RIDM under the stars
4 July 2012
5 parks, 5 documentaries
From July to August, you’ll have the chance to catch five free screenings in five different Montreal parks
This program is presented in collaboration with the Cinéma sous les étoiles program organized by Funambules Médias. Several popular entries from last year’s RIDM will be shown at dusk, with the directors in attendance.
Chartrand, le malcommode
Director: Manuel Foglia
July 19, parc de Normanville, Villeray – St-Michel – Parc-Extension
Stubborn, opinionated, mouthy, yes, but also towering in his honesty, integrity and courage. Extraordinary orator, tireless champion of workers’ rights, passionate defender of equal chances and social justice, Michel Chartrand, who died on April 12, 2010, has unquestionably marked the history of Quebec. From his sojourn with the Trappist monks to his exemplary career as a union leader, from his multiple arrests to his meeting with Simonne Monet, his life was a reflection of his temperament: whole. In the company of Gilles Vigneault, Luc Picard, Amir Khadir and Yvon Deschamps, whom Chartrand—now an old lion still lit with the sacred fire of indignation—receives in his home, Manuel Foglia retraces the great moments of an extraordinary destiny dedicated to solidarity, struggle and freedom. (HF)
L’or des autres
Director: Simon Plouffe
July 24, Ilot Charlevoix, Sud-Ouest
For some, it’s a bonanza. For others, it’s a trap waiting to crush them in its jaws. Whatever their opinion, though, it’s destiny for the 3,640 inhabitants of the tiny one-industry town of Malartic, Abitibi, which was rocked in 2006 by Osisko’s siting of the biggest open-pit gold mine in Canada in their town. Expropriations, relocations, destruction of 205 homes, two schools, two retirement homes and a daycare: It wasn’t an easy fit. Not to mention what it did to the town’s heritage and the daily lives of its inhabitants. Simon Plouffe gives them the chance to speak and, in doing so, creates a first long feature that puts all the issues of this bafflingly complex situation into focus.
Inside Lara Roxx
Director: Mia Donovan
August 1st, parc Laurier, Plateau Mont-Royal
In 2004, a Los Angeles porn actor found out he was HIV-positive and had infected three of his co-stars. One of them, 22-year-old Montrealer Lara Roxx, had worked in the industry for only two months. Her story was picked up by the tabloids, given the usual tsk-tsk and quickly forgotten. Inside Lara Roxx follows her over the next five years as she deals with physical and mental illness and crack addiction, returns to L.A. and Las Vegas to reappropriate her past and leads a campaign promoting condoms on set. Mia Donovan gets up close to produce a raw, unvarnished portrait in this important film that, without condemning the porn industry, points out its failings.
Les États-Unis d’Afrique
Director: Yanick Létourneau
August 11, parc de Normanville, Villeray
Senegalese rapper Didier Awadi isn't in the hip hop game for the flash and cash of stardom. For him, it's a weapon in the political struggle to lead Africa to independence and unity. Since the '50s, many African leaders have pursued the same goal. To pay tribute to them and keep the dream alive, Awadi put together the politically-charged album Présidents d'Afrique while visiting 40 different countries and collaborating with locals wherever he went. From the streets of Dakar to Obama's inauguration, from the South African elections to a music awards ceremony in Ouagadougou, Les États-Unis d'Afrique takes us on a fascinating journey while showing a side of Africa, proud and filled with hope, that we still see too rarely.
Carnets d’un grand détour
Director Catherine Hébert
August 23, parc Molson, Rosemont
It sounds like a legend unfolding. Once upon a time, a man left on foot from Saint-Malo to embark on a journey to Bamako, crossing five countries and giving 160 talks to the people he met along the way. But this time, the man in the legend is real. His name is Marc Roger and he’s a white griot, or storyteller, born in Africa, who made the acquaintance of filmmaker Catherine Hébert (De l’autre côté du pays). Hébert walked at the griot’s side for nearly eight months, covering 15 to 30 kilometers every day and inadvertently multiplying the remarkable and life-affirming encounters along the way. Both an inspirational road movie and touching initiation, Carnets d’un grand détour chronicles an extraordinary adventure in which generosity and solidarity walk hand in hand.
