library
Atomes en quête d'immatérialité
QUID
1000 Plateaus


In collaboration with La lumière collective, Première vue is an introductory program to experimental cinema, followed by a workshop of painting on 16mm film. The activity will be in French and/or English, led by Guillaume Vallée. Maximum 20 participants.
There is no reservation system for this activity. We will operate on a first-come, first-served basis.

See full details
14:00 Malqueridas
Tana Gilbert | 2023 | Spanish | S.T English

Through videos shot clandestinely by incarcerated mothers, Malqueridas gives a voice to resilient women, separated from their babies and condemned to be forgotten.

See full details
16:15 Our Terrible Country *
Ziad Homsi, Mohammad Ali Atassi | 2014 | Arabic | S.T English

Two dissidents embark on a perilous journey from Damascus to Raqqa and then into exile in Turkey as Syria tumbles into the abyss.

See full details
18:30 En attendant les robots / Caches*
(1) En attendant les robots
Natan Castay | 2023 | French, English, Portuguese | S.T English

Through a fictitious character, the director immerses himself in the world of turkers, those click workers who perform micro-tasks night and day in front of their screens.

See full details
(2) Caches
Nicolas Paquet | 2023 | French | S.T English

Concealed in small blinds, hunters wait for game. As time slows down, the hunters find a healing and introspective connection with nature.

See full details
20:30 Still Film
James N. Kienitz Wilkins | 2023 | English | S.T French

Publicity stills of old Hollywood overlap with the frenetic narration of a trial to explore the imprint that cinematic culture leaves on the collective imagination.

See full details
15:30 Peter Mettler
Peter Mettler

In this public masterclass, celebrated filmmaker Peter Mettler will discuss his unique filmmaking process, from conceptualization to editing. How are thoughts and experiences rendered on film? What is the role of improvisation in the creative process? While the Green Grass Grows, the first two chapters of Mettler’s seven-part cinematic diary, will be part of the RIDM’s National Feature Competition.

Moderation : Marlène Edoyan
This activity is free.
In English l English-French simultaneous interpretation: access here.

See full details
13:00 Panel : Generations
Panel : Generations

Many of the nonfiction films produced during the Syrian revolution document private histories, depicting familial, domestic, and intergenerational bonds during the war. This panel provides a space for the filmmakers to reflect on the making and afterlives of their films Coma (2015) and Little Palestine, Diary of a Siege (2021), on the affective dimensions of dislocation and exile, and how nonfiction cinema can offer virtual worlds to sustain cultural imaginaries across the diaspora.

Participants: Stefan Tarnowski, Rania Stephan, Qutaiba Barhamji
Moderated by : Nadine Fattaleh

This activity is free, will be held in English and is presented as part of the Focus Bidayyat : New Beginnings, presented in collaboration with World Records, and with the support of Critical Media Lab McGill and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

In English l English-French simultaneous interpretation: access here.

See full details
22:00 Relève Afterparty
Relève Afterparty

After our grand evening for the Soirée de la relève, come take a drink and celebrate this grand evening with the filmmakers of the moment !

This activity is free.

See full details
8h
9h
10h
11h
12h
13h
14h
15h
16h
17h
18h
19h
20h
21h
22h
23h
24h
1h

Activity or Event

Screening

*Director or crew member in attendance

Turn your tablet for a better navigation

10h
Cinémathèque québécoise - Salle Crave
10H00
10H00 First Sight
First Sight

First Sight is a series of screenings of experimental films geared toward young audiences (ages 5 to 17). The program is organized by la lumière collective, a Montreal-based artists’ studio, curatorial program and micro-cinema. The screenings highlight experimental, poetic, abstract, and handmade cinema – in particular, works that fall under the umbrella of art cinema, rather than films made expressly for younger viewers. Through this initiative, la lumière collective aims to make experimental film more accessible and to sensitize young audiences to a wide range of images and filmic content, contributing to the development of their critical thinking and knowledge.

Presented as part of the RIDM, the program “Une approximative légèreté” (“an approximate lightness”) will be hosted by Montreal-based filmmaker and curator Guillaume Vallée. After the screening, Vallée will run a painting-on-celluloid workshop with the audience. The films will then be digitized at La lumière collective and the resulting video will then be sent to participants.

In this program :
One and one is Life
The Other
Going back home
4min15 au révélateur
Dancing in the New York Public Library
Atomes en quête d'immatérialité
QUID
1000 Plateaus


In collaboration with La lumière collective, Première vue is an introductory program to experimental cinema, followed by a workshop of painting on 16mm film. The activity will be in French and/or English, led by Guillaume Vallée. Maximum 20 participants.
There is no reservation system for this activity. We will operate on a first-come, first-served basis.

More info
13h
Cinémathèque québécoise - Salle Crave
13H00 Four Mile Creek / Nocturne for a Forest / Mast-del...*
(1) Four Mile Creek
Ryan McKenna | 2023 | English

Reconstructions, archives, and interviews come together as family members explore the death of a woman who died of smallpox at the turn of the 20th century.

