Montreal, Monday, September 16, 2024 – The Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) is pleased to announce that the New Visions competition is now open to emerging international talent. This shift aims to enrich the perspective on Canadian first works while celebrating the diversity of contemporary documentary voices.
« Driven by the desire to highlight the artistic vitality of debut feature films and to showcase promising national talent on the global stage, we have redefined the New Visions competition. By placing national works alongside those of the world’s best emerging directors, we reaffirm our commitment to promoting local cinema, further strengthening the international focus of RIDM. The nine selected films stand out for their innovative aesthetic and narrative approaches. » — Marlene Edoyan, Ana Alice de Morais and Hubert Sabino-Brunette, RIDM Programming Collective.
UNVEILING THE NINE FILMS OF THE NEW VISIONS COMPETITION
In seeking to understand the past and its influence on the present, a number of films in the competition explore intergenerational connections and personal histories. In An Oscillating Shadow (Chile, Argentina, France) filmmaker Celeste Rojas Mugica and her father, a dissident photographer in the Pinochet years, revive an intimate and political history through a fascinating sensory journey. Okurimono (Canada) by Laurence Lévesque tells the story of Noriko Oi's return to Nagasaki, who is confronted with her deceased mother’s painful past and decides to break the silence surrounding the intergenerational trauma caused by the nuclear attack. And Kouté Vwa (Belgium, France) by Maxime Jean-Baptiste follows Melrick who visits his grandmother's home in French Guiana, rediscovering a country that lives within him and a close-knit community. The film gives way to a reflection on the latent violence in this land marked by colonialism and slavery, in order to help break the cycle.
Stories of resilience are also highlighted. Audiences will be able to discover works that address the complexity of human relationships and family dynamics. Up the River with Acid (France) by Harald Hutter is a deeply personal exploration of memory, resilience, and the inevitable passage of time, experienced through the lives of his parents; his mother, Francine, and his father, Horst, a former professor whose life is increasingly overshadowed by dementia. Les Miennes (Belgium, France) by Samira El Mouzghibati explores honest and heartfelt conversations within a family of Moroccan origin, revealing the emotional complexities that run through mother-daughter relationships. In The Treasury of Human Inheritance (Canada) Alexis Kyle Mitchell uses a poetic approach to explore the experience of living with a genetic disease, while questioning family inheritance and mortality. As for, The Undergrowth (Spain) by Macu Machín, the film follows the relationship of three sisters living in the Canary Islands, where the volcanic landscape symbolizes both the beauty and the tensions that permeate their daily lives.
To round off this selection, two unique works captivate with their visual and immersive approaches. A relay between two artists, the experimental film Eastern Anthems (Canada, United States, Ecuador) by Jean-Jacques Martinod and Matthew Wolkow shows the return of a species of cicada that only emerges every 17 years in an America that also may be starting a new cycle. Meanwhile, Rising Up at Night (Congo, Belgium, Germany, Burkina Faso) by Nelson Makengo depicts the daily struggles of the people of Kinshasa to restore electricity, symbolizing the quest for light, both literally and figuratively.
The New Visions competition jury is composed of Paula Astorga from Doclisboa in Portugal, Maximiliano Cruz from FICUNAM in Mexico, and Antoine Thirion from Cinéma du réel in France. These three representatives from international festivals will award a prize offered by La Scam, for the best work in this competition.
The complete lineup for the 27th edition of RIDM will be unveiled on Wednesday, October 30, 2024.
About RIDM
Striving to showcase the most stimulating and diverse visions of documentary cinema, the Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) offers audiences a unique program that brings together the works of established filmmakers and promising new talents, while focusing on creating encounters between artists and audiences.
The 27th annual RIDM will take place from November 20 to December 1st, 2024.
Information: ridm.ca / info@ridm.ca
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For interview or visual material requests, please contact:
Caroline Rompré | pixelleX communications | 514-778-9294 | caroline@pixellex.ca