Montreal, October 1st, 2024 - The Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) is proud to announce the opening and closing films of its 27th edition, which will take place from November 20th to December 1st, 2024.
To open the festival, the RIDM team has selected Preparations for a Miracle by Tobias Nölle. In a hybrid between activist documentary and science-fiction fable, an android from a future where humanity no longer exists takes an unconventional look at the present. Set in an age marked by artificial intelligence, this film explores in rare depth the ecological and technological changes that are redefining our world.
To bring the festival to a close, the team has selected Ninan Auassat: We, the children by Kim O’Bomsawin. With respect and complicity, this film paints a delicate portrait of Indigenous youth embracing an assertion of identity and the desire for a future imbued with love. The screening of this documentary will close the festival on a sensitive and human note, highlighting the importance of younger generations in the contemporary Indigenous landscape.
Opening Film – Preparations for a Miracle by Tobias Nölle
From a future where humanity no longer exists, an android designed to record appears in a pre-apocalyptic Germany. Through its eyes, knowledge, and conversations with its robotic peers, the android builds an understanding of reality. The film depicts machine exploitation and gives an unconventional analysis of the actions of humans trying to oppose the destruction of a forest or the expropriation of a farm bordering a huge, expanding open-pit mine. With creativity and humour, this potent hybrid between activist documentary and science-fiction fable reflects on the notion of subjective views while prompting us to question the development of technology and how resources are exploited—which, despite the admirable and combative resistance of a minority, is leading humanity to its doom.
Produced by FLARE FILM, Preparations for a Miracle will have its Canadian premiere with filmmaker Tobias Nölle in attendance on Wednesday, November 20th at Théâtre Outremont. A second screening of the film will take place during the festival.
Closing Film – Ninan Auassat: We, the Children by Kim O'Bomsawin
This film follows three groups of youths from the Atikamekw, Eeyou and Innu nations, while pointing the camera at several others in these communities. With respect and complicity, Kim O’Bomsawin paints a delicate portrait of Indigenous youth between childhood and early adulthood. Anchoring their many voices in their land, which often becomes an endless playground and a key cultural resource, they talk about their lives, dreams, concerns, and desire to participate actively in their communities. Ninan Aussat: We, the children reveals the importance of transmission and respect for elders while discussing the individual and collective traumas stemming from Quebec and Canadian colonialism. It embraces an assertion of identity and the desire for a future imbued with love.
Produced and distributed by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), Ninan Auassat: We, the Children will close the festival and have its Quebec premiere at Cineplex Odéon Quartier Latin, on Saturday, November 30th, with filmmaker Kim O’Bomsawin in attendance (by invitation only). A second screening of the film will take place on Sunday December 1st.
Presale of RIDM passports
The RIDM early-bird passport, which gives access to all festival screenings (save for Closing Night), will be available for presale starting October 2nd, at the special rate of $110, taxes included. Discounted passports can be purchased on the RIDM website until October 29th. Following that date, the price of a regular passport will be $140. Students and people aged 65 and over will be able to purchase an RIDM passport for $115, taxes included.
The full program of the 27th edition of RIDM will be unveiled on Wednesday, October 30th, 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 20th 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