See full details (2) Nocturne for a Forest
Catarina Vasconcelos | 2023 | Portuguese | S.T. English

Between reality and allegory, this film reappropriates a forest once forbidden to women, reimagining it from the perspective of those lost to the stake.

See full details (3) Mast-del
Maryam Tafakory | 2023 | - Without dialogue | S.T. English

A story unfolds through written words. Two women lie in bed; between their embraces and tender words, one confides in the other an experience about an interrupted rendezvous in Tehran.

See full details (4) Jill, Uncredited
Anthony Ing | 2022 | English

This collage of excerpts from over 50 years of film and television is a tribute to those who have always been in the background - but above all, it's a tribute to Jill.

See full details
Cinémathèque québécoise - Salle Norman-McLaren
13H00 Panel : Generations
Panel : Generations

Many of the nonfiction films produced during the Syrian revolution document private histories, depicting familial, domestic, and intergenerational bonds during the war. This panel provides a space for the filmmakers to reflect on the making and afterlives of their films Coma (2015) and Little Palestine, Diary of a Siege (2021), on the affective dimensions of dislocation and exile, and how nonfiction cinema can offer virtual worlds to sustain cultural imaginaries across the diaspora.

Participants: Stefan Tarnowski, Rania Stephan, Qutaiba Barhamji
Moderated by : Nadine Fattaleh

This activity is free, will be held in English and is presented as part of the Focus Bidayyat : New Beginnings, presented in collaboration with World Records, and with the support of Critical Media Lab McGill and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

In English l English-French simultaneous interpretation: access here.

More info
14h
Cinéma du Parc - Salle 2
14H00 WaaPaKe (Demain)
Jules Arita Koostachin | 2023 | English | S.T. French

Voices of a mother, a son, and friends unite in an attempt to understand the repercussions of the intergenerational trauma caused by Indigenous residential schools and to rebuild their identity.

See full details
Cinémathèque québécoise - Salle Fernand-Seguin
14H00 Malqueridas
Tana Gilbert | 2023 | Spanish | S.T. English

Through videos shot clandestinely by incarcerated mothers, Malqueridas gives a voice to resilient women, separated from their babies and condemned to be forgotten.

See full details
15h
Cinéma du Musée
15H00 Stolen Time (Le temps dérobé) *
Helene Klodawsky | 2023 | English | S.T. French

Hard-hitting and necessary, this film follows the tradition of investigative documentaries to chronicle a lawyer's crusade against the for-profit nursing home industry.

See full details
Cinémathèque québécoise - Salle Crave
15H15 Another Spring
Mladen Kovacevic | 2022 | Serbian, Albanian, English | S.T. English

In a historical review of the 1972 smallpox epidemic in Yugoslavia, archival images are paired with narration from a doctor who vividly recalls life at the time.

See full details
Cinémathèque québécoise - Salle Norman-McLaren
15H30 Peter Mettler
Peter Mettler

In this public masterclass, celebrated filmmaker Peter Mettler will discuss his unique filmmaking process, from conceptualization to editing. How are thoughts and experiences rendered on film? What is the role of improvisation in the creative process? While the Green Grass Grows, the first two chapters of Mettler’s seven-part cinematic diary, will be part of the RIDM’s National Feature Competition.

Moderation : Marlène Edoyan
This activity is free.
In English l English-French simultaneous interpretation: access here.

More info
16h
Cinéma du Parc - Salle 2
16H15 Aqueronte / Vision of Paradise / Cold and Dark*
(1) Aqueronte
Manuel Muñoz Rivas | 2023 | Spanish | S.T. English

During a ferry ride, the space between two shores allows us to observe ferry passengers under a fog both literal and suggestive of time suspended.

See full details (2) Vision of Paradise
Leonardo Pirondi | 2022 | Portuguese, English | S.T. English

Comparing the exploratory voyages of the 15th century with the ambitions of virtual reality, this film suggests a common goal of expanding reality.

See full details (3) Cold and Dark
Peter Hošták | 2023 | Slovak | S.T. English

Deeply atmospheric and textural, Cold and Dark explores the challenges faced by a small group of Slovakian loggers and their workhorse, Kubo.

See full details
Cinémathèque québécoise - Salle Fernand-Seguin
16H15 Our Terrible Country *
Ziad Homsi, Mohammad Ali Atassi | 2014 | Arabic | S.T. English

Two dissidents embark on a perilous journey from Damascus to Raqqa and then into exile in Turkey as Syria tumbles into the abyss.

See full details
17h
Cinéma du Musée
17H45 Mambar Pierrette *
Rosine Mbakam | 2023 | bamileke, pidjin, French | S.T. French or English

A woman constantly juggles her resources to provide for her son. Imbued with sensitivity, this film captures both the tough realities of life in Cameroon and the resilience of its people.

See full details
Cinémathèque québécoise - Salle Crave
17H30 Má Sài Gòn (Mère Saigon)*
(1) 6 minutes/km
Catherine Boivin | 2022 | Atikamekw | S.T. French or English

In a visual exploration through multiple angles and perspectives, the multidisciplinary artist Catherine Boivin travels the road of personal reflection, following in her ancestors’ footsteps.

See full details (2) Má Sài Gòn (Mère Saigon)
Khoa Lê | 2023 | Vietnamese | S.T. French or English

Under the bright lights of Saigon, this film celebrates the authenticity and emotional bonds of members of the Vietnamese queer community in their quest for love and belonging.

See full details
18h
Cinéma du Parc - Salle 2
18H30 Hummingbirds
Silvia Del Carmen Castaños, Estefanía "Beba" Contreras | 2023 | English, Spanish | S.T. English

In this coming-of-age pop tale, two friends enjoy summer in Laredo, Texas, trying to overcome their anxieties around an uncertain future.

See full details
Cinémathèque québécoise - Salle Fernand-Seguin
18H30 En attendant les robots / Caches*
(1) En attendant les robots
Natan Castay | 2023 | French, English, Portuguese | S.T. French or English

Through a fictitious character, the director immerses himself in the world of turkers, those click workers who perform micro-tasks night and day in front of their screens.

See full details (2) Caches
Nicolas Paquet | 2023 | French | S.T. English

Concealed in small blinds, hunters wait for game. As time slows down, the hunters find a healing and introspective connection with nature.

See full details
19h
Cinéma Cineplex Odeon Quartier Latin - Salle 10
19H30 The soirée de la relève Radio-Canada*
(1) Casa Bonjardim
Camille Salvetti | 2022 | Portuguese, Italian, French | S.T. French

A woman sweeps the street, and a fishmonger opens her car trunk. From a window, a neighbour looks on as workers smash the bricks of Casa Bonjardim.

See full details (2) Clémence
Myriam Ben Saïd | 2023 | French | S.T. English

Weaving together accounts from Clémence’s family and friends, the director exposes the grief that follows the young woman’s death by femicide.

See full details (3) It Is What It Is
Nicole Doummar | 2023 | French, English | S.T. French

Nicole pays a visit to her mother, camera in tow. With great warmth and intimacy, she shares a look into a home inhabited by the memories of a resilient woman.

See full details (4) La ravissante
Diego Gros-Louis | 2023 | French, Wendat | S.T. French

Through a poetic letter to its nation, this short film reveals a strong community and the bond of the young generation to its culture.

See full details (5) Where Motion Has Not Yet Ceased
Juliette Balthazard | 2023 | Russian, Ukrainian | S.T. French

Ukrainian women exiled in Prague tell their stories as they attempt to rebuild their lives; meanwhile, the war seeps into the voices of the men who have stayed behind.

See full details (6) ZEITGEIST
Louise Blancheteau | 2023 | - Without dialogue

Between day and night, rave culture creates a suspended moment in which bodies come together, moving intuitively to the pulse of music and strobe lights.

See full details
19H30 The Soirée de la relève Radio-Canada
The Soirée de la relève Radio-Canada

Every year, the Soirée de la relève Radio-Canada is a chance to discover short documentaries from Quebec’s emerging filmmakers. This is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for audiences to appreciate the talents of the voices set to shine brightly on our screens.

Radio-Canada will award a $10,000 grant to the winner of the Soirée de la relève Radio-Canada to support the production of a project. A jury of documentary professionals will choose the prize winner. The soirée de la relève’s shortlisted films will also be available to stream free of charge on ICI Tou.tv starting November 20, 2023.

This activity is free (by reservation) and will be held in French.

More info
20h
Cinéma du Musée
20H30 Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson | 2023 | English

An intimate portrait of a woman whose unsettling candor has made her one of the most influential voices in the movements for social justice and equality in the United States.

See full details
Cinéma du Parc - Salle 2
20H15 Silvicola *
Jean-Philippe Marquis | 2023 | English | S.T. French or English

In a vivid mosaic of portraits, women and men working closely with thousand-year-old trees speak with lucid urgency about their connection with these endangered giants.

See full details
Cinémathèque québécoise - Salle Crave
20H15 Notes from Eremocene *
Viera Cákanyová | 2023 | English, Slovak | S.T. English

Through a thoughtful interweaving of analogue and digital images, along with a conversation with an AI, this documentary essay delves into a dystopian future.

See full details
Cinémathèque québécoise - Salle Fernand-Seguin
20H30 Still Film
James N. Kienitz Wilkins | 2023 | English | S.T. French

Publicity stills of old Hollywood overlap with the frenetic narration of a trial to explore the imprint that cinematic culture leaves on the collective imagination.

See full details
22h
Cinémathèque québécoise - Salle Norman-McLaren
22H00 Relève Afterparty
Relève Afterparty

After our grand evening for the Soirée de la relève, come take a drink and celebrate this grand evening with the filmmakers of the moment !

This activity is free.

More info
16h30After circus *

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