MOVIES AT LA PLAZA: THE DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL

Movie Review by Sergio Martinez

The documentary genre cannot be absent from the film festival scene. In fact, most festivals with a general mandate include documentaries among their categories. A festival dedicated exclusively to this genre, however, has its challenges, but in its 28 years of existence, the Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal / Montreal International Documentary Festival has successfully overcome them, arousing unusual enthusiasm among many young people.

The value of this film genre lies precisely in its ability to convey real stories to an audience that undoubtedly needs information about events that affect us all in different ways: climate change, humanitarian crises in war-torn regions, or sometimes also issues that may have a more segmented resonance, but no less significant for that: gender violence, the effect of certain diseases, or simple human problems of coexistence or merely existential issues.

The RIDM (as it is known by its French acronym) has successfully focused on these themes, and this year's edition was no exception. In this regard, we will analyze in greater detail two of the films that most caught our attention, namely the opening and closing films of the festival.

LETTERS FROM WOLF STREET: A look at migration

Dir. Arjun Talwar (Poland-Germany)

The filmmaker himself tells his story as an immigrant from India who decided to study film in Poland. After some ups and downs, he manages to make a film that recounts his experience as a film student and his attempt to integrate into Polish society. The documentary captures the viewer's attention, who can learn, among other curious things, why the street is named as it is (not after a wolf, but after the surname of a notable neighbor, which allows us to know that, as in Spanish and English, the reference to the powerful animal is also found in a surname in the Polish language).

Talwar's exchanges with the postman are perhaps the most interesting examples of the relationship between him, as an immigrant, and a Polish native and worker. This aspect also has other facets in the filmmaker's relationship with a gypsy who, despite being a native of the country, has suffered discrimination on more than one occasion. The film presents its darkest side when it shows a massive demonstration by Polish nationalists who—naturally—do not welcome the arrival of immigrants, whom they resent because, according to them, they would alter the identity of the Polish nation. (A message that is already familiar in many places, as we well know).

This is a documentary in which the director has skillfully interwoven his personal experiences, sometimes in an intimate tone, while also portraying the collective feelings of those who, for various reasons, have settled in a country with a culture very different from their own—people who, like Talwar, have developed a genuine affection for Polish society.

The film is well made, and one can see from the use of various techniques and image handling that the director is a recent film school graduate, as it is clear that he has put the techniques he learned into practice. And the important thing is that he has used them well, without turning the film into a showcase for filmmaking techniques. We hope this film will be distributed in North America, as it would be relevant to the current debate on migration.

LES BLUES DU BLEUET (THE BLUES OF THE BLUEBERRY)—Life revolving around the small fruit

Dir. Andrés Livov

The relationship one may have with blueberries in an urban environment is likely very utilitarian: this small dark blue fruit is appreciated in baking, and its consumption as a fruit has increased in recent years as its health benefits have been revealed. However, beyond our immediate interaction with them at the supermarket, we don't give the fruit much thought. Here, Andrés Livov, originally from Argentina, offers us not only a reflection on the fruit itself, but also on the entire rural life that revolves around blueberries.

Set in the Lac Saint-Jean region in northern Quebec, the film offers a very lyrical view of life around the cultivation of the fruit, from the time when large forest fires, more than a century ago, helped fertilize the soil, facilitating the growth and expansion of blueberry cultivation.

From “Madame Patate” to the musicians of the small town and including the seasonal workers who come every summer from Mexico and Central America, the film shows us the whole culture of blueberries, with its sorrows and joys, but above all with an existential sense of connection to the land and work. These are the lives of the people in the region where the slightly tart and sweet blueberry is grown and harvested. When we buy it again at the supermarket, we will also be remembering the men and women who make it possible for it to reach our tables. And, of course, Livov, who with his documentary has given a human face to this small fruit.

THE AWARD WINNERS

Some of the main awards at this year's International Documentary Festival were as follows:

Grand Prize for International Feature Competition

Imago by Déni Oumar Pitsaev (France, Belgium)

Special Jury Prize for International Feature Competition

 Waking Hours by Federico Cammarata and Filippo Foscarini (Italy)

A special mention was given to Evidence by Lee Anne Schmitt (United States).

Grand Prize for National Feature Competition

Partition by Diana Allan (Palestine, Lebanon, Quebec/Canada)

Special Jury Prize for National Feature Competition presented by Télé-Québec and Post-Moderne

Kindergarten by Jean-François Caissy (Quebec/Canada)

New Visions Award presented by FIPRESCI and the Société civile des auteurs multimédia (SCAM)

Soul of the Foot by Mustafa Uzuner (Canada, Turkey)

Magnus Isacsson Award presented with the participation of DOC Québec, ARRQ, Funambules Médias, Cinema Politica and Main Film

Spare My Bones, Coyote! by Jonah Malak (Quebec/Canada)