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Weekly Outdoor Screening Series August 1, 8, 15, 2013 |
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About
The outdoor screening series presents short films from the National Film Board (NFB) catalogue with the intention of increasing access to the artistic experimentation and rich filmic heritage of Québec and Canada. The walk-in screenings act as a site to frame ideas explored in the project FREE | TRADE over three thematic weeks. This project proposes questions about social economies during a period of general discontents with global capitalist systems. Although taking on different forms, they have made manifest from uprises to social movements with its main commonalities based on dignity, fairness and sense of exclusion. The film series particularly examines notions of labour, work, value, the role of the artist as a cultural worker, and how landscape, place and space informs ideas about the individual and collective within society.
For more information on FREE | TRADE, please click here
Dates & Times
Screening I: Thursday August 1 | 9:00 PM
Screening II: Thursday August 8 | 9:00 PM
Screening III: Thursday August 15 | 9:00 PM
A reception follows each screening.
Location
Ste-Catherine Street Sculpture Garden Courtyard*
1515 Ste-Catherine Street West, EV 1-715
Metro Guy-Concordia
*In case of rain, the screening will take place in the York Amphitheatre (EV 1.605).
Free of charge. Everyone welcome.
Screening I Lab/our
Thursday August 1 | 9:00 PM
Film still, Françoise Durocher, Waitress, André Brassard, 1972.
Courtesy of the NFB
The first series of films presents three different narratives related to notions of labour. From the making of the simple technology of a nail, to the recontextualization of profound artifacts, this series ends with an experimental film theatrically capturing the daily experiences of waitresses. All inherently political, from the material, to the cultural and the personal, this series reflects the interconnected complexities of labour beyond its economic implications.
Clous / Nails
Philip Borsos, 1979, silent
A documentary that is larger than life on the production of nails. Natural sounds render these striking vivid images of fire and water. Forged on the anvil, mechanically produced or industrially cut, we discover this small object which is universally useful, through its stages of manufacturing.
Inukshop
Jobie Weetaluktuk, 2009, silent
Inuit filmmaker Jobie Weetaluktuk mixes archival and new footage to make a statement about the appropriation of his culture throughout history.
Françoise Durocher, Waitress
André Brassard, 1972, FR
A short fiction that projects the nuances of being a waitress, 24 women play fictitious roles. Françoise Durocher has both the traits of the waitress, the hostess and the bartender. Together they provide, according to the author, an idea of the everyday daughters of the Québec table who serves you with a smile, despite the troubles inherent in the business and the small dramas they face daily.
Screening II Art/ist
Thursday August 8 | 9:00 PM
Film still, Geneviève, Michel Brault, 1965, Courtesy of the NFB
From imaginary worlds to coming of age experiences, the two films presented in this series reflect on the potentials for the cinematic form. The first film was made by students at Queen’s University and the following film by one of Québec’s most prominent filmmakers and cinematographers, with both works representing the NFB’s rich history in experimentation and storytelling. in these films, themes related to youth capture the desire for creativity.
One/Two/Many/World
Richard Swinden, 1970, silent
A film of cinematic metaphor, made by students of Queen's University. The world of this film, one in which a growing boy finds himself, is a world of imposed conditions and contradictions. Here children turn into adults by putting on the appropriate uniforms- the policeman and the soldier. Many of the sequences are surrealistic in effect, creating a social commentary expressed in symbolic language.
Geneviève
Michel Brault, 1965, FR with EN subtitles
Two teenage girls go to the winter carnival in Québec City for the first time. Their ambiguous, tentative relationship with a young boy brings both of them a sweet intensity and disillusionment of first love. This short is one of four film sketches that comprise the feature La Fleur de l'âge.
Screening III Land/scape
Thursday August 15 | 9:00 PM
Film still, Impressions of Expo 67, William Brind, 1967, Courtesy of the NFB
Place is considered in this last film series as expanding ideas of sites, identity and intentions. From the constructed utopian cityscape of Expo 67, to corporate growth, this series concludes with a film the documents a community re-constructing a city lifestyle in the countryside. The different terrains explored here are all related to the city – whether idealized, as a place for commerce, or as a peripheral place
Objectif: Expo 67 / Impressions of Expo 67
William Brind, 1967, silent
Referring to the wonderful hours of Expo 67, the film invites us to a halt in the middle of these nations we sheltered. In its course, the camera joins the minirail, visit the islands near La Ronde, the Cité du Havre, invading houses, restaurants, following the clowns and captures the joy of the crowd and the attitude amazed children frolic in the sun.
Real Estate
Arthur Hammond, 1973, EN
The second part of Corporation, a film series about the inner workings of the Steinberg supermarket chain. This installment looks at the corporation's impact on the environment in the way in which its growth can influence not only where and how people live and work, but also the shape of cities and suburbs.
La vraie vie
Jacques Vallée, 1971, FR
An overview of the lives of hundreds of Montrealers who each summer gather at an organised campground. Taking with them their home, they recreate in the countryside the atmosphere of the city they are immersed in. The outdoor life of sports and entertainment that they engage in transforms them into more fulfilled and happier people.
Links
Acknowledgements
We would like to express our gratitude to the National Film Board of Canada for their generosity, materials and support for our screening series.
© Concordia University