Montreal, Tuesday, September 13, 2016 – The Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) returns this November 10 through 20 for its 19th edition.Today the festival is proud to announce an eclectic group of eight films from its program – films that explore the political and artistic potential of documentary. Several other titles were announced previously.
Guy Davidi, the director of Five Broken Cameras, returns to the RIDM with MIXED FEELINGS. Filmed inside an apartment turned rehearsal space, the film follows the work of Amir Orian, a respected actor who uses his classes to confront Israeli youth with the violence of their everyday lives. It is an intense experience that leads to an unforgettable film.
Davidi’s film stands in contrast to the approach taken in ENTRE LES FRONTIÈRES, in which Avi Mograbi and theatrical director Chen Alon open a theatre workshop in an Israeli detention camp for African refugees. Once again, the result is essential viewing.
Through the story of his family and numerous interviews, John Walker’s QUEBEC MY COUNTRY MON PAYS chronicles the history of anglophone-francophone relations in Quebec. Walker’s is a sincere and courageous point of view, not hesitating to delve into one of the French-language media’s least covered major stories in the province’s history: the mass exodus of anglophone Quebecers since the Quiet Revolution.
Haunted by the 2012 Aurora, Colorado movie theatre massacre, DARK NIGHT is a sombrely poetic hybrid fiction that unfolds like a waking nightmare. With this film, Tim Sutton (Memphis, RIDM 2014) caused a stir at the most recent Sundance Festival. Demonstrating the filmmaker’s immense talent, the work recalls the aesthetic and emotional power of Gus Van Sant’s Elephant. This hypnotic work is enhanced by numerous songs composed by Montreal-based artist Maica Armata.
Screened at the latest Venice Film Festival, DAVID LYNCH: THE ART LIFE by Jon Nguyen, Neergaard Holm and Rick Barnes is a dream come true for Lynch fans. Shot entirely in the filmmaker’s home studio, the film, which includes countless rare archival images, is an intensely fascinating interview in which Lynch reveals himself and the roots of his creative world.
In a studio, two actors read the love letters of poets Paul Celan and Ingeborg Bachmann. Gradually, the mood intensifies and the two artists develop an unexpected chemistry echoing that of the famous soul mates. Part fiction and part documentary, Ruth Beckermann’s THE DREAMED ONES (TIFF 2016) rethinks the language of film as a means of grasping the full power of words.
Claire Simon (Le bois dont les rêves sont faits, RIDM 2015) also returns to the RIDM with a new film, LE CONCOURS, an up-close look at the admission competition for the FÉMIS, one of France’s top film schools. Granted full access, she uses her camera to reconsider the selection criteria for artists-to-be. LE CONCOURS recently won the Venice Classics Award for Best Documentary on Cinema.
Many other well-known filmmakers will be returning to the RIDM this year, but the festival will also have plenty of entries by new talents both local and international. One example is Clara L'Heureux-Garcia, with the hard-hitting VOL DE NUIT. A final project from the UQAM film school, about UQAM itself, this brilliant and radical short uses the power of editing to deliver a searing indictment of the police’s forced entry to the campus during the student protests of 2012.
***
Pass presales
To take advantage of a discount on passes for all screenings (except opening and closing nights), visit the RIDM website (www.ridm.ca) or the La Vitrine website (www.lavitrine.com). Presales will end on October 1. Passes can be purchased online from La Vitrine or in person at the box office in the 2-22 Building. Presale passes cost $100, taxes included.
Thank you to the RIDM’s partners
The RIDM is grateful for the support of its institutional and principal partners, sure to make this 19th edition of the festival a memorable one. Thanks to the Ministère de la culture et des communications, SODEC, the Secrétariat de la région métropolitaine, Telefilm Canada, the Ville de Montréal, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts de Montréal and Canadian Heritage, and Bell Media, the CSN, Canal D, the Canada Media Fund, FACTOR, Radio-Canada, Télé-Québec, Planète+, TV5 and Tourisme Montréal.
Quebec’s only film festival dedicated to documentaries, the Montreal International Documentary Festivalpresents the best reality‐based films, including the works of established directors and new talents.
The 19th annual RIDM will take place from November 10 to 20, 2016.
Information: www.ridm.ca / info@ridm.ca
-30-
The full program for this year’s RIDM will be announced at a press conference on Wednesday, October 19 at 10 a.m. at the Cinémathèque québécoise. It will be posted online the same day.
Contact: Caroline Rompré | publicist | 514-778-9294 | caroline@pixellex.ca