Montreal, May 29th

At the end of March, my friend and I went to the International Festival Movie on Art (FIFA). It’s the opportunity to watch films by national and international artists. In my case, I decided to go to Carte blanche : Stéphane Nepton & Andrea Gonzalez — Uhu labos nomades.

When we opened the door of Cinema de Seves of Concordia University, I was glad to finally watch an event organised by Wapikoni. Let’s go through these eight short movies.

Meneath : The Hidden Island of Ethics — Terril Calder. Canada. 2021.

19 min.

This animated film was a good punch in the face, it was more than great. The story centered a young métis, who is trying to understand the seven deadly sins by jesus and the seven sacred teachings by Nokomis (important character, meaning ”grandmother” in the Anishinaabe traditional beliefs.).

I recommend this video where she explains her creative process : Meet the Makers | Terril Calder on Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics . At the end, I was almost crying… It’s important to see how these spiritual approaches can actually build something heavy under a colonial structure. The fact that she decided to put this existential crisis on a baby is really deep, the colonial impact starts from birth, just through generational traumas. Of course the theme was genius but the technique is mind blowing.

As a spiritual person who once believed in catholicism before moving to ancestral beliefs, it was ON POINT.

Lou, la vie ! — John Blouin. Canada. 2015. 5 min.

From the beginning, the blurry effect and the breath put the spectator in a state of confusion. From the rocky desert to the woman, probably dying in her bed, I felt how that it was a metaphor of death. After living on earth for years, the end of a life is similar to the end of a long hike.

I hope there’s a good view there !

Death Metal Grandma — Leah Galant.United-States. 2018. 13 min.

In this film, the metal Grandma singer is the light we needed. She is not scared to pursue her dreams, bring people together and sing metal even if she has to rest regularly. The documentary follows her journey as a poet and a writer . Its was extremely funny and familiar to watch her ! At a point, it reminded me of my grandmother. At the end, we can just see her drowned in her faith in life, surrounded by young people in a joyful atmosphere.

Métamorphoses — Nicolas Renaud. Canada. 2020. 18 min.

This documentary was following the tragic story of a young inuk woman who is a multidisciplinary artist Ulivia Uviluk . As we understand and watch her story, we realized all events that happened in her life are related to systemic issues. You can listen to the filmmaker Nicolas Renaud talking about the movie on Free city Radio . Some images from the Nunavik and others from Montreal made all the narrative spine complete. The conversation between her and another woman, a little bit older and more white passing was a moment where all the power dynamics, especially racial dynamics were fundamental. We listen to her personal story where she looked at her future and find inspiration in leaving the past through a symbolic tattoo.

You have to watch it !

Les lèvres gercées — Kelsi Phung, Fabien Corre. France. 2018. 5 min.

Let’s say that this one, was one i wasn’t expecting. It was an animated film on a relationship between a mother and her daughter. The movement of images dancing were so fascinating. I didn’t expect the end but i prefer to not tell the whole story, so you can explore this important subject by yourself.

Terre ferme — Beatriz Carvalho. Canada. 2022. 3 min.

You can find Terre Ferme online on Onf.ca . Like Lèvres gercées, it’s always intriguing for me to watch animation in a projection with other movies. It just makes everything a little lighter. The monotype animation was a poetic story on travelling. I was flying through this colorful story where the lines created different landscapes, forming roots. It was three minutes touching the confusing feeling of discovering a place for the first time.

L’innu du futur — Stéphane Nepton. Canada. 2021. 5 min.

If you wanna watch the trailer of L’innu du futur, you can find it on vimeo. It was also one my favourite. Through the movie, we follow this long road when it comes to defining identity with the land. The face becomes a river in these cold streets near De Castelnau metro station. Everything is going backward, knowing that the movie title says future. I could feel this notion of trying to hold on your ancestry and your past in a world that forced you to change and to redefine yourself on specific terms. Finally, i felt that there was compassion in it, it is a work in progress to build an identity from the past when the present is a clash with different perspectives of the world you were forced to grow up in and the future still uncertain.

Odehimin — Kijâtai-Alexandra Veillette-Cheezo. Canada. 2020. 2 min.

It was short but powerful. Kijâtai pushed me in the realm of self-love. The union of water and skin was apaisant. I loved that their voice was soft, pushing us into a personal experience: intimacy with our ownself, in a system where you are dictated to love yourself under certain conditions, most of these conditions are colonial.

I feel really grateful to have watched these movies, I recommend everyone AGAIN, to educate yourself, not just through books but through conversations, podcasts, movies, paintings, friendships and love !

On this note, sorry because I was really busy with life but I’m back.

Have a beautiful day XOXO

Princesse F.

Publisher Details:
Art Blog | The Embuscade
https://www.theembuscade.com/