UN FLEUVE HUMAIN
Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 7:01 PM
SPECIAL OFF SITE PRESENTATION
PLEASE NOTE! All films in the DOCUMENTARIES OF THE 21st CENTURY IN QUEBEC series will be screened at the Salle Martial-Caron at the College universitaire de Saint-Boniface, 200 De Cathedrale Ave.
* Admission is free and all are welcome
UN FLEUVE HUMAIN (The River Where We Live)
Dir. Sylvain L'Esperance | 2006 | 92 mins. | French, Fula, Bambara with English subtitles
* Curated and introduced by Martin Delisle
Social consciousness is rooted in Sylvain L’Espérance’s films, as well as his concern with globalization. Un fleuve humain is representative of this, yet with a poetic and sensitive approach. L’Espérance went to Mali, to the Niger River delta, where he observes the various forms of human activity around it. We encounter and hear from artisans, fishermen, nomadic cattle herders and merchants who live along the river in harmony with the seasons and the ebb and flow of the river, from which the film takes its own rhythm. These people are proud that their knowledge and expertise come down from their ancestors and their goal is to extend this legacy to their own children. But, while they continue to practice age-old traditions, they are faced with the effects of a 30 year drought and encroaching desertification.
CURATOR MARTIN DELISLE
As we all know, Québec has a long tradition in the documentary field. It is through this genre that a true French-Canadian cinema came to be. Denys Arcand, Gilles Carle, Gilles Groulx, Michel Brault and many others started as documentarians before entering the realm of fiction. The tradition of documentary in Québec is still alive and well. This being said, it has become extremely difficult to finance this genre properly. Documentary is now mostly perceived as a television object and this forces filmmakers to deliver their works as 26 or 52-minute products. Telefilm Canada funds documentaries through the Canadian Television Fund. Filmmakers find it extremely hard to produce feature-length works and they have been at odds for a long time with the cultural agencies for true recognition of this genre with proper and decent funding. The selection of films for this program encompasses the works of filmmakers who are among those fighting for a true place for the independent feature-length documentary. They span two different generations, each with a unique voice and immense talent. They all share the vision of documentary being, first and foremost, an artistic means to share their interests or concerns.
VIEW THE TRAILER: