Here are a few films and events, among others, that RIDM is offering today!

At 11:00 a.m., start off the day alongside filmmakers Natasha Ivisic, Donal Mosher or Michael Palmieri as part of our ongoing Doc&Café series. Tomorrow's theme is "Filming the Family."

At 3:30 p.m., watch Autopsie by Adrien Klapisz and À Ciel Ouvert by Gabriel Vanderpas, an astonishing doubleheader that explores a unique vision of death. Also at 3:30 p.m., see Christopher Wong's Whatever it Takes and vicariously experience the daily challenges that kids, parents and teachers face at a small school in South Bronx. The directors of all three films will be present for the screenings.

In Sebastien Sepulveda's l'Étendue de Sable [O Areal], learn how a sand pit, sought after by urban developers, feeds legends and myths in a community living harmoniously with their environment in the heart of the Amazon. This screening will be followed by an accolade to the beauty of the boreal forest in the form of Serge Bordeleau's Kitakinan documentary, Notre Territoire à Tout le Monde.

At 7 p.m., time for our closing film Octobre Country by Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher. Meet the Moshel's, an American family who's life, devoid of good fortune, becomes almost supernatural. An extraordinary documentary portrait. By invitation only.

Starting at 7:15 p.m., watch Lumière du Nord by Sergeï Loznitsa, which puts forth an attentive and spellbinding look at the daily lives of villagers in Northern Russia in the weeks leading up to the polar night.

Finally, in Defamation by Yoav Shamir, shown at 7:30 p.m., an Israeli filmmaker asks himself whether or not anti-Semitism is a real threat in 2009. Entertaining and disturbing.

At the strike of 10:00 p.m., not to be missed under any circumstance: our closing party at the RIDM Lounge! Come party with the RIDM team under the colours of Fall.

Pierre Perrault: An ear for the river and for blood

Extract of the tribute performance in honour of Pierre Perrault, produced by Le Théâtre Barbare in collaboration with the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec
Also presented tonight at 7:30 PM. Free.   

Do we need public cultural organizations ?

Almost 100 people attended the NFB round-table discussion with Tom Perlmutter, Carmen Garcia, Isabelle Hudon, Michel Venne and Caroline Zéau

It's a good thing we have documentaries to help us discover stories that are larger than life, where the players are not always the same and the script changes once a second because real life is unpredictable.

It's a good thing some filmmakers still choose subjects who have no ambition ever to be in a movie. Who are simply playing the role they've been assigned in the movie that is their life.

It's a good thing we have people telling us stories so local they become universal.

And it's a good thing the RIDM is there to provide an audience for these truth-seekers, these great big ordinary stories, and these fabulous unknowns. John Malkovich can play all the bad guys on the planet, we still hate him less than we hate the head of GM in Roger & Me.

Now that's life!

Antoine Bertrand

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Doc Circuit Montreal 2009