Casting Call: Seeking Good “Actors” to Play Themselves

September 13, 2004

Monday September 13, 2004
Discussion and screening with documentary filmmakers Benoit Pilon, Michelle Smith and Bruno Boulianne
8:00 PM, NFB Cinema
1564,rue Saint-Denis, Montréal, Ph: (514) 496-6887

Montreal, September 1, 2004 — The Monday Documentary Series celebrates the launch of the fall film season with a session that looks at how filmmakers select “characters” for documentaries. Character selection is a crucial step in the process of documentary filmmaking — one that can help make or break a film, even before shooting begins. On September 13, three seasoned filmmakers will share their views on selecting characters and screen illuminating clips from their work.

For a documentary to succeed, the audience has to identify with the characters; in fact, that identification may be even more important to docs than to drama. In order for the process of identification to work, the documentary director must find men, women and children who will naturally be able to create their own characters on screen. Choosing the right people requires a good bit of intuition.

Documentary directors Benoit Pilon (Roger Toupin, épicier variété), Michelle Smith (Navires de la honte, co-directed with Malcolm Guy, film to be premiered at the next RIDM) and Bruno Boulianne (Des hommes de passage / Doing Time) will share their experiences with character selection, as well as the methods they have developed to make sure the best possible characters populate their films. It’s like casting for a film without a script or any written roles.

Using substantial excerpts from their work, the three directors will show us what qualities they look for in real-life characters, and why some are clearly better on screen than others.

The Monday Documentary Series of panel discussions and screenings is organized by the Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal (RIDM), in partnership with the National Film Board of Canada. The goal of the series is to shed light on the creative process of documentary and to encourage reflection on its practice.

The September 13 event, Casting call: seeking good “actors” to play themselves, will be held at the NFB Cinema in Montreal. The panel will be moderated by documentary filmmaker Magnus Isacsson (View from the Summit Maxime, McDuff and McDo, Pendant que court l’assassin), who has a long history of engagement in the film community and of working in social-activist documentary.

The Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal is a unique annual event dedicated to documentary film in Quebec. The 7th edition takes place November 11 to 21, 2004.

Monday, September 13, 8:00 pm — NFB Cinema
Tickets available at the door. General admission: $7 / students and seniors: $5

Source: Swann Freslon, Head of Communications, RIDM
For more information: (514) 499-3676 — www.ridm.qc.ca